Special Needs Software

Recently on Mumsclub I bumped into Carol from Special Needs Software - a fab site that I thought some of my readers might like too.

Carol has a 3 year old son with severe learning difficulties and sensory issues, which make it really difficult for him to engage with toys and activities. Once a week, he attends a Child Development Centre for specialist therapy, where they have discovered that he responds really well to their touch screen computer. In fact, he enjoys it so much that it is the one activity they choose to calm him down if ever he becomes upset!

After finding this out she thought it would be a great idea to get a touch screen monitor for home use and as she is a web developer by trade, she decided to put her skills to good use by creating simple games for him to play using his new touch screen computer. Carol is still at the very early stages of developing the games, but she has found that her son enjoys playing with them even when the interaction is quite limited! So, she created the website to share the games with other touch screen users – many of the games are still in development, but are still playable to some extent!

Examples include:

Rockets

If you’re using a mouse, the rocket will follow the mouse pointer around the game. Click anywhere to hear a rocket sound! For touch screen use, touch the screen and the rocket will head to that spot, accompanied by a rocket sound!

Paint the Screen

Click on or touch one of the coloured squares to change the screen colour. You’ll also reveal a hidden picture and accompanying sound! For older children, why not try using this as a memory game (e.g. after going through all the colours & pictures, ask if they can remember where the digger is).

Ladybirds
This is a really simple cause & effect game, where there are two on-screen objects (ladybirds initially) which are stationary. By touching the ladybird, you can make it run up and off the screen. When both ladybirds are off the screen, another two objects appear (there are also ladybirds, spiders, frogs and rockets). This is also good for turn taking, as there are two of each object. Your child could touch one then you (or another child) could touch the other, and so on.

Thomas that Tank Engine Emotions Game

I've just seen a link to a new game based on Thomas the Tank Engine to help children learn emotions so I thought I'd share it. The computer based (free) Emotions Game helps children to identify emotions ranging from happy, sad, angry, surprised or scared has been produced following a strategic partnership between Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) and the popular children’s character Thomas & Friends, owners HIT Entertainment and Australian agent, Haven Licensing, to help increase awareness about autism. The game features five trains in their shed and the child is asked to 'click on the (emotion) train', when they click on the right train the others go back into the shed with the doors closed and you get a round of applause.


In the UK, a survey of parents of children with autism, commissioned by The National Autistic Society (NAS) and HIT Entertainment, demonstrated that many children with autism have a particular love for Thomas the Tank Engine which may be due to the clear facial expressions that make the characters easy to identify. In recognition of this all the royalties from the book How Do you Feel, Thomas? go to the NAS. This book is a lovely way for children to learn about emotions - pull the tab or turn the wheel to find out What makes Thomas the Tank Engine happy? What makes Harold excited?


If you are interested in teaching emotions take a look at the emotions resources at Littlesheep Learning or read our other blog posts.

Special Educational Needs Podcast

I've just come across this podcast from Contact a Family (CaF) about the meaning of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and other related terms like SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator). It explains what to do if you are concerned that your child has SEN and what schools and the local authority can do to help and also has more information about how to request a ‘statutory assessment’ and the ‘statementing’ process, what this means, how to make sure any provision best meets your child’s needs, and what to do if you are unhappy or want to appeal against a decision.

At Littlesheep Learning we have an article on our Resources pages People You May Meet - Professionals Involved which tries to identify some of the most common professionals involved with children with special needs and their roles.

I hope you find these resources useful.

Children's Communication Q&A

I've just found out (on British Mummy Bloggers) that Tracey and Lisa (of Talking Tots) are going to be running a monthly Q&A on children's speech, language and communication skills at Totsy's Place - Tracey and Lisa, are paediatric speech and language therapists and experts in all aspects of early speech and language. So if you have any questions about your baby's communication, or how to help toddlers communicate better, then please read more here and ask your question.

More Birthday Celebrations

Littlesheep Learning may be four this month but Contact a Family (CaF) are celebrating the start of their 30th Anniversary year.

For the last three decades they have been supporting families with disabled children across the UK by providing advice and information and putting them in touch with others whose child has the same condition for support. They also campaign for better rights for families.

Throughout their anniversary year they will be celebrating our achievements, but also be taking the opportunity to raise awareness of some of the many issues for families with disabled children.

You can see their plans here.

