Canopus

After weeks on end of bullying and victimisation at a residential school with the staff doing sod all about it, I finally couldn't take the stress any longer and lashed out violently against another kid who was punched me for no reason in order to teach him not to mess with me again. His face was badly cut and needed several stitches. Because I had used a weapon the matter ended up in the hands of the police. The policeman who arrested me was absolutely furious and told me that I had committed actual bodily harm that was a very serious offence and would almost certainly be prosecuted because he claimed that I had acted in retaliation rather than defence. I was detained in a police cell overnight and told that I could end up in front of a judge in court and be sentenced to 10 years in prison. I was only 13 at the time and it was a terrifying experience. Thankfully I was let off with a caution as my school urged the other kid's parents and their solicitor to back down and not prosecute me. I told my parents that I no longer wanted to continue at the residential school after this event but my mother refused to withdraw me.

It all depends on the facilities and the staff available. Some schools have better facilities than others for SEN in PE lessons. It can be very difficult for one PE teacher to be in charge of 2 activities simultaneously. Some PE teachers are supportive of physical exercises whereas others are committed to team sports.

PE is part of the National Curriculum and state schools have to impose it by law. The only way that one could get out of PE lessons is with a doctors certificate, or if SEN sessions are provided at the same time the rest of the class has a PE lesson. This happened to me at secondary school for one term although the timing was probably determined by when the LEA councillor was available and it was just pure chance that it coincided with my PE lesson. I think that a strongly worded statement could exempt a kid from having to participate in team sports and certain other activities, but would only be honoured by the school if details of alternative physical activities are provided that can be accomodated by the school in the session provided. This could be problematic in practice.

Good electrical suppliers sell switches that can only be operated using a special tool or the corner of a credit card.

Does anybody's kid make use of a distance learning course? They are intended for adults but many will accept under 16s.

Many years ago I built an electronic timer that attached to a television to restrict when people could watch it.

The crux of the issue isn't really ones intelligence, knowledge, and skills. It is whether they can fit in with their work colleagues and the ethos of the company and survive the office politics. I definitely think that library work is a good choice for someone with AS. I used to work as a computer programmer but found that I didn't really have much in common with other work colleagues to make any good friendships. There seemed to be an unwritten rule in the organisation that talking about university life or ones childhood was taboo.

Do adult education colleges want people who are qualified in teaching, or just qualified in their subject area?

It's the opposite with me. I never had any problems handling electronic equipment and could solder to a high standard when I was 10. I am not very good at woodwork unless its making splinters! I don't think I will ever master using a chisel properly. I prefer to use modern power tools such as a Black and Decker Wizard rather than traditional hand tools and techniques.

This applies to me and I am in my 20s but you might the info useful. 1) Difficult to say. There were a few suspicions that something could be different at around 2 years old. I had an obsession with lights and anything that lit up such as neon signs and illuminated models. I took great pleasure at operating light switches whenever I could. Commercial buildings with big panels of switches were the most fun as I enjoyed indentifying which switch operated which light. It could be a bit embarrassing for my parents at times in places like hospitals or leisure centres. Other than that, my parents saw me as very bright, could talk early, and could read and write by the age of 3. 2) I became statemented at 8 but nothing was ever diagnosed. Repeated appointments with doctors and psychologists claimed that nothing was wrong with me. Autism was ruled out on the grounds I had high intelligence and could talk well, although I had poor social skills with people of my age group and could come out with shocking and offensive statements every now and then. My clumsiness was never adequately explained. 3) I attended a state nursery school. It was free play and there were no structured lessons. The staff commented that I hardly ever interacted with any other children and preferred to play with toys alone. My parents didn't make much of an effort in setting up relationships with other children and hardly ever talked to any of the other parents. They just assumed interaction would come naturally but it didn't.

My job application got rejected before I even had an interview. I am thinking about becoming self employed and wouldn't mind being a private tutor. I can teach maths and electronics. Does anyone know if there is any demand for electronics tutors or is the subject too small to be worth bothering with?

My educational psychologist thought she could purge the problems from me by sending me to a residential school so I would be forced to mix with other kids in an environment of hard discipline to stop me misbehaving. Obviously she was wrong and had I been diagnosed with AS then she would have to accept the conditions were incurable and forced integration would get nowhere.

Do people with AS have a liking for certainty and clearly defined targets as opposed to vague unclear targets and no guarantee they will get what they want at the end. An example of this is that if you promised to buy your kid a game console if they submitted 10 pieces of homework to a grade A standard this term, then they would be likely to try and complete 10 pieces of homework to a grade A standard. If for example you told your kid you would think about buying them a game console if they submitted enough pieces of good homework, then they would probably not achieve 10 pieces to a grade A standard because you haven't told them exactly what is wanted nor have you promised to buy the game console. They may also assume that you won't really buy them the game console and it is just a con trick you are playing on them to make them do some work.

Can people with AS make good parents? Have there been any serious investigations into this? I don't have any kids yet but they will be home educated unless they really really want to go to school. After the terrible experience I had at school, and the problems that other parents on this forum have, I think that even NT kids would suffer.

Does anyone's kid study electronics at school for GCSE level?

What irritates me is that the gear wheels of education reform turn so slowly. I never understood the logic of chucking kids outside for such long periods of time other than to give the teachers peace and quiet so they could hob nob over cups of tea in the staffroom or get on with their marking and admin duties. Playtime issues were one of the first things to go into my first statement, yet the school would not arrange alternative activities for me because they said that if they allowed me inside, they would have to allow everybody inside on the grounds of equality. I always wanted it to pour down with rain because they would allow the kids to stay inside and I could use the time constructively.

Whatever happened to telecommuting? There was big talk of it during the late 1990s but nothing seems to have materialised in practice.

