Daughter diagnosed with severe Dyslexia and Dyscalculia

emmbo

Hi all. I am hoping to get advice from someone who has had a similar experience. 

My daughter aged 7yr was diagnosed last year at age 6yrs by an Ed Psych (who I paid £400 for a private assessment) as having sever Dyslexia and Dyscalculia. Shortly after the assessment my daughters school applied to the LA for a EHC assessment. The LA refused to assess stating there had not been enough time given to follow the recommendations from the Ed Psych report. I have worked very closely with my daughters school and despite them following a graduated response approach my daughter is still achieving well below expected so with much supporting evidence 8 months later the school applied for another EHC assessment. 

Now correct me if I’m wrong but the LA should respond within 6 weeks? As this didn’t happen I sent 2 emails and didn’t get a response but 2 weeks later received a letter to advise the LA were refusing to assess again. 

The letter I received referred to my daughter by her name initially however part way down the letter she was called a different name! Unacceptable! 

Despite this I followed the advice and contacted the mediation company. I agreed to mediation and was informed that mediation would be arranged within 30 days. I was told I would hear back within 2 weeks. 

I have not heard back from them at all and today is day 30! 

Please can anyone advise on the next steps please?

L_Volunteer

Hello @emmbo

Welcome to Scope's forum. It is great to see you have joined us.

Thanks for already managing to find the courage to reach out to us. I can imagine, there will be lots of our community members who will be happy to give you advice based on their similar experiences.

Unfortunately, I don't have similar personal experiences. However, in the meantime, I do have relevant professional experience/knowledge. It sounds like you have worked very closely with your daughter's school. However, you are feeling frustrated because they will not currently issue an EHCP assessment despite your private educational psychologist assessment. You are seeing the impact due to your daughter still achieving well below expected despite following a graduated response.

In addition to the graduated response, did the educational psychologist assessment include any other recommendations? I am just wondering because schools are supposed to follow the graduated response for any student with identified/diagnosed SEND, not just for those students with EHCP's. This might be the current barrier you are experiencing with accessing an EHCP. This is because EHCPs are designed for students whose needs are not able to be met by the school (e.g., students requiring specialist dyslexia and dyscalculia interventions).

You are right, under usual circumstances, the local authority should reply within six weeks. However, the reasons they might not be replying within the six weeks are the previous refusal and COVID-19 delays. You could contact your local authority directly or appeal against the initial refusal. According to IPSEA, the LA'S response (from the refusal) "should explain that there is a right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), and should contain details of a mediation service for you to contact."

I can hear how upsetting this must be for you as a parent though. Not least as they used a different name to your daughter's name later in the letter - inconsistency too! 

In terms of accessing more tailored advice for dyslexia and dyscalculia, some resources you might find useful include:

• The British Dyslexia Association (they can help with dyslexia and dyscalculia)
• The Dyslexia Association
• NHS

Please keep us up to date with how you and your daughter are, we are all here for you both