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Written evidence from Parental Submission 13

1.       The assessment of and support for children with SEND

1.1 assessment waiting times are far too long. Our assessment waiting time was 1 year but we were told a 2 to 3 year wait. Unacceptable. Early intervention is key.

1.2 Once the assessment is complete and the diagnosis given, there is NO SUPPORT. Our LA were naming parent run Facebook groups as a source of potential support. They had no qualifications and didn’t even know they were being named. This group ended up shutting down due to pressure.

1.3 The private company our LA commissioned services out to shut down all professionally led support groups. They said this was to reduce assessment waiting times by concentrating all staff on diagnosis. Waiting times have not been reduced and they have no made staff redundant.

1.4 The level of professionals understanding on how to support autism is extremely limited. Professionals use outrages beliefs and are not up to date with current research and therapies. Their methods are outdated and based on stereotypical views on autism. Extremely concerning.

1.5 In our LA support is now only being given to those with 2 or more diagnoses. A single diagnosis of autism is not considered enough to warrant support. This is extremely poor. The severity of the single diagnosis is not taken into consideration leaving many families isolated and helpless.

1.6 Support is not provided until a professional diagnosis has been given. With current waiting times up to 3 years, this is leaving families in a state of distress whilst waiting for assessments. There is no interim support which is leading to  children’s conditions deteriorating severely whilst waiting for help.

1.7 The level of paperwork parents and carers are expected to do is unacceptable. It’s overwhelming, full of jargon  and extremely repetitive. Advice on keywords to use in these forms to obtain access to help is often withheld from parents.

1.8 Professionals are using the excuse that funds are limited or that they are overworked to parents. Unacceptable. If we are entitled then we should receive.

1.9 Levels of support being provided are far too basic. Provision needs to be more person centred and and specialist where appropriate.

2.       Transition to EHCPs.

2.1 we went straight to EHCP. They are take far too long. Professionals have to submit so many reports and attend too many meetings per child for the system to work efficiently.

2.2 schools are not well educated enough on the EHCP system and do not have time to oversee the process.

2.3 the quality of reports being submitted for an EHCP by professionals is poor. They’re not aware of the content that is required in order to secure appropriate support for the child. Our LA had to run emmergency training for staff who were submitting appalling reports and failing families.

2.4 the quantity of EHCPs being requested is too high. This needs to be for high needs students only. Their must be an interim level for children requiring medium levels of support.

4.1 The roles of and co-operation between education, health and social care sectors

4.2 the lack of communication and access to communal files due to different commissioning contracts is extremely concerning. LAs are not able to access information that private companies hold so there is NO joined up thinking, work is repeated and communication between teams is extremely limited.

4.3 Teams pass the buck to other teams on a daily basis because of workload. Unacceptable.

4.4 Due to high levels of EHCP meetings professionals have to attend, you have to wait months to get them all in the same room. Quite often many don’t turn up.

4.5 There is no central communication system for referrals. Therefore parents have to complete the same form for education, health and social care applications on a regular basis.

4.6 Social care in particular has been extremely poor. We were assigned a social worker who failed to support us in any way and then removed us from the system. Health and education completely disagreed with this.

4.7 Health and education have been back filling the role of social care for our family. They’ve had no choice.

4.8 Professionals have actively avoided communication with each other across departments in order to avoid extra workload.

April 2018