Airport Guide

I've just been sent a link to a new guide that has been produced by Manchester Airport to help passengers travelling with children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The booklet is designed specifically for this group and Manchester Airport but I think it looks great for all children and I'm sure that it could be useful even if you are travelling from a different airport.

The guide is available FREE from the information desks in all three terminals at Manchester Airpor or you can download it here. Called 'Airport Awareness', the guide uses airport images to show what to expect on your journey through Manchester Airport, starting from arriving to checking-in to going through security and returning home.

The guide is the initiative of airport employee, Katy Gough, who secured funding from the airport's Customer First scheme, which invests in staff suggestions that improve the airport for passengers. Katy created the guide after several passengers requested photographs of the airport to allow them to plan their trip. Katy, who works as a Press Officer at the airport, has personal experience of the disorder through a member of her immediate family and wanted to use her experience to help those passengers whose children have ASD. The unfamiliar sights and sounds of the airport can cause a great deal of stress and worry both for the young passengers with ASD but also their families.

Blog Roll - Isn't She Talking Yet?

Many of you may know about India Knight and her fantastic weblog ‘Isn’t she talking yet?’ which but we thought it was definitely worth including on our Blog Roll. After writing an article in The Sunday Times about her daughter's special needs (Nell has a cardiac condition called truncus arteriosus, and DiGeorge Syndrome, aka 22q11 deletion) she was so inundated with e-mails that she has launched this weblog as a forum for parents in a similar position to keep in touch, compare notes and help each other. You can read about India and her daughter here.

Special Needs mentioned at the BAFTAs

I've just viewed this YouTube clip about Justin Fletcher (AKA Mr Tumble) winning a BAFTA for his work presenting on CBeebies and I thought it was great to see him once again promoting integration for children with Special Needs and signing. Keep up the good work on Something Special Justin!

New Competition - Win a copy of "ADHD The Essential Guide"

We were lucky enough to be given a copy of "ADHD – The Essential Guide" written by Diane Paul to review and give away as a prize.

To enter all you need to do is to answer the following question:

"How many beads are on the Floopy?" and the winner will be chosen at random on 28th February 2009.

See here for more information including terms and conditions.

Social Stories

When I used to work with children with autism I often made use of Social Stories... I've just been sent a link http://www.autismnetwork.org/modules/social/sstory/lecture01.html#topic1 for a FREE tutorial to help you write yours!

Special needs battle highlighted

I've just seen this article on the BBC News Website:

Special needs battle highlighted

Nearly one in five children has a special educational need

Too many parents of children with special educational needs feel they have to battle the system to get what their children need, ministers admit.

Early findings from a review into special needs education say parents feel the system is not on their side.

Inquiry chairman Brian Lamb has said some local authorities in England are not meeting their legal obligations.

Ministers accepted his concerns and announced a £38m package to raise expectations and give support.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls ordered an investigation to tackle "the failure of some local authorities to comply with their SEN [special educational needs] duties".

The investigation would also look at the problem of poor information given to some parents and "lack of transparency in the SEN system".

In a letter to Mr Balls, Brian Lamb wrote: "A major concern for parents is the lack of transparency and lack of information about school and local authority SEN policies".

And he said no-one discussed with parents what their hopes and aspirations were for their children.

Fight
Mr Balls said he agreed with Mr Lamb that the government needed to "act now to improve the outcomes for children with special needs and to increase parental confidence".

"Every child should have the opportunity to reach their full potential, including those with special educational needs, but all too often parents tell us they have to fight the system to get what their children need," said Mr Balls.

"I am determined that this will change. I see today as the start of a new and more ambitious vision for SEN.

"I want to eradicate the presumption that mediocre achievement is the best this group of pupils can hope for."

Of the £38m promised to boost SEN provision, £31m would be spent on a pilot project involving 10 local authorities.

The scheme would aim to get all schools to rethink their expectations for children with SEN and develop approaches to focus more on their outcomes, he said.

The remaining £7m would be used to support pupils in schools and to boost leadership.

The Lamb review also said there was "a failure to consider SEN and disability issues in some mainstream policies and programmes".

Legal responsibilities
The chief executive of The National Autistic Society, Mark Lever, said: "We hear day in day out from families affected by autism who have to go through lengthy and stressful battles to get the education support for their children which should be theirs by right.

"Too many families we work with find that they are unable to access the support and information that they are entitled to, so we particularly pleased that the department will be investigating how local authorities and schools are complying with their legal responsibilities to children with special needs and disabilities.

