G U E R R I L L A M U M of related interest Choosing a School for a Child With Special Needs Ruth Birnbaum ISBN 978 1 84310 987 7 eISBN 978 0 85700 208 2 Supportive Parenting Becoming an Advocate for your Child with Special Needs Jan Starr Campito ISBN 978 1 84310 851 1 eISBN 978 1 84642 663 6 Successful School Change and Transition for the Child with Asperger Syndrome A Guide for Parents Clare Lawrence ISBN 978 1 84905 052 4 eISBN 978 0 85700 358 4 How to Make School Make Sense A Parents’ Guide to Helping the Child with Asperger Syndrome Clare Lawrence Foreword by Tony Attwood ISBN 978 1 84310 664 7 eISBN 978 1 84642 834 0 G U E R R I L L A M U M Surviving the Special Educational Needs Jungle E L L E N P O W E R Jessica Kingsley Publishers London and Philadelphia First published in 2010 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers 73 Collier Street London N1 9BE, UK and 400 Market Street, Suite 400 Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA www.jkp.com Copyright © Ellen Power 2010 Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of the HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saff ron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher. Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 84310 999 0 eISBN 978 0 85700 392 8 For my husband and my children, Peter and William. Also for JY and AJ, without whom we would have achieved nothing. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my family for supporting me in the writing of this book and for understanding why it was so important to me to do it. Thank you also to the teachers, teaching assistants, health professionals and others who have helped us to meet the needs of our children. Thank you to the staff at JKP. CONTENTS List of Abbreviations 8 Preface 9 The Law Covered in this Book 11 1 Identifying Special Needs 13 2 Assessment and Provision for Special Educational Needs: Getting an Appropriate mainstream Education for Your Child 40 3 The Statutory Assessment Process 63 4 When Things Go Wrong 87 5 How to Complain Effectively 101 6 How to Ensure Your Child is Happy and Safe at School, and Deal with Bullying 108 7 Support for Carers 130 8 The Disability Discrimination Act: How is it Relevant to Your Child at School? 138 Conclusion 145 Useful Organisations and Web Resources 146 References 152 Index 154 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CDC Child Development Centre DCSF Department for Children, Schools and Families DED Disability Equality Duty EHRC Equality and Human Rights Commission HESC Health, Education and Social Care IEP Individual Education Plan IPSEA Independent Panel for Special Educational Advice KS1/KS2 Key Stage 1/Key Stage 2 LEA Local Education Authority (at present these are known simply as Local Authorities, or LAs) PTA Parent–Teacher Association SEN Special Educational Needs SENDIST Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (now First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability)) SENCO Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator SENR Special Educational Needs Register SNO Special Needs Officer TA Teaching Assistant 8