General Chat

I WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE FAMILY FUND GO TO WEB FERRET OR GOOGLE THEY WILL HELP ONCE A YEAR DEPENDING HOW BAD THE CHILD IS SO YOU PUT IN FOR EVERYTHING YOU NEED AT THE ONE TIME HOLIDAYS, BEDS, CLOTHES, WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER. THEY MIGHT HELP WORTH A TRY. THEY WILL ALSO GIVE ADDRESSES FOR PLACES WHO MIGHT HELP. AT LEAST WE KNOW WE ARE NOT ALONE

Talking about the medication that they put adhd children on, we where given Ritalin for Sam, but it didnt help him at all. The Dr. then said well he hasnt got adhd, as Ritalin would help him. More huge tantrums on my part, and Sam was then refered back to the same Dr. but under the education health department, I also took along his lsa with me. She was a great help, I was so glad she came with us. Sam was then put on dextamphetamine which has worked wonders with him, its been a god send. It only last for about 3-4 hrs at a time and you can really tell when he needs more tablets. The only downside to them is that they keep him awake, so we have quite a few very late nights with him. I do sometimes not give him the late afternoon tabs in the hope of a decent nights sleep. Dosnt always work though. Maggie

My middle son on 54mgs slow release ritalin and 4mgs sleep tablets a night. My eldest is now on 18mgs as trying to get him off the tablets but he uses it for college as he has no idea of danger which he is doing a mechanics course and resat his maths got a D/E now I think went up a grade

does anyone know of any ADULT ADHD support groups.I was diagnosed with ADHD in July at the old age of 43. Ritalin has improved my life i only wish i was diagnosed earlier.

Hi Sue, Have a look at www.adders(.)org for a full list of support groups and everything to do with ADHD. Maz. XX

Nudge for ANNE.

nudge again,to give you time to find it!

Hi all, Can I just put my views in about this thread. Up until May 04 I worked in a further education college teaching students with varyind difficulties/disabilities i.e. downs, prader willi, mental health, EBD, behavioural etc etc. It was tough but rewarding! With the right DIFFERENTIATION and teaching strategies they all improved on their individual needs. I now work for the LEA . I oversee the statutory assessment process and write Statements of Special Educational Need if they are agreed. When a child is refused a statement it could be for a number of reasons! the panel may decide that the advice that has been submitted by various professionals shows that the childs needs ARE being met by the school (not always, I might add) There was a comment made in this thread about finance. Can I just say that if a child is given a statement it is the schools responsibility to name the amount of hours they want on the statement. Sometimes they will only name a few because the support they have to provide comes out of their budget!!!! It is also the responsibility of the scool to differentiate to attend to that childs needs. Inclusion is what its all about. It is also down to the school to get advice from outside agencies on how to implement different strategies and what resources are available to them i.e. Speech & language (not secondary school) OT, Ed psychs , camhs, etc. It frustrates me when I talk to Sencos who are not even sure what an objective means on the statement. Please don't tar us all with the same brush. Believe me, if I could get out there myself I would do. I suggest if there are any parents/carers who feel that the child is not having their needs attended to they should raise concerns with the school/LEA. Also once a child leaves a maintained school unless they are going into 6th form the statement ceases. Sorry to make this reply so long but this is something I feel very passionate about!! Bernie x

Nudge

Nudge

I am the SENCO for my Pre-school and unfortunately, every year I have at least one child on the register who has additional needs. The most common of these is speech delay but needs can vary greatly. In our whole area, there are 4 speech therapists and appointments can take months so some children have gone private, not an option open to many. A new scheme has started giving parents the opportunity to go on a training course to help their child at home. Quite a few have started the course and some have completed it. Referring a child that requires additional support has become easier in the area and with a parents permission, I am able to refer a child to outside agencies if I suspect, or our own assessment system shows a need. The child will then be assessed at home and at Pre-school, with support or guidance given to us so that we can support the child's needs rather than the child having to wait until school. Although this is a big improvement with the system, many children still do not get this opportunity until Pre-school which is at the age of 2 and a half. I am supporting one child at present but after assessments, I will have 3 children needing support. Although there are improvements in assessment and help, the push for children to be integrated into main stream schools (a good move providing the premises are suitable!!), has reduced the services available rather than making more available. Tickled Pink: If I had a family near me in the position of your grandson and parents, I would try to organise a neighbourhood babysitting system to allow the parents some rest and time to 'get away'. Could this be a possibility in their area bearing in mind your grandson's needs? Jacky - shutting up now cos I talk too much!!

