"Our son is 10 years old..."
"Our son is 10 years old. I did not have an easy pregnancy and following his birth, our son needed specialist medical intervention in the Special Care Baby Unit.
Our son attended the crèche at my husband’s work from 18 months until he was 3 years old. We noticed that he was slightly delayed in the achieving of significant milestones, like speech and gross motor skills.
He started infant school aged four and a half. After the first term, our son became reluctant to attend school. By the start of Year 2, our son voiced that he found things at school quite hard and that he had difficulty following lessons. In an attempt to help him, we employed a private tutor. The school reported that he was slow to complete work and were concerned about his progress but had not offered any concrete plans as to how he would be supported.
When we decided to have him independently assessed we encountered our first set back. The School told us they had been instructed by the LEA not to allow our private Educational Psychologist on to the premises to assess our son.
He was only 6 years old, extremely anxious and very unhappy at school. After discussions with our private Educational Psychologist, we decided to move schools.
In 2009 our son started the new school but unfortunately within months, he was being bullied. A major and disturbing incident took place where our son’s health and wellbeing was placed at risk. Our son was unable to call for help but fortunately someone who witnessed what was happening managed to alert school staff. The School would not record this bullying incident saying that it did not meet their behavioural policy of bullying. Nor did they report it to The Governing Body and the Local Authority.
He stayed on at this school with instruction from us that he and this boy be kept apart. However, when he was in Years 4 and 5, our son was again being bullied on a regular basis.
When he was 8 (Year 3), we noticed certain changes in him. He had severe visual disturbances and we knew again, something was wrong. We took him to his optometrist who recommended that our son be referred to a neurologist and have an MRI as a matter of urgency. We were very concerned about him. Our GP referred him to a paediatrician at the Royal Free Hospital and after examining him, the paediatrician referred him for an urgent MRI and a series of blood tests. She also thought that our son needed to be further assessed by a Paediatric Neurologist and the Wolfson Neurodisability Team at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
Our son was seen by a GOSH Paediatric neurologist within weeks and after a series of tests over six months by GOSH’s Wolfson Neurodisabilty Team, our son was diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome. We actually felt relieved, as we knew all along there was something not being diagnosed. All the private tutors were telling us he was very bright and well above average but he was not achieving in school. The tests further identified that he was also dyslexic and had dyscalculia. In a bid to assist our son, we engaged a private Speech and Language Therapist and private Occupational Therapist at the weekends at great personal expense.
Our son was now nearing the final term of Year 4. Armed with these reports we met with the school’s Special Educational Needs Team. The school offered to apply for a Statutory Assessment. Our son was becoming more anxious and not wanting to go to school. He was scared and extremely unhappy. The specialists at the hospital strongly advised us that our son should be receiving speech and language therapy and occupational therapy during school hours and most definitely not at the weekend. GOSH had made specific recommendations for the school to follow. None of which were implemented.
Six weeks after this meeting with the school, we were invited to a further meeting in which we were told it would be best if we; the parents, apply for a request for a statutory assessment. We felt that the school were stalling and wasting our time. We had the distinct impression that the school was not going to be very supportive. It was at this stage that we knew we needed professional guidance. We knew that our request for a statutory assessment would be rejected by the local authority. We sent our request in anyway.
My husband and I then started to research educational lawyers specializing in SEN who could help us. Through word of mouth and the website Mumsnet, we found Douglas Silas Solicitors. Their website is fantastic and the fact sheets helped us enormously.
We made contact with Douglas Silas Solicitors and got an appointment. They emailed us, and told us not to send in originals and to make copies of all the reports and documents we had. She also told us how to organize our documents. This has been quite invaluable as we still use this system today at home.
In our first meeting with Douglas , we didn’t feel rushed in telling them about our son and what we were up against. We found an approachable and warm reception and a genuine sense of understanding of what we were going through. We felt relieved and understood for the first time in trying to find a solution to our son’s education. Within a few minutes of meeting him, I knew I wanted Douglas to take on our case. We walked away from the meeting feeling positive. The team got in touch to let us know that Douglas Silas Solicitors would take on our case. They wrote to us and explained the statutory assessment process, they told us what to expect and when to expect it. Douglas gave us a lot of very detailed information. They gave us payment options too and we made Douglas Silas Solicitors our Legal Representative.