"Autism affects one in 100 children in the UK and the right support at the right time can make the world of difference to a child's experience at school and their future outcomes."

Jennifer Owen Adams, from the British Dyslexia Association, said it was encouraged by the government's response to Lamb's early findings.

"Much more needs to be done to help parents and families with dyslexic children get the help their child requires. Recognition of this is just the first step," she said.

"We will continue to support the work of the Lamb inquiry and look forward to the report's conclusions."

The final report is due in September 2009.

"Me and My Disabled Child"

Contact a Family (CaF) have just uploaded a four-part series of video: Parent Stories - "Me and My Disabled Child" featuring honest accounts of parental experiences in raising a disabled child from receiving the news to finding support for their families.

Me and My Disabled Child - Part 1: Before The News



Me and My Disabled Child - Part 2: The Early Years



Me and My Disabled Child - Part 3: A Different Family Life



Me and My Disabled Child - Part 4: Finding Support



They've asked that you watch, give it a star rating, comment and share with anyone and everyone you think would be interested...

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF)

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) was developed as part of the Every Child Matters initiative and is a key part of delivering frontline services that are integrated and focused around the needs of children and young people. The CAF is a standardised approach to conducting an assessment of a child's additional needs and deciding how those needs should be met. It can be used by practitioners across children's services in England.

The CAF will promote more effective, earlier identification of additional needs, particularly in universal services. It is intended to provide a simple process for a holistic assessment of a child's needs and strengths, taking account of the role of parents, carers and environmental factors on their development. Practitioners will then be better placed to agree, with the child and family, about what support is appropriate. The CAF will also help to improve integrated working by promoting co-ordinated service provision.

Q: What is the Common Assessment Framework (CAF)?
A: The CAF is a shared assessment tool for use across all children’s services and all local
areas in England. It aims to help early identification of need and promote co-ordinated
service provision.

Q: What does the Common Assessment Framework consist of?
A: 1. A simple pre-assessment checklist to help practitioners decide who would benefit from
a common assessment.
2. A three-step process (prepare, discuss, deliver) for undertaking a common
assessment, to help practitioners gather and understand information about the needs
and strengths of the child, based on discussions with the child, their family and other
practitioners as appropriate.
3. A standard form to help practitioners record, and, where appropriate, share with
others, the findings from the assessment in terms that are helpful in working with the
family to find a response to unmet needs.

Q: Why do we need common assessments?
A: There are four important reasons:
• To give all practitioners working with children and young people a holistic tool for
identifying a child’s needs before they reach crisis point and a shared language for
discussing and addressing them.
• To ensure important needs are not overlooked and reduce the scale of assessments
that some children and young people undergo.
• To provide a common structure to record information and facilitate information sharing
between practitioners.
• To provide evidence to facilitate requests to involve other agencies, reducing
unnecessary referrals and enabling specialist services to focus their resources where
they are most needed.

Q: What will the common assessment involve?
A: The assessment process encourages practitioners to consider the needs of the child or
young person in three key areas (‘domains’):

Development of child, baby or young person
• Health:
- general health
- physical development
- speech, language and communications development
• Emotional and social development
• Behavioural development
• Identity, including self-esteem, self-image and social presentation
• Family and social relationships
• Self-care skills and independence
• Learning
- understanding, reasoning and problem solving
- participation in learning, education and employment
- progress and achievement in learning
- aspirations

Parents and carers
• Basic care, ensuring safety and protection
• Emotional warmth and stability
• Guidance, boundaries and stimulation

Family and environmental factors
• Family history, functioning and well-being
• Wider family
• Housing, employment and financial considerations
• Social & community factors and resources, including education

The CAF has been developed by combining the underlying model of the Framework for
the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families with the main elements used in
other assessment frameworks.

Q: Which children and young people is CAF for?
A: Most children will not need a CAF. CAF is for children and young people with additional
needs. These are children and young people who, according to the judgement of
practitioners, require extra support to help them achieve the five Every Child Matters
outcomes:
- being healthy
- staying safe
- enjoying and achieving
- making a positive contribution
- achieving economic well-being

Q: Who will carry out the assessment?
A: It is expected that the majority of common assessments will be undertaken or arranged by
practitioners in universal services such as early years settings (for example children’s
centres), schools and health settings. These services are best equipped to identify
possible needs in their early stages. Common assessments, particularly in the context of
extended schools, will help schools tackle, along with other services, a broader range of
social and behavioural issues acting as a barrier to learning and attainment. Similarly, in
health, common assessments will help midwives and health visitors take a broad view of
the issues affecting unborn and new born infants, as part of the national child health
promotion programme; practitioners will apply these principles to older children and young
people in other settings, such as health drop-ins in schools and further education
colleges. The police will also have an important role in identifying children with additional
needs and arranging for common assessments.

