OK it's in, help me decide if it's any good......

[lou031205]

DD1's proposed statement came in today:

Pros
-Arrived 2 days early (not bad considering xmas)
-SALT listed in parts 2&3
-OT listed in parts 2&3

Part 2 lists in summary:
-gross & fine motor skills
-social comm. & social interaction skills
-speech and language skills
-attention and concentration skills
-emotional and behaviour skills
-sensory issues
-play and learning skills
-self help and safety

Cons
No hours specified for 1:1
Not sure where they think she is best placed.

Could people have a read, if I type some excerpts?

When I was at school, they used to buy parents off by giving their children a laptop.

Here, - have a laptop. Don't complain about anything or we'll take it off you!

That's the thing. I have to work out who is selling me what, and why. I just want my little girl to thrive.

SALT made me cross - all year I've asked her opinion & got nothing. Then this comes with her report attached, where she describes DD as having severe delay in language, and speech, and 'severe difficulties' in attention & concentration.

Why couldn't she have said that to me?

I know how you feel. I spent a year trying to get the SALT to do a formal assessment and then came the dx assessment where they were forced to carry it out. The senior slt said in the meeting afterwards that our salt had agreed that ds behaved typically during the assessment. I was amazed. How on earth did she know what was typical for my ds? She hadn't spent any time with him or even spoken to me once!

They don't propose a special school lightly - if they do it would almost certainly seem it's required.

Also, regarding quantification of support - the Dept for Ed's and the legal stance on this is that any 'flexibility' in not categorically stating an exact amount of hours should be for the benefit of the child and not the school / LEA.

I agree, wetaugust.

The cynical part of me looked at the financial side of things. To send a child to the local mainstream last year cost £7800. Employ an LSA full-time, possibly £15000 pa. No transport costs because school is around 1 mile away. Total cost £22800 pa.

Special school proposed had a 2009 cost of £29942 pa. Taxi rates to school are £16.48 per journey, so a total of £6388 pa. Total cost £36330 pa.

So they would save around £14000 pa by sending her to local school with full 1:1, which means they really think it is the best thing.

But then the portage worker phoned this morning, and when I told her she said that she was 'in shock'. She thought DD was doing really well. Her only real concern about mainstream (albeit with 1:1) was her escapology tendencies.

So where from here?

Visit to school booked for next week. Portage suggested visiting another SS, as well, but the only thing with that is that AFAIK from conversation with LA, if I chose another SS, we wouldn't get transport. DD2 will need to go to school locally, so I can't do both.

Portage worker also said that they had a queue of children for that school, so it isn't that they need to fill a place.

I've found the whole finding a school thing really hard. 1 was raved about by a few professionals, prechool workers et al but when I went I found it noisy, chaotic, the teacher was SHOUTY etc and the only place I could imagine DS1 there was under a desk!

I've had the some concerns over logistics of 2 children at different schools (DS2 will start school the year after DS1) and came to the conclusion that it was essential for DS1 to be in the right school whilst DS2 would be fine wherever he went. Based on that we focused on finding the hallowed right school for DS1 and will cross our fingers and hope for breakfast and afterschool clubs to be available to get around the being in 2 places at once problem.

I am getting such conflicting advice

"grab it with both hands"
"mainstream would be best"
"special school would be great"
"we don't give full 1:1 at mainstream"
"
I don't know what to do. I don't know what she needs. I don't know what her future is.

I've not been in your position, but my gut feeling is: go with the flow - look at this decision as to being where you think she will be best placed for the next year or two - then review the situation depending on how she is doing and how you feel the school is doing - there is usually a routine annual statement review anyway - don't look at it as being a set in stone decision for the next 11+ years - but as a decision you are making for now and the near future. have you managed to see any special schools yet for yourself? One thing though - it is I think usually easier to go from SS to MS than vice versa.

Poor you. It must be very difficult. I don't know if she could do a split placement? Half a week in SS and half in a local (to the SS) mainstream. It's not common, but it does happen. You could give it a year and see how she goes.

I would say that your LA do seem to be playing it straight though. Agree that SS is usually more expensive (though your £7800 for a mainstream place made me as it's under half that here) and so they must genuinely believe that it's right for her. Was she being her typical self when the people who are recommending SS saw her? The Portage worker's opinion is important as she knows her better than one-off people, I guess.

The 100% 1:1 thing is bullshit. They can give full time, though don't like to. Blanket ban on full-time would be aillegal and they'd have to give it to you if it was needed. We were told the same, but J does have it (plus more on top) so it is a line/ lie and shouldn't cloud your view.

IME and IMO, it's harder to go from special to mainstream than from mainstream to special. So there's nothing stopping you trying mainstream for a year if you can't do a split placement and then changing to SS if it doesn't work out.

Good luck with your decision.

Totalchaos x-post and conflicting advice! Poor Lou!

Will clarify: I think it's easier for the child to go from mainstream to special as it's not a shock to the system to be suddenly thrust in large school after being used to tiddly class sizes. Kids have come to my school from special school and just bombed - it's been to much to cope with. However, kids going to special from mine have thrived.

oops - to clarify - I don't disagree with GMS - by easier I meant in terms of the mechanics of arranging it all, rather than the child's perspective.

I just want to cry.

