statementing

[vamps26]

Can any one help me my 8 year old daughter has been put forward for statementing. I have been told the process has been started does any one know how long it would take. Also would i be able to claim dla even though there is not a positive diagnosis the doctor is taking her time to diagnose aspurgers. Even though the people i talk with at cahms say that my daughter is a aspurgers child. Any help will be appreciated.

[poppynurse]

You may get more response if you post in the special needs section

 

Statementing can take a while - they are supposed to complete it within a timescale but I can't recall what that is - someone else will be along shortly I hope.

 

You can claim DLA without a formal diagnosis, DLA is about the help the child needs over and above that a 'normal' child of similar age needs.

[42man]

Moving to the special needs forum.....

[Bookworm]

If the process has been started, it means that they are first going through something called a Statutory Assessment, which may or may not lead to a Statement being issued. When the request for Stat Ass is made, the LA has 6 weeks to say yes or not to initiate a Stat Ass. If they agree then from the day an assessment is initiated the LEA has 10 weeks to decide whether to issue statement and then a further 2 weeks to draft the statement. The final draft can be issued up to 8 weeks later depending on parental response.

 

The whole process should take no more than 26 weeks, and that is a legal requirement.

 

Re DLA, yes you can apply even without a formal diagnosis, the criteria is that the needs of the child should be significantly different to the needs of a child the same age, although I should warn you that autism in general and Asperger's in particular tend to have a lower award success simply because the kids tend not to be seen as "disabled". This doesn't mean you shouldn't apply, but simply to warn you to be ready to have to fight harder for it. ;-)

 

If you're a at home mum, or only working minimal hours, you may be able to claim Carers' Allowance as well, but you need to request the claim form separately, and don't wait until you get DLA as they don't backdate unless you have done both at the same time. They'll say no to CA until you get DLA awarded but then will backdate to then.

 

Any questions and queries, just holler. ;-)

[vamps26]

Thankyou for your help i didnt know what to expect all i know was my daughters doctor asked me to sign a form so she could get the statmenting process started. I was wondering if my daughter got the statement would i be able to get her to stay in the special needs school that she is already in as she is happy there and has settled.

[Bookworm]

She's in a SN school without being statemented? Now there's something new!

 

Whereabouts in the country are you?

[vamps26]

Hi bookworm,

What happened was my daughter was having problems in her old school so they decided to permantly exclude her so she got put in to a special need. and i live in manchester:)

[Bookworm]

Hang on to that for dear life, hun.

 

Once the process is complete, you'll have to make sure that the LA names that school in Part 4 of her statement, and you'll be set. If she's already there and doing well, hopefully you won't have the uphill struggle that some of us have had. ;-)