However all practitioners working with children and young people should have an
awareness of the CAF and either know how to complete a common assessment
themselves or know how to arrange to have one carried out. Everyone working with
children should be aware of the sorts of situations that indicate the need for a common
assessment.
Q: When should a common assessment be carried out?
A: A common assessment can be done at any time – on unborn babies, new babies, and
children or young people. It is designed for use when:
• There is concern about how well a child (or unborn baby) or young person is
progressing (this includes particularly vulnerable children and young people such as
persistent truants and young runaways)
• Their needs are unclear, or broader than a service can address on its own
• A common assessment would help identify the needs, and provide a basis for
getting other services involved

The pre-assessment checklist can be used to help identify if a common assessment
should be completed. The decision about whether to do an assessment should be made jointly with the child and or parent. Children should always be encouraged to discuss the assessment with their parents. If the child is old enough and competent to understand, they may make their
own decision.

Q: Is it the intention of Government that all CAF forms should be exactly the same across the
UK or would it be possible to make some local adjustments?
A: The development of the CAF form involved relevant government departments as well as
practitioners, local authority managers and other stakeholders and has been cleared by
Ministers -it is preferred that no changes are made to the form although the addition of the
local logo is permissible.

Q: What is the process that should be followed to carry out a common
assessment?
A: Step 1: Preparation
This involves recognising potential needs and then discussing the situation with the child,
involving parents or carers unless this is not appropriate. The practitioner may talk to their
manager, colleagues, or others – possibly those already involved with the child. It is
important to find out whether a common assessment already exists. After reviewing the
existing information a practitioner decides whether to undertake a common assessment
with the agreement of the child and or family as appropriate.

Step 2: Discussion
This involves completing the assessment with the child and family, making use of
information already gathered from the child, family or other practitioners, and completing a
consent statement. At the end of the discussion the practitioner should understand better
the child’s strengths, needs, and what can be done to help.

Step 3: Delivery
This involves agreeing actions that the practitioner’s service or the family can deliver, and
considering what may be needed from other services. According to local practice,
decisions may be made through meetings with other practitioners and the family, and the
appointment of one practitioner as lead professional where integrated support is required.

Note: the CAF does not give a practitioner the ability to guarantee a service from another
organisation without consulting that organisation.

Q: Will the CAF produce records of unnecessary information about children and their
parents?
A: The CAF is about trying to understand a child’s needs in a holistic way, rather than
through lots of different assessments that are not linked. This is in order to provide them
with a quality service. It is not about information gathering for its own sake. Common
assessment, in line with established good practice for assessment, will operate with the
full knowledge and involvement of the child or young person or their parent or carer.

Q: What are the benefits of a CAF?
A: Potential benefits include:
• Quicker service provision to children and families - as a result of more appropriate
referrals to specialist services
• Better service provision to children, young people and families - due to the CAF
looking at the whole child rather than the needs of the child from the perspective of
one particular agency
• Less repetition and duplication for children, young people and families - due to the
CAF information being shared, with consent, between practitioners
• Better understanding and more effective communication amongst practitioners -
due to the promotion of a common language around the CAF
• Timesaving for practitioners - who will be able to build on existing CAF information
rather than collecting it themselves from scratch

Q: What is the CAF’s relationship with specialist assessments?
A: CAF will replace the assessment aspects of the Connexions Framework for Assessment,
Planning and Review. Other assessments such as universal checks and targeted
assessments (for children in need; those with special educational needs etc.) will remain in
place.

However, the CAF may be appropriate to be used before, or in conjunction with a
specialist assessment to help understand and articulate the full range of a child’s needs. It
can help ensure that the referral to a specialist service is relevant and can build up a
comprehensive picture of needs, rather than a series of partial snapshots.

