Sally44

If you have quoted from his statement in your post then it is not specific enough. It sounds like the school have been inconsistent with strategies and with staff. There is a tier of 'punishment' and not supports or strategies. I would contact the NAS Tribunal Service and speak with someone about it, or their educational helpline. Or you can find a legal advocate through the NAS website that has experience of SEN law. This is just my opinion, but if he is not making progress he is not getting the right support or the right level of support. They might be trying to support him in a mainstream school, but if he isn't able to access it then it is pointless. A child has to make a years worth of academic improvement. If they are not making that that is evidence that the current provision is not meeting his needs. The school/LEA are supposed to be doing that, not putting the blame back onto your child for not benefiting from what they are doing! My son is in a mainstream Enhanced Resource school. He receives a number of supports and therapies throughout the lessons and breaks. He is also taken out for one to one work. His teacher commented to me that she did not want to call in the Dyslexia Advisory Teacher because she felt that it would be detrimental for my son to be removed from mainstream classes for yet something else. However, if he has dyslexia, what is the point of him being in the classroom and attempting to learn through systems that don't teach children with dyslexia?? If your child spends alot of time out of whole class situations then that school is not appropriate either. I have pasted an exert from my son's statement to give you an idea of how specific it is. A statement that is not specific is illegal and unenforceable. As you have said yourself, you have got no idea who is doing what. It says in the Code of Practice that it should be specific in terms of hours and staffing provision eg. who does what how often and for how long. Yous does not appear to say this. As he has a year to go, it might be a good time to put up a fight and find a specialist provision that goes post 16, which has experience of children on the spectrum and which teaches life skills. EXTRACT FROM STATEMENT "XXXX will receive a minimum of 6 hours direct Speech and Language Therapy each term from a fully qualified and experienced Speech and Language Therapist, reviewed in line with the SEN Annual Review process. This equates to approximately twelve 30 minute sessions per term to be delivered weekly or as agreed with XXXXs? parents and school staff in order to best meet XXXXs? changing needs. XXXXs? Speech & Language Therapist will compile a speech and language therapy programme to be delivered by a Teaching Assistant throughout the week on a daily basis, with the Speech and Language Therapist adjusting the programme as required following the speech and language therapy session that she has delivered. This session will be observed by a Teaching Assistant who will be delivering the programme throughout the rest of the week. In addition to direct therapy the Speech and Language Therapist will do the following: ? Observe Yiannis? functional communication outside of therapy sessions; ? Liaise with school staff and parents; ? Be invited to attend the Annual Review and provide an updating report beforehand; ? Write notes, reports and treatment programmes; ? Contribute towards the MEP targets. This should take approximately 9 hours per term. XXXXs? Speech and Language Therapy support will focus on the following areas: ? Speech - through auditory discrimination ? Extending Yiannis? Semantic development ? Developing his understanding of different sentence structures ? Extending narrative skills. ? Developing his Verbal Reasoning ? Developing his phonological awareness skills ? Social communication skills XXXX will attend a weekly social communication skills group which will be planned with advice from a Speech and Language Therapist. Such a programme should be extended to include developing XXXXs? range of communication acts as well as the above areas. It is vital that XXXX is helped to use language to initiate play with his peers. Developing the use of scripts to help XXXX know how to use language appropriately for this situation and other social situations is recommended. The Speech and Language Therapist will need to work closely with parents, school staff and the multi-agency team to ensure skills are embedded in the curriculum and generalised across settings. It is recommended that a framework such as SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional Support), Prizant et al 2006, is used to ensure all XXXXs? needs within his diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder are met and prioritized appropriately."

