Hi,
I am a mother to two autistic/ADHD boys age 8 and 9.
They are home educated due to severe anxiety regarding school and their needs not being met. I have been advised by another home educating mother of an autistic child that I could possibly get a SDS budget for my children to spend on activities to help them. Any advice welcome, thanks.
Hi @Brookhaven87,
This is definitely possible, but may depend on the eligibility criteria in your local area. Where I live and work, in Perth and Kinross, the Children and Disability Team will only offer an assessment where there is âa diagnosis of Autism with an associated learning disability and where the condition severely affects day to day functioning.â I have seen this referred to as âautism-plusâ, but according to the law any child with a disability should be entitled to be assessed, including children who donât have a diagnosis, so donât let this put you off!
If you search your localâs authorityâs website for âeligibility criteriaâ for children with a disability you will probably find something. If you are entitled to support via SDS, you should be able to choose how to use this, which can be in the form of a direct payment (SDS Option 1), or by using a support provider (via Option 2/3), or a combination of these. In reality, your options may be limited by resources, but parents should be able to use a budget in a wide range of ways to meet the needs of the family as a whole.
There is lots of useful info via the links below, but please feel free to ask any further questions here:
Best of luck finding the support you need.
Justin
Hi and welcome !
Looks possible to me - good luck with it!
Thank you, I will have a good look at all this provided. Got another question about a relative but Iâll post in a separate thread to avoid confusion.
Hi there,
Had someone out to see us last week, she said their eligibility is if more than one sibling has a condition and if there is more than one condition present, my boys are both autistic with ADHD, with one son also diagnosed with a language impairment and hypermobility.
They have got back to me today to say the manager doesnât think we meet the criteria but they want to come out with me to discuss it further. Bit confused as we do fit the criteria that she stated, but if theyâre not willing to help us I donât know what else they could be coming out to discuss? Thanks.
Sounds like a bit of a mixed message @Brookhaven87. Have you seen a copy of the eligibility criteria yourself?
This is from Perth and Kinrossâ eligibility criteria:
The purpose of this Eligibility Criteria is to be transparent with parents and professionals about how decisions are made, and to ensure that services are targeted at those with the highest levels of need consistently and fairly. These criteria should not be applied rigidly, and flexibility is required in order to allow for the exercise of professional judgement.
Most children in Perth and Kinross who require services will receive them through universal provision within their local community. The same should be true of any child with a disability. Only when it has been identified, that the impact of the childâs disability on their life and/or that of their family is too great to be addressed by universal provision, should a referral for an assessment to the Children and Disability Team be considered. This criteria exists to establish if a child or young person is eligible for an assessment from the Children and Disability Team.
They may be coming back out to fully explain their decision, ask you for more info, and/or to discuss what universal supports are available to you locally and offer to refer/signpost you to these. I would always ask for any decision in writing, especially if they are not offering you an assessment/further support, to make it easier to understand and challenge it.
Your local carers centre and/or autism support group might be able to offer you advice and local experience, and/or put you in touch with parents in a similar position. You can also search for a local independent advice organisation here: - The SDS HandbookThe SDS Handbook
Please let us know how you get on, as long as youâre happy to share.
I get an SDS budget for my son to meet his social needs, and my son is not at school. However we are not home educating him - the LA is still responsible for his education. The LA may try to argue that as you have chosen to take him out of school, meeting his educational and social needs is now your problem (school being a âuniversal serviceâ referred to in @justinbâs response above). However Iâm not sure if that argument has any merit. It seems to me that even disabled kids at school may have needs that would be appropriately met by an SDS budget.
It is unfortunate that local authorities effectively shrug off their responsibilities by incentivising parents to choose to home educate.
Getting hold of the local eligibility criteria for SDS for children would be helpful. If the local authority try to say that SDS is only for adults, that is gibberish.