EHCP can i move home and keep my EHCP, or do i re-apply

Hi. 

My 8 year old son, Bear, is diagnosed autistic, with ODD, and Epilepsy.  His school and us have jusy completed his EHCP and are now waiting for a reply.  We wondered if we wanted him to go to a special school, as he is struggling in mainstream school,  if we wanted one in a different county, can the plan be moved with us, or do we need to re-apply?    we want him to go to a school in Dorset, but we live in Hertfordshire. We have a council house, and wondered if we could get them to help us relocate to Dorset. Everything is up in the air at the moment, and its hard to make plans without knowing what we can do.  

I also have a bi-polar disabled husband, and want to move to be near the school, as  I want Bear to go daily, and definitely not residential.  plus, we would be mocving nearer my dad, who is ill.     does anyone know what help/advice we can get regarding this. as everything hinges on whether we can move or not. 

thanks so much for reading this.  :)

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    A huge amount of the activity on this forum is about adults who are diagnosed at various points in their lives. A recurring theme (e.g. have a look through some of the posts on these threads community.autism.org.uk/.../"bi-polar" ) is that autism is a diagnosis that follows on from all sorts of other MH diagnoses (e.g. Bi-polar, borderline personality disorder etc etc) that turn out, in hindsight, to have been wrong. MH diagnoses are fundamentally different to the physical things where an x-ray or lab test can positively identify a disease. Often, the presentation by the patient is disordered, difficult to fathom and hard to make a definitive diagnosis. If, for example, a patient presents with no family history of autism then autism may not be considered and no differential diagnosis might be needed - it may be 'obvious' that the symptoms match bi-polar when actually the patient has developed very bad mental health due to their inability to fit into the world. Autism is an invisible condition (even less visible than other MH conditions) that frequently gets completely obscured by the consequential MH conditions that develop.

    For myself, diagnosis brings insight but it also brings confirmation that I do have an issue. Overall it is positive and I am fundamentally happier now than I was before diagnosis. I have however continued to fail to thrive in work so I am currently looking for a new job for the umpteenth time.

  • thanks for sharing that with me, we always hear about children getting diagnosed, but never adults. xxx   my husband may have some aspergers traits, but to be honest, its only senondary to his bi-polar, which is now managed really well with meds, and as im the brains in the family, i do all the paperwork and stuff, so he doesnt need to worry. he will always be dyslexic, that will never change,  and theres not alot we can do about it, so we concentrate on his mental health.   

    it must have been a big wieght lifted off your shoulders thou?  or did it complicate things, having a diagnosis, as you had coped for so long without knowing?  im hoping it has improved your life now, and you feel more empowered. :)  we find that understanding all about Bears different issues has helped us no end in working out how to communicate with him on his level.  

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Learning difficulties is also a label that is frequently mis-applied to people with autism. Autism is also very hard to spot in people - I was only diagnosed at 56 when I ran into yet another work related issue - in hindsight I had issues throughout my life but never thought I was any different to anyone else (which displays a lack of insight if nothing else!)

    Have you come across the free test at aspergerstest.net/.../ ?

  • Hi Recombinantsocks, :) I will check that site, thank you very much. :)  

        my husband was diagnosed with bi-polar, after having a life changing accident at work 10 years ago, leaving him physically disabled, and now unable to work again.    he did have learning difficulties as a child, so maybe some of my sons issues are inherited.   but  i dont think he has autism.     it seems to be just my son, as our other 3 children are neorotypical.  

     

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Have you looked at the IPSEA website https://www.ipsea.org.uk/ this is all about special needs provision and EHCPs etc.

    Lots of people with autism get diagnosed with bi-polar before they end up with an autism diagnosis. Autism is usually inherited. Has your husband been tested for autism?