My LEA did not believe dyslexia existed. Dyspraxia was not diagnosed and repeated examinations by doctors claimed there was nothing wrong with me physically although common sense dictated there was if you watched me playing team sports. A specialist from the LEA was concerned at my clumsiness and ineptness at PE lessons, but was particularly moved when he read that I couldn't ride a bike at the age of 8 and that my handwriting was a scrawl. His only explanation was that I was disabled and should receive disability treatment. However, my GP had not diagnosed me as disabled and my mother flatly refused to believe I was disabled in any way. Perhaps it might have been better if dyspraxic was used rather than disabled. The reason for a residential school was because my social skills were poor when relating to most people of my own age, and that I was a withdrawn individual preferring activities such as computers, reading, or playing with things like electronics and lego at home during evenings and weekends rather than social activities with other people my own age. The educational psychologist thought I would benefit from being forced together with other kids all the time so I would socialise more and involve myself in team sports and activities. Hence "6. A residential setting so that my difficulties can be worked upon in a variety of settings beyond school hours in order to promote generalisation of my skills." The educational psychologist failed to realise that I wanted friends, but only people (both NT and AS) who respected me, were compatible with me, and were of high intelligence and interested in academic things. I just didn't get on well with kids who didn't respect me or were not of high intelligence. It wasn't mentioned in my statement that many of the kids who respected me the most and I got on well with were in Y10 and Y11, yet I was only in Y7. I used to help them with their work and often knew more about certain subjects than they did.

I ended up in a residential school. It was the third one I looked at as the other 2 weren't deemed suitable by my parents or myself. The first had social skills sessions but no academic lessons apart from basic skills in maths and English that was infant school work. Nobody took any exams. The interview was never completed as the head stated the school would be totally unsuitable for someone with high intelligence who wants qualifications. The second school had lessons but appeared to be a badly run institution by unprofessional and disorganised staff. The school I attended had good and bad points but thankfully focused on proper lessons and not social skills sessions. It was a rather harsh place that didn't cater well for kids with AS and I didn't get on well with the headmaster who tried to run the place like Eton with all the poxy rules and regulations. I suppose in a way I succeeded in the end as I got good grades at GCSEs in subjects I wanted and managed to go to college and university. One member of carestaff at the school claimed that never in a million years did I stand a chance of going to university. It is such a shame he never lived to see me graduate with an engineering degree. What is interesting is that my LEA never checked on my progress when I was at that school. Some kids had a rep from the LEA down at least once a term to see how they were progressing. My LEA never even found out I took GCSEs early until after I left the school.

They were under no obligation to show me my statement and I officially had no right to see it. I asked my LEA if they would send me a copy of my statement but they wouldn't as a request had to be in writing by my parents. I think my parents just try and bury the past but it has left a scar on my mind that will never heal. I cannot forgive my parents for this. The trouble is that they have a tendency to believe everything the professionals tell them. That's why they consult professionals in the first place! I don't mind this as I like frank descriptions no matter how hard hitting and offensive they may be. The bit that angers me is the conclusions and recommendations as the educational psychologist has suggested the wrong solutions for my problems. That is the bit I would have changed. I think if AS was known about and identified as my main problem then completely different solutions would be listed. It is known that AS is incurable and forced social skills training sessions in residential schools are likely to make things worse. That is true. I have some difficulty interpreting oddly worded questions. That's why I opted for mechanics rather than statistics at A level. The questions are less wordy.

I'm sure that Britain is one of the few countries in the world to issue stationery as standard at primary schools.

I have just been informed that a 9 year old NT kid who lives locally learned to ride his friend's bike last weekend using my procedure. Congratulations to him.

I have just been informed that a 9 year old NT kid who lives locally learned to ride his friend's bike last weekend using my procedure. Congratulations to him.

I have just calculated that I have wasted 70 days of my life at breaktime at junior school. This isn't counting an average of 15 minutes a day eating. I hated breaktimes. The school would just throw everbody out into the playground for 20 minutes each morning and afternoon and 60 minutes at midday. There was naff all to do as there was no playground equipment or similar things to play with. It was boring as hell and I frequently got bullied. Quite often I would get up to mischief just to be made to stand outside the head's office. At least you didn't get bullied there or freeze to death in winter. Is it really acceptable for kids to have to spend an hour outside in the freezing cold each day for something that isn't of benefit to their education? There were no breaktime clubs or activities and the school wouldn't let any kids come inside to do extra studying, read books in the library, or use the computers. It was no fun studying in a cold or wet playground with nowhere to sit down. I wonder what I could have done with all that time had I been allowed to use it constructively? Is it still the norm for primary schools to throw kids outside for such long periods of time nowadays, or do they encourage other activities?

Do LEAs liaise with or hold information about private sector schools, educational help centres, and colleges that admit under 16s? I have a strong feeling that they don't and their territory are state schools only. Therefore, if someone with SEN would benefit from such an organisation then they will not be informed of its existance by the LEA. Could anybody provide more info on this? An interesting sideline is that the NHS doesn't hold information about private medical facilities that offer services the NHS doesn't offer. I had bad astigmatism in one eye following an injury and wanted to find out more about laser treatment and whether it would be suitable. My optician knew nothing about laser eye surgery so referred my to my GP. My GP knew nothing either so referred me to a specialist in a hospital. The specialist was very unkind towards me and thought I was a hypocondriac. He told me that laser eye surgery was not available on the NHS and that the NHS didn't even know what organisations carried it out and I should stop wasting doctor's time. Eventually I had to find out about laser eye surgery on the internet and contact organisations that carried it out for more info. The treatment was found to be suitable and was carried out a few years ago with excellent results.