my son got diagnosed with mild cp last year at the age of 9

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kieransmum

hi my son kieran got diagnosed last year, was a very big shock for me, wasnt expecting that diagnoses at all, but thinking about it now it kinda adds up. he was born at 32 weeks, and seemed healthy doctors ticked all the right boxes til he was about 3 we started noticing he wasnt doing what his friends could do. now i have the struggle of getting him into a secondary school with a lift as he cant do stairs without support, and the school hes at now say the local authority will not grant him a statement because he's not academically poor enough, even tho hes not academically great! they say his mobility and visual problems arent enough to get him a statement, has anyone had a similar situation? very worried how hes going to cope in a school where he cant physically move from lesson to lesson, thanks for reading, lisa

Lala

My advice would be to trust your instincts and to approach the LA direct to request a statutory assessment of SEN: you do not need to go through the school and the LA must respond to your request.

I have two children with SEN: one is deaf and has a statement and one is at SA+. The primary school they initially attended was unsupportive - insisting they were fine (had no SEN) as they were making adequate progress academically but the reality was that they were not and their individual progress levels declined over the years. We removed one child and sent her to a different primary school where she was automatically placed at SA+ on the SEN register (because of the need for outside agency support and advice to the school) and after some months we requested a statutory assessment to help her transition to primary school. Not only did the LA assess her but they issued a statement! So all in the course of fifteen months she went from 'no SEN' to a child with a statement.For us it was never about resources but about accessibility to the curriculum and the transition from primary to secondary school is very very hard. Buildings need to be accessible and if they are not then reasonable steps need to be taken to ensure that children are not disadvantaged because of their individual impairments. It is very sad but some people (including teachers) really do not see our children's potential and how much harder they have to work than most children but equally there are some people/professionals who do understand. Just stay reasonable and calm and with luck you will get there in the end. Don't worry about the school - if they have any sense they willunderstand that you must do everything you can for your child. Good luck!