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Should we apply for a statement anyway?

Emmy

I am confused about what to do, and wondering if anyone can offer any advise! My son is 6 yrs old and in Year 1. He is (and has been) on School Action + since reception but the School have had real difficulties with him in particular in yr 1. He has historically been seen by EP, OT, SALT and gets some 121 support currently.

He does not however currently have an official diagnosis. When he was last assessed he was borderline ASD and the Paed wanted to wait and see how he got on in yr1.

We are currently waiting for him to be reassessed and have spoken to Paed and sent all current reports and she has said if she can't see him in the next 4 weeks, then she would write to the school saying that based on all input she would be mindful to give him a diagnosis of ASD even ahead of the assessment.

I have had a meeting with SENCO this morning, and she has told me that Thomas definitely needs more support than they can currently offer - and we will only get this with a statement. She also said that all his teachers are adopting strategies as if he already had a diagnosis. The problem is, due to funding delays etc he has not had any SALT since Reception and she has said that the LA will reject a School Application until he has had at least two terms of SALT and this is reflected in his IEP. This obviously massively delays him getting the support he desperately needs.

SENCO is very supportive and talked about how we could apply for a statement as parents. Has anyone had any experience of this? Is it worth us doing or will we also get rejected? In my head I think surely the fact that he has been identified as having an "urgent" need for SALT should only support our application?

Thomas is hugely delayed academically (in all areas), stuggles socially, has severe gross and fine motor skills delays and at school is described as being "in a constant state on anxiety", which is just heartbreaking for me to hear. I just want to do whatever I can to try and help him. Any thoughts or advise? Should we apply for a statement independently?

Many thanks & sorry so long xxx

Parents

  • Hi Emmy,

    I am not sure what help I can really offer!  Great start!  I have a son who you have basically just described in your post. 

    Are school saying that they wont apply for a statement?  Have they been nagging SALT to get in there?  It is a really tricky one.  My understanding is they have to show that the child is not making appropriate progress with what is in place, using the IEP as evidence. Your child shouldn't suffer because SALT aren't doing what they should be.  School is making the application for us.  We are certainly short of some of the reports we would ideally like but are going for it now anyway. 

    A letter from your paediatrician should help but a diagnosis shouldn't make a difference (am sceptical about that) as it is based on needs.  The problem as I see it is this...  If you apply and end up not getting the statement, you have to wait a certain length of time before you can reapply (I think it is 6 months but am not certain).  On the other hand, he obviously needs help now and the process takes long enough as it is.  And you want help for year2.

    I'm not helping am I?  Just telling you what you already probably know.  You know, I don't see why you shouldn't apply yourself.  Have you tried speaking to parent partnership - they can probably give much better advise! 

    Let us know how you get on!

Reply

  • Hi Emmy,

    I am not sure what help I can really offer!  Great start!  I have a son who you have basically just described in your post. 

    Are school saying that they wont apply for a statement?  Have they been nagging SALT to get in there?  It is a really tricky one.  My understanding is they have to show that the child is not making appropriate progress with what is in place, using the IEP as evidence. Your child shouldn't suffer because SALT aren't doing what they should be.  School is making the application for us.  We are certainly short of some of the reports we would ideally like but are going for it now anyway. 

    A letter from your paediatrician should help but a diagnosis shouldn't make a difference (am sceptical about that) as it is based on needs.  The problem as I see it is this...  If you apply and end up not getting the statement, you have to wait a certain length of time before you can reapply (I think it is 6 months but am not certain).  On the other hand, he obviously needs help now and the process takes long enough as it is.  And you want help for year2.

    I'm not helping am I?  Just telling you what you already probably know.  You know, I don't see why you shouldn't apply yourself.  Have you tried speaking to parent partnership - they can probably give much better advise! 

    Let us know how you get on!

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