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kirstie

What should i do?

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Hi every-one,Am just wondering if i can pick your brains on this,

My boy Lewis is, i'm sure a lot of you know, still at Nursery due to me deferring him for a year.

I was told around Easter time that Lewis was awarded 2 hours additional support in |Nursery by way of a learning assisstant and he would recieve this after the summer hols due to his very demanding behaviours/ AS / sensory issues.

Great, i thought, it's a start!! (They only have him at Nursery 2.5 hours a day as it is they can't really handle him)

Having fought and then fought a bit more have we finally got outreach support in place for Nursery and at home. (Behavioural Therapy, SALT, development worker) and wait for it, about 2 weeks ago a permanent learning assisstant was appointed for Lewis. Sucks, i know! however during these really frustrating past few months i had gotten sick of my sons ever worsening temper and the inadequate support, so i wrote to the Head of the education department and asked for a record of needs to be opened and a placement in a special school/ unit a si knew there one or two places available.

Ok, that was in October. I am now waiting an appointment with a clinical psychologist re his behaviours and am getting behavioural therapy for Lewis.

Now, i have a bit of a dilemma. I now need to write another (!) letter to the head of Education dept and specify where i want him placed, then it will more than likely be half way into the term before he actually starts the unit.

Do i stick with the outreach work or

put him into a unit? This way i will get the placement i want but on the other hand continue with the outreach and go back to basics (he won't even follow his timetable anymore) start again and try to build it all up again with high motivating tasks etc.

I am really at my wits end with the constant rollercoaster ride. My boys temper is getting worse and worse. :crying: and i think maybe a placement with a class of 6 would be more beneficial???

Am at a loss, i really want to do the best thing for him.

Thanks folks, you're thoughts are really appreciated.

Kirstie.

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Hiya Kirstie,

 

I can't give you any advice, as you already know I don't know anything about the Scottish RON system... sorry >:D<<'>

 

You've managed to obtain important support for Lewis - well done!

 

What exactly does an outreach worker do? I've heard the term many times before - is the outreach worker a LEA employee/ an LEA advisory teacher? If so, couldn't this support be ongoing in a unit setting?

 

Have you managed to obtain a RON for Lewis? - You haven't said for sure in your post. I would asssume anything that is speicified in a RON needs to be quantified? Would Lewis be able to access the specified support within the unit setting?

 

I did supply work in an infant and junior specialist teaching facility where there were approximately 8 children in each unit, both units contained children with a variety of dx. Each unit had four members of staff to support these children. The SALT and physiotherapist use to visit the units weekly, whilst the OT made termly visits - their visits were dependent on what was written in each child's Statement.

 

I suppose what I'm trying to say is, with the right attitude, staff/pupil ratio, outside ongoing support and an eagerness to involve parents, a unit placement can be highly successful.

 

Sorry I haven't been able to help you :(

 

Good luck with your decision, Helen x

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Kirstie,

 

Just incase you're wondering about how I'm able to comment on a unit placement when I only did supply work in the STFs - I forgot to say that I use to support a child with CP on a 1-2-1 full time basis in mainstream primary. The STFs were directly attached to the primary school. The boy I supported needed to use specialist equipement/facilities numerous times each day, this equipment was stored within in the STF unit area. That's how I initially came to know the staff and the children in the units.

 

When my mainstream placement finished, it was then that I did supply work in both infant and junior units.

Edited by Helen

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Hiya Helen,

Lewis has outreach support via a multi disciplinary team called Spectrum. They concentrate on early intervention and are for the gap in services parents can access before and after a diagnosis. They have staff from OT to SALT etc and it is funded.

This stops when the children go to school.

So far Lewis has SALT, OT (sporadically though) a development worker who comes to the house once a week, a behavioural therapist (who is now going to come twice a week for intensive support) and an Autistic teacher who comes to my house and nursery to support everyone. She is the only one covering Edinburgh so she is stretched unfortunatley.

Spectrum also arrange communication groups and intensive play sessions in block sessions which lew will be attending after christmas. He now, Hallelluja has his 1:1 at nursery.

I am just worried that i am passing up the chance of a place in the unit i really liked and won't get him in there next August.

Lewis is so difficult right now and his behaviours have regressed due to the inadequate support he had for so long. Its all pretty much entrenched and its going to be a hard slog, but we are also waiting to see a clinical psychologist re his behaviours as i really think theres more going on with him (ADHD, ODD and the like) I am just very very wary of doing something i will regret as its been so hard up tp now trying to get support.

Kirstie.

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Hi Kirstie,

Not an easy decision for you to make! :unsure:

What I've found is that within the Scottish system , once your child is in mainstream it is very difficult to obtain a placement within a specialist unit if it's not working out. Having spoken to my girls Ed Psych I was informed the whole process could take up to a year, ( although this may have been to put me off!) as I already had a named school for her.

It's really hard to try and anticipate what our little ones needs are going to be. They seem to be ever changing!

Wouldn't it be great if the Christmas fairy waved her magic wand and allowed us to see that part of their future!

Sorry not much help. Enquire should be able to help you on this one.

Take care, and good luck with your decision.

Vickixx

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Hi Kirstie

I would look at the long term if I were in your shoes, from what you are saying he doesnt seem to be getting a great deal from nursery. Perhaps he needs a complete change of setting and he wiil be starting school within the next year.

Visit the unit a couple of times and get a feel for whats going on. Ask as many questions as you can,, How do they deal with any problems that may arise, do they have an outreach worker etc.

The more you find out the more confident you will feel about sending him.

Would you be able to have help at home from another source possibly linked to school?

It may be the fresh start that he needs, perhaps he associates nursery with feeling unhappy and frustrated and that affects his behaviour at home.

Good luck with whatever you decide

Loraine

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Hi guys and thanks for your replies.

I have decided to keep Lewis at nursery. I wrote to the head of pupil support at LEA HQ :ph34r: and stipulated that this was only if Lewis was to have his support at home and Nursery stepped up. I also went on to tell them their support to date has been totally inadequate and that my son has suffered as a consequence, and that there isn't nearly enough provision for the ever growing numbers of children with ASD s. I was in a good position (if you can call it that) to request and recieve the additional support. I got a letter yesterday to say they fully support my decisions and will implement the additional support he needs.

The School i want him to go to does not have any outreach so i thought it really important to carry on with his behavioural therapy, development worker and Autism teacher and OT. At least now i know it will be stepped up too. :thumbs:

We also await his draft of the Record of Needs where the Unit i want will be added and any mental Health problems too.

Theres much work to do before hes ready to be placed educationally i think, so wish me luck.I just hope i have made the right choice.

Hey, that sounded a bit super-hero-ish........We have much work to do, to the Batcave and beyond :bat:

Luv Kirst

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