Within weeks of seeing Douglas , we received the decision from the Local Authority that they indeed would not assess our son’s special educational needs. It was a relief to know that our son’s case was in capable hands as Douglas Silas Solicitors took over. They appealed on our behalf to Tribunal.
Douglas Silas Solicitors worked on the case and they took the pressure off us enormously. This allowed us to concentrate on our son who was now in Year 5 and extremely vulnerable and whom we had to drag into school which he hated.
Within weeks, the Local Authority reconsidered their decision and agreed to assess our son’s Special Educational Needs.
Douglas thought it prudent to get an independent expert witnesses report from an Educational Psychologist. Our son was seen in school by our own Educational Psychologist. The school had reported to him that they had concerns for our son’s transfer to secondary school. With this in mind we researched appropriate schools and found a suitable school in Hertfordshire, which we felt would meet the educational needs for our son. The school took in children from Year 1 onwards into secondary. This school also had the therapists in-house, which meant life would be less disruptive as our son could have his treatments within school hours. Our son had a three day trial at the school and told us that he wanted to go there. We requested this school in Part 4 of the Statement. The Local Authority declined our request for Part 4.
Douglas Silas Solicitors appealed on our behalf to Tribunal to address Part 2, 3 and 4 of the Statement. This related to identifying his needs, his special educational provision and agreeing on the appropriate school for him. We were given a Tribunal date in July.
Douglas Silas Solicitors arranged for expert witness reports for Tribunal. They recommended that we engage a Speech and Language Therapist, an Occupational Therapist and the same Educational Psychologist who had seen our son previously. They made the appointments on our behalf.
On the day the Occupational Therapist was due to see our son in school, we received a phone call from her to tell us that the school were not allowing her access to our son! Our OT had been told by the school that they were instructed by the Local Authority not to allow her to observe our son in class. We contacted Douglas Silas Solicitors, and they negotiated at length with the Local Authority. The assessment finally went ahead.
The school had always maintained that our son was making progress. However, the independent assessments that were done via Douglas Silas painted a very different picture than the school was telling us.
It was June, and our son was coming to the end of Year 5. Our son’s health continued to deteriorate and he was in a vulnerable state. On medical advice, we kept our son off school. He was off school for about 8 weeks.
By the end of June we had everything set for Tribunal. Douglas Silas Solicitors had arranged everything including our expert witnesses who would be appearing at Tribunal. When the Tribunal bundle arrived, it was in excess of 500 pages!
We were prepared for all this with the support from Douglas Silas Solicitors. Douglas talked us through what to expect at the Tribunal itself and how long it would last. However, six days before Tribunal, the LEA wanted to settle and they agreed to all our requests. We also had a much more detailed Part 2 (identified needs), a more specific, measurable, accountable Part 3 without the “weasel words” and the school of our choice in Part 4.
Thanks to Douglas Silas Solicitors, our son started Year 6 in the school of OUR choice in Sept 2012 and is ecstatic. He says he never realised he could be so happy. He goes on the local school bus service organized by the school and he loves it. The staff are fully qualified to support him. My son feels safe in the school and thrives in this environment. As each days goes by he grows more confident and less anxious. It is a wonderful sight to see.
We have learned that you cannot go through this process alone. You need a supportive lawyer. Douglas and his team were just that. In addition, they were very reassuring with every phone call we made. We were provided with so much information on their website but more than that, the whole team were there for clarification at all times. We had meetings and telephone conferences, received regular updates, on what to expect, dates to keep free and excellent communication so we knew what was happening at all times. Most of all they were caring and kind. They even remembered our son’s birthday and sent him a card signed by the whole team. It’s this level of detail that reinforced my belief that we had chosen the right legal team.
The LEA often never met deadlines set by Tribunal. They pushed things to the limit but Douglas Silas Solicitors helped me stay focused and was very reassuring, professional, informative and a calming influence.
