Danny, Jessie and Joey’s story

Triplets Danny, Jessie and Joey, 6, all have different additional needs. Danny has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), Jessie has social, emotional and mental health needs and Joey has ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).

Navigating the process

Mum, Michelle, was struggling to navigate the process of applying for three EHC plans (Education Health and Care Plans). She had previously applied for Joey but had not been granted an assessment. Michelle stated that no reason had been given for this refusal and at this point she was told that she could not appeal the decision and she would have to wait six months to apply again, both of which was incorrect.

Michelle is a single mum to the triplets and two older children. Michelle felt she was ‘drowning in paperwork!’ SENDIASS decided the best thing to do was to have her bring in everything she had and we would help her sought through it. We divided all the relevant information she had in folders for each child.

Meeting with SENCO

The SENDIASS team then organised a meeting at the school between Michelle and the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) to discuss the EHC application. However it was very difficult to navigate as the conversation swapped repeatedly between Danny, Jessie and Joey. It was very confusing. Therefore after 20 minutes we decided to stop the meeting and discuss only one child. We would then book another meeting to discuss the other two children. This meant that the applications for the EHC went in at different times and once we provided dated timelines for each child, this was easier to navigate for Michelle.

So far the Local Authority have nearly completed the assessment for Danny and Joey and has been agreed to be assessed at panel and we are in the final stages of submitting Lily’s application.