Brian Lamb Live Q&A here in the Talk about Autism community!
Posted by
asteroids
on 16th November 2009
at 11:51
I have a steering group meeting with the Autism Education Trust on 26/27 November so won't be able to take part in this.
If I post some questions, will Brian Lamb still get to see them?
Asteroids Sara - Community Champion
Posted by
bumblebee
on 16th November 2009
at 15:35
I have a question (possibly 2!) and I think I mentioned this before.....
Teachers of children with hearing impairments have to undertake a further 2 years of training on top the normal teacher training and they also have to obtain further qualifications in British Sign Language. It is my understanding that these qualifications have to be in place before they can teach any hearing impaired children.
My 4 year old son is soon to start an Autism unit attached to a mainstream school. There are no other provisions in our area for children his age and therefore we have no choice as to the unit he attends. It concerns us greatly that not one member of staff in the unit has an Autism specific qualification (this includes the Speech & Language Therapists). Can we look forward to similar rules being in place for teachers wishing to teach children with Autism especially those working in schools that are described as being 'specailist provisions'?
As there are so many chldren with Autism being failed in educational settings, it seems that the training currently available is not sufficient to meet our children's needs. If there was at least one member of staff who had a specialist Autism qualification in each mainstream and specialist school to oversee Autism provision and work with parents, I feel this would raise parental confidence and work towards ensuring our childrens educational and emotional development is protected. Is this something you have already considered?
Claire - Community Champion
Posted by
asteroids
on 16th November 2009
at 16:10
Excellent question Claire.
My question:
The NAS 'Make School Make Sense' campaign highlighted the educational difficulties facing children with ASD. Many children with ASD (and other special needs) are currently home educated because their parents cannot find appropriate educational settings. Many others are struggling to cope: often anxious or isolated, victims of bullying or school exclusion. What 'reasonable adjustments' can be made to the education system and curriculum in order to ensure that all children with ASD are able to achieve their potential and how will you ensure that local authorities and individual schools carry out these adjustments?
Asteroids Sara - Community Champion
Posted by
bumblebee
on 16th November 2009
at 18:40
I have thought of another!!
With the day to day difficulties involved in raising children with disabilities, SENDIST appeals and tribunals can be very stressful and time consuming processes for parents and carers who already have a great deal of additional stress to cope with. I know of many parents who have given in to Local Authorities rather than appeal provisions and statements that they feel are completely inappropriate for thier children soley due to fear of the processes and/or to avoid any further strain on their already strained lives and families.
Are there changes that can be made to make the SENDIST processes both with statementing issues and DDA appeals more accessible and parent friendly? Are there any plans to look into pro-active solutions like statement templates for different disabilities or strict criteria for the processes that cannot be interpretated by Local Authorities for example, in relation to a parent request for a statutory assessment of their child's needs?
Claire - Community Champion
Posted by
bumblebee
on 17th November 2009
at 16:12
Can I ask MAGIC mums too if they have any questions? I am not sure if the ladies I have spoken to at MAGIC have signed up for the forum or not, but I know some are a little reluctant to write posts and prefer to read through the posts instead so I am happy to ask for them if it's ok with you guys?
Claire - Community Champion
Posted by
Anna Marshall
on 17th November 2009
at 16:52
Hi Claire,
That would be great - the more questions and ideas we get the better!
Thanks
Anna
TreeHouse Staff
Posted by
bumblebee
on 18th November 2009
at 17:15
I was given a question from another Mum for Brian Lamb....
Her son has diagnoses of ASD, ADHD and Dyspraxia. He has been out of school for 8 weeks as he cannot cope in school and self harms as a result. The school say he needs the hospital school, the hospital school say they cannot take him because he isn't under CAMHS and CAMHS say he doesn't fit their criteria. Mum has had to engage the services of a solicitor as they also do not have any social services input and as he is stuck in the middle of services that keep passing him onto the next and no-one is taking responsibility for his short term or long term needs.....Mum recognises this is due to a lack of resources either staff or funding, but what can be done about such vital but overstretched services that have to turn away children like him?.....Are there changes coming that will mean timely and appropriate support for families like theirs?
Claire - Community Champion
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Posted by
Elena - former Community Manager
on 16th November 2009
at 10:04
Hi everyone! I have some wonderful news to share with you…
On Friday the 27th of November, 2PM GMT, Brian Lamb will be visiting the Talk about Autism community for a Live Q&A!
How exciting is this?! So mark your calendars and get ready, and spread the word!
To participate in the Live Q&A, all you have to do is visit the page below on 27 November at 2PM. Or you can visit now and sign-up to receive a reminder email:
http://www.treehouse.org.uk/talk-autism/live-chat-brian-lamb
As you can imagine there will probably be quite a lot of questions for Brian to answer in the hour he’ll be with us, and he probably won’t be able to answer all of them - so before the day we’re giving talk about autism members the chance to come up with 3 questions which will definitely be asked of Brian during his time with us. But try and make it to the event too, so you can take part in the live discussion as well!
Please have a think about what you might like to ask and start posting your questions below – then TreeHouse will randomly select 3 of those questions, and they’ll be given to Brian Lamb!
Please comment below with your thoughts and questions!
(And for those of you in London, don't forget that 2 more pairs of tickets are available now to hear Brian Lamb speak at the TreeHouse Annual Lecture! Click here for more details.)
More about Brian Lamb and the Lamb Inquiry:
Who is Brian Lamb?
Brian is Chair of the Lamb Inquiry and of the Special Educational Consortium (SEC). He was also a member of the management implementation group for Aiming High for Disabled Children. He is Executive Director of Advocacy and Policy at RNID. Brian has two daughters with dyslexia, and was the governor of a special school for 5 years.
What is the Lamb Inquiry?
The Lamb Inquiry was set up to advise the Secretary of State on the most effective ways of increasing parental confidence in the Special Educational Needs (SEN) assessment process.
What did the Inquiry look at?
The inquiry looked at parents’ experience of SEN provision, statutory assessment, the issuing of a statement and appeal to the Tribunal, information for parents, local variation in the identification of and provision for children with special educational needs.
How did the Inquiry gather evidence?
To support the Inquiry in gathering evidence the DCSF commissioned a web-based survey. 3,400 responses were received from parents, school staff, and other professionals working with children, schools and families. It also held stakeholder events, and commissioned other research.
How did the Inquiry test its recommendations?
A key component of the inquiry was pilot projects looking at how confidence can be increased. The projects in North Tyneside, Durham, Blackburn with Darwen, Wolverhampton, Oxfordshire, Newham, Portsmouth and Kent and looked at a range of approaches including the team around the child approach, improving parental engagement in school-based stages of assessment, and closer involvement of parents in the decision-making process.
You can read the learning from on the 8 Local Authority pilot projects here:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/lambinquiry/downloads/LAs-report-250909.pdf
What recommendations has the Inquiry made so far?
Brian Lamb has made interim recommendations over the course of the Inquiry. These recommendations so far include:
You can read the report on Quality and Clarity of Statements here:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/lambinquiry/downloads/LAMB%20INQUIRY%20Statements...
You can read the report on Inspection, Accountability and School Exclusion here
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/lambinquiry/downloads/LAMB%20INQUIRY%20Inspection...
Brian Lamb will be speaking at the TreeHouse Annual Lecture on Monday 23 November
The lecture is entitled ‘The Lamb Inquiry: Improving outcomes for children with autism?’.
To learn more about this, please click here: TreeHouse Annual Lecture 2009: Ballot for free tickets for members of talk about autism.