The people who made written representation to the LA all have said to me that they felt DD should go to mainstream plus support. They all said she would need a high level of support. Portage worker said 1:1 for safety. Ed psych said that high level of support needed & gave around 25 recommendations. Preschool said full 1:1 support needed. Doc said access to hygiene room, step markers, etc. Superficial scoring of around 2.5 years, but overall profile leads to considerable disadvantage in classroom. SALT said severe SAL delay plus severe attention/listening problems. OT said high support/1:1.

I have asked about SS, and all professionals said no, too able, mainstream with support.

But reports go to LA, who send a SS statement.

I have no idea what I am meant to do. Portage shocked. Ed Psych shocked. But don't seem shocked enough to tell me to reject it and fight for mainstream.

LA don't give full 1:1 in mainstream because it promotes dependency. Preschool say that there is no way she can go to mainstream without every minute covered. They are right. She will escape, run away, has no sense of danger. That is aside from flooding the bathrooms, climbing, etc. Falling over.

She is bright, I am told. I don't want to write her off in terms of academia, but she's got to survive it also, surely?

Lou, the 1:1 thing is bollocks, I promise. They can't leave her without full-time if she needs full time for safety - and they wouldn't make you go as far as Tribunal, I'm sure.

I'm really shocked after seeing your list of who didn't mention SS. It's bizarre that the Statementing officer (who, IME, just writes what the higher up people have told them to/ does it off the reports from EP etc.) has chosen SS seemingly independently.
I would ask for a meeting ASAP with person who has made the SS decision and ask them to go through step by step why they made that decision. Even a phone call.

Thanks, NorthernSky, givememoresleep & totalchaos.

NorthernSky, that is helpful - perhaps the most telling thing is that the head of DD's local mainstream infants -years R-2 (who we didn't meet when we looked around) has told us to grab it with both hands. She said her experience is that they get given 15hrs 1:1, struggle all afternoon, and then get kicked out to SS by year 3 (change to Juniors) because the gap is so wide.

If that is her take on it, then perhaps DD would be set up to fail there, anyway, and that was the best MS school in the area in terms of SNability, IYKWIM.

Can you go back to them with the idea of a split placement ? To keep your options open ? The safety/attention issue might be what has led them to recommend SS as this is not hard to manage 100% in MS but she is young and these issues might resolve so a foothold in MS would be good - No idea if that's possible.

Agree with totalchaos and northernsky that, organisationally, it's harder to get into ss from mainstream, but it's definitely easier on the child than vice versa.

Sorry that last bit did not make sense !

Going to sleep on it now. Thanks for all the advice. Do post any other comments - I'll catch them up tomorrow.

Our Officer made her decision independently as well, but the opposite way round so we were asking for specialist teaching (originally special school nursery but when LEA dragged their heels started ABA). All the reports were written for SS / ABA but ignored all these and she offered mainstream with support. We don't want this because the support is poor (autism outreach team overstretched and offer very basic general advice only) & the 1:1 in m/s will have no experience of autism. However, we were asking for this for short term ie 2-3 years as DS also probably too bright in long term for SS but would benefit from early intensive intervention.

You have to decide for yourself. If you want m/s they HAVE to give you this unless it disrupts the teaching of other children. You have a right to ask for m/s. You don't have a right to insist on SS.

You can ask for a meeting to find out their reasoning.

The reports will have been written to give the worst picture - our SALT wrote hers to help with ABA / SS and never expected to have to deliver the high level programme she recommended! I rang her last week and she seemed a bit shocked I was not expecting her to organise what she had recommended. I think she expected us to be off her caselist by now.

No-one can tell you what to do you its a gut instinct really. If you genuinely do not know then ask for split placement. You can be in SS for short term and then transfer - thats what we were looking at initially. 2-3 years of specialist teaching to work on his deficits and then transfer to m/s. I know children who have done it this way very successfully.

Just go back and visit both and ask lots of questions - ask for the SS to see your child and give their view.

Do you get SALT in house in SS? That was a big factor for us as we have had very little SALT. However now we get it via ABA (but have to pay!)

I know of two children who went to SS nursery and then gradually transferred over to m/s at Yr 1. Managed really well - SS teachers went with them and trained new school up on individual needs of children and followed them up. SS will not keep a child if they are too bright, they will be looking to move those children on if its a good school. Have you looked at OFSTED etc? One of the children I am thinking of was super bright, but was at SS for 2 years to work on speech etc. I think a lot will depend on what you think of SS when you see it. Ask if a teacher will also come and visit you and your child at home. Tell them you are unsure, its a big decision they will understand you need time to think it through.

Thankyou, grumpyoldeyeore. That's really helpful. The reports are, I think, accurate. I truly think that a lot of the 'positive' views of DD are because of the fact that she loves to interact with people. However, the level of that interaction is just as inappropriate as if she wouldn't interact at all. Climbing on new contacts, twiddling their hair, touching their earrings, grabbing their stethescope, etc. within 2 minutes of meeting them.

I suspect that part of this is letting go of the hope that this was all a bit of a bad dream, and that when I wake up DD will be a normal kid, going to a normal school, making friends, having playdates, not needing constant supervision and intervention to make it through the day.

We will visit the school on Wednesday with dd - so that they will see the child behind the paper. Go from there.

SALT is all in house, as is OT. Our current SALT input has been worse than a chocolate teapot, so that is a consideration.