Educational Physiologist

[fairy]

I wonder if anyone else has experience of this. My 4 year old ds has low muscle/body tone, this was diagnosed last November. We have an appointment booked for him at the local hospital to see an Occupational Therapist in June as he is due to start school in September.

Last week I got a phonecall out of the blue from an educational physiologist asking to make an appointment to visit him at home. She said she had been referred by the OT department at the hospital to see him before he starts school.

I guess what I'm asking is has anyone else experienced this? and what happened, and were the results good or bad?

To be honest I am bit worried, and I'm looking for just a little reassurance, can anyone help/advise me?

Fairy is it possible they are considering a statement might be necessary for when he starts school? If so then an ed psych is usually called in I believe. I would give her a call and ask her to explain what she needs to visit for though.

My ds will be statemented next year, but I believe Jimjams is oging through it all now. The only other experience of ed psych I have is when my oldest was assessed for dyspraxia, and she was very nice. Hth.

I was wondering whether they are thinking of statmenting- but I would have thought it was unlikely for low muscle tone. With the introduction of action plus statementing is becoming rarer (oh god ds1 must be really bad- they rushed him through )

Our Ed psych is pretty good. I recognised the child she was talking about which was a good sign! Probably depends though- good and bad everywhere. The Ed psych would probably recommend the sort of help that might be needed at school. This is a good thing- makes life a lot easier.

I'm very jealous that you are getting OT though!

Rereading your title it says physiologist. Did you mean psychologist? If not completely disregard what I just wrote!

Jimjams, our physio told us that ot spoke to her last week and is planning on calling us next week for an appointment! Am getting quite excited at the thought of this seemingly rare thing happening to us!

I am going off the thread here but I cant understand why there is no OT input for all you ladies out there. Am I correct in saying that.
Brief history of ds2
OT from a few months old.
Toy library from around 1yo.
Portage from about 18mo.
Special school from around 2 and a half.

Do you girls receive this?

Yes Lou33 I did mean psychologist (!), terrible spelling as per usual. This whole statement thing terrifies me, what is it and is it hung over him forever?

He is a very bright intelligent boy, who just happens to have low muscle tone....please can someone explain all of this to me?

Argh Fairy, do you have a week to read through all the stuff that goes with statementing?! I actually see it as a good thing, because in theory it means my ds will have his specific needs catered for from preschool and upwards. I found out a few days ago, that my borough is the only one in Surrey that statements preschoolers, and personally I am really glad about it, beacuse it means ds will get help earlier, which can only be a good thing. Statistics have proved that early intervention with statementing can actually save councils money in the long term, because the early help can mean children don't need it when they get older (does that make sense? I am very tired!).
I haven't gone through it as yet, but there is an enormous book available free of charge if you email [email protected] and ask for a copy of the DFES SEN Codes of Practice. It gives you everything you need to know about statementing and the procedures. Very detailed.

All I can think of is that your OT is undecided if ds will need any extra help in school due to his low muscle tone. My three oldest kids have a collagen deficiency that results in hypermobility, and the oldest one had other problems too when she was younger. She went through the statementing process then (although I can't remember any of it!) and they decided not to statement her, but to put a note in lieu of statement instead, which means that her condition had to be on all her records and staff had to be made aware of it, but no extra funding was forthcoming. Perhaps this is a possibility with your son? Statementing is not just about intelligence, but for physical help too. Best wishes to you.

Hi Fairy.
Looks like the links between Health and Education are getting a bit better in some areas at long last... but at the expense of keeping parents informed which is not so good. I would guess that your OT has notified the education department that your son's condition could result in some difficulties when he starts at school. Low muscle tone can sometimes be linked to conditions such as dyspraxia (see \linkwww.dyscovery.co.uk/here{} for some more info) which might mean that a child can use extra help in school. As Lou said this has NOTHING to do with intelligence. If your son's low muscle tone is linked to dyspraxia he may find things like drawing, handwriting, organising himself or PE a bit more difficult than some other kids do. Or he may not, of course. Perhaps the ed psych will be checking that sort of thing out? I agree with Lou33 that giving him/her a ring and asking exactly what the purpose of the visit is and what it will entail sounds like a good idea. I can imagine you must be feeling like this process is happening without you, which is just not on. Good luck.

Jimjams- don't assume that your ds is really, really bad compared to others- remember the power of the word "autism"! Honestly- they see it and panic and bingo, the statement is there (though whether it will be any good and have the appropriate provision is another matter). Hope some OT comes through soon for your son too.

Sorry, mucked up that link. Try here

Thank you for your help Scummymummy and Lou33, I think the combination of previous life events and my MIL being an ex-teacher have whipped me into a frenzy. Maybe if I give you some more background info, which I've always been worried of doing even on here.

When ds1 was born, he was big, 10lbs 5ozs, head 38cm. We had to have a consultant waiting outside 'just in case', it was quick a quick birth and his head was very red and patchy for quite a while after his birth.

When he was almost 4 months we found a watery lump on the side of his head, in a blind panic we rushed him to the emergency doctor at the hospital, then onto x-ray etc. The doctor on call that night couldn't see anything on the x-ray, and said they would keep him in and we could go home in the morning.

Well we did leave the hospital, but 2 weeks later! The day after admission we were accussed of harming him, he had a hairline fracture about 3 cms in length going up from about a cm above his ear. We could not believe what was happening, not helped when all the health staff around us were saying they didn't think we had done anything, except for one evil doctor (!). One nurse actually said to us, they like to pick on 'our' sort, namely white, middle class and well educated.

