Erika

My little boy is 5 with an ASD, can anyone please offer any advise on taking my little boy to the GP. I keep getting letters from the surgery " we have wrote to you ex amount of times as he is due his second MMR" HOW MANY TIMES HAVE i PHONED THEM ASKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE WAY! I have lost count, he has glands the size of golf balls in his neck at the moment and will they do a home visit NO! kicking and screaming seems to be aceptable to them but not for me. The theory is in my mind at least try and make his trips to the GP a positive one thats if I can get him out of the car, or should I say in the car in the first place. His pead wants to take bloods on his next visit! he wont enter into the room to begin with " we will restrain him" I DONT THINK SO! I cant seem to find a happy medium what is the best way to overcome this any ideas all would be so welcoming. How do you manage to cut your childs hair? by waiting untill they eventually sleep and hope to God you dont make it worse than it already looks! What about clothes and new shoes how how how???????????????????????? Can anyone offer any insight into doing the right thing and why will professionals not realise how much we have to cope with on something so simple as a doctors appointment? any help would be great thanks x

Complain until you are blue in the face, you have to in order to get the right support for you child. It makes no difference if you live in a small community. someone once said to me "let them know what they are dealing with from the onset" I have wrote so many letters of complaint so much so that the social services are now going to train their staff on ASD. Victory! yes, very much so, sit back and they will continue to show their ignorance on such a scale that it leaves you in despair for your childs future. Do it and be proud that you stood up for your child and other children with ASD. If you dont who will? Good luck make your voice heard loud and so very clear for our babies x x

I am shocked at the story you tell of your son in school, i nearly cried, take him out of there, easier said than done i know but to me the treatment your son is recieving is out of order. Have you complained? get yourself down to that school and make some noise, that is your son doing what he does best "drawing" how dare they treat him in such a way, how dare they make your precious child cry, i would love to use other terminology here but wont. my son has Aspergers and conformity is not his middle name, now the teachers leave him alone with certain things because they know i will make some noise in their school (not for long if i have my way) seriously life is hard enough for our kids dont let them treat him like that. all the best Erika

I have been in touch with DDA, they say schools are not obliged ! Due to the SEN which overides the DDA. What I need is a piece of legislation that states that my son must be educated no matter his toileting issues. Has any one used other legislation to "twist" the arm of their LEA ? From what I understand the school "should" employ someone to come in to change his nappies, but the word "should" is not the same as must and the school my son goes to they need MUST or they close their eyes to it. Thank you for your help and the links, we will continue the search. Erika

it was a parents evening, that was enough for me, even if the teacher did not have time "spec" to talk to me did not matter, i was excluded from that and that speaks volumes about the system and the school my son is in. yes i could have gone along regardless, part of me wanted to but knowing myself as i do it's a good thing i didn't as she would have got a piece of my mind.

can anyone give advise regarding legislation on a schools sen policy regarding toileting. Or are there any succesful routes on supporting a child with Aspergers who still wears nappies in primary school, are the school under the various acts suppose to be supporting the child with toileting issues, my son attends primary on a part time basis due to this, excluded from trips out school meals etc the school say they are supporting my son under SAP but this does not cover his toileting needs, they will not accept that his toileting needs are part of his disability (although i hate to call it that) the DDA state that the school can get away with it as it falls under their SEN code of practice, i feel that he is discriminated against due to his toileting needs, where do i go from here? i am at the moment applying for an assessment. can anyone shed light on this or assist me in my quest for support for my son? thanks Erika

Can anyone tell me where i possibly stand with regards to my four and a halfs primary school. My son has Aspergers syndrome and goes to school every day for about one and a half hours, many an incident have made me come to the sudden realisation that schooling and autism are going to be a battle. cut a long story short abaout 4 weeks ago i contacted the school as i wanted to see all written documentation regarding my son, which they did, not from the heart you understand, but they did. The meeting had nothing to do with my childs work i only wanted to see documentation regarding any incidents that may have occured and them conveniently forgeting to inform me of. Iwas right to have those concerns there where so many, me? left like a mushroom in the dark, i am so shocked but have come to the harsh understanding nothing surprises me anymore. my friend picked my son up the other day as i was working to be greeted with "can you tell Lukas mum not to bother coming to the parents evening tomorrow night as we have had a meeting recently and have covered what needs to be covered there" now excuse my lack of understanding here but is a parents evening about having a look at the work my son is doing so far, discussing various points relating to his schooling? is this not a seperate issue from the meeting i had with them a few weeks ago? i feel not only is my son excluded here but now so am i as the mother of! can anyone suggest to me the next course of action to take as i am still in the process of picking my chin up off the floor. thanks would appreciate your views!

Dont know if this will be of any help to you but my son is in mainstream school for the time being, i am lucky in respect that the education psychologist have appointed an Autistic Outreach Worker to come into the school to help the school understand more about ASD and the best possible approaches to teaching children within the ASD. like yourself i feel that my son needs to be in a school that specialise in Autism, there are ways you can have your child moved under what they call EMERGENCY situations, now i have not looked into this myself as yet as i want to see if the LEA take on board my parental request for my named school for him, but this is an option for you as we all know how long the assessment process can take and according to her a child can be moved before a statement has been agreed upon. The evidence you must have should be sufficient in helping your son to go to a school where he can be helped and where the school ethos is based on ASD. Best of luck for you and your son.