I started to have concerned with my own son at age 3+. I raised concerns with the Health Visitor and with my local GP and was fobbed off by both. The GP told me that school would raise any issues if there were any. Well they did when he was 6 months into reception year. And for so long you just trust and believe everything you are told and you think everyone is working for the benefit of your son. Then slowly you see that actually nothing is happening, and no one is doing anything, and everyone is just trying to stall you for as long as possible before you apply for a Statement. I could write a book on the things that have been said and done to me and my son by the LEA and their professionals and his previous school. Unbelieveable stuff. It seems that parents experience of the Parent Partnership is very variable. Mine was quite good, but not proactive. However they were useful as they always took notes of meetings and always confirmed what had been said to me. But the best was the NAS. I found their educational advisor a bit militant at first, because she was so forceful. But when I looked into it I found out that she was 100% correct and I had been fed the lies. For a while is almost seemed like a parallel universe were the LEA/School/NHS were saying things were not and could not happen because of XYZ, and my solicitor was telling me that everything they were saying was irrelevant because BY LAW they had to comply. I had been sent for years jumping through hoops and assessments and processes and targets and staffing difficulties and lack of provision and school not being able to complete paperwork correctly or demonstrate what his needs were etc - for a solicitor to simply cut through all of that so that I could step back and see (through the Code of Practice), that the solicitor was right all along. When we went to Tribunal the LEA caved in within 5 minutes. The Panel tore the Inclusion Officer to shreds and told them "we are not interested in anything you have to say other than you are willing to comply by the Code of Practice otherwise we will make an award". We went into a separate room where the LEA agreed to everything. In the end we didn't even go through the Tribunal process. So it is always worth calling their bluff, you have nothing to lose. I have also been told by another parent that if you do go to tribunal, and it goes against you and you appeal, that from that stage onwards your legal fees are paid because the appeal is for your child and children don't have to pay for legal services. I know of a couple of mothers who have gone all the way and have won a private education for their child. At one appeal the panel decided it was a better use of resources to spend some money now on the child (in a private school) to ensure he was more independent later in life and need less money spending on him as an adult.

I would contact the NAS to find out exactly what applies in your area. That will help you know how best to spend any money on private reports (if you take that route) eg. you can pay a private Ed Psychologist for a diagnosis, or for a report that you can use as evidence that he needs a Statement or you could pay a solicitor to get involved and use law to force the school/LEA/NHS to do what they are supposed to do. The NAS do have alot of services and advisors that can help you throughout the process, even to the SENDIST Tribunal. It is always worth double checking everything you are told, as in my case I found most of it was untrue. You do definately need to be aiming towards getting your child a Statement because that is a legal document that the school and LEA has to fulfill. Prior to a diagnosis I was told my son would not get access to anything, which I later found out to be untrue. So start from now to always put everything in writing, and always request a written response back. After about a year into the process (for me), I found out that the Autism Outreach Teacher who goes into mainstream school to advice them had over 200 children on her books. She works alone. So she could only give around 1 days input per child per school. That was one of the final straws that made me realise I had to go for a Statement. So always ask how many children the AAT is supporting. Does the SALT have training in ASDs, if not write to their department and request one that does. I also found out that the Ed Psych has a 'quota' of pupils she will see in school per term. So if your child is the kind that withdraws into himself/herself and doesn't have behavioural issues, the chances are that the school will not call in the Ed Psych (even if they are failing and they are losing skills), because they have other pupils with greater needs (from the school's behavourial point of view). Don't be afraid to push, write and complain. The process is usually School Action, School Action Plus (when school call in outside agencies), then it goes to a request for a Statutory Assesment towards a Statement. Remember that you always need written evidence of what your childs needs are and how those needs should be met. That might come from school, or you can gather some information yourself. I took my son to private Play Therapy sessions for over a year so that they could write me a report on my son's ability to interact and play. I also took him to Dyslexia Action and they couldn't assess him, which was evidence in itself. I found it impossible to get anyone from the LEA or NHS to actually be specific in their recommendations - which I can only put down to them trying to control their budgets. An independent professional will assess your child and will honestly identify their needs and how they should be met, and they are not employed by the LEA or NHS and therefore aren't accountable to them, only to their own professional code of practice. And if you have private reports it means that LEA/NHS staff have to either agree, or prove that that report is incorrect. The LEA SALT completely agreed with everything in the private SALT's report (all 52 pages of it!), as they are professionals too and LEA/NHS professionals involved with my son were telling me that they 'wanted' to help but that their hands were tied. One professional told me she had been warmed 'to remember who her employer was'. But she did send a letter to me stating what her professional opinion was, as the LEA contradicted the findings of their own professionals and were denying my son a place in a school that could meet his needs and were trying to force me to keep him in a mainstream school that were failing him.