Well to cut a long story short, we were accussed and had to prove our innocence, we had our own expert who said he believed it had happened at birth and the swelling could have happened at any time, but social services didn't agree, and placed him on a 1 year supervision order, it could have been worse, i know.

So here we are now he is 4 and a half, and when he was diagnosd with the low muscle tone I was of course asked if he had had any previous medical problems, I said yes and explained, this has now ended up on the report which has now been seen by the OT and EP, and this is I guess the main root of my fear.

I'm scared that the EP is going to come here, and be looking at more than just his problems, looking deeper, do you understand? We can't go through it again, it almost ripped us apart before.

I doubt that any of you have had an experience like this, I hope not for your own sanity, but this is my problem. And of course my MIL is just went into a complete flap when she heard about it.

I'm sorry I've waffled, any advice or ideas are so welcome!

I just guess I'm asking for you to be postive whihc you have been, thank you, only Mumsnet can help, yet again!

Fairy, no time now but PLEASE don't worry that an Ed Psych could breenge in and turn your life upside down in the way you experienced before. (Very sorry to hear you went through that- it sounds like a nightmare.) It's not within an ed psych's remit. They are NOT there to nose out child protection issues, though I presume and hope they would contact the relevant authorities if there was a problem that they spotted in the course of their real role, which is giving advice on how children can access education. More later- but don't panic. Could you ask to meet at the ed psych's office rather than at your home if that would make you feel better?

oh fairy- what an awful experience. Please don't worry about the Ed psych. Their remit is just to see what help may be needed in school- not anything else. Now wonder you're worried about outside interference! Does your ds1 attend nursery? Ds1 was seen there- means they wouldn't have to go into your home.

Oh and don't worry about statementing if they did decide to do that. It is literally a piece of paer saying what help a child is legally entitled to at school. It is an attempt to safeguard the help (whether or not it actually works is another matter!). It doesn't categorise your child in any way iyswim.

And I know of SS making mistake after mistake of the sort you talk about. I think sometimes they've gone so far that they don't like to lose face and back down. It's the only explanation for some of the cases I've heard. If they've left you alone for the last thee and a half years I'm sure you'll be OK and have been forgotten.

Thanks Jimjams, I guess we have tried to keep everything with ds1 under our hats, because people make assumptions....

I'm happy for the EP to see him at home, I think she will see him at his best and worst, if you know what I mean! Maybe the problem is me, I've got a chip on my shoulder about the term 'special needs', I know its daft, but I want the best for him, and I don't want him starting school and being labelled as something and never shaking free from it.

I'm sure after tomorrow morning I will feel alot better, must remember to tidy up first!

Re. the SS (!), it did seem that way to us, at the end, they 'knew' we had not done anything, but they could not admit they had wasted 8 months, and a great deal of taxpayers money. I worry for the families who get caught up in that do not either have the education or the stamina to fight it, at the end of it all I just wanted to explode and then fade away in a corner.

I guess it had stood in good stead for anything that can be thrown at us now.

Thanks to you all for your advice, and I'll let you know how it goes. Though if you have got any other ideas, please write it, thanks!!

oh no no no- don't worry about SEN being a lable you can't shake free of. SEN costs money so the label usually has to be fought for.

Under the old terms your son would be on level 3 as you have had outside agencies involved (OT). It doesn't mean anything more than that though. I doubt very much that it will go much further than that. See the Ed Psych as a good thing- they are trying to set up the school environment so that it will be successful for your son. They are switched on to potential problems-which is good!

Fairy - no advice, but a bit of sympathy - I do know what you're going through. I've changed my name for this.

My dad is a convicted sex offender - it sounds dreadful, but it was a one-off offence towards the minor end of the scale, with a very savvy 15 yr-old ... anyway he admitted to it, was convicted and had a suspended sentence. This was 10 yrs ago.

Imagine my shock when we wanted ds1 to stay with them overnight very occasionally, we were informed that SS had to give permission. All the past was raked over, they talked about putting him on the at risk register, etc., etc.! In the end they 'gave permission', with the rider that our HV had to be informed. So that happened, and a brief note went on his file - our HV was lovely, and thoroughly understood.

BUT we have moved. HV phoned me to tell me that she had to pass this info on to his new schools health service. So now some complete stranger, who I've never met, has this info on their file ... DS1 does have some behavioural problems at times, and he has an appt (routine I think) with the school nurse next week. I feel exactly like you that they will be probing and looking deeper for things that just aren't there ...

What makes me really cross is this note is only on the file of ds1, as he was the first grandchild. Ds2 hasn't got a note, nor has their cousin who lives in same village, is a girl, and sees them every day, and overnight at least once a week. I know she's not at risk, but it's just not logical.

We bent over backwards to cooperate, because we thought otherwise he'd end up on at risk register. My sister just gave them a mouthful, and they backed off.

I'm sorry scallywag, we have moved away from the town where it happened, I refused to have ds2 born in the same place let alone hospital.

They say its all over, but its always there waiting to escape and trap you into something that isn't even there. I know that when he is older we will explain, by he is just a little boy and he has already had to suffer enough.

I think it is a shame that you always here about SS missing out on children, but the number who have been through the same as us must be huge, and you never hear about that. Sorry rant over, got to tidy up for tomorrow now!