Got provisional statement, how do I know whether ti ok it.

[bigknickersbigknockers]

Got a recent diagnosis of ASD for DS. At the time we were almost at the end of the statementing process. We have got the diagnosis included into the statement which has been awarded BAND F. A lady is coming to talk me through it on Thursday (from parent partnership) but I was wondering is Band F the best we can get for DS and how will we know if the statement helps where DS needs help?

This part of Essex operates a banding system from A to F.

You need the actual proposed statement first and foremost and you need to pick over Parts 2 and 3 with a fine toothcomb. Woolly and mealy minded provision won;t cut it and will have to be rejected by you; what you need is provision that is both quantified and clearly stated.

Seeking independent advice too on parts 2 and 3 is always a good idea. Parent partnership often act closely with the LEA and are certainly not independent of them.
Do not just take PPs word for it re the statement doc, seek independent advice too before you agree the proposed statement.

Some good organisations to talk to re the statement doc are IPSEA, SOS;SEN and or ACE. All can be helpful to you in these particular circumstances.

www.ipsea.org.uk

Parent patnership said my daughter's statement was fine when it was actually absolute crap! and our PP is meant to be independent of the LEA. There are some legal firms who will also do a statement check.

It will always be the LA's goal to get away with the least possible commitment. Not for sinister reason, but because the system is breaking at the seams and resources are finite. This is not your problem but there's.

Wording can help them with their goal. i.e. 'up to 10 hours 1:1 support' can be legally fulfilled by supplying 1 hour. SLT when appropriate can mean that the SLT never goes in because she is off sick. Having it specified in the statement properly with hours means that they would have to pay someone else to cover her duties towards your dc.

It is really important that having come this far you get someone truly independent to check it over. The LA HAS to try to swindle you, - their management insists on it and so does their budget. There has been a trend recently of increasingly apalling statements apparently.

parentsofdis - I am getting a bit narked now. Please stop bumping your site. Also, the link you post to your site contains material directly copied from the IPSEA website. Do you think they would be happy to see you copying their material without acknowledgement?

"Also to back up what Attilia said about IPSEA another great site worth looking at." You imply that your material is separate from theirs. It is a direct copy.

I am reporting your post to MNHQ.

Thankyou for all the replies. I shall read parts 2 and 3 very carefully. I was told that parent partnership is independent but I will ask het when she comes tomorrow. We are not to bad where I live (north west) I have not had to fight for anything at all and have gone straight to band F, which a friend of mine with a ASD DS said is the highest level I will get (her son is more severe than
mine) It all seems very stressfull and I havent long to get it sorted because I will have had the statement a week by the time she comes tomorrow to talk me through it.

Who told you that re PP?. PP are not fully independent of the LEA; they often work closely with them. The PP of the LEA that I reside in work out of the same building!.

Be wary of what PP tell you - they are not always completely transparent. You should also take proper independent advice from one of the organisations I cited in my earlier reply.

No idea what BandF means and you need to understand that it is unimportant. What is important is that your child's needs are met. Telling you that your child will get BandF and that it is the 'highest' is totally meaningless. There is no such thing as 'highest'. Children's needs are very different and money/funding allocated cannot be capped as this is illegal.

Also, for all you know there is only BandE and BandF, with BandE being an IEP, and BandF being everything else that could possibly be awarded. There could be 'levels' of BandF. D'ya see what I mean?