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Sally44

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  1. Sally44

    Help please!

    It sounds like your daughter is in a school that has no experience or expertise in ASDs or ADHD. The caravan is supposed to be used as a strategy, so that she can go there to calm down. Expecting her to 'recognise' when she might need it shows their ignorance. She has difficulties with language and social interaction which are part of her diagnosis. She won't be able to logically reason things out and decide that she needs to go to the caravan! She should have a dedicated key worker, not different members of staff all the time. And the dedicated key worker will establish the school routine with her and will put together all the visual timetable and other supports she needs. Once she is coping with that TA, they can begin to generalise certain things out to other TAs, but the main dedicated TA should remain the same as they will get to know and understand your child. 15 hours a week is nothing. She should be fully supported throughout the day. Have you had detailed reports from a Speech Therapist and Educational Psychologist which details all her needs and gives recommendations on how school can meet those needs? Does your daughter have a Statement of Special Educational Needs? If not I suggest you contact the National Autistc Society. A Statement is a legal document which should contain all your daughters needs and how she should be supported. Because it is legal, the school has to do it in the way it is written. You also need the Statement to be very specific. The LEA will try to make it vague. But get advice from the NAS about what it should contain and how it should be worded. The NAS and the Parent Partnership do seminars on the special educational needs process that is worth attending. It sounds like your child needs a different school, and you need a Statement to get a place at an Enhanced or Special Needs school. Enhanced Resource is mainstream and children with ASDs, they have higher teacher to pupil ratios and experience and expertise in ASDs. Although the mainstream school 'should' be doing things right, the fact is that they have no experience, and it will take years for staff to be trained to a level that they understand ASDs, and how they affect your daughter. Most parents can't wait for that. So I would contact the NAS, start the Statementing process, and look around for more appropriate schools. Regarding medication. I am not anti medication as some children need it. But I am totally against any medication given to a child to help them cope in a mainstream school that isn't meeting their needs or supporting them enough or being autism friendly. Medication should never be given to make teachers life easier. If the school cannot cope with a child off drugs then maybe the school is not the right one. Regarding sensory issues. An Occupation Therapist should assess for this. There is alot that can be done ie. low arousal classrooms, teaching in small groups, work station, head phones, Irlen glasses or overlays etc. I would also recommend a book by Olga Bogdashina called Sensory and Perceptual Differences in Autism and Aspergers. This book has a caregivers questionnaire at the back that you can complete to get a sensory profile of your child. The Autism Outreach Department in my city uses this questionnaire, so I know it is reputable.
  2. I would get in touch with the National Autistic Society and speak with their advisors. It sounds to be me like they are trying to stop you applying for a Statement of Special Educational Needs. This is a legal document that will contain all the needs your child has and how the school should be supporting her for every one of her needs. You need a Statement to get a Enhanced Resource place or a Special Needs place in school. Enhanced Resource is a mixture of mainstream children and those with ASD (in my opinion the best option for children that do have some interest in social interaction) and the school has a higher staff to pupil ratio and has experience and expertise in ASDs. Even if your daughter remains in a mainstream only school she should have a Statement. LEAs sometimes deny statements to children in mainstream schools - that is illegal. The LEA will try to stop you, because it will mean they will have to spend money on professionals and supports for your daughter. Don't be fobbed off by being told that there aren't the staff, or the time, or the professionals available to support your daughter's needs. If she is showing alot of behaviours at home that would indicate that she is struggling to cope in school because they are not supporting her enough, or their approach is not autism friendly. By law, the LEA has to meet every childs identified needs. If the LEA does not have the staff or hours available they have to PAY OUTSIDE PROFESSIONALS to come in to meet those needs. They cannot deny your daughter these supports if you have reports that state she needs them and those needs and recommendations have been included in her Statement. The difficulty is getting the NHS Speech Therapist and the LEA Ed Psych to write a report that fully details every need and gives recommendations against them. Both these departments run on budgets, and it is not in their interest to begin delving into what a child really needs to make progress in school. It would cost them too much, and their supervisors would never allow them to write those kinds of reports. As an example, my son was seen by the NHS SALT for 3 years, and every time I would get a copy of the brief report. There was always a section that read "Behaviour and Social Communication". And every time it said "On this occasion we have not had an opportunity to observe XXX." So I asked them what this meant. She explained it was about any behaviours causing difficulties in school or due to anxiety/stress, and observations to see how my son interacted and played with his peers and what kinds of supports and strategies he might need during playtime and dinnertime. I was gobsmacked! After 3 years, they had not got around to observing my son in one of the key areas of difficulty required to get a diagnosis of an ASD. I wrote to the head of the SALT department and asked them to explain to me why they had not done those assessments, and I also said that I wanted a SALT with experience of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. My son now has a SALT who is trained as a special needs teacher specialising in ASDs and also further qualified as a Speech