I have already recommended three people to Douglas. I thought we needed a hawk to challenge what was ahead of us but then found this dove in Douglas Silas."
Our son attended the crèche at my husband’s work from 18 months until he was 3 years old. We noticed that he was slightly delayed in the achieving of significant milestones, like speech and gross motor skills.
He started infant school aged four and a half. After the first term, our son became reluctant to attend school. By the start of Year 2, our son voiced that he found things at school quite hard and that he had difficulty following lessons. In an attempt to help him, we employed a private tutor. The school reported that he was slow to complete work and were concerned about his progress but had not offered any concrete plans as to how he would be supported.
When we decided to have him independently assessed we encountered our first set back. The School told us they had been instructed by the LEA not to allow our private Educational Psychologist on to the premises to assess our son.
He was only 6 years old, extremely anxious and very unhappy at school. After discussions with our private Educational Psychologist, we decided to move schools.
In 2009 our son started the new school but unfortunately within months, he was being bullied. A major and disturbing incident took place where our son’s health and wellbeing was placed at risk. Our son was unable to call for help but fortunately someone who witnessed what was happening managed to alert school staff. The School would not record this bullying incident saying that it did not meet their behavioural policy of bullying. Nor did they report it to The Governing Body and the Local Authority.
He stayed on at this school with instruction from us that he and this boy be kept apart. However, when he was in Years 4 and 5, our son was again being bullied on a regular basis.
When he was 8 (Year 3), we noticed certain changes in him. He had severe visual disturbances and we knew again, something was wrong. We took him to his optometrist who recommended that our son be referred to a neurologist and have an MRI as a matter of urgency. We were very concerned about him. Our GP referred him to a paediatrician at the Royal Free Hospital and after examining him, the paediatrician referred him for an urgent MRI and a series of blood tests. She also thought that our son needed to be further assessed by a Paediatric Neurologist and the Wolfson Neurodisability Team at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
Our son was seen by a GOSH Paediatric neurologist within weeks and after a series of tests over six months by GOSH’s Wolfson Neurodisabilty Team, our son was diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome. We actually felt relieved, as we knew all along there was something not being diagnosed. All the private tutors were telling us he was very bright and well above average but he was not achieving in school. The tests further identified that he was also dyslexic and had dyscalculia. In a bid to assist our son, we engaged a private Speech and Language Therapist and private Occupational Therapist at the weekends at great personal expense.
Our son was now nearing the final term of Year 4. Armed with these reports we met with the school’s Special Educational Needs Team. The school offered to apply for a Statutory Assessment. Our son was becoming more anxious and not wanting to go to school. He was scared and extremely unhappy. The specialists at the hospital strongly advised us that our son should be receiving speech and language therapy and occupational therapy during school hours and most definitely not at the weekend. GOSH had made specific recommendations for the school to follow. None of which were implemented.
Six weeks after this meeting with the school, we were invited to a further meeting in which we were told it would be best if we; the parents, apply for a request for a statutory assessment. We felt that the school were stalling and wasting our time. We had the distinct impression that the school was not going to be very supportive. It was at this stage that we knew we needed professional guidance. We knew that our request for a statutory assessment would be rejected by the local authority. We sent our request in anyway.
My husband and I then started to research educational lawyers specializing in SEN who could help us. Through word of mouth and the website Mumsnet, we found Douglas Silas Solicitors. Their website is fantastic and the fact sheets helped us enormously.
We made contact with Douglas Silas Solicitors and got an appointment. They emailed us, and told us not to send in originals and to make copies of all the reports and documents we had. She also told us how to organize our documents. This has been quite invaluable as we still use this system today at home.
In our first meeting with Douglas , we didn’t feel rushed in telling them about our son and what we were up against. We found an approachable and warm reception and a genuine sense of understanding of what we were going through. We felt relieved and understood for the first time in trying to find a solution to our son’s education. Within a few minutes of meeting him, I knew I wanted Douglas to take on our case. We walked away from the meeting feeling positive. The team got in touch to let us know that Douglas Silas Solicitors would take on our case. They wrote to us and explained the statutory assessment process, they told us what to expect and when to expect it. Douglas gave us a lot of very detailed information. They gave us payment options too and we made Douglas Silas Solicitors our Legal Representative.
