Teacher is lying

meritaten

concerned - the minutes of the meeting will make clear the context in which the head spoke of the 'alleged disability'. If you are clear in your own mind that this was not a 'summary' of previous meetings or that the head was actually refuting them - then go ahead and make your complaint.

meritaten

concerned - I think I remember some previous posts and this problem has been ongoing for some time hasnt it?
have you considered home-schooling for a while? It doesnt have to be permanent - just until you find a more suitable school? sounds to me as if your DS and the school need to part company. You dont trust the school, your DS is unhappy and getting bullied - and in my experience learning nothing as a result - why keep banging your head against a brick wall?
you wont get into trouble - the law says that a child MUST recieve an education - it does NOT specify WHERE!

daska

concerned43 wrote: »

The problem Nicki - is that I do not want my DS diagnosed!! All I want is for his anxiety disorder to be treated! and I do not believe his treatment for that condition would change because of a formal diagnosis.
With regards to CAMHS - i have had a reply from the NHS about my official complaint and am now proceeding with a legal claim against them.

I'm confused. Is it a specific diagnosis you don't want? I do remember your thread about CAMHS but not the details.

Anyway, back to the main purport of your post.

It it NOT a teacher's job to diagnose a medical problem, that is outside her remit. (Though a teacher can, in fact, have a very good idea of what a potential diagnosis might be, and can even hazard their opinion - IME usually as a tactful "has DS been assessed for xyz?")

If the minutes state that the Head said something then either the minutes are incorrect or the Head said it. If the Head was repeating information she had been given then the letter from the Governors should have explained the source of that information and the minutes should be corrected and re-issued to ALL attendees with a covering letter explaining the error.

Assuming that the minutes detail that the Head informed everyone of a diagnosis for your DS I would suggest that part of the action you request is that the Head provide written evidence from the medical professional who made the diagnosis and informed her of it. That's very specific, it gives the Head no wriggle room.

thegirlintheattic

concerned43 wrote: »

The problem Nicki - is that I do not want my DS diagnosed!! All I want is for his anxiety disorder to be treated! and I do not believe his treatment for that condition would change because of a formal diagnosis.
With regards to CAMHS - i have had a reply from the NHS about my official complaint and am now proceeding with a legal claim against them.

OP I would be very cautious if I were you. If the school and CAMHS are supporting a diagnosis and particularly if you are not only refusing the diagnosis but refusing treatment then SS could get involved. Not saying go along meekly with everything but make sure you have a solid argument and you can prove that not diagnosing would not lead to harm (be that social, emotional or physical).

As for the meeting are you 100% sure that the head wasn't summarising. Most parent meetings I've been in have the chair briefly outlining the position of both parties.

Nicki

I too am confused about not wanting a diagnosis. Your child clearly had needs over and above other children otherwise you wouldn't be talking about an anxiety disorder and professionals wouldn't have suggested Asperger's and later attachment problems. You might not want the autism label and think it is wrong, which is fair enough, but surely you want someone to assess your child and come to a view as to what his problems actually are and put strategies in place to deal with them? That is all a diagnosis is in my mind. I have never heard of a child being offered help without this initial assessment stage and a theory being posited by professionals as to what they are dealing with. It is that which I was suggesting you might be better placed putting your energies towards.

ETA - an anxiety disorder, which you say your child has, would be a valid diagnosis in its own right.

poet123

This is a very difficult area for schools. If you are seen as part of the problem and not the solution then the school will feel they have no choice but to get outside agencies involved. Unless there is a diagnosis a "treatment" plan cannot be effective, only "strategies" can be employed.

The Head may have expressed an opinion that your child shows signs of xxx, as a professional with experience in that field she is within her rights to express that as an "opinion"

I think you are fighting an unnecessary battle in the scheme of the issues you appear to have.

daska

I'm not sure it is an unnecessary battle. But then I'm coming at this with the benefit of several years of a 'diagnosis' by education professionals impeding our ability to get a medical one for DS2. One of the biggest problems was that every ?"£*$%"£)*$%)"£$ piece of paper stated what one very vocal early years professional voiced in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. GP/ Paediatrician/ S&L read what she wrote and we got no further until we went private - at which point they had to accept that there were medical problems that needed investigating.

concerned43 - Is it a specific diagnosis that you feel is incorrect, or do you not want any diagnosis? If so, if it were diabetes or heart disease would you still be resisting, or would you be anxious to get treatment? If there is a medical problem then having that diagnosed can help not only with symptoms but it can open doors and access support and funding etc.

Nicki

I found the news report this morning chilling. Statements to be abolished from 2014 and the number of children to receive support for SEN to be radically cut. A definite incentive to concentrate hard on getting the help OP's son needs now by whatever means necessary, even if that means accepting a label that she doesn't want, rather than wasting any time on ancillary battles.

It seems fairly clear that in a years time there will be no help for kids with behavioural issues without some form of official diagnosis, or at least no new help being offered in terms of work on identifying new strategies though existing ones may stay in place if not too expensive.

concerned43

My DS was referred to CAMHS to get help with anxiety. Instead of treating that they i.e. an unqualified social worker subjected him to a barrage of assessments for ASD without our consent or knowledge - this took 6 months - 6 months without his anxiety being treated!!
When they told me they believed my DS had Aspergers I was shocked - not because of Aspergers but because I had no idea they were assessing him for it! I told them to stop the assessments as I did not want my son diagnosed as asked that they concentrate on treating my DS's anxiety (which was getting worse).
They did not stop their assessments and came back and told me he did not have Aspergers but ASD! I made a complaint and finally got them to tackle his anxiety. He was given Cognitive behavioural therapy (two sessions) the latter I attended and found the social worker reading it all from a book! it was obvious that she did not have a clue about cognitive therapy.
I then had a review meeting at the school which CAMHS were present and the they stated that my DS did not have ASD! (which I was not informed of nor gave permission to have this information disclosed to the school).
The head said that my son had 'attachment issues' and that she was 'greatly concerned' as he did not have an independent life away from me!! - which is absolute nonsense as DS has many things outside school he does without me - in fact mre then any of his friends and therefore her statement was without any foundation or fact. no one at that school knows what my DS does outside of school!
The impact of her saying what she did meant that all support for DS at the school is to get him to be more independent by inviting him to school clubs!! none of which interest my DS and he has so many other interests/activities outside school that he does not fell he has the time to take on more! The school are also putting him in situations that increase his anxiety because as the Head put it "he has to learn that life is difficult"! - this has led to considerable conflict with the school.
Furthermore, in the reply from the NHS, the social worker at CAMHS is not qualified to carry out assessments for ASD, she has no training or qualifications to carry out cognitive therapy and she had no right to divulge personal information to the school - hence why I am suing.

PS - I don't want my son formally diagnosed with ASD/Aspergers as I believe it will have a detrimental effect on him! and although I did not say anything to CAMHS, I already knew my son had some form of Autism as he was assessed for it at 4 years old!

peachyprice

concerned43 wrote: »

PS - I don't want my son formally diagnosed with ASD/Aspergers as I believe it will have a detrimental effect on him! and although I did not say anything to CAMHS, I already knew my son had some form of Autism as he was assessed for it at 4 years old!

So he was diagnosed with ASD at 4, but you refuse to accept that?
That is an extremely selfish stance to take.