Education Psychologist...what do I do now :o(

teabag29

Feeling really let down at the minute and like I’ve hit yet another brick wall. The education psychologist has been to see my dd today and done a few tasks with her. She got her to fill in a tick questionnaire with always/sometimes/never answers (questions like do you feel trying hard makes a difference) and then got her to draw a person she wouldn’t like to be (dd drew a person with the word bully underneath) and a person she would like to be (she drew a happy person). She then asked her questions like why do you think the bully is like that, has something happened to them to make them like that or were they born that way and things like what would they like for xmas etc. Then she asked the same questions for the happy person. She then asked about school and all her difficulties.

In short she agrees dd was much happier at primary school where she got a lot more 1 to 1 support and enjoyed school much more than she does now. She agreed dd is very frustrated at not being able to keep up with the work and would benefit from more help. HOWEVER she has spoken to the senco who has basically reiterated what I said and that is that there are so many children with education needs and behaviour problems at that school (particularly in year 7) that they don’t have the funds to give them all help and therefore they doubt she will be moved up to school action plus. Although she’s in bottom groups for all her lessons there are others that need more help.

I feel like screaming, my concern is my child and what she needs. So basically unless she’s setting the school on fire she’s not priority and not going to get help. The education psychologist said dd is clearly a bright girl and I then explained that this is not the case educationally. My dd is very witty and on the ball but educationally she is not. I explained to her that she is 13 this year and doesn’t know her alphabet, her months, date of birth, how to tell the time, her left and right, and so on. She tested her on a few of these and saw I was right. She is coming again in 2 weeks to do some cognitive tests with her that tests her memory and how quick she processes information etc and also dyslexia.

I asked her where do I go from here and she is going to try and prepare a case to see if dd can be statemented as obviously school will get funds for her then and be able to help her more. She said this is likely to take a few months though and may not be granted. She is going to use the cognitive test results as an argument as well as all the info she gathered today. She said she feels as though daughter would be better off in a school where more help would be available to her. I mentioned the school in the next town (special needs) which deals with children with learning difficulties (only 250 pupils so more 1 to 1). However the education psychologist says she doesn’t think shes at the level where she needs to be in a special school, she’s not that much in need. However this school also deals with behaviour problems which is as much my concern (actually more so) than her learning problems so I think this school would be perfect for her, especially as it has specialist there who work with children with autism, adhd and aspergers which is the route that camhs seem to be looking at with dd. (After doing research into it myself I strongly feel that dd may have aspergers).

So the situation as it stands is that dd is very unhappy at school. 50% due to being bullied and nobody doing anything about it and the other 50% due to her not being able to keep up in lessons as she doesn’t understand the work. School have no funds for extra help for her and the ed.psychologist doesn’t believe she fits the criteria for a special needs school. I have no way of getting her to another school as the nearest is miles away. (She has no sense of danger and I’m struggling to even get her to the school she’s at now which is 0.6 miles away).

So where do I go from here? I have a meeting with the head of year on Friday to sign the papers for a caf meeting (I shall ring parent partnership to attend with me) and I have dd's triage assessment with camhs on 22nd June. I truly believe this other school would help dd immensely particularly the low number of students as dd doesn't get on with other kids and she is very frustrated at present. Thing is, with no backing how can I get her there?I feel like i've hit a dead end.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

You've got other meetings/assessments in the very near future, so no brick wall as yet.

Not only could they change everything, rather than pin all your hopes on one school, put pressure on everyone to help you and your daughter. It could turn out that when it is put that way that someone says 'we can't do that, so perhaps a specialist setting would be more appropriate' and it happens anyway, but it might not.

Keep plugging on, but try not to diagnose by Google, as it is easy to overlook the things that don't fit the profile and focus only on the things which confirm your belief, which could have a detrimental effect upon her care in the future.

Good luck!

puddy

you havent hit a dead end, the ed psych sounds like she is going to be supportive of your child's needs, rather than looking at the schools funds.

she is probably correct that your daughter doesnt meet the criteria for a SEN school but that doesnt mean that further down the line, she wont get extra help at her own school, that must be your priority at the moment, to ensure that she stays in her own school, the problems with bullying and education are sorted out and she is enabled to learn and develop.

the report and assessments she does will hopefully support that. what a senco says off the record to a vulnerable parent about funding is certainly not going to stand up to scrutiny at an appeal or complaint, every one in public services knows that although you havent got the funding, one of the things you dont do, is say that this is a reason for denying services. services are supposed to be given on the basis of need, not comparisons with other service users.

you still have your caf meeting and the camhs assessment to come, when all these sorts of interventions and assessments start it will feel stressful, but the process has now begun to demonstrate that your daughter needs more support.

toomuchinfo

When the Ed Psych does more assessments she will give you clearer picture of where your DD's needs lie. Then you can ask how her needs will be met in school. This is the crux, you have to keep asking for er needs to be met and pointing out how they aren't meeting her needs.

