Assessment with education psychologist - What should I expect?

[mumgoingcrazy]

Well that's it really....... DD2 is 20 months and has SPD which has led to developmental delays. We are having an educational psychologist coming to decide where she should go to pre-school.

What will they do? Some days she's great and does loads and other days she will do nothing at all and of course I have no idea what mood she will be in the day of the assessment. So depending on her mood she might go to a SN nursery or a MS (with 1:1 help).

Will they take my word for anything or will they look at her for half an hour and then make a judgement?

My dd went to both sn playgroup and ms, with 1:1 in both. Its not only up to the Ed Psych to decide where your child should go - its your choice too. Ask lots of questions, and be prepared for the usual "story from birth" routine.

If any other professionals are working with your DD2 the EP will liaise with them--especially if she has a portage worker and a SALT. But ultimately it is your decision. I have sent DD to a mainstream nursery where she has 1:1. As she was already at the nursery when I applied for the statement, the EP observed her there and then I came in to have a discussion with him when his observations were completed.

Thank you LG and Arabica. What kind of questions should I be asking?

I'm quite confused as my portage worker and SALT seem to be very keen on DD2 going to the SN nursery however, my aunt has been a teacher at this school for donkeys years and is very surprised it's even being considered. My aunt also knows DD2 very well. For me, I just don't know what I want. It seems the funding won't be there for DD2 for 1:1 help until she is at least 2.5 usually 3yrs so maybe she could go to the sn nursery from Sept for about a year. I know there is no way she could go into MS without help.

I know this sounds ridiculous but I thought they made the decisions for me, I actually didn't realise I had a say . How pathetic.

The way I understand it is, if your DD has a statement, the funding for her 1:1 comes from the local education authority who are legally bound to provide the extra help she needs.
When you don't have a statement, a nursery might still provide 1:1, but the funding isn't always as straightforward to obtain--hence the reality that, without statements, SN children in nurseries often don't get the 1:1 they need.
Portage are usually the best people to advise on educational settings IMO as they will know, for example, that children with language delay like my DD do well in a setting where everyone uses Makaton, whether they are SN or not. Sometimes only the local special schools can offer this.
Good luck anyway!

SN nursery fantastic for teaching makaton, for having so many experienced staff to help, for having great resources to help with IEPs. Less good for my dd was lack of peer interaction and friends as many going to sn nursery are severely disabled - but this may have just been how ours was set up. That is why we did both.

When she is 3 DD is going to a mainstream nursery with a unit for children who have speech delay--we are hoping this is the best of-both-worlds option! She doesn't really interact with her peers yet at her current mainstream nursery, maybe because she is so much younger, cognitively speaking.

But even if she can't interact, I thought it was important for my dd to be amongst her peers to absorb "kiddie" life, yet she needed intensive therapies and teaching, - still does!!!

Yes, ideally they should have the two together, but some nurseries aren't geared up to providing it. DD's keyworker is currently spending a lot of time helping her to play with/alongside her peers, so things might change.

Will the education psychologist give me the statement depending on what her report says? I definately agree the sn nursery would be good so we can continue getting all the right help but I don't think there is any chance at all that she would cope in a ms nursery without the 1:1 help, so maybe the best option for her is sn nursery til she is 3, then do sn and ms. She does have a fair bit of interaction, approx 3 mornings a week with friends, sn therapy group and toddler group (not to mention her 4yr old sister).

Can either of you think of any questions I should be asking the edn psyc? I know I'm asking for hand holding here but I just don't have a clue.

Arabica, your ms nursery with language unit sounds perfect. We don't seem to have anything around here it's either ms or sn (unless it's a language unit you need). DD2's issues are SPD which have led to GDD.

LG how old was your DC when you did both MS and SN?

Pls 'scuse my ignorance, whats SPD?
Statements of Special Educational Needs in my borough are prepared in time (hah?!) for school entrance, but the Ed psyche gave the go-ahead for sn funding for pre-school.
Questions could be along the lines of
What should the nursery concentrate on?
How - what types of teaching/coaching?
IEPs?
I'm sure more will occur to me...
My dd has done both sn and ms from 2.5, and now she is yr 2 age 6 and still doing both: 3 days sn school (who hold the budget) and 2 at village sch where my others go. She can't walk, can't talk, it tube fed but sociable and happy and is in class 1 (with receptions and yr1)

I used to be an ed psych in my pre-children days. Please do NOT worry about the ed psych visiting.

The ed psych will probably spend some time observing your dd, some time doing activities with her, lots of time talking to you and also talking to any teachers or helpers that work with your dd. If she visits you at home, she may well try to see your dd in her nursery at a later date. She will know that very young children are very inconsistent and while they may behave one way in one setting, they might behave completely differently in another. For this reason, she will base her reports not only on what she sees but also on what others who know your dd well have to say. And of course, you are the expert on your child, not the ed psych - you've known her for the last 20 months, as opposed to an hour or so!

The ed psych will not get to decide where your dd goes to school. It sounds like her role at this point is to write a report which accurately describes your dd's skills (e.g. her language skills, physical skills, cognitive development, social development etc). This report will be considered alongside other reports (e.g. medical reports, information from parents, info from the school, speech therapy reports etc) and a panel within the local authority will decide which might be the most suitable school for your dd. However, where I used to work, parents wishes were generally taken very seriously, and the Local Authority would try very hard to get the child into the school that the parents wanted. However, obviously sometimes parents did not get the school they wanted and then were very upset.

If I were you, I would not worry too much at this stage about whether to go for "special school" or "mainstream school", but instead look at the individual schools concerned. Some special schools are brilliant, but others are not. Some mainstream schools are fantastic at meeting the needs of children with SEN, others are terrible. I would suggest going to look at the schools, talking to staff and also talking to parents whenever possible.

Lgoodlife - SPD is Sensory Processing Disorder. Her main problems are the auditory and visual processing. Originally she was severely tactile defensive so as she didn't touch anything or be touched for months she didn't develop. We are in the process of seeing if there is an underlying cause to all this. It's great that you have struck a good balance for your dd. I hope I can do the same.

Neolara - Thank you very much for your info. I was quite worried about the visit. As far as I know she has only dealt with our Portage worker but she may have consulted others. She sounds very nice on the phone but I felt how DD2 performed on the day would determine where she went. IYE do children generally not get funding until 2.5 or more?

MGCrazy, best of luck with placement.

DD had an Ed Pysch assessment last year and I was surprised that the report did not provide any analysis - it described DD's behavior, but did not suggest any reasons for it, although the Ed Pysch has told us at a meeting and on the phone that she believes DD is on the autistic spectrum (ASD).

The report did not include any diagnostic tests for ASD or IQ. It came to no conclusions, just detailed DD's behaviour.

Is this the normal format for Ed Pysch reports?

Hi Minnie, we've just had our assessment (on Monday) and we received the report today and it's exactly the same as yours. Just described her behaviours and suggested an assessment placement in sn school. Don't know why I was worked up about it really!

From what the ed phyc said, it'll be down to the teachers and therapists at the placement to assess her.