Q: What is the relationship between the CAF, the lead professional and information sharing?
A: The CAF, the lead professional and information sharing are all essential for the effective
provision of integrated services to children and families;
• The CAF provides a process for identifying needs and bringing services together to
meet those needs more swiftly and effectively
• Where a range of needs are identified that require an integrated response, the lead
professional co-ordinates these actions and acts as a single point of contact for the
child and family
• Effective information sharing then helps practitioners work together to deliver a
coherent and relevant service to the child and family

Q: Can a parent or carer initiate a CAF?
A: If a parent or carer would like to initiate a CAF, they should discuss this with someone
currently providing a service to them. This may be a health visitor, a doctor, or someone
else.

Local services are responsible for determining how they use CAF, and there is no
entitlement to receive one on demand. If, after talking to a practitioner, the individual
wanted to discuss further what is happening locally, they would need to contact their local
authority’s children’s services department.

SENDIST Tribunals

I've just had this email - so thought I'd spread the word...

Dear all,

Please sign the petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SENDISTtribunals/. It is imperative that we protect special needs children and their families' right to appeal for choice in special needs education.

Should the proposed new labour government regulations go through it will create even more distress and potential financial hardship for families who are in desperate need of help not hindrance.

Please encourage all your friends, family and colleagues to sign up too!

Special Educational Needs – A Parent’s Guide

I've just received information about this great book written by two fellow Work at Home Mums (WAHMs) to help parents who have children with special educational needs so I thought I would share it with you.

As many as one in five children may at some time need extra help with their education, but does this mean they have special educational needs?

Antonia Chitty and Victoria Dawson’s new book, Special Educational Needs - A Parent’s Guide, brings together the facts on special educational needs, looking in detail at the different types of additional needs and how parents and carers can cope with them in daily life.

Find out which professionals can help, how to get through the ‘system’ and gain support, how to handle behavioural difficulties at home and school, and how to get the best education for your child’s needs. The different types of SEN are explained and accompanied by handy checklists to help you look at a child’s behaviour and start the diagnosis process. Practical issues such as family life, sleep, education, housing and finance are also an integral part of the books.

Whether you are worried about your child’s development or work with children and want to know more about the area, this book contains all the facts about the world of special educational needs including the contact details for sources of help.

Discovering your child has special educational needs can leave many parents feeling unsure of where to go for help. This practical guide will spell out clearly how to deal with the problems special educational needs present.

Published by Need2Know – the imprint of People’s Publisher Forward Press that focuses on overcoming real life problems – Special Educational Needs- A Parent’s Guide is available now from the Need2Know website (www.need2knowbooks.co.uk) or by calling 01733 898103 or emailing sales@n2kbooks.com. Also available from Amazon and bookshops. Buy Special Educational Needs Now Price: £8.99.

Speech Testing

I've just been reading sbout the government-commissioned Bercow review of speech and language services which says improving communication skills is key to raising educational standards. The report suggests that all children should be assessed for speech problems at the start of primary and secondary school.

Up to half the children in some areas of England have significant problems, but many have to fight for support. Ministers accepted the points raised by the review and announced a £40m package for the training of early years staff and a further £12m will be spent on implementation and a plan would be published in the autumn, says the government's response.

Conservative MP John Bercow's review of services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs suggests about 40,000 children, or 7%, are starting primary school in England each year with significant difficulties with speech and or language, but the rates are much higher in areas of social deprivation, with up to 50% having speech and language skills lower than expected for their age, the report says. Without the help they need these children will do worse at school, could develop emotional and behavioural problems and may descend into criminality, it argues. Mr Bercow said families faced a "postcode lottery" of provision and shortages of speech experts in most areas of the country. He said communication skills that were essential to life were not being prioritised in schools, especially in the early years. "This is severely hampering children's ability to develop the necessary life skills to participate in and contribute to society when they get older," he added. Experts argue, however, that with early intervention and the right support most communication problems can be overcome. Ministers accepted that more surveillance and monitoring of children's language skills were needed, but suggested extra training of early years staff would enable them to better pick up language problems.

The report also suggested that Sir Jim Rose should be asked to see how a speech and language focus could be put into primary schools as part of his review of the primary curriculum.
Children's secretary Ed Balls said it was clear that local services needed to improve and that he was convinced improvements could now be made.

