In working with families experiencing dyslexia, a common challenge is securing funding for support in schools. For young people with severe dyslexia, the move from the statemented system to that of the Education Health and Care Plan system is controversial as the transition is not complete and the deadline is looming ( see my article on EHCPs and Local Authorities).

The reality is that for parents of dyslexic learners getting that much needed support is difficult and the process is often stressful for all involved. It takes time to actually get an EHCP into place and all the while the child is still in school experiencing harsh barriers to learning that affects self esteem, peer relationships as well as educational outcomes.

So what resources are there available to support parents with the process of getting an EHCP?

This is an interesting question and the answer, to me, seems simple....not a lot!

This is part of the reason why myself and Georgina Smith, decided that we needed to have a workshop at the SEN Jigsaw Conference which is entirely focused on this topic.

Where do parents stand in terms of their rights to secure an EHCP for their child?

Education solicitor, Andrew Barrowclough will be taking the EHCP workshop on April 21st at the SEN Jigsaw Conference and in a recent interview this is what I discovered.

Please could you tell our readers a little about yourself?

I'm a specialist education law solicitor who helps families to support their academically and emotionally struggling children. I head up the Education Law team at HCB Solicitor and have practiced in this specialist area for 12 year helping thousands of parents.

Why do you do what you do?

I love my job and am excited to get into work every day. It is incredibly rewarding to help young people get the right educational support in place to allow them to succeed.

What will your workshop be about at the SEN Jigsaw?

I will be explaining the process as to how to obtain a statutory assessment and an EHCP. This should help parents and SENCOs. I will also be able to help parents whose children already have an EHCP and who are considering their next phased transfer placement for secondary school, post 16 or post 19.

What will your delegates take away from your workshop (in terms of learning)?

My aim is to arm parents with the knowledge needed to follow the process through themselves or to help schools understand their role in the process. Unfortauntely there are many myths which are
simply untrue about the system which hopefully I can dispel.

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