How SENDIASS can support you
SENDIASS provides free, confidential, and impartial information, advice and support to children and young people with SEND, and to their parents and carers. SENDIASS helps you understand your rights, navigate processes in education, health and social care, and feel confident in making informed decisions.
Information, advice & support
SENDIASS offers information, advice and support in the following areas:
- SEN Support in early years, school or college
- Improving communication with education settings, local authority, health and social care
- Choosing a nursery, school, college or alternative provision
- Transition between educational settings or from child to adult services
- Transport to educational placement
- Annual review’s of EHCPs
- Making a complaint
- Disability discrimination
- EHCP – application for needs assessment
- Appeals to tribunal for refusal to assess for an EHCP, refusal to issue an EHCP, contents of an EHCP, ceasing to maintain an EHCP and placement.
- Exclusions and reduced/part-time timetables
- Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)
- Health and social care queries related to the child or young person’s disability
Can SENDIASS help you?
We support children and young people who:
- are aged 0-25
- have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)
- live in one of our service areas
- have an issue or query related to SEND
All four of these criteria must be met to receive support from us. We also support parents, carers and professionals who support a child or young person who fulfils the above criteria.
There is no need for a formal referral to access our service, and a diagnosis is not needed to receive our support.
What SENDIASS does
- Explain jargon
- Help you to understand policies and procedures
- Empower you to feel confident to express your views and wishes
- Help you to understand and exercise your rights
- Advise you of your options so you can make an informed decision
- Provide templates and examples for letters, emails and paperwork
- Provide resources in various formats to support your query (e.g. webinars, factsheets and links)
- Help you prepare for meetings or tribunals
- Accompany you to meetings and tribunals if you are unable to advocate for yourself
- Review documents and forms (e.g. EHC Needs Assessment requests, draft and final EHCPs, appeal forms)
What SENDIASS can’t do
- Make decisions for you – you know your child’s, or own, wishes and needs best
- Attend all meetings*
- Arrange meetings or take minutes*
- Write letters or emails for you*
- Complete paperwork on your behalf*
- Print or photocopy for you*
- Review benefits forms e.g DLA or PIP
- SENDIASS does not hold power over local authority or school policies and procedures or practices
*unless you have additional support needs that mean you cannot undertake these actions independently