Sorry you had such a negative response from the parent partnership. Contact the National Autistic Society and get advice from them. Their website also has details of solicitors who specialise in special educational law. The NAS also has a tribunal service (ie. you go to tribunal to ask for a placement where he is and the LEA pay the fees). You would need to get private evidence that that school is the only one that can meet his needs and that would probably involve a SALT and Ed Psych report minimum.

To: Karen A Those are useful links. Don't you think that all parents of children with an ASD should get a 'Degree' certificate in 'Government and Local Authority Educational Systems'. It amazes me that parents are somehow supposed to amass all this information. When my son got a diagnosis two years ago I just got an A5 handout!! But my experience of the NAS has been amazing. I'm going to a training day about the SEN process (to prepare for Annual Review), organised by the Parent Partnership.

Get in touch with the NAS education advisors and also IPSEA and also the Parent Partnership. There are colleges out there for children on the spectrum. You may find it useful to get advice from a solicitor that specialises in special needs educational law. You can find legal advocates services on the NAS website through their resources link (Formerly called PARIS).

Use the helplines and educational advisors and the tribunal service if required from the National Autistic Society. Moving to secondary school is a big jump. You need to consider the type of school your child is in and whether it is working and you are happy with the level of support she currently receives. What are the options of secondary schools that you feel would meet her needs in your area. What school is the LEA proposing to name as the placement? If you feel that none of the schools will meet her needs you can get advice from the NAS. If you can prove that another school is the only one that can meet her needs then you can go to tribunal to get that placement and the LEA will have to pay for transport and pay any fees. Things to consider is whether a school goes post 17, does it include any life skills training etc. Do you have any concerns about issues you would want professionals to look at an address to be included in the Statement at Annual Review? If so write them a letter asking them to look at this need and to make recommendations that can be included at the Annual Review. Does your child receive input from a SALT. If so she may lose that support at secondary age, check that. If she will loose it, ask the SALT if they consider she has any speech disorder (eg. check Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder). A child that has a speech disorder cannot be discharged from SALT because a disorder is for life. A child with a diagnosis of 'delay' can be dropped at any time it is felt the child is doing okay. Also get in touch with your Parent Partnership so that they can explain and talk you through anything you are unsure about. But don't forget the NAS they do have specialists that can help in exactly these situations.

Go onto the National Autistic Website and go into their resources link. It used to be called PARIS and it listed all kinds of services, including schools. They don't have all of them in any particular area. But when you have found one, if you phone them up, they can tell you the other schools which fall under that LEA. Private/independent schools are listed elsewhere.

School need to look at their environment and the supports he has to make sure his stress and anxiety levels are not off the scale. Too many times a support will be withdrawn when a child has demonstrated that they can do something without the support. But many times it is a cumulative effect of stress and anxiety and so keeping strategies in place can help reduce these types of behaviours. Then is he being seen by an Occupational Therapist. Does he have other sensory issues. Sometimes one sense can compensate for another one, and an OT may need to try lots of different things to see if any help at all. Having something to hold sometimes helps, wearing a weighted piece of clothing sometimes helps, giving the child extra breaks or extra sensory breaks can help, re-directing etc. A dedicated TA should be aware of things that increase this behaviour and should support him during those times eg. school assembly, dinnertimes, whole class time etc. As your child is verbal try to get some feedback from him for the motivator to this behaviour. For example my son runs through film dialogue alot and re-runs films in his head. He does this when stressed or unsure what he should be doing, when bored, because he likes to. So there could be different reasons behind the same behaviour on different occasions.

I also wanted to add that you should keep the psychologists appointment even without your daughter and go and explain what has happened. And ask them what supports are out there, and re-arrange the appointment for another future date. Keeping a diary of events is very useful. Getting a letter from school of how she is in school. Has an Educational Psychologist been into school? What kind of school does she go to?