The report also makes recommendations on how services best be provided. It finds that there is a lack of strategic planning and oversight of what is needed in many local areas, this should be better organised, so it suggests a named person should have the responsibility for commissioning communication provision in each local area. It also calls for a communication champion or tsar, charged with driving things forward, to be appointed and a communication council be established to develop over-arching policy and ensure the implementation of the review. There should be a significant national campaign on the issue building up to a national year of speech, language and communication.

Special Educational Needs Tribunals

I've just had an email about the changes in regulations relating to the Tribunal Service...

This is what it says...

"Some parents will be aware that the regulations relating to The Tribunal Service are being 'rationalised' in order to have a more consistent policy right across the range of tribunals. Discussions concerning the new regulations have been kept strictly between the Government and the legal profession but several lawyers have highlighted their concerns as the proposed changes are far from parent helpful. In fact they are definitely unfair to parents. and, if put into action, will make parental appeals to the Tribunal far more complex and pro Local Authorities. If you wish to access the new draft rules up for 'discussion' you should try the following:

The draft rules are at http://www.tribunals.gov.uk/Documents/Draft_HESC_ChamberRules_290508.pdf with the rules for the new upper tier tribunal (for appeals) at http://www.tribunals.gov.uk/Documents/Draft_Upper_Tribunal_Rules_02_06_08.pdf and also for the the transition rules - http://opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/draft/plain/ukdsi_9780110817828_en

Basically what happens now (unless persuaded otherwise) is that SENDIST is abolished from 3rd November and everything becomes subject to the new rules, including appeals which have already been begun. Although there is provision for the tribunal to give directions disapplying this in relation to individual cases, they are not going to be able to do that in practical terms for appeals listed for hearing during the week of 3rd November. Theoretically at least we could all turn up for cases listed that week with 10 witnesses if the rules stay as they are! If any one thinks that there will be real consultation going on they may like to know that, according to the staff of SENDIST, in London their jobs end in October and the Darlington office closes shortly after end April 2009. There is talk of a kind of 'call centre' in Loughborough! The new system is scheduled to come into effect in November! If allowed to happen it will make appeals to SENDIST much more difficult for parents. 'Consultation' must be in by 11th July but for the new regulations to become law they must have Parliamentary approval and so be tabled in the House. Unless, however, we warn our MPs it is very likely that the new regulations will end up in Parliament and, if left unchallenged, will go the way of most delegated legislation and become law without debate."

I have also received a letter drafted by lead counsel regarding these new proposals / regulations for SENDIST which will impact on parents' right of access and appeal against their children's statements and creates an unfairness to many low income families ofdisabled children. Asking for it to be circulated to familiy and friends and sent to MP's and copy into SENDIST at Mowden Hall, Darlington - consultation finishes on the 11th July 2008.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear

Re: Children with Disabilities, changes to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal Regulations

I write to you as my member of parliament, because of proposed changes to therules involving the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. I amextremely concerned that these changes are being produced as a result of a general legal reform which pays no regard to the special role of the Tribunal, and its jurisdiction, which outside of the Family Court, is unique.

The current reforms are providing for an upper / lower tier of tribunals, and are convenient to lawyers, and to the legal administration. They have the following detrimental effect on families of children with disabilities, and special educational needs, and particularly are unfair and handicap the parents. The problems are as follows:

Firstly, the system favours local authorities, by abolishing a restriction on witnesses, and by getting rid of the substantial written elementof the case, which means that the Tribunal is a short cost effective and highly expert body.· Introducing directions hearings, and other administration orders,which will increase the costs.· If the restrictions on witnesses are abolished, plus the introduction of directions will mean that hearings which are generally one day or less, willbe much longer and much more expensive. The current system was brought in because local authorities had a substantial advantage and could call a large number of witnesses. Parents had limited budgets, and were concerned by their children's needs and disabilities, not by the budget. The new system helps local authorities unfairly.·

There is also a proposal that the Tribunal can order a child examined. The Family Court, which has jurisdiction in this area, only does so in certainset circumstances. Special needs appeals take place in circumstances where the authority is bound by statute and regulation as to how far and in whatcircumstances it can examine a child. The current proposals would seek to abolish parental rights, and in addition, create greater power for a local authority to examine a child in tribunal proceedings, than it is given bystatute.

Overall, I am extremely concerned by these changes in rules, and the fact thatthe consultation is really one for lawyers. It is unfair to parents and is only convenient to the Legal Administration. I would be grateful if you take this matter up, not only with the Department for Children and Families, but the Department of Justice. It would seem the bestway to deal with this is to call for these regulations to be actually debated inparliament.

