SCN0612

Written evidence from Parental Submission 64

1. I write in relation to your recent request for evidence/experiences to be used as part of the Education Select Committee SEND enquiry (deadline for responses tomorrow 14th June 2018.)

2. With few early signs of any autism spectrum disorder, my six year old son last year had a very disrupted year in reception at school and as a result we have recently commenced formal assessment for a possible autism spectrum disorder.  Our reason for commencing this assessment was twofold - firstly to get formal diagnosis, as even in his first year at school it has become clear to us that teachers vary hugely in their understanding and management of this condition and without a formal diagnosis there would remain a real risk that our son's problems would be classed as poor behaviour rather than him getting the support that he needs to succeed.  The second reason was that we believed that in order to get psychological support from the local CAMHs service, for some specific issues that are disrupting his education, we would first need to get a formal diagnosis as the initial gateway into the local mental health services.  As a commissioner of services, the experience that followed seemed to vary widely from the joined up service that we are all working hard to achieve!!

3. In our area, the initial step in the assessment process is a consultation with the local General Paediatrician where there was a brief discussion with ourselves and the school then asked to complete a lengthy questionaire to form part of the assessment.  Within this consultation we were advised that our son would also be observed once at school and have a SALT assessment with all these elements then being considered by a multi-discipilniary panel that meets bi-monthly.  Funding pressures mean that there is huge waiting list for children to be assessed by this panel hence, we now have an appointment for December 2019 where we will be advised of the outcome of the panel!!  

4. The working assumption is that between now and December 2019 the Local Authority intervention team would provide support and additional resources to the school to support the child however, the reality is that this service is so poorly funded that they are only able to support the most severe of cases and are very reluctant to even consider a child for additional support prior to a formal diagnosis being made.  The other very worrying point that we were made aware of was that even with a diagnosis, the local CAMHs service in our area is refusing to see any child under nine years of age unless they are suicidal or have an eating disorder!!  When you couple both these factors with the huge funding deficits for schools locally, this puts an additional burden on schools and teaching staff to support these children in school at a time when there is barely enough resource to support children with no additional needs.

5. I am keen to emphasize that my reason for raising these issues is not to in any way attempt to fast track or raise the case of our son - we are lucky enough that whilst wholly not ideal I have decided to take a career break to support my son and we also have the means to source mental health support privately should we need to.  My real worry is what happens to children in more deprived communities with more limited family support - my suspicion is that by the time they are accepted by the CAMHs service they are likely to either have been excluded by the school or already to have significant mental health and/or behavioural problems.

6. I hope this summary is useful for your work, if you would like to discuss any point in greater detail - do not hesitate to get in touch with me directly.

October 2018