thank you for what you said and if you are in Scotland and move to England you will need to ask again even though statment is on the chils records I had to

PS..... I am in Solihull so if anyone wants a coffee break or a shopping break, contact me. Jacky

My niece's little boy has dyspraxia. Joy

I really do think that this whole thing is another postcode lottery. I have been very happy with the school. They supported our application throughout, even after the LEA turned us down 4 times. When we went to tribunal, the head came with us. The panel seemed to be struggling to understand why we had been turned down at all, and of course found in our favour immediately. How much money was wasted through this eighteen month long saga I wonder?? It seems though that others are not receiving the help they should from their school. If you have a Statement of Special Needs then the school HAS to provide what is detailed there. No ifs and no buts. You should contact your LEA immediately if this is not happening. Get onto the school governors, your local parent partnership, the health visitor, speech therapist and anyone else who supports you. No-one else is going to do this for you unfortunately - you have to do the fighting yourself! Any of the support groups for the individual conditions should be able to advise you too. The Department for Education (or whatever they are calling themselves today) can send you free of charge the Special Educational Needs code of practice which lays down the guidelines the schools/LEA's have to follow. I also feel very passionately about this and get very angry that some parents are conned into believing that they cannot get the help that their children need and deserve, either by lazy SENCOs or tight fisted LEA's. In my opinion yes it DOES all come down to money not to mention political correctness, otherwise the help would not be so inaccessible. Not everyone has the time, resources and support to fight the way I had to. Maz. XX

Hi Maz :-)) This is a special message for you to say many thanks for all the advice and help you gave me with my son Jack. For those who don't know, Jack was 3 when Maz first contacted me after reading a thread on here. Jack didn't talk at all at that stage. I am so delighted to say that after one to one speech therapy and a term in a nursery run by speech therapists we have now been told that he no longer needs help. He will still be assessed to make sure that he is still improving and he starts a mainstream nursery tomorrow. He is now 4 I cannot say thanks enough. It is down to you that I realised that this was a common problem and that if I wanted something for Jack.... I had to shout for it, lolol To everyone else, I was fortunate that Jack only had speech problems and i am extremely humbled by some of the posts on this thread. You all deserve medals:-)) Allie xx

My youngest Damien has dyspraxia we have an appointment for 8th February keeps complaining of pains in his hands and he falls over. My middle son has got three full days help since he was statmented in England but he still takes violent mood swings but the school is good with him he has ADHD since Maz put this thread on it really makes me feel I am not alone

Oh Allie how lovely, thank you so much for that! It just gets my back up so much that no-one helps and advises people like you and me. If I hadn't had opiniated, experienced friends to reassure me that I was doing the right thing, then Jamie would probably be ten times worse than he is now. (Karen - this means you girl!!!) Now I'M that opinionated, experienced person, and will carry on being that way! I'm so glad to hear that Jack is doing well, keep watching him and hopefully he will go from strength to strength. Just remember that as mothers, we are the ones who know our children best. Maz. XX

Suzanne, I had never heard of dyspraxia before now. My niece's little boy is 3. She and her husband felt there was something wrong and kept on at the doctor, and a consultant diagnosed him. He has started nursery school and is treated as having special needs. When we see him he seems perfectly happy but sometimes a little uncoordinated and quite behind for his age. Joy

Joy, if you google Dyspraxia, there is loads of info on the net. Maz. XX