salt and statements advice please

[Phoenix4725]

ok i need some advice I thought that if I mange to get x amount of hrs in section 3 of a statement that would mean he sees a salt that much but just been told thats not the case, be once a term if were lucky , this is for a child with sld totaly non verbal and gd starting in ms school.Also that the only time we will see a salt be in school and from what told shes snowed under averaging 10 mins once a term

any advice how it really works please

it's rubbish, isn't it?

it's all in the small print, I'm afraid. in the statements here (Herts) you get the number of visits the slt will make per year, then a long list of what those visits may entail (inc, meetings, writing reports, training staff, liaising etc) so that you'll be lucky if half of those 'visits' are actually face to face with your child. all those things are necessary, but should be in addition to the face to face contact, imo.

again, here, once the child is in the school system, they don't get seen in clinic - the only chance is maybe in the summer hols if you really push it (but unlikely).

just keep pushing and nagging....

sigh
so seems no better of than we are now only seeing salt every 10-12 week , so if we get statement hardly seems worth fight to have it included in section 3, we have no program atm to follow either

Hi. My DS(7) has ASD and his SALT only sees him at school approx once per half term, but she writes a programme of exercises/ activities which his TA does every day at school. The SALT sends me a copy of the programme, and I am welcome to attend when she sees him at school. She also runs social skills sessions in the summer hols which my DS enjoys.

Has your DS already started school? How many hrs support does he have on his statement? Does his TA have any experience of working with a child with SLD, and working on speech therapy programmes?

no my sons at nursey due start school in september but pushig for statement now as he also has GD and hypermoblity and por muscle tone .

andfrom meeting I had today at the ms school none is specially trained work with SlD. were going for full 1-1 though been told were get 15 hrs if were lucky

oh forgot toa dd we seen Ep twice alredy and on her recommendation was funded 1-1 at preschool without no need to fight, but some how think this not going be so easy

Yes, your understanding is right. A lot of how successful the Statement is will actually depend on your child's Learning Support Assistant - the person who actually does the one-to-one. My DS3 (6) has 20 hours a week of one to one (more than he actually needs now),and the SALT comes into school once per half-term to see him. She then leaves exercises and games etc for the LSA to carry out with DS3.

Our previous LSA was very interested in SALT issues and worked really hard with DS3. Current one is lovely, but not really interested enough (or bright enough? sorry, but that is sort of true) to understand completely what it is she's trying to achieve. The delivery of the SALT exercises seems to be a bit hit and miss.

DS3's progress in Reception, when he saw a SALT every week, was so much greater than it is now (Yr2). It is a poor system, but there just aren't the SALTs around for anything else.

So next step would be to speak to the school and ask them whether they would be likely to use one of their existing TAs to support your son or advertise the position externally - this would be the better option if their current staff have no experience or training in this area.

What experience does the school have with SEN ? I know from my own experience that all claim to be very inclusive and supportive,and they all like to get the extra money which comes from the statemented children, but there is generally a big difference between how each individual school supports the SEN children.

Well done for pushing for statement now, good luck !

they do seem to be pretty flexiable . They do have few other children with sen and few years ago did do makaton course and seem to acept that not only teachers need to know other pupils will need it. but guess have tewait and see .

But my concern is they admit we get the 1-1 that be used for supporting him working in groups which makes me wonder if will be used to help any other child thats not got statement or likely to get .which ok i understand other kids need help and head teacher has whole school to think of but my only concern is my son even if sounds selfish

From my understanding they will look at using one of their exsisting ta but think will bring this up next meeting

If your DS gets a statement he should have a designated LSA working with him in the classroom/playground for the number of hours he is given. Make sure everything is detailed in the statement when you get it in case you encounter problems later on. My DS gets a visit from a SALT 2x a term and they feed ideas onto the LSA. This is what I am led to believe anyway.

To answer your 2nd para, yes the LSA/TA is usually used to help other children without statements which is why schools are so keen to get maximum number of statement hours. I'm not sure what you can do about it (you certainly are not selfish btw) - maybe ask for a daily written record?

Do you know any other parents with SEN children in the school? I'd be very careful to find out how the school uses the TAs for the SEN children. It varies greatly from school to school. If you think they're going to share your son's TA, consider looking at other schools.

i have spoke to aa fewparents and yess does seem some sharing goes on and sadly Tipsycat this is the only schoolwhere i live.

butgood idea on the daily record especially as hecan not tell me whats hes been doing

Is it worth considering a special school? In my area, the LEA arrange transport to special schools. Might not do any harm to consider this as a back up plan if you're not happy with MS.

yes there nd am weighing up options there is one so going go look at that though the person we see from sencan is against it