Karen A

Interesting report out today. I have included the main relevant point regarding SEN.However the report also includes recomendations that all mainstream teachers should have training in SEN as part of basic qualifications, http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_561 It is our judgement that it is unreasonable for any school to unilaterally permanently exclude a child who has the school named as specified provision on a statement of SEN. That is not to say the school cannot exclude the child at all. The school should have to make a proposal that the child be excluded which should trigger a review of the child’s statement. It would be for all professionals involved in the statementing process, including the school, to decide collectively whether a permanent exclusion was appropriate. Reviews of this type must, by law, already include the child and their parents or carers in reaching decisions. A review regarding a potential exclusion should be no exception. Where it is decided that exclusion is appropriate, the statement would need to be amended to reflect the new arrangements being made for the continuing education of that child. Where it is decided that exclusion is inappropriate, the statement should be amended to reflect the additional support needed by the school to continue to manage the behaviour of the individual, in order to prevent continued disruption to their own learning and that of others

Hi Peppa. I also wanted to add my pennyworth to what Kathryn has said. We obtained a Statement about six years ago which was updated for secondary school three years ago.Lots of access to and advice for.We are now preparing for a year 9 tansition review and find that access to and advice for amounts to a comitment to do very little in practice.Times and budgets have changed and lots of things that were provided although over and above what was documented we find we are having to fight to get back.Although it is not impossible it is far easier to have provision quantified and qualified in the first place if you have good evidence than to get it put in later. Karen.

Hi. It is the year 9 transition review in the COP.Planning ahead for post sixteen and adulthood. We are looking at GCSE options and also planning ahead for a possible move post sixteen.A local sixth form provision has a wider range of courses for post sixteen in subjects like photography,graphics and other visual arts.Ben may be happier to do this rather than A levels.Although he could probably do A levels I am not sure where it will lead. We are unlikely to win at tribunal.Ben is doing very well academically.He is finding some things in school very difficult but these are whole school issues.An independent school is not an option because it would need to be residential , Ben is very happy at home with us and I believe his right to a family life currently outweighs any gains to be made by a move to residential. Also a close friend has a son with profound ASD and the family are at the end of being able to manage due to the need for twenty four hour support.They have been attempting to obtain residential placement since the summer and have not obtained agreement yet.Ben is about as far towards the oppposite end of the ASD spectrum as one could imagine.I don't think we would have a case. Karen.

Hi. Currently as far as I can gather.Ben has two periods per week which he spends with the SENCO or her PA.He misses drama and PAL for these which is fine by him.These periods are used for a mix of help with planning for exams,dealing with problems with teachers which occur on a frequent basis.Usually because Ben tells a teacher in less than diplomatic fashion that their facts are wrong or lesson planning inadequate,or for support with dealing with issues with other pupils. Ben has TA support in some lessons but it is difficult to judge how much he uses it.He uses a laptop for an increasing number of lessons because his handwriting is not in line with his output of work.This works well but there is currently no system for transfering work into books or folders.Work done on sheets comes home in a muddle and Ben then throws it out at periodic intervals when it gets too much.Up to now this has not been such a problem because most classes are mixed ability and he appears to pass tests without revision. I spend a fair amount of time each week Emailing teachers to find out when exams are,deal with problems as they occur.I anticipate it will be a little better once Ben is doing options that he enjoys however I am currently fulfilling the role of a PA I suppose.The problem is that Ben could have more help but is reluctant to accept it.He tells the SENCO not to worry about printing things he will just Email them to dad at work. Ben also gets very stressed out about exams.He does fine in them generally but ends up anxious all day.He ends up looking exhausted.The ASD outreach teacher has suggested flexible days around exams but it is something wel will need to think about.As Ben is very able there is pressure for him to sit some GCSES a year early.I also know with J who is in year 11 that exams or controlled assessments appear to happen frequently from year 10.It may be that we need to push for Ben to do fewer options than he is capable of. Ben does not have any SALT or ASD outreach input specified in his Statement.SALT discharged him just before christmas as he had had no input for a year.I had extremely strong words with the senior SALT for the NHS trust as I had mild concussion at the time......but it appears there is no SALT provision in our area for mainstream pupils who have Social Communication Difficulties without other speech and language needs. If we insist we can probably get ASD outreach input specified however we still have the age old problem that that would use up curriculum time.The SENCO has suggested that Ben stays at homework club next year with an allocted TA to help him out but we have not broached that idea with him yet.The school reduced the school day and they now finish at 1500 which does not allow for lunch time activities. Karen.

Thank you Kathryn for your timely and helpful information which I am hoping I will not require personally. Karen.

I just wanted to say Hi. I popped in today for some advice.It is great to know that at last things are going better. Karen.

Hello to all. Nice new Forum I hardly recognise it. I have not been an active Forum member for many months and my life is busy as ever with more things than before [alas none of which I am payed for] so I will not be back on a regular basis.However I need some specific advice and wonder if anyone has any ideas. Ben is 13 and a half, doing very well academically and socially although not without continued input from myself.We have a tranistion review in early February and are also looking at GCSE options.Ben is currently at level 7 in most subjects and 8 in one or two.However he still appears to have major problems with organisation and has been getting along to this point because he could remember things well.He has access to ICT written into his Statement and we are anticipating he will be given extra time in exams and will use a different room. Any thoughts regarding where we can obtain some other ideas about appropriate support with GCSES.Ben is at a mainstream comprehensive and although the ASD outreach team are helpful I suspect that support for very able pupils with AS/DCD is probably an area more familiar to some of the Specialist Residential Provision. We are thinking about asking for an EP to come along to the AR but any ideas or pointers to books would be appreciated. Thanks Karen.

