Do 16 year olds ever get statemented?

[PomBearArmy]

Re-posting on busier board!

The theme of my experiences with asking about statementing, ever since my son was in primary school, goes pretty much like 'Oh... If you'd asked a year ago/six months ago/five minutes ago/whenever it was someone else's responsibility ago, we absolutely would have supported that. But he doesn't need it now.'

Even when my son had been Home Educated for two years and had no options at that time without statementing they refused. They said statementing a 14 year old who wasn't likely to go back into mainstream education wasn't 'cost effective'. But he couldn't go back into education without it!

Now I've found a course for him that he really likes but the transport is tricky, taxi provision would be fantastic. He will not speak to people he doesn't know when I am not there, including bus drivers. So I'm faced with having to accompany him on two buses there and back every weekday, and sit in a library all day until it's time to collect him.

The difference now is that he has a plan for his future, and it involves many years of education. Do you think I have any chance?

(It's Oxfordshire County Council by the way, in case any of you have had dealings with them. If you have, can you recommend the best person to speak to? Thanks!)

Have you spoken with Connexions about a Learning Difficulties Assessment? It's the 16+ equivalent of a statement for a child who's no longer in school.

Btw, I recently got a statement for my 14 year old home educated ds. There's no actual support involved, but it means we've got an officially documented history of need to take forward to college and ensure he gets the support he needs when the time comes.

I had had lots of rejections from the LA over several years, but I approached my MP who wrote to the Director of Learning on my behalf and arranged a meeting. It might be worth asking yours if s/he can help. Keep pressing.

Following on from streaky's post It's a section 139a LDA you're after. (Many councils say there's a low iq cut of point, so no point, but actually unles they're offering an alternative system for those will serious needs but higher IQ's they're breaking the law.)