Schooling issues.

22 Oct

Finally, some upbeat news.

We went to see an Special Educational Needs school yesterday, based in Stafford. It was exactly what we wanted. The staff were committed and knowledgeable, the other kids were obviously learning and enjoying being taught and they had plenty of ASD specialists amongst the faculty.

All in all, this was a fantastically positive visit.

We contacted the LEA today and told them how we felt- that we would really like Megan to go there and that we felt it would be a very positive start to her schooling.

The noises back were very encouraging with the case worker agreeing that the provision should be 2-3 mornings a week primarily and building up from that next September. Best of all was the case worker saying that this should be the first step to Megan being assessed for a Statement- in case you’ve come on this halfway, a Statement is a massively important piece of literature that is an ambiguity-free document detailing exactly what a child requires from their education. Placing an Special Educational Needs child into a school without one is educational suicide for the child concerned. So, we’re very pleased that we’re getting some movement on this issue.

A potential fly in the ointment is the possibility that Megan may lose her current Speech Therapist. This would be a blow as Megan has bonded well with her and ASD kids are notoriously stand-offish. This has yet to be confirmed however and you can rest assured that we will fight it all the way if it is mooted.