going for a statement

[padua]

Hi,
I'm sorry I haven't been on this forum for quite a while but thought I post my latest. My DS finally has his dx of hypertonia, DCD and ASD/Aspergers. It has taken us about a year to secure all of these. He is in Reception now and receives two and a half days support but doesn't have a statement yet. The school feels he only accesses the learning with support, although he is very bright, he doesn't comply. The professionals involved have warned me that as he isn't falling behind academically he may not get the statement and they will want to wait until he is failing in comparison to his peers. The school's budget may not be able to continue the current level of support for him and they are hoping the LA will cover the costs of his 1:1. I will be going to the statementing panel meeting with the senco, does anyone have experience of this and any advice.

Depends how they explain "his peers" to you. If they mean "..until he falls so far behind that he's in the bottom few in his class and is crying with frustration" then that's illegal under the disability discrimination act. "His peers" are the pupils as bright as he is. Bear that in mind. I was given a load of old nonsense about 'peers' with ds. He's top 2% for IQ but they wanted him to fail just about every exam before he was 'behind enough' to need help. Grr.

IPSEA might be able to help?

Thanks for that Amber. We are going through a change in our local authority at the moment. They don't want to issue any more statements for children unless they have very complex needs. They have ring fenced direct funding for visual, physical and hearing impairment but not ASD. ASD and everything else will be funded through a budget based on a formula of multiple deprivation, including free school meals, postcode of parents etc.
It seems a complete nonsense to me that Autism can be subject to a formula based on these indicators.
So I have to try and prove complex needs. It could be a bit of a battle.

This is direct quote from Sarah McCarthy Fry which may help. I am in email contact with her about another issue but this was in her email to me:

QUOTE

"it is up to local authorities to decide whether it is appropriate to carry out a statutory assessment or issue a statement based on consideration of the individual child. They should not apply blanket policies to these decisions without consideration of each child's case. If a parent disagrees with a local authorities decision they should seek advice from their local parent partnership service and, if necessary, parents can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) against decisions about their child's education.
"

I think that court case I started a new thread about today could have a big impact on this. It says that councils absolutely must not apply 'blanket policies' based solely on diagnoses, but must carry out a full investigation of each case. So if they are saying they'll only handle it correctly for some disabilities but not ASDs, they're admitting they want to break the law. I wouldn't if I were them...

padua

Apply for the Statement yourself and asap. Organisations like IPSEA and SOS;SEN are helpful and are importantly independent.

Blanket policies like "bottom two or three percent, only having complex needs before statement is granted" etc is illegal. LEA's know the law - I'd advise you to apply for the statement yourself (you as parents can appeal) and fight for your son's educational rights.

Do not accept the waiting until your DS falls way behind. He needs this statement asap; not in say two or three years time. Early intervention is vital and makes a lot of difference.

You are your son's best and only advocate.
Never forget that.

Yup, you need to watch what they mean by his peers. They don't get to define that; the Disability Discrimination Act does.

But schools will try: dd was left for a whole term without maths tuition and school was trying to make out it didn't matter because she'd get a reasonable SATs mark anyway. Yes dears, that is not the point.

(Mind you, we couldn't have got a statement anyway since our LEA don't give them for physical disabilities: you have to have learning difficulties.)

Cory, tis illegal to specify that only physical disability get a Statement. Naughty people, tsk!