SEN statements

[sherrardk]

Just thinking ahead here, but does anyone have any experience of SEN statements. My youngest child (who doesn't start school till September 2012) is currently receiving speech therapy and isn't making a great deal of progress. As the next year will fly by I want to be ahead of the game and I need to know what I would have to do to get help for him at school for when he starts (not after he has been there for a couple of months). Thanks for ay help.

[cazzz1975]

you need a referral to assess what your childs educational needs are to begin with

[cazzz1975]

I would look at getting a referral via your doctor/health visitor, your son can be assessed by a multi disciplined team who will decide if he will need a statement of special needs or not. the assessment can take up to a year in some cases

[sherrardk]

Hi cazzz, thanks for that. Can I start this process now (he's 3 years and 4 months old) or should I wait a bit longer? It's the sort of thing that needs to be in place if his speech (or lack of it) doesn't improve by the time he starts school as the staff will need to learn how to communicate with him.

[cazzz1975]

it should be started as soon as possible in my opinion, my sons referral started just before he turned 2, a year later he received his statement. the sooner you deal with it the sooner your child can receive the most assistance that will give him the best possible start to his education.

[sherrardk]

Thanks for that cazzz, thought I might be jumping the gun. Only really thought about it properly today as I am going to see a nursery tomorrow (which they might start going to in September) and it hit home how difficult it is going to be for people to talk to with my son (we do a combination of Makaton and proper signing). Don't want him to be over-looked because people don't know how to 'talk' with him.

[yelenots]

Hi ... the nursery school/playchool should be able to help to start the process. Make sure you go into the primary school and speak to the SEN so they are aware of the position when you get the offer of the place from your council. They will then make contact with his nursery school and 'start the ball rolling'

[sherrardk]

Thanks for that Yelenots. I am concerned that it will take some time to get something in place for him (if he doesn't make a vast improvement) and I can't bear (sp) the thought of him spending his days not talking with anyone because no-one knows how to.

[DaisyNonna]

As soon as you know where your son will be going to school get in touch with the SENCO and ask for an interview. Doing stuff by mail is useless. You are right to try to get things set up before he starts school. Once in the system it can take forever or not happen at all. Speech therapy seems to be pretty well low down on a list of priorities in many areas. Have you been given techniques to work on with him at home? If not please go in with all guns blazing to try to get him the help he needs, deserves and is entitled to.

All too often once a child who has been receiving speech therapy through the medical system reaches school age the medical system then sees the problem to be educational. Not enough speech therapists.

[sherrardk]

Hi DaisyNoona - the speech therapy people have been brilliant. He has had a 45 minute, one-to-one session once a week since March. I think they are having difficulty in providing suitable exercises for him to do as he is bright (some of the stuff they give him to do is very difficult and his twin sister couldn't do it) but the exercises seem to be designed for older children. From September he is due to attend two sessions a week of two and a half hours duration with other children. My reservations with this are that he is unlikely to stay on his own (he doesn't like new situations or people) and that he may be in a group with children who have the same speech problems as each other but not as he does. I will see how this goes.

[cazzz1975]

my sons used to attend sessions with other autistic children, most of them could either not talk, not understand or use makaton/sign language. the speech therapy sessions were good, but they did move all the children onto visual symbol programmes like PECS and picture for object trading. this is what my boys use in school now still. though my older son's speech has improved a lot (my younger son is still non verbal)

[DaisyNonna]

Best of luck Sherra. Try getting him to sing nursery rhymes and simple tunes. I spy for consonants. Kim's game. Animal noises! Sure you know all this, not trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs. What a sight that would have been! Just do not let the education service (sic) grind you down.

[sherrardk]

Hi Daisy, he will try to do songs but he grunts the tune. I am getting on the case about a possible statement for him. It is particularly evident how poor his speech is because he has a twin sister (she doesn't speak for him though).

[Lore]

Sher, I agree with cazzz, start the ball rolling now with your GP. If you wait until he's at school you will firstly have to express your concerns to his class teacher who will then arrange with the SEN.co to do a few obs. Once this takes place, things can start moving in the right direction but it could take a while.
If you go through your GP before hand, he could have his statement prior to starting school. Meet with the school SEN.co when the intake for the next school year is set,(May/June 2012) this will give them idea as to what levels of support will be needed and will also give them opportunity to place additional staff in the Foundation Stage if necessary.

[sherrardk]

Thank you all - even though I am ex-teacher I wasn't involved with statements, just took them into account when setting lessons. Thought I might be being a bit too protective as he is the baby of all of my babies!

[sherrardk]

Rang the Health Visitor today and explained the situation, she said that they were due their 3 1/4 year old check-ups and she would get back to me. Ten minutes later she was on the phone arranging for herself and a colleague with experience of statements to come and see the little ones next Thursday. Hopefully I have got the ball rolling!

[cazzz1975]

that is good news, I was always advised that when you feel something isnt right, the earlier you get things moving the better. x

[sherrardk]

Thanks cazzz. Things haven't been right since he 'failed' his two year old check (twice) because he couldn't speak. I have been very pleased with the speech therapy service and their help so hopefully I will get some good luck on getting this sorted. Visited a prospective nursery for them today and they are very keen to train a member of staff so that they can sign with him so that's another positive!

[cazzz1975]

Im glad to hear its all coming together, these sorts of things can cause a lot of worry!