Ed Psych reports?

[pucca]

Can you disagree with them? Just received latest one for ds and it is a crock of shit!

She has put in it for startes that she understands that speech & language therapy colleagues continue to offer blocks of therapy for him - he has had NONE! He has been assessed thats all - a number of times.

I can't see how ds will get any support in school from what she has written...

She has put how he is a happy sociable boy and all sorts of rubbish.

yes you can, we just a report from ours to go towards ds2 statement and they told if i didnt agree they would change it.

is your ds in school already as sometimes you can get the ted psych changed.

Thanks Saintmom...good to know

Yes, if there are things in there which are untrue you can/should/must ask for amendments.

Harder with anything whch is opinion, but you can even challenge this. What is her opinion based on? Why does she regard him as happy sociable boy? who has she spoken too?

If you really disagree you should challenge it, put it in writing requesting amendements and clarifications.

Thanks Brides...I am so glad that i can challenge this, i have just spoken to someone on her team (she is in a meeting) and i expressed how i felt to her, she is going to get the Ed Psych to phone me.

This woman did say that the Stat Assessment has been accepted and that ds has been given band C funding...does anyone know what this means?

They probably band funding eg C may be 6hrs (or wahtever) ask the EP about this.

Even if you get the support you want still ask for the report to be amended as it remains a record of assessment at that point and you want it to be accurate.

Yes definitely Brideshead...I don't agree with this report at all, she should have observed him hiding under his umbrella yesterday because a few children were stood by him when we picked dd up from school

"Happy sociable little boy, with a great sense of humour" < thats what she wrote!

Good luck with it Pucca. Don't be afraid to vehememtly challange them if you need to, you need everything recorded to be accurate.

they may say well 'x y or z said he was happy and sociable' in which case you request they record who said it and also record that you do not recognise this in him and you feel he is 'withdrawn, socially anxious or whatver.'

Tell them about him hiding, you should tell them your views and opinions on him and back it up with examples.

ed psychs get most of thier info from talking to people who know the chldern and from some limited observation, they need to record who provided them with the information and then make clear what is their own opinion based on the information they gathered.

Thanks Brideshead...will put your advice to good use

Defo get it changed. I did with ours for a minor point compared to yours. EP said in her comments that she met parents after seeing ds and discussed this,that & the other. She actually saw us prior to meeting ds and discussed nothing of the sort! Was most apologetic when this was pointed out.

What do you think of this?

I am writing in connection with your report dated 30.06.2010. I need to question some of the statements.
The comments ?XX is a happy, warm little boy who is developing a lovely sense of humour? and ?XX is a happy, sociable and emotionally secure little boy?. These comments I feel stem back to the ?XX? you met at the previous assessment I feel he has declined since then. I don?t see or agree with what you have concluded in these statements and I feel that they don?t provide an accurate picture of him.
It was only 2 days ago, that while XX & I waited for XX to come out of class at school that George got down on the floor with his head on the grass, hiding under his umbrella (it had been raining lightly, but had stopped) and hid himself from 4 children standing near to him ? they were not even looking at him.
These statements also do not represent the number of times XX has not and still will not interact with Dr XX at our numerous appointments, nor do they represent that on the pre-school trip to a local petting farm that XX didn?t interact at all with the pre-school staff (when 2 members of staff spoke to him) or children, in fact he isolated himself in a playhouse and shut the windows and doors, he wouldn?t touch or feed the animals either. Another example is the fact that after 10 months of attending pre-school for 5 mornings per week he will still not respond to the register. I feel more often than not, he is anxious in public and socially withdrawn.
There are many more examples I could give if needed. Can I please ask what is this opinion based on? Why do you regard him as happy, warm, sociable, and emotionally secure, with a lovely sense of humour?
Thank you

Ooops left his name in once....

bump for opinions

Hi Pucca I don't hsve time to reply now but I'll try to get make tomorrow with some comments.

yes-i agree with Electra-its often about budgets ect-and i feel that the reports dont often match the child!
these reports have been the bane of my life!
a few years ago i ended up getting a privite report done as the reports i was getting were quite insane!
i was then told that my bourough didnt accept privite reports-so we challenged this-and although they still wouldnt accept the privite report still-they did re-access my child and funny enough the new reports nearly matched the privite report!!!
things have moved on since but i do sometimes groan when i see a report-and then spend time pointing out why this bit is wrong ect!
it feels like this is part and parcel of having a child with special needs!
i wish you luck Pucca!

