pSYCHOLOGIST JUST RANG ME FOR A CHAT BEFORE SHE MEETS MY 3 BOYS TOMORROW!!!

[TheRealMrsF]

i WAS ABSOLUTELY GOBSMACKED...SHE RANG TO HAVE A CHAT AS SHE QUITE RIGHTLY ASSUMED THAT TOMORROW THERE WILL BE LITTLE CHANCE FOR DIALOGUE BETWEEN HER AND MYSELF!!!

She thanked me for the letter i sent her describing my concerns about Alex (as he isn't officially meant to be going to the appointment)

she then went on to ask me if i wanted to bring alex alone tomorrow for a preliminary ASSESSMENT!!!!!!

You should have seen the look of shock on my face!!!!

I opted however to stick with all three for tomorrows appointment....as part of the reason we have been refferd is cos of Leigh's interaction difficulties (resulting in him getting violent)

This is why i was amazed that the paed only referred the 2 older boys...as the prob is mainly the 2 younger ones...can olyy assume that she did that cos if she refferred alex then sh'e have to admit he needs assessing.

so.......very excited now about the appointment.

we talked for 30 mins (or rather i talked for 30 mins.....maybe she'll assess me too!!!!)

she agreed that too many professionals seem to be bvery 'blinkered' about ASD....we were talking about imaginative play at the time....specifically about how some professionals will say the child is showing imaginitive/social skills if playing with the 'pretend/home corner with classmates at school'....whereas what is really happening is the ASD child is simply repeating visits to shops etc...and will react terribly to suggestions that he 'pretend to be someone else' or that 'the shop' becomes a hospital etc (alex cannot adapt to other ideas...he would have to have a new area designated ' for that new purpose....and he always 'role plays' as himself...either as him when he was a baby or as he is now...he never plays at being dad etc.....but as his teacher keeps saying ....he does play in the home corner with classmates.

so the appt is @ 9.30 tomorrow!!!!

and yes....CT when u posted i was rushing the boys in the car ...got there bang on 9.30!

LOL at the car dash, MrsF!

The Psych sounds great. Fingers crossed that you start to finally get some support and that Alex gets his assessment at last.

glad it went well. I think it's always a sign of a good doctor when they recognise and will admit what they don't know.

Glad it went well, MrsFabulous. I hope you get the assessment for Alex!

Just dashing myself so will this suffice for now

Good news MrsF. I'd be interested to hear her opinions about the statementing issue, when you next see her.

yes...her mentioning that has started me wondering whether i should still have a go- even though tom starts secondary in sept...and my friend who's a TA there reckons they will start the statementing themselbves.....but what if they don't...and surely if i start it now there's a chance it will be well underway in september....know it takes ages longer than that to get agreed tho.

Sounds like it went well and you have a good CP there, Mrs F. Hope things start to move now.

As to statementing .. J's SENCO told me (and I have read it elsewhere) that we'll only get a statement if we can prove that the school can't cope with him. At present he has two excellent and supportive teachers so it's unlikely, so it seems that we have to wait till we get a crap teacher before we can start the process. So what happens if it takes them so long to get an Ed Psych out that J's in the next year by then, with a better teacher?! Does that mean he'll have lost a year with no support but we'll be back to square one? Not sure if that applies in all LEAs though. She also told us that CPs seem to think that having a diagnosis automatically means a statement but that's not the case, you still have to go through the motions. I assume your boys are on the school's SN register? What does your SENCO say?

karen.....I thought it was supposed to be about the childs needs and not whether a school can cope or not?????? Silly me!!!!!!

Personally I wouldnt take one blind bit of notice what your SENCO says and I would be writing my letter to the LEA requesting a statuatory assessment....if they refused to assess then Im afraid I would appeal......

My J spent far to long being unsupported in school just because I listened to the SENCO.....two years down the line my son had deteriorated so much, to the extent he was threatening to commit suicide, because I wasnt listening to him.

Jayzm, perhaps I should rephrase that! By 'coping' it does mean being able to meet the child's needs. At present J's needs ARE being met and he is very well supported by his class teachers, but that might not be the case in the future.

The SENCO has written a request for assessment but she did stress that under current circumstances there's no guarantee he'll get a statement.

Sorry for the confusion .

My understanding of the system if that if the child's needs are met by School Action or School action plus then they don't go on to a full statement.

To be honst I would have thought that most SENCO's are usualy pro early statementing a. because it is often the best opetion for the child and b. becuaes it is only when a child is statemented that the school will begin to get extra money to help to support that child (shounds cynical I know).

With luck Karen, J has a good, well written IEP and that will help to keep the teachers 'on the rails'

Children in the school that I teach with a formal diagnosis are not automaticaly statemented (though the majority of statemented children do have a diagnosis IYSWIM). To a degree it all depends on a childs individual needs and how switch on the school is in meeting them.

Hope that J continues to do well