Suze. Please don't bother to do any more. I have had enough of this place. I came back for four weeks and gave it a go but it is not worth wasting my time on. I have not read Baddads comments because I don't intend to. But if others think it is funny when I was awake half the night then that says it all. Just do one thing for me. If you do close this thread then please leave it on Forum. I think it needs to be seen. There are some people here who are just like unruly children in the playground. One last footnote. Anyone interested may like to look up google on an episode of Suppernanny in America. She apparently got remarkable results working with anothrr professional who used similar methods to ABA. http://education.ucsb.edu/autism/specialevents.html Yes Mumble it is for real unfortunately.One of the problems here is that with Baddad nobody would know what is for real and what is not.It is called manipulation and it is very unpleasant. Karen.

Baddad. I have not read any of your posts on this thread since I reported your post the other day. I am open to learn from JF even though I do not like her programme. I watched an exchange between JF and a little boy who was a cheerleader on Wedensdays programme. She was excellent in demonstrating clear simple communication at a level that he could understand. The boy was a cheerleader who was being bullied at school because of his being a cheerleader. Being a cheerleader was his passion but some people thought he was girly and poked fun at him because he had different ideas to them. Mum thought being a cheerleader was fine. Dad thought it was for girls and was not being supportive. The boy was being bullied at school because he engaged in an activity thought to be for girls. JF explained to the boy that he should not be afraid of what he liked to do if he enjoyed it. He should stick up for his views and not listen to those who bullied him because he liked cheerleading. I have learned from this very helpful exchange. You use the bits of JFs brand that you wish to use to continue to bully. If JF is a person of inegrity who has the best intentions for the people she works with she would deplore her programme and work being used as a battering ram to hit the people she works with, a method of entertainment to belittle them and to be used to abuse other parents on a Forum such as this. Perhaps I will send her an Email and see what she thinks. The other thread is just as bad. She can then decide for herself what she thinks about the way her product is being used here.. It is great to see JF demonstrate something I believe very strongly. We now have seven pages of you using JF and the other programme to force through your views.For over seven days.When there are a hundred and one issues that people might be concerned about or need positive help or reasurance. I will never again read any post of yours or respond to it. I suggest that any parent or anyone else that feels the same way does likewise. Like Kathryn I too am on holiday now. I will decide while I am away whether I even want to come back. I do not know whether this is thev best use of my time. I had said myself previously that I often deal with minor iritations by not giving the child any attention. However like you and certainly JF I believe that there is a time to put a clear boundary in place as an adult and state that a behaviour is simply not acceptable. For all of the issues I might have with JF she does want to empower parents.To help them deal with their children more effectively.To give them confidence. All I have read in your posts in the last year is a wish to judge parents , be critical of what you see as their limitations and rant about your own agenda. , Another wish to put down those you see as unworthy of diagnosis. First on all of the other areas of the Forum and now even in off topic. It is extremely sad that a person who once appeared to be such a positive influence here appears now to feel so frustrated and angry. JF is a firm believer in children taking time out to think about their actions and the impact they have on other people. . Karen.

If you read the whole of that post. If you want to know. The main reason I am feeling angry is that people who have worked for charity organisations and parent partnership providing excellent specialist advice on Education for years are being made redundant.Whilst JF is making millions and talking about educational issues at a very superficial level. One of those people happens to be the person that taught me most of what I now know about ASD and education over many years and a person that I have a vast amount of respect for. There are many other reasons.But if you have not figured them out by now I am tired of explaining. I have come across lots of people who can provide people who will talk about instant cures for lots of things.Usually this is because people are being influenced or asked leading questions which JF is an expert at.After all she is a trained actress. The reviews on her latest book are very mixed.Apparently as very evident in the programmes I have seen a lot of information which is very basic and has already been covered by others. Edited to add.If JF is a person of inegrity who has the best intentions for the people she works with she would deplore her programme and work being used as a battering ram to hit the people she works with, a method of entertainment to belittle them and to be used to abuse other parents on a Forum such as this. Perhaps I will send her an Email and see what she thinks. The other thread is just as bad. She can then decide for herself what she thinks about the way her product is being used here. Karen.

Hi. I am fighting with two teenagers for the PC today but here is one for a start. I found it on a blogg but pressume the person intended it to be used to help others. http://www.extremeparenthood.com/2009/08/preparing-autistic-child-for.html Carol Gray includes some templates in her books if you have some money to spend. Karen.

When is it ? I will try and do some research today if I get a few minutes and see if I can can find one.There will be one either on the web or as a book that you could adapt if needed. Karen.

Hi. I was not in exactly the same situation but may still be able to help. Ben has a diagnosis of AS now. When he was in reception at primary school before we knew he had AS he put a dry popcorn kernel in his ear. He became really agitated when A and E and ENT doctor attempted to get it out. He went in and had a GA as a day case in the end. Exactly the same type of procedure as tooth extraction. He was a bit drunk and stroppy when he first woke up. He did not like having to fast in the morning either. But it was not too bad really. Worse for us than him. Less stressful than two broken arms since. It would be worth talking to the team ahead of time to see if they have ideas you could use to help prepare. Paeds teams are usually excellent especially if they know a child has ASD. Karen.

I intend to take no further part in this thread. I realise that by even taking part in this thread as the topic appears to be as I can best gather I am now providing publicity for an individual professional and business venture all be it one I do not agree with. If this was a professional in education or ASD offering services this would not be allowed by Forum rules. The programme is simply the publicity arm for a writing career that makes millions. So I will have no further part in any debate. Karen.

Do you have to wait long ? Just wondered. Karen.