You got to breaking point and you snapped. You are trying to get a diagnosis and support and it isn't happening. No human can continue hitting their head against a wall full time whilst having to deal with the difficulties your daughter has. Also when you have a special needs child you can actually get such a close bond because you know them inside out regardless of what their behaviour is towards you and when they are not there the gap is unfillable. I would recommend speaking with a National Autistic Advisor about (a) getting a diagnosis, ( getting support and respite care, © getting a Statement, (d) getting legal advice, and (e) getting private reports if needed. There are solicitors that have experience of special needs law and it maybe money well spent if you discussed your difficulties with them and they started getting things into motion. Many times the LEA/NHS or school can send us parents jumping through hoops and criteria and funding and staffing issues which are totally irrelevant because there is LAW behind everything and you may find you have access to stuff you have been denied for years. You don't have to wait for the LEA to diagnose your daughter you can get a private diagnosis. You can also start the Statementing process. You can ask Social Services to come and assess your daughter and your needs as a carer. There is stuff out there, but no-one tells you how to get it. It isn't all down to you. You need the right professionals and supports to help you. If your daughter is not progressing in school, and needs a number of professionals to support her and has behavioural problems she maybe eligible for a place in a private school which would have to be funded by the LEA - not easy - but also not impossible. Bet no-one ever told you that. Get some legal advice. Get some help.

I think alot of professionals don't take enough consideration of a child's cognitive ability and how they do develop coping strategies as well. I even had my son assessed by an NHS Occupational Therapist who concluded that he has Sensory Integration Disorder, however he has such good coping strategies that he doesn't really need their input. Hmmnn. Anyway, mine is a long story, but suffice to say I did get a diagnosis, Statement and went to an Educational Tribunal and got everything we had asked for. Have a look at the DSM IV diagnostic criteria for both an autistic spectrum disorder and Aspergers. If you can see that your child has difficulties in those areas (and write down examples of them) then they should get a diagnosis regardless of good or bad days. Infact the point that you do have good and bad days points to aspergers/autism because 'typical' children learn things and generalise them into different environments and their emotional and behavioural response is relatively even. Autistic children don't. That is why they may cope with having to turn the computer off to come and have dinner on one day and then have a meltdown two days later when asked to turn the TV off to come and have dinner. It is the inconsistencies, the peaks and troughs, the good abilities in some areas and total inability in others. Also get in touch with the National Autistic Society about how about getting a diagnosis. Your explanation of how your son responds to his own behaviour is just like my son who is diagnosed with high functioning autism (not aspergers because he did not develop language typically and even now he is 8 his language is approx half made up of phrases from other people, TV and films and half his own construction). So my son would get very upset about something and say "I need a different family/mum" etc. He would be unconsolable, and it was even worse if you tried to talk to him or touch him. When he had recovered he would be upset again at how he had behaved and would ask "what is wrong with my brain, why can't I control it". He frequently tells me he loves me. He has lots of abilities that those on the spectrum are supposed to struggle with or not have. For example, he was watching something on TV last night and it told about how a man had been locked inside a toilet for 3 hours. My son roared with laughter at this, but then said "it's a very funny story, but not funny for the man". Now that is amazing for a child with autism to see that from a different persons perspective. However, he cannot use that insight in all situations at all times. You said the Speech Therapist is going to see him. They need to assess all aspects of his speech/communication and social interaction skills. His expressive speech maybe much better than his receptive speech. He might have auditory processing disorder or delays, or problems with auditory memory or working memory, or Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder, of difficulties with comprehension and inference. He may not know how to initiate play or sustain play. He may play rigidly and not be flexible enough to sustain play with other children etc. The SALT is responsible for speech and social interaction and should make recommendations on programmes in both these areas, not just speech. Playtime and dinnertimes are much more stressful for those on the spectrum because it is unstructured. Without support my son can walk up and down the fence line. But if he does that for more than a couple of minutes I have asked school to support him by asking him 'who' he wants to play with and then to prompt him to initiate and ask to join in. These are skills the SALT has taught him and he uses them and when given the choice (and support) of walking up and down or joining in, he chooses to join in.

My son goes to an Enhanced Resource school, and they have recently appointed an 'out of school activities co-ordinator', and I am assuming that whatever clubs are set up directly through the school will have supports and experience for the children that go to that school ie. mainstream and on the spectrum. Infact, I will email him and get his response to this question.

