[sammy33]

Hi all

The school have agreed my son has learning difficulties on the dyslexic spectrum and have referred him to the occupational therapist. Will this get him statmented or do I have to do more? The Senco and his teacher are being a bit cagey at the moment and are not giving me a straight answer.

Would appreciate a bit of help with routes I need to go down to get him the help I need.

thanks
Sam

[Claydon]

Hi Sam
Welcome to the forum. Ask the school for a leaflet on the parentpartnership service. The service are funded by the Local Education Authority. They have an advice line and give information on schools and LEAs Special Educational Needs policy and proceedures.

[Cariad]

The occupational Therapist will not provide a statement. Educational Psychologists are the bodies who assess yur child in the statementing process
Statements are usually applied for either by the school or the parents.

You would have to ask the LEA for an assessment of need to determine whether your child would need a statement.
Statements are usually given to children with severe difficulties or for children who are not making progress with the help and support being provided by the school.

What is important is for the school to be providing support for your child so it meets your child's needs. Contact your local Dyslexia Association group and they can offer you advice and support you through the processes. You can find you local branch through the British Dyslexia website.

Keep a diary and record of all communicatin you have with the school regarding your child, You might need the info if you find the need to chase things up.

[caro400]

Can I ask a question too?

Do you need to have a statement before being seen by an educational psychologist (EP) or is an EP part of the process to getting a possible statement?

My 8 yo son has been having weekly occupational therpay sessions and does NOT have a statement. He was referred by the GP to a peadatrician after his teacher had concerns about dyspraxia. Hope that helps.

[Claydon]

Hi Caro
My daughter was 7 when she saw an educational psychologist. The Primary school requested this, at that time we knew nothing of special needs or the statementing process.
So to answer your question yes the school is able to ask the ed psyc to assess a child. My teacher friend who was working at the school said that the school was only funded for something like one and half hours of ed psych time a year and that we were incredably lucky to get an assessment.
In hindsight I think this was probably because the school were wanting to apply for a statement for her but as I say we were in denial of any learning difficulties and the senco who organised this left the following month and the new senco didn't follow through with the recommendations made in the ed psych report. A year later we CJ's parents applied for a statement. Information on the statementing process can be found on the Ipsea website. It's also useful to order a copy of The SEN Code of Practice 2001 to read and referr to. I think links for the CoD can be found on the same website.

[Cariad]

caro400, on 29 May 2010 - 10:34 AM, said:

Can I ask a question too?

Do you need to have a statement before being seen by an educational psychologist (EP) or is an EP part of the process to getting a possible statement?

My 8 yo son has been having weekly occupational therpay sessions and does NOT have a statement. He was referred by the GP to a pediatrician after his teacher had concerns about dyspraxia. Hope that helps.

No you don't need to have a statement to be seen by the Ed Psych. Its usually the other way round its often done as part of a statementing process but
you can have your child seen by an Ed Psych without it being part of a statementing process. If you want your child to be seen by an Ed Psych ask the school to refer your child to the Ed Psych in order to have your child's needs fully identified so that the school can appropriately meet the child's needs.

The process is that someone ( teacher or parents etc) will notice a child having difficulties. This may be investigated in a variety of ways depending on what the problem is. The school will put in place what is known as an IEP ... this is a plan of strategies/work with targets for the child to achieve. Your child might have additional help in some form or other depending on what help your child needs.

The parents or school may refer the child to be assessed by an Educational psychologist to get a more detailed picture of the child.

Its worth knowing that the schools have a legal obligation to identify and meet your child's needs. They must meet your child's needs. They cannot use the excuse of lack of funding to not provide your child with support. If they do then your answer should be that you will investigate whether they are being negligent in their duties by not meeting your child's needs

A statement is usually given to a child who has severe or complex difficulties. The statement is a legal document that school's by law have to comply with. A statement legally protects the support described in the statement. The statement contract is between the parents and the LEA.

The statement process involves the LEA gathering evidence from a variety of agencies, this includes the parents, school, Ed Psych, doctor, and anyone else considered relevant. These might include opticians, therapists etc. All the evidence is then looked at by what is known as a steering committee and they make the decision as to whether there is a good reason to statement a child. Parents are sent a draft statement and they can accept or reject the draft.

If you do go through a statementing process its worth contacting an agency like the BDA or IPSEA to help you through the process.
Hope this helps

[tinkasox]

Hi Im new to this and unsure of where to post my question but I really need some advice as I am really unsure of what to do.

My 8 year old son was born 3 months early, he was born in the early August but wasnt due until the end of October, meaning if he was born when due he would be in the year below the year he is in now ( year 4 just due to start year 5 in september). His learning has always been behind and he has behaviour issues too such as anger frustration lack of concerntration.........

He has been asessed by an EP and we also have a family support worker we have applied to CAFF and for a statement assessment to be done and both have been refused. His school are currently funding for 15 hours of TA one to one every morning.
I had a meeting yesterday at the school with his teacher, head teacher, EP, myself and our family support worker. During this meeting we dicussed that althought my son has come on fantastically, he is still only on levels 1B for writing with targets met, 1 A for reading, and 1A with targets met for numeracy. In his IEP from June until now it states that his reading is that of a 6 year 8 month old, that he has a short concerntration span consequently can distract other children during class input, refusal to follow instructions, inability to deal with feelings and anger and frustration, rudeness to adults and children. He also doesnt get sent home with reading books or any kind of homework for us to do together as the school feel its best to be done there.

Although im ever so proud of him for the progress he has made in the almost 2 years he has been at this school I really cant help feeling that there must be something else that can be put in place to help him achieve his goals, I fully understand that he will never 100% catch up with his peers but I am so concerned that with his social and accademic skills he is really going to struggle when in secondary school in two years time. As having dyslexia myself and struggling through school I know first hand the impact of not understanding and the frustration of it all. I really dont think he will cope socially as well as accademically. But I feel that every avenue I take to seek some kind of help for him gets refused.
Please if there is any advice that anyone is able to give I would be so greatful to hear from you as I really dont know what to do for the best

Many thanks for taking the time to read this .

[Claydon]

Hi Tinkasox

Welcome to the forum.
I’m not sure from your post if you, the parent have made a formal request to your Local Authority for a Statuary Assessment of Need for your son? If not go to the IPSEA website which details the way parents take this action.
There is a bit about this and some links in the Education section of this forum it’s called - Requesting for a statement of need.

[helen b]

hi helen her im a mum of an 8 year old weve had an eductional ceicoligest assesment done and it was 4 weeks b4 her birthday the ciecoligest said she would have waited until she was 8 does the scale change way would she say that