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gaza1016

Advice around special needs for H.F.A Son

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Hi all

 

My son was diagnosed as High Functioning Autism/ Aspergers around 7 months ago, he is currently waiting for results of tests for ADHD.

 

He is in main stream primary school Year 4 and until recently we had great difficulty getting the school to admit that he had any special needs.

 

He has a talent for Maths and we are told by the school he is classed as Specially Gifted/Talented in this respect although I'm not really sure what this means as he doesn't seem to get any extra help in relation to his maths and when given the Year 6 text books finished them within a couple of weeks. He does the normal year 4 maths during class time and he worked through the year 6 book in his own time for "fun" (I'm not sure what the school will be teaching him in Maths over the next 2 years as that's the highest book they have)

 

He is well behaved at school other than he has a very poor concentration span in class as he sees everything as "Boring"

 

Pre Diagnosis we had no idea what a "Meltdown" was although his behaviour at home was getting worse as time went on.

 

Since Diagnosis the Meltdowns have increased greatly in frequency and ferocity to the point that recently he has given his sister a black eye and split lip as well as pulling a knife on me and threatened his mum with a screw driver!

 

We are attending Parenting Classes with an ASD Nurse at the local CAMHS (just started) and have just finished an Autism awareness course with the local autistic society.

 

My son has been complaining that he is consistently being bullied and we have been into the school on many occasions, sent emails which haven't been responded to etc.

 

We have also discovered that the meltdowns basically are triggered by things that happen at school, it started off with the bullying and progressed to being told off at school for not paying attention, to something a classmate or teacher had said to him to a change in teacher or timetable.

 

We have had meetings with the Teacher, SENCO, FSA and a outreach teacher/ consultant from a local S.N School provided by the local authority where we were first told he had an IEP (We had never seen it before) and secondly were told that he was on School Action Plus.

 

The school were very keen to tell the consultant that since they had given our son his own desk at the front of the class that his attention had improved and his disruption almost disappeared.

 

The school also agreed to tell us each day when we picked him up if their had been any upset or incidents that may lead to a meltdown, so that we could try and intervene before it happened, they did do this for the first 2 days but nothing since and we have had 4 meltdowns in the last week, each lasting for hours until he falls asleep through exhaustion.

 

Last week we had a major meltdown where he told me he was going to get some scissors to make sure I couldn't see anymore, we later worked out that this had been triggered by his teacher removing "his desk" and telling him he didn't need it any more! She hadn't consulted us on this and when we questioned this she told us that she had forgot to tell us and had done it to "reintegrate" him into the class before he goes up to Year 5 (He can cope with group work as long as he has his own workspace for the majority or non group work time). She said in front of him "Because he wont be able to have his own desk then" Again I would have thought the school would have been grateful that we had found a way to stop him disrupting whole lessons!

 

After we told the teacher about the meltdown he got his desk back.,1 week later he arrived home, burst into tears saying they have taken my desk away again, yet again nothing from the school.

 

A joint "sort of CAF" was recently submitted, I say "sort of" as it was a CAF form that went to a panel of professionals, we weren't allowed to attend as they were discussing many cases, they replied that as we were attending the Autism Awareness Course there was nothing more they can do.

 

I tried to get help from Social Services to be told that as my son wasn't being abused we couldn't even get help, I have since requested a statutory assessment of Needs for the Family but live in hope?

 

The Senco suggested that we might want to look at applying for a statement (although the Head almost laughed at the idea) on Social Emotional and Behavioural Grounds, she asked an Ed Psych to meet with our son but we have been told he has refused as our son is above average educationally.

 

I have found a letter requesting an assessment for SEN and started typing it up but would be grateful of any ideas of what I should say about why the school can't meet his SEN? His Latest Maths Grade has gone down and I am worried that he is just not bothering now!

 

 

Are there any other things I can say to the school or at least ways that I can try to get them to work with us as to opposed to us by their ignorance of ASD.

 

Our house is a complete battlefield at least 2 or 3 days a week all because of silly things the school do ignorant of the knock on effects as soon as we get him home.

 

Phhewww Sorry for the length of my first post!! :sick:

 

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No idea what to do about school as I'm not from the UK, but the view your son has about things might be improved by reading Luke Jackson's "Freaks, Geeks, ...". Luke explicitly gives advice about coping with bullying, and how martial arts might help you control yourself.

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Welcome to the forum.

 

Your son sounds similar to ours, he is coming to the end of Yr 5 and is gifted in Maths and Science (NC Level 7 in maths and 6 in science - but I am not sure what that really means). Bright ASD children are not well catered for in our education system - the recent thread "AS and not coping in School" shows this to some extent. Other threads will help you find out about other parents' experiences.

 

There is far too much to discuss in one posting - and sorry if some of this sounds basic and you know it already.

 

Probably the most important advice at this stage is to apply for a statement NOW. There is no doubt at all that your son needs a statement, and he will get one at some point. Unfortunately getting a statement is often a very slow and protracted business and the sooner you start the better. The school are totally wrong to say that he won't get a statement because he is doing okay academically, but it does make it harder. It is almost certain your LEA will refuse the first request on that basis. Also don't rely on the school to apply on your behalf.