Sparky...I think you are prob right so wrong.

Any opinions on this letter? is there anything else i should add? Thanks

Hi Pucca, I think the letter is good.

have they observed him at pre school?

Yous say there was a previosu assessment?But he has changed since then?

Well then the reprot needs to reflect any changes and make it clear who information is from and when it was gathered.

Is there a possibility nursery staff have given a differnt view from you? Who else has the EP spoken to? It is not unusual for EP's to get differing views of a child from differnt sources but they need to reports all views and then give thier opinion.

At the very least the report should include your views and reported experiences of him.

HTH

Brideshead...Yes the nursery do feel differently in some respects as they don't challenge him in anyway, and just leave him to do what he likes. For example...ds like the dinosaur area so he plays there, in 10 mths he has done 2 paintings...grrrr!

Ds has changed since last report, last time she saw him he was quite sociable, i doubt very much if he spoke to her this time as he doesn't even communicate with the preschool staff.

Thanks for the reply

Did the EP meet with you? Did you explain all this then? If so it should be stated within the report.

do you think you are being viewed as an over anxious parent, or someone who is overstating the difficulties?

If he doesn't communicate with nursery staff however they should have reported this. Do they feel he communicates with other children at nursery?

I emailed her instead, I got this reply...

I had intended amending 's report in the light of the info you gave me about Speech Therapy on Friday, so I will add in your comments below also.

My comments re 's skills were made as a result of my observations, referral information, Teacher of the deaf, and the comments of staff at pre school, but of course children can present very differently in different situations.

I will issue an amended report this week and add a covering letter asking that the original be destroyed to avoid any future confusion.

I hope this is helpful .

The speech therapy comments she relates to are that she had written that ds has blocks of speech therapy - he hasn't.

Brideshead...I don't know, it is the preschool who are giving the different view to me...but tbh they are hopeless.

Ds came out of preschool on Fri with a big lump on his head, he said he fell in preschool and hit his head on a stone...they never said a word to me! I rang up to question and got a "oh yeah he did fall". I have never seen an IEP, they don't give me any feedback unless i push for it and ask for a meeting (I have done twice).

Back in November they showed me a picture ds had "done" and wrote in his book that he had said yellow...He doesn't know his colours even now.

The Paed and OT have same view as me.

Well it sounds like the preschool could be providing a different picture. Are they not geared up for SEN? Do they not feel he has diffiuclties?

Did the EP talk to the Paed and OT?
Does he have a diagnosis?

Did the EP provide a record of her observations on which she is basing her findings? (she should, you can ask to see her ob notes if you wish) what is she saying she saw to draw these conclusions?

Do you know waht the teacher of the Deaf views are?

Can you afford a private assessment?

Sorry to bombard you with questions. they are for you to consider yourself really, don't feel you ahev to provide me with answers it's just this is what you need to be considering.

They do agree he has difficulties, he has missed all his early learning goals (I only found this out on the CAF form) They also say staff/children find it very difficult to understand him, and they said to the OT that ds doesn't communicate with staff at all.

I don't think the EP did talk to the Paed and the OT was done privately so no didn't speak to her.

I have been in touch with a private Ed Psych but his reply was pretty much, why do you need me if the LEA Ed Psych has seen him

They all agree he has GDD...OT says he has SPD, and paed says also traits of ASD. Ds seems to be ok(ish) with people observing him at home and preschool(has been quite a few observations here) but anywhere else (out of his comfort zone) he clams up completely.

He also acted completely differently on the preschool trip (compared to what preschool staff describe) but again this was different place of course.

Thanks for all your advice Brideshead...it is invaluable to me.

Has the EP addressed communication on the report? Is his lack of communication with staff and peers addressed on the report?

Has she referred to nursery staff problems in understanding him?

Has he had a speech and language assessment? have they fully adressed his levels in expressive and receptive language? there is often a discrepency which is not always immediately obvious.

You need to decide what is important to have included in the report, you can ask for anything to be added under the heading 'parental views'. Obviously what you can't dictate is the EP's opinion, but it's important to have it documented where your view may differ from the EP opinion.

It's hard to keep battling I know, and I know you can become obsessed with it going around and round in your head, but you need to battle to get heard in the system.