LEA have agreed to do a Statutory Assessment

[lou031205]

Hooray!

I phoned yesterday, told to wait for a decision letter. It arrived today.

Now comes the 'parental advice' - any tips?

bump

Thanks, any advice for key words to use in my parental advice?

Parental advice bit for statutory assessment needs to be a bleak pic of your DS on worst day poss. You need them to have no loopholes to use to say "he's too capable to need a statement", which they will do at the drop of a hat. It's tricky because as mums we like to emphasise the positive side, but this is not the occasion to do that. Also, a good idea to start pre-positioning in the parental advice the kind of education you want for DS - eg if you don't want mainstream put something like "he will find it difficult to cope in a crowded or noisy environment, and may react badly with high anxiety levels, and will also need to be constantly supervised as is not road-safe, may run away if gates not locked etc". It is a fine line if you do want mainstream: it has to sound bad - but not so bad as to preclude his going to mainstream. Sorry to sound cynical, but this is how I found it with the parental submission.

That's really helpful.

sickof... the feeling from the Inclusion Co-ordinator is that she 'would run rings around' special school, that she is too bright. The preschool feel she will need full 1:1 to go to mainstream, including breaks/lunch. I'm in two minds. I love the idea of her going to mainstream, making friends, being 'normal' but the reality? She has no sense of danger. She is impulsive. She does run away. She has a blue badge because she is unsteady on her feet & no sense of danger/runner. It only takes one absent minded person to forget to shut a gate.

Starlight - 1. No. I want someone to give proper advice as to whether she would best be served by special school or mainstream. It isn't about her 'being bright'. She is delayed in communication, has impulsivity, hyperactivity, ataxia, low muscle tone, fine & gross motor, balance, behavioural elements, sensory elements, sleep issues. Yes, she can count. To 15. Yes, she knows colours. And shapes. But she can't do a jigsaw, can't recognise letters, etc. Can only just imitate a straight line with a pencil. Can only scribble.

If she is to go mainstream, she has to have full 1:1 - all of it. No doubt in my mind at all. At preschool she has 1:1 at all times, and still they have days when I can hear her being disruptive when I wait to collect her.

1. No idea other than what I have read about the sections.

1. No they have just sent me a form to fill in giving my advice, with defined sections such as 'early life' 'communication', etc.

It does say that I don't have to use the actual form.

I am viewing the mainstream schools in the next few weeks because we have to submit a school choices form by mid-November.

The really interesting thing is that we are quite possibly relocating to Scotland in a few months time. So local schools may be irrelevant. But I figured that any statementing stuff here will strengthen my case for a CSP there.

shamesless bump - really want to get this right & so many of you have done it

Lou there's achild in ds3's SNU that is 98th centile across the board and thriving there, it's about a differentitated curriculum not a lesser one. It is in a good unit, anyway.

RE the positive aspects- I keep a piece of apper when writing DLA , statement info etc and write all the positives on there so I don't feel I ignored them, but never ever post it by mistake!

Oh and don't do what I used to do

Write what you want then give them the get out

as in

@DS3 really needs a aplcement in and SNU, though we would be prepered to trial MS with a minimum 16 hours'

I mean, how stupid.....

I wish I knew what she needs. A friend is starting a post at a SN school, and described her classroom. Individual workstations, 'in' boxes and 'out' boxes for their work, etc. Sounds just up DD's street - defined areas/expectations/boundaries.

have you visited the special school? looked at their ofsted etc - like any school really there are good ones and bad ones - ask the special school if they could pass on your details to parents with similar children who you might speak to. our special school has a cut off so you have to be in the bottom 1% for IQ or have severe medical needs to get in. You can also consider dual placements or schools with a SN unit attached - so some time in one and some in the other - also if you live near the boundary of your lea don't be afraid to find out whats in the next one over in case they have something much more suitable. I would trust the special school to tell you if its suitable or not - the lea won't be thinking about whats the best fit but whats the cheapest option. Also special school does not have to be forever - you can start there - move to dual placement - or fully transfer over. Some children start there for nursery - move over to mainstream in infants / juniors; but then can't cope with mainstream secondary and go back to special but perhaps go to mainstream for particular subjects special school can't cater for. There is much more in and out than a mainstream school. Or at least there is in the ones which are keeping up with the childrens needs

The difficulty I have there, is that I don't know what is happening. I am probably moving to Scotland. I wouldn't want to block another child getting a SN placement because a place was kept for DD if I know she is unlikely to be here.

That's an interesting issue then as there aren't any Statements in Scotland - only Co ordinated Support Plans which make Statements look easy to get ! I hope I'm not depressing you I suppose you should press on with the Statement so that you have something in black and white - for the Scottish meanies to argue with !

Lou - my boy has no sense of danger etc, like you describe your DD, but he has his 1-to-1 with him all the time at mainstream (even, or in fact especially at playtime) so he is ok. He only goes pm's and the rest of the time we home tutor him with ABA tutors. I'm not sure a full day would be ok for him. Plus I got him year delayed so he has a chance of keeping up academically. I wanted to try mainstream first, as DS needs to live in a mainstream world eventually, plus I found that all the special schools around near me set their expectations woefully low ("oh we do lots of swimming and horse-riding" but never any mention of reading). Everyone has a different experience, and I think often in a special school or even a mainstream unit it comes down to how good the teacher is. For what it's worth, I would try her at mainstream.

cyberseraphim - eek! My plan is to try and get statement done, so that it 'goes before us' to Scotland. I read that CSP incidence is 2%, like English statements. Is that not the case?

sickof... that's reassuring. How hard was it to get playtime support?

Lou, if you CAT me I can tell you more about my battles!

Don't have CAT but would love to hear them at lou031205 at googlemail dot com.

I don't have any experience of transferring a child with a statement to Scotland so I don't want to give you what might be wrong information. If you google Govan Law Centre + Education - the people there are well informed and will be able to advise you. I think the idea of CSPs is more about co ordinating services than specifying any particular form of education so you will need advice about how to secure what you get in England.

Ruth Glynne Owen is in Scotland she posts on here sometimes - she has an autism consultancy and is opening an autism nursery in scotland - she has her own website and gives out free advice by phone - i spoke to her early on when deciding which therapy to go for and she was very generous with her time. She would be a good place to start with the scottish system

(thanks starlight!)

Thanks, will google.

Lou! Over here (sort of)!!!