"its not our policy to attend meetings we are asked to attend"!! WTH

[lisad123wantsherquoteinDM]

DD1 has another appointment at communications disorder clinic, they didnt attend last one, and today i have been told its not "their policy" to attend as they have a high level of SEN children at the school and if they went to them all they wouldnt have time to teach So they go to none!
Anyone elses school have this "policy"??

Lisa, I'm not too sure of the details but from the other side of the fence, sadly this often has to be the case.
If you are dealing with a large amount of people all/most of whome some kind of statutory meeting, then you could very easily find yourself doing little else but attending them.

There is only so much time to go around in the public sector, that's the sad truth of it. I am a huge supporter of parents on this site but it is important for you to know that peopel are groaning under a huge amount of work and responsibilities.

Minutes from these meetings are usually pretty accurate (although Star may disagree!) and will be sent on to others.

I agree, but even if they are efficient (and many are,I promise you) then they are still incredibly time consuming.

Imagine you work with 70 people at a time (not unusual). Each has at least one important meeting a year which will take 1/2 a day of your time.
35 of your annual working days (ie nearly 2 months) have gone just on those!

Yes but there seems to be a pervading belief that the more peopleinvolved the better and most of the time it just isn't true.

Not that I blame parents for this.Peopel in the field have to remember that a scenario we have experience 100s of times is the ^first6 time for that particular family.

The Lamb Inquiry is excellent on this-such a damning indictment of the present shit system.

were lucky ds head trys to attend but think thats because she is also the senco ..I try to circulate reports before meeting so they know that have stuff to fight with.

his physio/ot tend to submit reports but i do ask to see there reports first .

To be honest i have found its a lot easier just to do things myself and inform them of the outcome now tend to chair own meetings and always ask for everyone sign in with name contact details and who they represent that way i know which butt to kick or whose button to press

Great idea Phoenix.
Noonoe will ever care as much as a parent.
I remember that every day of my life and hold similar views.

Yes, it's a delicae balance and ultimately best for the child if people can work together. School involvemnt essential as after all, that is where the child will be most of the time.
As I say over and over, the key issue for me is TAs ill equipped to do their job properly and to understand how to fade assistance and facilitate independent error flee fluent performance (which only an understanding of ABA can supply you with in most cases unless you are incredibly intuitivem, which most people aren't and indeed, why should they be? Effective teaching is a science, not an art.)

They are the key people whose performance and actions affect your child, not the ever changing team of 'specialists' and 'consultants' who will drift in and out of your child's life, usually with minimal outcomes.

wow huge dicussions here
I think the problem I have is that the pead commented last time that things cant be that bad otherwise school would be there I can see the same again, they have sent their strengths and difficulties questionaire back, which was pretty bad, but then wont attend. They have invited, teacher, SENCO and ed phy, and from my understanding none of them will be attending. Its difficult because from what I can gather this meeting will formalise DD1 dx and make a plan, quite hard to do when no one is there.

I am begining to think I should maybe ask for a CAF and TAC but would be very odd for me seeing this is what I spend my days doing!

We have NO help at all for DD1 in school at the moment, and they have said no point in an IEP either.

Yep CAFs and TACs are part of my job

Wow loads to think about there, and we are seeing CDAC for DD1 in Feb, to hopefully get the dx they gave us in June into a formal one. The appointment for DD2 is with Health team to get a good indepth assessment to send to CDAC for further assessment if needed

Ok going though it all:

Do you want a diagnosis? If so why? Because I know without a DX that proffessional involved with her and her education and care will struggle to put in place the right level of support. She isnt a "problem" in the class i a normal way but her emotional state is at risk unless they help and support her.

Do you know what diagnosis you want and why? (come on, have faith in your ability to know your child)

ASD because I know thats what she has

Do you have the right referal, appointment for a diagnosis (or information that you seek)?
Yep for DD1, not sure on DD2 yet, will know more next week.

What do you expect will be the outcome of a diagnosis? Is this what you want?

I want the level of support needed for DDs to be able to meet their full potentional and to be well blanaced girls. I would expect the LEA to be able to provide the level of support needed to ensure that the ASD does not limit her possiblities.

What help do you think might come as a result? Is this what you want?

I want 1-1 support for DD1 (not all day), CBT for DD1 and a good early intervention plan for dd2 with the possibility of a funded place at the ASD preschool (yeah right)

If the LA was forward-thinking enough to look at your child purely on the basis of need rather than diagnosis what support do you think she needs to thrive in school? (you must have some ideas by now) How is this different to what she is getting?

Well right now she is getting nothing, so anything is an improvement. She needs someone to listen when she has a question, she needs someone to undertsand she needs to know what is happening down to the slightess detail, she needs someone that she is comfertable to ask these questions, and she needs someone to build her self esteem to speak up in school. She needs help to understand social skills and somewhere quiet to reflect.

i need a coffee after all that

oh and someone to correct people that make throw away comments like "we dont cry in year 2, we use our mistake monsters" I mean, ok i understand the thoughts behide it, but OMG I spent 2 weeks of hell because she truely believed she was not allowed to cry in year 2 at all!! grrr