Within weeks of seeing Douglas , we received the decision from the Local Authority that they indeed would not assess our son’s special educational needs. It was a relief to know that our son’s case was in capable hands as Douglas Silas Solicitors took over. They appealed on our behalf to Tribunal.
Douglas Silas Solicitors worked on the case and they took the pressure off us enormously. This allowed us to concentrate on our son who was now in Year 5 and extremely vulnerable and whom we had to drag into school which he hated.
Within weeks, the Local Authority reconsidered their decision and agreed to assess our son’s Special Educational Needs.
Douglas thought it prudent to get an independent expert witnesses report from an Educational Psychologist. Our son was seen in school by our own Educational Psychologist. The school had reported to him that they had concerns for our son’s transfer to secondary school. With this in mind we researched appropriate schools and found a suitable school in Hertfordshire, which we felt would meet the educational needs for our son. The school took in children from Year 1 onwards into secondary. This school also had the therapists in-house, which meant life would be less disruptive as our son could have his treatments within school hours. Our son had a three day trial at the school and told us that he wanted to go there. We requested this school in Part 4 of the Statement. The Local Authority declined our request for Part 4.
Douglas Silas Solicitors appealed on our behalf to Tribunal to address Part 2, 3 and 4 of the Statement. This related to identifying his needs, his special educational provision and agreeing on the appropriate school for him. We were given a Tribunal date in July.
Douglas Silas Solicitors arranged for expert witness reports for Tribunal. They recommended that we engage a Speech and Language Therapist, an Occupational Therapist and the same Educational Psychologist who had seen our son previously. They made the appointments on our behalf.
On the day the Occupational Therapist was due to see our son in school, we received a phone call from her to tell us that the school were not allowing her access to our son! Our OT had been told by the school that they were instructed by the Local Authority not to allow her to observe our son in class. We contacted Douglas Silas Solicitors, and they negotiated at length with the Local Authority. The assessment finally went ahead.
The school had always maintained that our son was making progress. However, the independent assessments that were done via Douglas Silas painted a very different picture than the school was telling us.
It was June, and our son was coming to the end of Year 5. Our son’s health continued to deteriorate and he was in a vulnerable state. On medical advice, we kept our son off school. He was off school for about 8 weeks.
By the end of June we had everything set for Tribunal. Douglas Silas Solicitors had arranged everything including our expert witnesses who would be appearing at Tribunal. When the Tribunal bundle arrived, it was in excess of 500 pages!
We were prepared for all this with the support from Douglas Silas Solicitors. Douglas talked us through what to expect at the Tribunal itself and how long it would last. However, six days before Tribunal, the LEA wanted to settle and they agreed to all our requests. We also had a much more detailed Part 2 (identified needs), a more specific, measurable, accountable Part 3 without the “weasel words” and the school of our choice in Part 4.
Thanks to Douglas Silas Solicitors, our son started Year 6 in the school of OUR choice in Sept 2012 and is ecstatic. He says he never realised he could be so happy. He goes on the local school bus service organized by the school and he loves it. The staff are fully qualified to support him. My son feels safe in the school and thrives in this environment. As each days goes by he grows more confident and less anxious. It is a wonderful sight to see.
We have learned that you cannot go through this process alone. You need a supportive lawyer. Douglas and his team were just that. In addition, they were very reassuring with every phone call we made. We were provided with so much information on their website but more than that, the whole team were there for clarification at all times. We had meetings and telephone conferences, received regular updates, on what to expect, dates to keep free and excellent communication so we knew what was happening at all times. Most of all they were caring and kind. They even remembered our son’s birthday and sent him a card signed by the whole team. It’s this level of detail that reinforced my belief that we had chosen the right legal team.
The LEA often never met deadlines set by Tribunal. They pushed things to the limit but Douglas Silas Solicitors helped me stay focused and was very reassuring, professional, informative and a calming influence.
I have already recommended three people to Douglas. I thought we needed a hawk to challenge what was ahead of us but then found this dove in Douglas Silas."
A Parent's Story - D v Enfield LA