Sorry I don't know what the law is. But you could contact the National Autistic Society to find out what the legal requirements are. You have already mentioned the Disability Discrimination Act. My son goes to a couple of clubs. One is for children on the spectrum and is run by a couple of adults that have experience of ASDs and it is held in a community college gym and all the equipment is put out including a trampoline and blow up bouncy castle. What I like about this club is that siblings can also go, and children can invite friends from school to, so you get a nice mixture of special needs and mainstream. Parents go to a Lounge area (like a staff room) and we have tea/cake etc and one of the adults will phone on a mobile if a parent needs to come down. Some parents stay with their child full time is they need that. Mainstream clubs are a different ball game. I have got an organisation called Umbrella and Your Turn involved with my son, and it may work, but nothing is permanent. Ie with Your Turn a Youth Worker will find an appropriate club that your child is interested in and will attend with the child for 10 sessions to get the child 'independent' and the club 'familiar' with the child's issues. Sounds great, and for some children it works. I'm not sure mine will be able to cope on his own in 10 sessions. I tend to need to be there because of his language and anxiety issues, and once he has a negative experience he is likely to not want to go again. Find out what the legal requirements are and post back. It might be that your child simply isn't at a level yet where he will cope independently in a mainstream club, and it might be better to look for special needs groups or even consider starting one yourself, or going to a mainstream club with your son as a helper so that you can oversee. I know it all eats into our time, and it is especially difficult if you have children with very different ages. You could also raise these issues with his SALT and Ed Psych as being areas to work on (as social interaction is part of the diagnosis and these are independence skills that he will need as an adult). Through Umbrella you can get a volunteer who would be available every 2-3 weeks and who could do stuff with him for a couple of hours - but again it is difficult to find a volunteer willing to do a couple of hours every week at a club. But you might find it. Another possibility is to go through Social Services and have him and the family assessed. He might get a Social Worker or Community Worker assigned to him to support him. My son has recently started foil fencing classes, which he loves. But you need to do it with someone. I don't want to become involved, but even just watching I have to observe the moves and what they are called and reassure him and explain to him what he should be doing when he gets confused. So there is no way I could detach myself from him yet (and he is 8 now).

That's brilliant and proves that there is a school that suits all different types of children. I'm all for diversity. And what is more important is your sons positive outlook. It can only improve his self esteem, and all that positive feedback is going to make him so much more positive about things like 'learning'. It sounds like you have found a school that does the type of things your child is interested in and motivated by. Probably felt like you ran a marathon to reach this point. But nice to know it is attainable!

That's brilliant and proves that there is a school that suits all different types of children. I'm all for diversity. And what is more important is your sons positive outlook. It can only improve his self esteem, and all that positive feedback is going to make him so much more positive about things like 'learning'. It sounds like you have found a school that does the type of things your child is interested in and motivated by. Probably felt like you ran a marathon to reach this point. But nice to know it is attainable!

Earning tokens for rewards are good ideas. Another thing to consider, if at this stage he isn't interested in the praise type of thing and many other motivators, is whether it is difficulties with transitions themselves, or with having to finish doing what he is doing or leave something unfinished full stop. I have found that giving a warning and a slow count down always helps because it states what is going to happen and then you count it down slowly eg. 1-2-3 and my son always complies within that timeframe because otherwise he has no understanding of any timeframe and therefore doesn't know WHEN he is supposed to stop. Try to work with what his skill levels are now and get a system into place, then start to stretch it a bit. For example he might have difficulties deferring reward, but as he gets older instead of instant gratification he can be encouraged to save tokens for a bigger treat at the weekend.

Yes, it can be hard getting info out of them. They don't seem to have the 'need to share', or even the concept or understanding of things like 'house points'. School have used various strategies as motivators, none of them took into account whether he was interested in stickers/stamp cards etc. And as they tend to have problems with 'whole class instructions' and need to be addressed individually, I can see how 'house points' or 'class trophies' etc probably don't mean anything to them - they may not understand how it is relevant to them, or the concept behind it, or how to get that reward. Motivators that work with my son is when he can have a 'choose time' and he chooses what he wants to do during that time eg. play with a toy he has taken into school from home, or time on the computer etc. I don't know if other parents have this problem, but my son tends to have difficulties with 'connections'. Eg. he gets them mixed up, or he expects something to happen and it doesn't, or he associates something with something else totally unrelated because it was 'in the environment, or spoken' at the same time. So trying to trace back his thought processes can sometimes be very difficult and quite an eye opener. And words spoken to him or things done to him can be disassociated from the person who did them and his response when someone totally unrelated says or does the same thing can send him into a real state. Or his processing can be so out of time that he can respond to something said or done to him days or even weeks after the event, and he tends to get into trouble for that, when if he had retaliated at the time it happened the other child would probably have got into trouble.

