OMG OMG! LEA has caved in - we won!!!!!

[silverfrog]

Title says it all.

Our LEA has named dd1's school on her statement.

So, we have won placement at an ABA school, without going to Tribunal.

I can't believe it.

We heard a couple of weeks ago tha they were willingto name the school, but being just a little bit cynical, could not bring ourselves to celebrate ntil we had the relevant bit of paper.

It has just come through

dd1 has made so much progress in the term she has been there it's unbelievable, and now she can stay for a while (well, until the LEA try to shift ehr out at annual review )

BUT, for now (to paraphrase one of my favourite childhood books) "the sun is shining, and the grass is green, and the silverfrog household is going to get pissed is the happiest household in the world"

Brilliant news! Congratulations!

Silver, it works slightly differently here...basically we have all the paperwork, everyone agrees it's the best place for her, but we might just have to wait until somebody else leaves and frees up a place! So it might not be for a year or so...but I'd prefer it if she went from September as I think it would be less stressful for her than doing another year at mainstream.
Actually, we don't have to fight so much here, we just have to be very very very patient sometimes!! DD now gets weekly speech therapy, psychology and special teacher (just a 1/2 hour session, but still beneficial) and it's all more or less paid for by the state. It's taken us a couple of years of fidgeting about and changing therapists and filling in forms but really I think that is not too bad! It's also allowed us to pay for monthly OT out of our own resources, which is great. It's just obvious that she's so much more relaxed when she's out of school, even if she quite enjoys her school.
(Gosh, long post, bit of a hijack, sorry!!)

I've always thought that a lot of our fights are about patience. I started to describe it to people a while ago as short periods of manic activity and then long periods of waiting........ Good luck & Congratulations Silverfrog (may I ask which ABA school it is?)

Well done you for not giving up.

I second that our fights are about patience too. Our fight has been nearly 3years in length, yet I have probably only had 3 meetings with LEAs, andabout 6 with SALTs. And a ot of nothing in between...

Davros - it's a very new school, here. dd1 is pupil number 3, and as such, this win is more impotant than "just" a win for us. It is the first fight-and-win for the school - a real landmark moment.

It has SR as consultant, which has been great for dd1 as it's good continuity from home programme - in fact that's why we knew it would work, as it's what she has been doing at home, but outside the house (important for dd1,who has beenoverly reliant on me in particular - not that unusual for a pre-schooler, yes, but she was obsessive!)

Brioche - I know your type of wait very well. dd1 was down for a SN nurseey place, and if she could have gone when she was first put down for it, then it would have done her some good, I think. By the time her placecameup, though, she was actually of school age, and still the LEA wanted her to attend, as thatis the route things should take... that's what started off all our moving about the place to get dd1 appropriateprovision!

It sounds like an absolutely gorgeous school, congratulations!