Well, coming to the end of the school hols and we are picking up on our battle again to get Lucas into a specialist ASD school, his statement review in march went well with all attending agreeing that Lucas needed more specialist provisions, his current school have said they are doing all they can for him but he needs more.
I went to see a new solicitor in Bristol today (i sacked the other one as she was as much use as a chocolate teapot!) and she was Fan-Bloody-Tastic!!!! she has said his current statement is 'illegal and quite frankly a load of rubbish'! she has dealt with our LA before and knows we will have to fight for the placement we want and that he has been offered at Farleigh College but there are a number of things that are working in our favour though, it does seem that we may not get anywhere near sorted until January at least!! which although better than a kick in the teeth is a real blow to Lucas as his current school is totaly restructuring and moving to a new site, so will be closing in June for 2 weeks while they move to the new site they will then re-open at the new site then close 3 weeks later for the summer holidays! Meanwhile he is due for an Occupational therapy assessment on 23rd of April and will be seen by an Educational Psychologist on 30th April.
The solicitor also asked if we were having any help from social services - my response??? i laughed we have been going in circles with social services since Lucas was Diagnosed in 2002, being passed from pillar to post as the regular childrens social services dept dont have the facilities to meet Lucas's needs - yet the childrens disabilities team have said he doesnt meet thier criteria! he's yet again fallen through the net and being failed by those that CAN help well the solicitor was on the ball there too and has said she cant see how he doesnt meet their criteria and is writing a letter to them to request all 3 previous assessment reports - yes i did say 3! thats how many times we have been passed backwards and forwards, and that they re-assess, so fingers crossed we will start getting somewhere.
In between times H2B and i have to go and visit the 2 schools that are the potential LA possibilities should they decide to move him, to enable us to gather as much information to help us in our 'QUEST' for an apropriate placement.
Poor Lucas at the moment too is struggling a bit as he is still in pain from his OP on Tuesday, we went out for dinner yesterday for his birthday and it was something he was so looking forward to but he really didnt enjoy it at all, he could barely eat his meal which was from the 'younger' childrens menu and he refused pudding - bless him he just wanted to go home, he's not sleeping well despite his melatonin and he is panicking about school on Monday, ive told him he doesnt need to worry its not a problem but he is in a real state A) because of the pain and not being better for school and B) because he is full of anxieties with regards to school generally i just really feel for him - makes me want to cry sometimes watching him go through this, but hey we count our blessings as there are people in a much worse position than us!!
On the wedding front things seem to be going to plan - still not sure about the date change yet but all 'our people' and the regisrar etc have been fantastic at bearing with us and holding the potential alternative date for us until i can let them know for sure which should HOPEFULY be in the next week!!