 

All you need to do is write a very short letter to the LEA - IPSEA have a very good web site that includes a sample letter you can send. At this point all that really matters is that you send the letter as that starts the process going. As soon as you do that there are statutory timelines that must be complied with. All you need to say in the letter is that he has a diagnosis of Autism and say that he is struggling in school. You will then have the chance to provide more information before they assess. You need to take control of the process so don't let the school do this for you. You should send that letter as soon as possible. Don't wait to get additional evidence before making the application, the application is the beginning of the process not the end and you can continue to feed in additional information into the process as and when it becomes available. Download or send off for the "SEN Code of Practice" that gives you all the information you need about the process, but be aware of course that the LA is highly unlikely to follow it :(

 

Have a browse of other threads on this forum and take note of what people say, particularly about Sensory Issues (sensory processing disorder, sensory integration), anxiety and so on and see what of those may apply to your son. Those are areas to bring out in your parental comments which you will be asked to provide once you have made the request to assess.

 

The local authority will almost certainly refuse to assess. At which point you will probably want to appeal to SENDIST - but you can consider that later.

 

At school is he on SAP (School Action Plus)? This is an important stage to go through as it is harder to get a statement without having been on SAP for some time. If he isn't then you should have a meeting with SENCO and persuade them to put him on SAP, and make sure he get's IEPs and the like.

 

The other important thing to do is to start writing everything down. Keep your own notes of every conversation you have; make notes of anything he says to you; record all incidents you hear about from school and all behaviour in the home that may be attributable to school.

 

On the bullying side you must make a formal complaint about that - the school will have a complaints procedure that you can use and if you invoke that then you will get a written response from the school and there will be the opportunity to appeal the response. When making the complaint make sure you tie in into his autism. Say explicitly that he is being bullied because of his disability.

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There is so much about your post that is not true. You are being fobbed off. You need to get a copy of the SEN Code of Practice and read it.

 

Have you written to the LA requesting that they carry out a Statutory Assessment for a Statement? If so they must, by law, respond within a certain timescale [detailed in the SEN Code of Practice]. If they write to you saying they are not going to assess you must appeal that decision to SEND {special educational needs and disability tribunal}. Most LAs refuse as a way of weeding out parents who are not prepared to take it further. Most SEND Tribunals order the LA to assess.

 

A Statement must identify each and every need, which goes in part 2, and quantify and specify provision in terms of hours of support, staffing arrangements, therapy, professional input etc.

 

The parents can name any placement [school] they think can meet all his needs, and the LA must name that placement UNLESS they can prove there is another school that would cost them less which could still provide everything he needs.

 

I had lots of problems, like you've mentioned. And it took me a long time to cotton on, and learn about the system.

 

If your child is also gifted he needs to be in an educational setting where he can reach his potential. His difficulties regarding ASD need to be detailed in his Statement. So it might say something like "XXXXX will have a place he can work at where there will be limited visual distractions ie. a work station. This will be available for all lessons."

 

If he has problems with change it could say "xxxxx finds change very overwhelming which can result in him getting extremely upset either during school or at home. This can last for hours. XXXX needs to be given plenty of warning about any forthcoming change to his daily timetable or learning environment or staff changes. Staff need to know that he may not cope with that change due to his diagnosis. On these occasions xxxxx needs access to extra breaks, a quiet place he can go to to calm down, a known member of staff/dedicated TA to go for a walk with him, or play some games with him."

 

As you have requested a Statement the LA should ask the EP and SALT to assess him. I suggest you find out who will do it and write to them and ask them to carry out standardised assessments - EP of his cognitive ability and emotional literacy - SALT all aspects of his receptive and expressive speech as well as social communication/interation and play skills. Put it in writing.

 

For the CAF they should have met with your son and yourself and written a report. So I would write to the Head of Social Services and ask them for a copy of their assessment and report. If they have not done one I would lodge a complaint with the complaints person at your local authority [as SS are LA employees]. If you get no joy from them, and again in your complaint letter give them a timescale of 14 days to respond. If you hear nothing lodge a complaint with the local governments ombudsman saying that you requested a CAF assessment. That no assessment took place. You were not involved or contacted and not provided with any written report on their findings [which obviously they cannot have if they never assessed]. See what the LGO find.

 

Once you know how the system works you need to keep on applying pressure. Know your rights and your child's rights. Quote those rights to those involved, and if they don't fulfill them lodge complaints. It is painstaking, but it works.

 

My son now goes to an independent ASD specific school for children with average cognitive ability. The LA pays the fees, which are around £50K. They also pay an additional £10K for a specialist dyslexia teacher [as we proved he had severe dyslexia and dyscalculia and the school did not have anyone suitably qualified]. He has weekly therapy from SALT and OT. He is in a similar peer group. Since my complaint about a CAF not being carried out for years, I finally complained to the LGO and they awarded us compensation. My son now gets one night a week respite at his school - where he can join in with the out of school activities. We are currently seeking an additional night each week and during holidays.

 

So it is all achieveable. If you know the procedure. So start with the SEN Code of Practice.

 

I would also recommend that you either ask your GP, or the professional that diagnosed him, to refer you onto Clinical Psychology due to the self harm and aggressive behaviour he is showing. He probably cannot think of any other way to resolve his issues, and is probably even struggling to explain what he is struggling with. You need their input, again in writing, to be included in the Statement.

 

This is the link to the SEN Code of Practice http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/s/sen%20code%20of%20practice.pdf

Edited by Sally44

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