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Aspergersandsensory

Advice please.

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My 11 year old son has been the target for a group of bullies since February at school, he is in mainstream and was doing great until the problems started, He has Asperger's, Sensory problems, Dyslexia, co ordination difficulties.

Having been attacked many time now he has realised he isnt allowed to defend himself as he is punished, for months he has had little education due to either being bullied, being moved away from bullies or punishments at school, things are not good school wise but i keep building him up and returning to school.

My son was happy and doing well until it all started, He wants to stay at the same school but not be bullied or constantly either awaitting punishments or spending time in include or detention.

Knowing how mainstream schools are trying to get rid of children on the spectrum and how much my son wants to stay at the school. would it be wrong to request he retakes the year if they could put the right support in for him. or am i best looking now to move him schools? the school he has is the only 1 we could choose in the whole area that fitted his needs.

He is bright in many subjects apart from english, he has missed all the art classes, history classes and DT classes due to the problems this year.

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Firstly are the school acknowledging that he is being bullied?

What is their policy on bullying. They should have a specific policy and you can ask to see it.

You can complain to the Governors of the School.

I would also suggest you speak with an organisation such as IPSEA to see what school should be doing by law.

That would help inform you on how to write to the school Governors and then how to make a complaint to the local authority.

 

If he is being bullied during break/dinner times, then school could allow him access to somewhere there are adults present, like in the library - or for him to go to any kind of club that is run during breaktimes such as computer club.

 

He could be allowed to leave class/school earlier. You could ask for a 1:1 for him.

 

It just is not acceptable for him to be bulled in this way. He is a vulnerable child and they need to protect him.

 

I would not suggest having him retake a year again, unless this is a last resort. But if he is missing school and falling further behind his peers that is evidence of how this is affecting him and how he is no longer able to access education to the level of bullying he is experiencing.

 

Are the kids bullying him the same age, or older?

Edited by Sally44

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If he is being bullied you really need to take it up officially with the school. Ask for a meeting with the SENCO and raise the issue head on. Check up on both the bullying policy and the complaints policy and pursue it in line with the complaints policy that will eventually get an official response. That will give you a route through the head to the governors then to LA and/or Tribunal. When you do complain make sure you make the point that this is related to his AS, both that AS children are particularly sensitive to bullying and that their AS also makes them a target. It is important to tie this in with his AS as it gives more routes to resolve the issue.

 

If you do find an example of him being punished because of the bullying I would immediately raise a formal complaint about that action.

 

Also standard advice, keep a log of all incidents you hear about, both the incidents and the school's response. Whereever possible get the names of the children involved.

 

No school likes having a problem with bullying - so most are reluctant to admit to it., When you bring it to their attention they are likely to do one of two things. Either take is seriously and start addressing the issue or pretend it isn't happening, or blame the victim. If the school is of the first type then you are in luck - they should be able to get on top of the situation if you constantly.

 

As Sally says, retaking a year at this stage is probably not a good idea, at 11 he is unlikely to have missed out on anything that he can't catch up on with the correct support in place.

 

You need to use this as a way of assessing how the school is. Not all schools are keen to move AS children out, some are very supporting. As you discuss this issue with the SENCO you should be able to gauge their interest and understanding of AS children. If they don't understand or aren't interested then you should consider moving him to a school that has better support - ask around locally within parents of ASD children to get their opinion of the local schools.

 

Does he have a statement? If not it may be worth thinking about that. If things are not great at school are you sure it is only the bullying, perhaps that is masking other issues that will also need to be addressed

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I'm currently employed at a school, and I agree with what Sally and bed have both said. You definitely need to take this up with the school; logging the incidents is a good idea as well since it will serve as proof for your case should this have to be taken further.

Schools have been covering bullying in great detail during the last year, at least in my area, so this is something the school should be actively trying to stop. The staff should be aware of your son's condition, and if they are punishing him for what the other children are doing (even if he's reacting badly - he shouldn't be held accountable for this if staff are not doing their own part in combating the bullying), then they clearly do not have an understanding of his needs.

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Sorry I havn't replied sooner things have moved alot during the past month,

I was trying to sort things out with school but failed,

If the problems had been all outdoors it may have been simple to sort out but when teachers blatantly support the bullies in the classroom thinking it's easier for them to ignore whats happening then there is no hope.

The school did move him class but this was only to make them look to be addressing the problem as he was still with the same kids once lessons started.

I did write to the school govenors but they also failed to respond.

 

I have since been forced into home educating as the threats of punishment from school got too much to handle.

It was not an easy step to take as my son desperatly wanted to go to school without the problems it was causing him.

I have made great progress with my son and he is improving daily.

Having found an English tutor for him I realise I will not be able to afford to pay for other subject areas he needs and worry that I may not be able to do this long term,

With little trust left in the LEA or people to help SEN pupils it is hard to see how the planned EHCP will change anything in our area as there really is nothing available for pupils to have their rights to education supported.

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Anyone who is physically attacked has the legal right to defend themselves physically.

And indeed, the law allows for pre-emptive action. If a bully shouts "I'm going to hit you" the potential target is entirely within their rights to hit first to prevent such an attack. The same applies whenever the attacker runs at you shaking their fist, the intention is pretty clear.

 

The bullies have committed a criminal offence. It might be as well to remind the school of that.

To punish a child for exercising their legal right of self defence is the school equivalent of a malicious prosecution. That is also illegal.

 

The school will refuse to act until they get a solicitor's letter informing them that they are breaking the law - and in a serious way too.

 

I would also advise giving your son a portable sound recording device to take to school. These are small, inexpensive but pretty sophisticated these days and can store a full day of audio.

Edited by dm2010

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