Yours sincerely

Case Study Requests

I have some friends who are writing a book about how to look after your relationship when your child has special needs and they are in need of people to complete questionnaires and be case-studies. Here is the full request if you feel that you can help them:

Antonia Chitty and Victoria Hill are looking for parents to help with their research for a book is about how to look after your relationship when your child has special needs.

If you have had a baby (without special needs) in the last few years, we have a short questionnaire to help us find out about the impact of having a baby on parent's relationships. Please email mail@antoniachitty.co.uk with BABY in the title.

If you have a baby or child WITH special needs, we want the book to be packed full of case studies of parents talking about their experiences, good and bad, and how parenting a child with special needs has impacted on their lives. If you don't mind sharing what you have been through, to help other parents, please email mail@antoniachitty.co.uk with SEN in the title.

Thank you very much for your help: we hope this book will be a really useful resource in a neglected area.

I hope that you can help!

Dyslexia in the News

I've just been reading this article which reports on some new government-funded research into children who did not achieve expected levels in SATS tests. The study by Hull University academics of 1,300 children said dyslexia was a major cause of failure with over half of those who did not achieve expected levels in SATS tests displayed all the signs of being dyslexic.

The research has led to calls for more specially-trained teachers in schools as well as better diagnosis. The study, commissioned by dyslexia charity


Campaigners say the research shows many such children are being let down by schools as they could overcome the reading disorder if they received a diagnosis and specialist teaching. They claim the reading disorder could affect as many as one in five children and that too often it is ignored in the classroom. The government is piloting a scheme using specially-trained dyslexia teachers, but says it will not roll it out nationally until it is sure the teachers make a difference.

So what should you do if you think your child may be dyslexic? The British Dyslexia Association has a number of factsheets that can help; Indications of Dyslexia and Getting Help for your Child.Xtraordinary People, claims to be the first to firmly identify dyslexia as a major cause of underachievement in primary schools. It looked at seven and 11-year-olds who failed to reach expected levels of reading and writing in national tests.

Writing Difficulties

Many children with writing difficulties have dyslexia and / or dyspraxia (developmental coordination difficulties) − these conditions often occur together and affect all aspects of a child's life, both in school and outside. It is vital therefore, that schools and early years settings are able to identify difficulties in this important area and put in place appropriate interventions where necessary.

Some things to look out for are children who difficulties with:

• throwing and catching
• dance/music and movement
• manipulating small objects (building bricks, jigsaws)
• getting dressed/undressed
• using cutlery / scissors
• handwriting
• organising themselves and their work
• sequencing
• laterality (knowing left from right)
• following multiple instructions

Children with motor coordination difficulties may also have poor posture and limited body awareness, moving awkwardly and seeming clumsy; this can be especially noticeable after a growth spurt. They may also tire more easily than other children.
For children who find writing difficult the following things should be thought about:

• the sitting position: ideally both feet on the floor with the table and chair at an appropriate height
• the possibility of using a sloping writing surface
• anchoring the paper / book to the table to avoid slipping
• providing a 'cushion' to write on can be a help, for example, an old magazine, used paper stapled together
• the writing implement − try triangular pencils or different pencil grips, for example standard triangular pencil grips, Tri-go grips or Grippy grips
• avoid the use of a hard-tipped pencil or pen
• providing opportunities for practising handwriting patterns and letter formation in alternative mediums for example sand, cornflour gloop or playdough
• providing lines to keep writing straight
• limiting the amount of writing required − think of other ways information can be recorded including making use of computers

The formation of letters is a very specific area of skill development and providing opportunities for practising, without making it a chore is important. Precision teaching is a good example of distributed practice and may include exercises such as a one-minute daily exercise to see how many b and d words the child can successfully write. This type of exercise provides the child with instant feedback and always focuses on success. Progress can be easily monitored by keeping a daily count or by using a weekly probe sheet.
Practising holoalphabet sentences, for example 'the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' or 'the five boxing wizards jumped quickly' are useful, as these contain the 26 letters of the alphabet and make it easy to monitor progress on letter formations.

Other ways of encorporating writing are drawing / painting patterns (a wet paintbrush on dry concrete slabs) and encouraging incidental writing for example writing names in birthday cards, writing shopping lists, keeping a diary, writing out recipes. It is important that these activities are fun, and always praising the child for effort.