First meeting with the LEA

2 May

And so on Thursday just gone it came to pass that I finally got to sit down in front of someone from the LEA and explain our position.

There was one main topic of conversation- the Statement Proposal that the LEA sent through. Basically, this proposal is a ‘draft’ of a childs statement of needs.

It was a very simple thing completley lacking in any sort of detail. In fact I made a post about it on AADFriendly which also contains our response. You might want to read the thread and the response to get a feel of where we’re coming from.

Anyway, so the meeting starts and it becomes clear nothing’s going to get sorted today- this meeting is more about staring your enemy in the whites of their eyes for both of us. Basically, our positions can be laid out thusly:

The Proposal: They feel they’ve performed adequately. I point out neither the law, nor Naomi and I feel they have. Things get a bit frosty. The LEA invite me to write what we feel is acceptable- I quickly agree.

The provision: They outline their position that they don’t think that one-to-one provision for ASD kids is a viable solution as they feel its detremental to a childs education as it shields them from too much (translation: its too expensive and they don’t want to cough up). I explain that whilst I have sympathy with that position, its not suitable for Megan. I explain our options:

  1. Megan goes to a specialist ASD unit- except none exist in Staffordshire so there goes option one.
  2. Megan goes to a ‘special school’- except the nearest one is the one she attended last year for half a day and wasn’t good enough for us. The other 2 in Staffordshire are over 20 miles away and neither of us drive. They (the LEA) also explained that they only funded transport to the nearest suitable school.
  3. They pay for her to be privately educated. This will never happen but I’m cheeky and rude enough to have a go for it.
  4. One to one provision at a mainstream school. This is what we’ll be concentrating on from this point on. Even if it takes courts and lawyers.

All in all, a good meeting as I knew exactly where they stood at the end but they had no idea where I was coming from yet. Element of surprise and all that.

So I’ll be writing a draft proposal myself and I’ll also be contacting the local Parent Partnership to get some feedback from them.

Onwards…