Therapist. She goes into school every week to give one to one therapy for 30 mins and a dedicated teaching assistant has to observe this session and practice it throughout the week on a daily basis. My son's statement lists every area of speech and social communication he has difficulty with and the SALT has to work on all those itemised areas of difficulty. She has to give 6 hours per term on one to one therapy, and 9 hours per term on liaising, observing, planning, writing reports, attending IEPs, Social Skills Group etc. I finally gave up hitting my head against a brick wall. I got independent private reports - must be professionals who are not employed by the LEA or NHS and they must have experience of going to Educational Tribunals. I also appointed a solicitor with experience in special educational needs. I found him through the NAS website. We went to an Educational Tribunal and we won every support I knew my son needed. He gets more support and therapy than any other child in his school - even the ones in the Autism Unit. It isn't cheap. But now the NAS have a tribunal service, which would cut down the cost considerably. Also the NAS and local Parent Partnership groups hold seminars about the Special Needs Statementing Process which is worth its weight in gold. You need to find out about educational law and what your child is entitled to. At the time I couldn't believe it. But the LEA and professionals will lie, threaten, bully and do anything to keep their costs down. I am not delusional, I always had someone from the Parent Partnership with me at every meeting, and they always confirmed to me in writing what had been said to me. Always double check anything you are told when it involves denying your child access to supports or services. Chances are you have been lied to because by law a child's needs have to be met. And education does not mean just reading and writing. It means preparing a child for independent living. So that may involve life skills, social skills etc and therapies and supports cannot be denied on the grounds that these are not educational needs. OT and PT cannot be denied on the grounds that these are not educational needs. Get a copy of the Code of Practice and the SEN Toolkit for the Statementing process and read it yourself. It is an eye opener!!
  3. I also presume that as he has been going to independent school that he does not have a Statement of Special Educational Needs put together by the LEA. This is VERY important to get because it is a legal document and everything that is in the Statement has to be done by your son's school, and you cannot get access to a special educational needs place in an Enhanced Resource school (mixed mainstream and ASD), or a special needs only school without one. Again you want advise from the NAS or a solicitor that specialises in special educational needs to help you get the evidence of your son's needs so that they are all included in the Statement and that recommendations made by professionals on how to meet those needs are also quantified and specified in terms of hours and staffing arrangements. The LEA will try to put together a very unspecific and general Statement which is illegal and unenforceable. By law, the Statement should be specific so that a parent can go to tribunal because the school has not fulfilled the requirements of the Statement. It also needs to be specific as a baseline of support levels. If, in one academic year your child has not made average improvements in all areas (ie. the gap between your child and his peers is widening), then more specialist input has to be made to the child eg. specialist dyslexia teacher etc. A Statement that reads "XXX will receive regular input from a Speech and Language Therapist" is illegal. What is 'regular', is that weekly, monthly, twice a year? And who is going to be doing the therapy? Will it be a Speech Therapist, a trained TA, a parent helper? It should read something like this "XXX will receive a termly amount of 6 hours direct one to one therapy from a qualified Speech Therapist who also has experience of autistic spectrum disorders. This equates to around 30 minutes per week in school. This session will be observed by a dedicated teaching assistant who will practice the SALT programme on a XXXX basis during school. The SALT will also spend an additional amount of 9 hours per term for liaising with staff and parents, observing, altering the programme, taking notes, input/advice into Social Skills Group, assessing and making recommendations regarding social interaction strategies and supports, writing of reports, attending IEP meetings. The areas of difficulty the SALT will be working on are (a), (, © etc." That is specific. From that you can see exactly who is supposed to be doing what and how often. So, you need a Statement to prove that this independent school is the ONLY one that can fulfill his needs. Many times it comes down to cost. Can you get evidence from private professionals that the level of support your son needs to meet his complex needs are going to be over and above the fees paid for the independent school (and the independent school would have to be meeting that level of need as well). Or if that isn't a viable option because the LEA does have other suitable schools in your area, you need a Statement to ensure your son is getting the right level of support in that school. And if he does show an adverse reaction to the change in school that also needs to be kept as evidence eg. letters to school, letters from school (always ask them to put verbal telephone conversations into a letter), any visits to his GP because of behavioural problems or anxiety or stress etc.
  4. My advice would be to contact the National Autistic Society as they have educational helplines and also now have a Tribunal Service. In the UK, if the local educational authority cannot provide a school suitable for your son's needs, you can find a private school, and the LEA has to fund that place. It isn't easy to get this as you have to prove that the school your son is at is the ONLY one that can meet his needs. It will also require you to get professional reports as evidence and these need to be independent professionals who do not work for the health or education service and who are experienced as expert witnesses at Tribunals. You would also be advised to get some legal advice. On the NAS website, follow the links through to resources and information and you will find a list of solicitors that specialise in special educational needs.
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