Does your child already have a diagnosis? As starting the Statutory Assessment process means that all the professionals involved with your son have to go into school and assess him, I would pre-empt that by sending each professional a letter asking them to look into difficulties you feel he has. For example, if he has difficulties with social interaction and play (which has to be there for a diagnosis), then the SALT is responsible for this area and she should put this down as a need in her report (which would fall under section 2 of the Statement), and she should make recommendations as to how that need should be met eg. circle of friends, social skills group, playtime activities, access to the library or computer suite etc (and those recommendations should be included in section 3 of the statement). I'm not sure what level 2 is. Where we are it is all Plevels (for pre-school), and 1C is the lowest rung on the national curriculum level. My son is 8 and is just now going onto 1C for numeracy and is P8 for literacy. So find out how the scales work and what would be considered and 'average' level for a typical child. It is also important for the Ed Psych to carry out verbal and non-verbal cognitive assessments because there is a difference between a child that has a lower than average IQ compared with peers, opposed to a child with significant difficulties with language/numeracy/concepts etc who scores average or higher than average on non-verbal assessments. That demonstrates that the child is cognitively capable of achieving much more than he is currently demonstrating because of the difficulties they have. This information also helps you know what type of school is most appropriate. Should it be mainstream, or mainstream mixed with special needs (ie. children on the spectrum), or should it be special needs only for children with learning difficulties = lower IQ, or should it be special needs only (HFA and Aspergers) for those with average and above cognitive ability. If you itemise the difficulties he has and apportion them to the professionals that see your son, and send them a letter asking them to assess and make recommendations against those difficulties that you recognise, then they will either do it, or they won't. And if they don't do it you have written evidence that you asked them and they didn't respond. Things worth looking at and considering are: Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder, echolalia or delayed echolalia, difficulties with auditory processing, auditory memory, working memory, executive function disorder, sensory integration disorder, anxiety, difficulties with social interaction, etc. Get in touch with the National Autistic Society through their Educational Helpline to ask about the Statementing process. If you are turned down you can appeal. You can gather more evidence, you can get private reports, you can go to an Educational Tribunal and the NAS can support you through this and check documents and the Proposed Statement. If you get to that stage make sure the NAS looks over it because a statement should specify and quantify. The LEA will try to put together a very open ended statement that adds up to nothing more than he already gets. Statements are supposed to itemise EVERY NEED and EVERY RECOMMENDATION to meet those needs. It should say who is going to do what, how often and for how long and how often it will be reviewed. It should not contain words like significant, regular, frequent, as necessary etc. So a sentence which says "XXX will receive regular input from the speech therapist", is illegal and worthless. You need it to say "XXX will receive XXX hours per term of one to one support from a fully qualified SALT who has experience in speech disorders and autism. This equates to XXX weekly sessions to be carried out in school by the SALT and this programme will be observed and carried out by a TA suitably trained by the SALT to carry out the programme in school on a daily/weekly basis. The programme will be adjusted by the SALT. The SALT will work on the following areas of difficulty: (a) Semantics, ( extending narratives and conversations, © social skills of initiating and sustaining interaction and play. etc. You can see the difference between the above two statements, one is enforceable eg. you know who is supposed to be doing what. The other is so vague that you would never be able to prove that the school were not fulfilling their duties under the Statement. Find out if the NAS or your local Parent Partnership are doing seminars about the Statementing process and go along to it. Get a copy of the Code of Practice and read and relevant section to make yourself familiar with what the Statement is supposed to contain by law. Don't agree to the Proposed Statement until you are entirely happy with it.

