For anyone who doesn't know, an EHCP is an Educational Health and Care Plan. It's a legal document provided by your local authority that states that the nursery, school, college, or job that your child attends, has to provide them with a level of support and intervention that is tailored to their specific needs. There, that's the boring bit out of the way.
Basically, it's a way of securing your child all the help they need in order for them to overcome any challenges they may face. Noah for example needs constant supervision to make sure he doesn't put inappropriate things in his mouth and choke. Under his EHCP Noah is entitled to have 1-1 support at nursery or school to ensure that he doesn't come to any harm, as well as lots of other things that help him to get the same out of the sessions as his peers do.
EHCP's are like a golden ticket, and the local authority act like Willy Wonka, changing the rules or goal posts, hiding them in random chocolate bars and you just have to hope you're lucky enough to find one. They are notoriously hard to get, and when I started looking into them, every single parent I spoke to told me to be prepared for a fight, and to expect to submit the application at least twice. You need to include enough evidence of your child's needs that they are unable to deny there is an issue to be explored, otherwise they reject most applications on sight, so it's quite a complex task to take on.
Nursery first broached the idea of applying for one on Noah's behalf, putting the preschool referral forms in around February time. He'd already been assessed by the community SENCO, the preschool SENCO, Occupational therapist and Speech and Language therapist by this point, so there were plenty of reports in the system ready to access. They made an excellent case on his behalf, but we just had to wait and see if the council would agree to assess him, which could take months.
Enter the ever impatient mum that I am, never one to sit on my hands and wait, I wanted to do SOMETHING. Our nursery friend told me we could refer Noah for an EHCP assessment ourselves using the parent application forms on the council's website, AHA! That was my something! Why hadn't any of the professionals that had assessed him up to then mentioned this??
Not long after this revelation I was sat at the dining table with the forms trying to navigate the endless questions about how Noah moved, communicated, behaved, or understood the world around him. I had to write about all the things I was concered about, what support I felt he needed, and what I hoped for the future. At the time, it was soul destroying, because suddenly on paper in front of me was a list of all the things Noah CANT do. It felt like I was doing him a disservice, and painting him out to be something he wasn't. My sweet, affectionate loving little monkey, who pulled me to whatever he needed, or who just flapped and bounced because he was happy wasn't what I recognised on the page in front of me. It was hard, but I've learned that our kids are not in person what they look like on paper. It took me longer than I care to admit to realise that Noah isn't made up of all of the things that he can't do, he's made up of all of the things he can do, and all of his own quirky ways of doing them are what makes up his little personality that we love so much, but anyway, I digress.
A long, long time later, I got a phonecall from our case worker at the council. "Hello Mrs Howard? I'm just calling to let you know that we've reviewed your paperwork, and they've agreed to assess Noah for an EHCP.".... first time! You're kidding me? Well, it must have been the two prong attack from nursery and home that did it. Great, take that as a win - I thought.
Once the council agree to an assessment, it's then a case of endless appointments and assessments from different diciplines, who come together to decide if Noah meets the criteria for help. Over the next few months Noah was poked and prodded by the Occupational therapist, Speech and Language therapist, and an Educational Psychologist, both at home and again at nursery. We got to a stage where Noah used to huff whenever we walked into an unfamiliar building because he knew he was going to have to spend time with a random stranger who was going to talk to him and get in his face trying to work him out on their own terms. I got into a habit of taking him somewhere fun afterwards or buying him a sweet treat, because I just felt so horribly guilty ALL. OF. THE. TIME.
Eventually, all assessments were complete and we'd even started to recieve some reports from them in the post. The waiting began again, but this time thankfully not for too long. This time it was a letter that fell on the door mat, an A4 page full of the names of the assessors and details about Noah and his presentations and then right at the bottom :
"DECISION - The Local Authority agrees to issue an Education Health and Care Plan."
First time, again! Oh my god! This is incredible! But, wait a minute... everyone said this wouldnt happen, everyone said we'd have to fight tooth and nail, but they're just giving it to us. What if he's so severe that no one can argue with me? I want to celebrate but that feels wrong somehow, like I'm happy that Noah has all these additional challenges? That's not the case at all. If I could wave a magic wand and make it so that he never even needed this document then I would.
The reality was, despite my own anxieties, this was actually amazing news. What no one will tell parents is that EHCP's are far easier to get BEFORE your child starts school, than they are once they're in the system. The earlier you go for it the better your chances of success. The national waiting list for applications for school is around 3 years long. If you think your child would benefit from having that extra support in writing, do it, as soon as you possibly can.
Here's your affirmation for the day...
It doesn't matter if they spent all day on an Ipad, playing with the same toy, or digging holes in the garden. Everything has value, and if another three episodes of Hey Duggee means you get to enjoy a hot cup of coffee in peace, do it.
You're doing great x
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