Wait for all the other tests and assessments. I know it's frustrating and it's a long process but you have to push (nicely) for everything. It might br that she will eventually be moved to a different educational setting, but it won't be anytime soon, sorry, because everyone is pushing for their children too.
There are waiting lists but they aren't chronological, and the children with the most need will get placed as priority.This doesn't help when your child is newly in the system, but it will get sorted in the end.

teabag29

Thankyou. I guess I was pinning hope on the ed.psychologist making a recommendation for school action plus and the school accepting it but instead she doesn't seem hopeful of that or of dd getting statemented and apologised that she cant do much. So now i'm hoping camhs will be able to help but i know the time scale will be lengthy with camhs and i'm not even sure what power they have with regards to getting her help at school if any? I assumed they would be more looking at her behaviour and in time possible diagnosis. Its hard to think long term when each day is a battle. DD is coming home each day stressed and upset because she cant keep up at school and people are taking the mick out of her because of it and she says the teachers are snapping at her for not getting things done etc. Behaviour put to one side, she does seem to be a very unhappy child because of school.

What exactly happens to the education psychologist report once she has written it? the questions she did with dd today show she is unhappy at school and would feel much happier with more 1 to 1 support and the ed.psy agrees with this so I assume she will recommend this. Who does this report go to though, does it go higher than the school (i.e. the education board or something) and how influential is it. Who actually decides whether she gets the extra help or not?

SingleSue

Re the special school, my youngest son actually spent two terms at a specialist autism school and excelled whilst there....it was the perfect setting for him, he felt calm, he felt safe and he improved no end educationally.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stay because his IQ is too high (not that it has ever been tested officially - think the big give away was working in the millions in all different ways in maths at age 7 :rotfl:), he doesn't show it when unsettled (aka in mainstream - he was at least 2 years behind his peers) but when settled and happy, the shutters come down and he then displays exactly what he can do (way in advance of his peers).

So even though the setting was perfect, he didn't meet the IQ criteria for the school...and you may find the same thing with your daughter, so be prepared just in case.

Weirdly, my middle son who can cope in mainstream high school (after a spell in a behavioural unit at primary level), does meet the criteria as he has a known learning disability in verbal IQ (IQ less than 70 in verbal understanding against an performance IQ greater than 120, apparently very rare to have such a huge disparity).

But the process is not a sprint, it is more like a marathon...there is no quick answers and fixes...it all takes time, a lot of time and a hell of a lot of patience.

teabag29

I've just spoken to parent partnership who have made me feel alot better. They are a god send. Firstly they told me that if school are saying they dont do IEPs then I should be asking "where's the provision mapping then?" as they need to be letting me know somehow what stage my daughter is at and her progress.

Secondly they told me to ask school for the anti-bullying policy and the complaints policy and this will more than likely give them a shift in the right direction. They told me that although my daughter may not meet the criteria for the special needs school, I could contact them directly to arrange a meeting to explain all of daughters problems and my concerns and see if they can do her a link (i.e. where she goes there 1-2 day a week to see if she improves during that setting and if so use this as evidence).

With regards to no funding to move daughter to school action plus, they said this is rubbish and that regardless of how many children with educational needs are in the school their job is to make sure my daughters needs are being met. They said if they dont have enough funding then they should go to the lea and apply for more funding but chances are they wont do this because they probablly have got funds. They said as of septemeber (I think) funding has gone anyway and its the schools job???

In the meantime I should ask school about the school anxirty project and also at the caff to emphasise that she should definately be on school action plus as she is receiving outside help from the e.p and camhs so meets the criteria. Without going through this stage she wont be able to get statemented as the lea will want to see that everything has been tried to help before statementing her.

They are going to come to the caff with me so that they can put this across. I just hope the caff doesnt take to long to happen now. im signing the papers on Friday for it, does anyone know how long it takes after this for the actual meeting and also who will be there?

when_will_it_end

teabag have you got a social worker?

teabag29

when_will_it_end wrote: »

teabag have you got a social worker?

No. I rang social services a month or so ago for advice but they basically said there's nothing they can do to help (although they did say they sympathise with me re/:daughters behaviour) but it was them who suggested organising a caf meeting. The lady I spoke to rang me again a few weeks back as she said she gets lots of calls but mine stuck in her mind as my problems are quite severe, and wondered if i'd got any help yet from school and i explained school said they would look into a caff and that i'm having problems getting dd to school. She was pleased about caf and said she didnt think that ss themselves could help re:transport but she'd have a ask around and get back to me but she never did.