I know this is going to sound very cynical, but I have experienced this myself. Eg. to your face, and in day to day school life you will get a totally different picture from the one you see at IEP meetings or Annual Reviews. Why? Because if they really say what the difficulties are (at IEPs and Annual Reviews) they would have to do something about it. And that would cost them time and money. So at the IEPs and Annual Reviews it is all smelling of roses. Prior to me requesting a Statement for my son the Ed Psychologist had been into school, and had looked at the provisions the school had put into place and she said in her brief memo to me "that school have tried various strategies suggested to them and so far they have failed to help XXXX access the curriculum". After I asked for a Statement the same Ed Psych had to go into school and produce a formal report. In that she said "the school have tried various supports and strategies and have found that these have had a postive effect on XXXX's ability to access the curriculum". Firstly, I couldn't believe that she had done that. Then I couldn't believe that she had been so stupid as to contradict herself in writing. There was a 3 week gap between the two sets of correspondence. My solicitor tore the LEA's case to shreds based on this and many other errors and inconsistencies. I even had one LEA member of staff phoning me on their mobile phones from a stationery cupboard to tell me they were supporting my case, but were unable to say so on their office telephone number for fear of being overheard because they had been told to 'remember who their employer was'. However at least one of them actually put in writing their concern about how my son had been treated. I will never, never, never again believe anything that anyone says from the LEA or NHS until I have double checked that against someone else from a reputable organisation such as the National Autistic Society or IPSEA. And when that stuff starts to happen, make sure you have got the Parent Partnership involved to take notes at meetings because then they will confirm everything that has been said and done. However, you need to keep up the front of believing them, and having a good relationship with them. But always get everything they say and do in writing. And don't be afraid to drop in on school unannounced to 'see' how they are supporting your child. When I went in one day after school, I found the 'visual timetable' was 4 days out of date. They couldn't find the visual symbols they used 'every day' to show me, my son couldn't tell me where his workstation was etc. It was disgraceful.

To: Connieruff: IEPs should be SMART, ask your Parent Partnership to come to IEP meetings and advise on how these should be set out. You one you quote is not smart. Eg. I will carry out my tasks and choose a reward. The aim of the IEP is to show that a child is learning a skill. So you definite what the tasks are, how often he will carry them out, who is going to show him to to do that, how often are they going to to through it with him before he does it independently. What reward system do they have, how does he choose it etc. And what ranks as success. I was told that a child on the spectrum should be aiming for 100% success before you consider he has attained that skill. 50% is never enough because it also means that half the time he failed to achieve the goal. I can retell a story using the main characters. How often is thing going to happen? Which lesson will it be in? Will it always involve the same teacher or TA? How long will the story be? etc. But I agree that you should just drop in school unannounced to 'see' his workstation and other supports they are supposed to be using. If you make an appointment it might all be in place as if by magic - sorry to be so cynical but it does happen!

To: Kazzen161 I know that LEAs say that all funding is now put into schools. But that is not the point. It also has nothing to do with diagnosis. A child with aspergers may need a higher level of funding than a child with autism. It depends what the needs are. And those needs (in section 2 of the statement), have to have recommendations on how those needs will be met (in section 3). And the LEA has to fund this full stop. For example if a child is showing characteristics of dyslexia, and the school has tried to support this, and has bought in the Dyslexia Advisor to give advice to school, and the child still has not made a years worth of progress in an academic year, then the parents can ask for a Specialist Teacher (not a TA), to go into school on a weekly basis, and the LEA has to fund this extra ?�10,000? worth of support per annum. If you get into a situation where your child is having weekly SALT, Dyslexia Teacher, Occupational Therapy etc it can actually add up to more than a private school that has all those professionals in house.

Westie: for some reason it keeps diverting to another site. Google: 'Executive Function Disorder', and then click on the site that has the above webpage. On my computer it is on the first page listing.

Westie: follow this link http://schoolbehaviour.com/conditions_edfoverview.htm very simple and informative.

Oh Becky!!! When your child is calm, have you tried sitting them down and asking if they like it when someone calls them stupid, fat, etc? And when they reply 'no', tell them that they are saying those same bad words to you. I had this conversation with my son (and frequent reminders), and he has improved alot. He still goes over the edge, but as soon as the insults start, I tell him that language is not acceptable and he has to go to his room to calm down. I don't use his bedroom as a punishment, but as a timeout strategy. It seems to be working. If he does use bad language in the heat of the moment he is so apologetic afterwards and is really upset with himself. I tell him I understand that you are angry/mad/sad about X,Y or Z, but you must not say bad words. Can't wait for puberty!