Can a parent request an educational psychologist's assesssment?

[debs40]

Hi

My son is undergoing assessment for ASD. He is bright and doing quite well but has clear problems in working memory and probably dyspraxia/dysgraphia.

We are seeing an OT for the motor skills/sensory side of things and we went to bibic for assessment in relation to some of his difficulties. They confirmed auditory processing and working memory problems.

I have asked school who needs to address this to no avail. He is on SA but gets no assistance at all over and above differentiated teaching. His targets relate to social skills and were compiled before the reports had started to come in. There was an occasional social skills group last term but that seems to have fizzled out.

I would like to know whether I, as a parent, can request an assessment by an educational psychologist or whether this has to be requested by the school.

Why would they be reluctant to do it? Does it cost them? They clearly know there are problems.

Also, the OT will certainly come back with a whole of host of suggestions. Are the school obliged to implement them if they are 'reasonable accomodations' related to a disability?

When he is nexted reveiwed on SA ,which really should be every 6 weeks , they should take note of parents conerns . Get them to record the fact that you want an assessment by Ed Psyc, with your reasons and evidence to support it.

I take it he is at state school , this will ot cost the school anything , its all part of the education system. I'm sure someone else will be able to give you more advice on this thread soon.

It will not cost the school anything, but as far as I know, schools have an allocation of time which means that only a certain number of children can be seen each term/year. It may be that there are other children that the school are more concerned about who are waiting to be seen by the Ed Psych. However, there's no harm in writing to the SENCO to request the assessment and ask for her feedback on the matter.

If he is being seen by an OT, he should be on SA+ automatically as outside agencies are involved. However, again, this does not entitle him to additional support, it simply means that the school are consulting and being supported by outside agencies. The OT should be feeding into your ds's targets on his IEP.

Hi Debs

I remember you well.

I would write to the SENCO and formally request that your son gets seen by the EP asap.

It is correct that your DS should now be on SA plus as outside agencies are involved. In reality though, SA plus is not always worth the paper it is written on.

EPs visits to school are tightly controlled and they usually only do a couple of visits per year to the school. Also these people are in the employ of the LEA and are thus under pressure themselves not to always statement even when it is clearly needed.

Save yourself a lot of potential future pain and hassle and apply for the Statement from your LEA asap (you've heard that from me before as well!). I cannot recall how old your son is but one day he will go to Juniors and there it is a different ball game entirely both educationally and socially.

Hi Attila and others, thanks for this!

I spoke to my local ed psych team who confirmed I can request an assessment as a parent if I want one, although they would prefer it to go through the school.

Their advice was to speak to the school and come back to them to discuss it further if I get a negative response.

We have not had any kind of review since the rubbish IEP goals were set in October. We have since had a report from bibic, the involvement of the OT (who is still to fully complete her assessment) and now the head of the ASD diagnostic team will see him in school after half term (she agreed with my suspicions of AS).

My view is that it may be difficult until further info is in to precisely identify DS's needs (to be honest I am only starting to get to grips with them all myself) but that the OT report should be in next month and the ASD team's intervention starts. We are also starting Early Bird Plus tomorrow.

I am noticing problems with writing (which is not progressing) and some numeracy issues where he seems to be stalling so I am noting this.

I have just helped another family with their application for a statutory assessment and I think I need to get all the info I can together before I proceed further.

In the meantime, I am making a note of any problem areas, passing on info and have written to the SENCO to ask about the Ed Psych. I will also ask that we set a review date and that Nye be marked as being on SA+ (for the record)

An Ed Psych is taking the Early Bird Plus course and I have discussed the matter with her. She has suggested that rather than doing home visits - she can do school visits to assist.

DS is nearly 7 and at primary school so he does not change schools but moves to a different corridor next year. I can, however, see how he might get left behind without assistance.

Does this seem reasonable?