Getting private/independent advice into statement of SEN

[nuru]

Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) of getting the LEA to take heed of independent advice?

We got a private OT to assess dd2 and write statement report as NHS OTs round here wouldn't. Just wondering how much of a fight we will have to get the LEA to accept it and its recommendations.

My DS's Statement contained an Appendix which was the diagnostic report written by a private Prof of Developmnetal Delay Disorders.

The LA ask parents if there is anyone who the LA should seek advice from when gathering reports that underpin their decison as to whether to assess / issue a Statement. If the advice provided by one of those is relevant to the deciion that the LA has to make then I would expect to see their advice as an Appendix.

SEN COP 7:35 instructs the LA to 'pay particular attention to' ... ' evidence provided by the child's school, parents and other professionals where they have been involved with the child, as to the nature, extent and cause of the child's learning difficulties'.

There is absolutely nothing to say that these 'professionals' must be in the public sector. I insiosted our private report was included as the NHS were still faffing about at that stage scratching their heads and trying to decide what the dx should be.

If the 'professional' is qualified to give his opinion and his evidence is relevant then I think the LA must accept it. Of course there are a lot of people in SEN land who will tell you otherwise but I actually have a Statement that includes private advice so I know it is accepted.

Best wishes

Is this one of the reports for advice for the statutory assessment? You can ask your case officer to consult with the OT for advice. The SEN COP says that
'[The LEA] must also seek any other advice they consider appropriate and, where reasonable, should consult those whom the parents have named. They should do so immediately and should ask all concerned to respond within six weeks.' (7:74)

You could also append it to your own Parental Advice and then it will have to be included as part of the appendices. However, that doesn't mean that the LA will take any notice of it, as they tend to ignore Parental Advice entirely.

My own experience is that I have not had a problem with the LA distinguishing between the NHS/independent reports. I had reports from both NHS and independent professionals and they paid heed to all of them to a similar degree. Unfortunately, this means in our case that they ignored a lot of the useful (costly) recommendations, even from their own LA EP and NHS consultants!

Thanks everyone.

She already has a statement and we are now working on the amended one for her transition into Reception.

We have a meeting this afternoon with the LEA as we have rejected their proposed amended statement. I will be present them with the private OT report as a 'fait accompli' I think, because they know there is no local NHS OT, so they don't really have a leg to stand on. They also know we are well prepared to take them to Tribunal as we almost had to do it last year but then they caved.

OK, need to finish preparing now .....