[senco-forum] Disability Living Allowance

I would prefer that the parents approach me in an open way so we can

> I would prefer that the parents approach me in an open way so we can
> agree a response, but so often my response does not, and cannot
> support their view.

Most parents don't even know the DLA assessors are going to approach
their child's school in regard to their DLA application. Furthermore
parents are not likely to furnish their school with notice of a
possible approach just in case the school might receive one.
Furthermore nor would they know which member of staff would be asked
to furnish an opinion.

Your best course of action must therefore be to let the parents know
immediately you've received a request for this information and ask if
they'd like to discuss or comment on how you propose to respond to
this request.

Regarding your response often not supporting the views of the parents,
it's important you (and the DLA assessors) are made fully aware that a
child's behavior and support needs are likely to be VERY different at
home and elsewhere when NOT at school. For details of sound reasons
why this is often so please look out for my forthcoming posts on this
topic.

Because of this I strongly recommend you include a rider attached to
your response to the DLA assessors that your observations pertain ONLY
to when the child is at school -- where DLA is neither applicable nor
payable -- and that what you observe MUST NOT be construed as typical
of the child's behavior or support needs when outside of the school
environment.

I can't stress more strongly the importance of this rider. For too
many times I've had parents turn to me for help because their child
comes across to their teachers as near enough little angels when at
school, where as out of the sight of their teachers or when at home
they immediately stop 'holding it together' and are an absolute
nightmare to live with.

I know of one school whose teachers simply refused to believe this
until the parents showed them a video of what their child's was like
at home the preceding evening. Needless to say the head and child's
teacher were absolutely gobsmacked at the what they were shown on this
unedited footage and found it hard to believe this was even the same
child ...which I can assure you it was!

David Bowles
PS: BTW Richard, just as a matter of interest do you have children of
your own?