Autistic children and school placement type
Case reference FOI2023/02036
Published 16 January 2024
Request
Can you please provide me with the data for school aged children in the year 2023 to answer the questions below broken down by ages:
5-10 (Primary)
11-15/16 years (Secondary)
For questions 3 and 5, please use the below list to categorise the setting type:
• Mainstream - (This can be academy, Free or LA maintained)
• Grammar School
• Private Independent Mainstream (NOT special)
• Specialist Resource Base/Provision or SEN unit - If so, what is the primary area of need
• Special School (Academy, Free, LA maintained)
• Independent Special School (maintained or non-maintained)
• Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)
• Alternative Provision
• Educated Otherwise than At School (EOTAS) - Section I is blank or states EOTAS
• Electively Home Educated (EHE)
• No placement available
• Other
• Don't know
Please provide the data as detailed above for the following 8 questions:
1. How many children have an EHCP?
2. How many children identified as autistic do not have an EHCP?
3. How many of these EHCPs identify ASD, ASC or Autism as a need or diagnosis?
4. For the EHCPs that have Autism (ASD/ASC) identified, what is the type of educational setting they attend (type of school named in Section I).
5. For the EHCPs that have Autism (ASD/ASC) identified, how many mention that a child has demand avoidance, identifiable by any of the following terms being used in any section of the EHCP:
○ Demand Avoidance
○ Pathological Demand Avoidance
○ PDA
○ Extreme demand avoidance.
○ Avoids everyday demands or activities
6. For these EHCPs that have demand avoidance mentioned, what is type of educational setting they attend (type of school named in Section I). Please use the above list to categorise setting type
7. Does your LA use the term 'Pathological Demand Avoidance' or 'PDA' or 'autism with a demand avoidant profile' in EHCPs if provided in a professional report?
8. If these terms in question 7 are not used, what is the reason for this?
Response
Can you please provide me with the data for school aged children in the year 2023 to answer the questions below broken down by ages:
5-10 (Primary)
11-15/16 years (Secondary)
For questions 3 and 5, please use the below list to categorise the setting type:
• Mainstream - (This can be academy, Free or LA maintained)
• Grammar School
• Private Independent Mainstream (NOT special)
• Specialist Resource Base/Provision or SEN unit - If so, what is the primary area of need
• Special School (Academy, Free, LA maintained)
• Independent Special School (maintained or non-maintained)
• Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)
• Alternative Provision
• Educated Otherwise than At School (EOTAS) - Section I is blank or states EOTAS
• Electively Home Educated (EHE)
• No placement available
• Other
• Don't know
Please provide the data as detailed above for the following 8 questions:
1. How many children have an EHCP?
2. How many children identified as autistic do not have an EHCP?
3. How many of these EHCPs identify ASD, ASC or Autism as a need or diagnosis?
4. For the EHCPs that have Autism (ASD/ASC) identified, what is the type of educational setting they attend (type of school named in Section I).
5. For the EHCPs that have Autism (ASD/ASC) identified, how many mention that a child has demand avoidance, identifiable by any of the following terms being used in any section of the EHCP:
○ Demand Avoidance
○ Pathological Demand Avoidance
○ PDA
○ Extreme demand avoidance.
○ Avoids everyday demands or activities
6. For these EHCPs that have demand avoidance mentioned, what is type of educational setting they attend (type of school named in Section I). Please use the above list to categorise setting type
7. Does your LA use the term 'Pathological Demand Avoidance' or 'PDA' or 'autism with a demand avoidant profile' in EHCPs if provided in a professional report?
8. If these terms in question 7 are not used, what is the reason for this?
Regarding questions 5 and 6 the Service Area have confirmed that this information is not held in a form that would enable it to be located, retrieved and extracted within the Appropriate Time Limit which equates to 18 hours as defined by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Electronic reporting systems are unable to run a report for this information. To ascertain the data requested officers would need to manually review every EHC Plan and scan the text to understand whether any of the specified words appeared in the text of the Plan or in any of the supporting documents from professionals involved in the consultation/ assessment process of the Plan to establish if the child has demand avoidance and the type of educational setting they attend.
An initial search has shown that 1047 case files would need to be checked for this information in this way, and it is estimated that it would take approximately 15 minutes to check each file.
This would at a conservative estimate take at least 785 hours to complete. Where the Limit is exceeded Public Authorities are not obliged to supply the information requested by virtue of S12 of the Act. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
Within the cost limit we would be able to provide responses to questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8. Please let us know if you would like us to provide you with this information.
Documents
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