Statement OF Educational Needs for a child with ADHD?

Question

We have an 8 year old son with a diagnosis of ADHD and is on medication (Concerta). We about to put in for a statement for him, but know its going to be a long hard fight to be heard. There is no help for children with ADHD because people think they are just badly behaved and its the way the parents are bringing them up. We would like to ask is there anyone who has been through this process of statementing with an ADHD child without the support of school. I get so cross, as if my child had a physical disability he would be heard more easily, there are so many charity organizations for disabilities so why not for ADHD. Its about time this country recognised ADHD is a health condition and not bad behaviour.

Answer 1

I'm a teacher and I have to say it sounds very strange that you're not getting support from your son's school in this case. A child with ADHD can be very disruptive to the rest of the class, therefore a statement would fund a teaching assistant to specificaly work with your son and free up the teachers time to work with the rest of the class. Chances are that if your son has ADHD and it's been diagnosed, his teacher will be spending atleast 50% of his/her time with him and neglecting the rest of the class if there's no help specifically for your son. If I were you (and if I had a child with ADHD in my class I would be expecting a visit) I would go into school, talk calmly with your son's teacher, explain your concerns and listen (listen being the operative word as I know from experience that parents -no offence intended here - have a tendency to hear what they want to hear and not listen to all the facts before jumping in). There may be a very good reason they will not support a statement application. Also, if he's new to the school or it's a recent diagnosis, evidence will not have been collected. Statements take literally YEARS of collected evidence to obtain and an awful lot of other strategies to have been tried, outside agencies to have assessed and only in extreme circumstances are statements awarded - they are painfully difficult to get.
Good luck though!

Answer 2

I sympathise with your situation. ADAH IS a medical condition and your son should be receiving proper medical treatment. As mentioned in the first answer you need to contact the SENCO in your son's school. I worked in an EBD (Emotional and Behavioural Disorders) special school until 2001 and the majority of our pupils had ADAH. Arrangements were made for them to get their medication at the correct times during the school day from a qualified nurse.
The great Mr BLAIR, of education, education, education, has been busy closing them and "integrating" these pupils into mainstream schools. The results is they don't get the medication as and when required; they are considered 'problem' children and they also disrupt the other students' studies. They can't be excluded because that would look bad on OFSTED and other local performance figures so they are send to special units where they may be lucky enough to have some dedicated teachers who will help them.
You should not be afraid of getting the LEA Ed.Psychologist involved as they can be very useful.

EBD is not a vote-getter like Academies and other half backed schemes.

Good luck. keep fighting YOUR child deserves an education as much as any other child.

Answer 3

It depends on where you live whether you will get a statement for any child with special needs. There are organisations for parents whose children suffer from ADHD, but you will need to find out about these in your area.

If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD you must ensure that your son's school is aware of this. You need to make an early appointment with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, and class teacher if possible, to discuss your concerns and the way that you can attain the most effective support for your son. Every child is entitled to whatever support they need to access the National Curriculum and if the school feels that a Statement is the best way then they have the resources and contacts to support you. Remember, that although a Statement legally entitles you child to specific support, it maybe that the school can supply more appropriate support without one - funding is often the reason for this.

Discuss the situation with the school and they will support you and your son and give you good advice and refer you to the most effective agencies to deal with his education.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I work in schools and in certain one's you can access help, you need to ask the sENCo and the head teacher to see what help you can get. most schools now have a mentor/support worker why not make an appointment to see them and this person shouldbe able to give you and your son support.