kelima

There are some good autism / parent support groups in Lincolnshire - one in Sleaford area, . I can pm you details - i'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention them by name on the forum

Lincolnshire Dyslexia Outreach Service is offering adults free dyslexia screening, assessment & tuition to those residing in Lincolnshire The more people who apply the better because it will demonstrate a need and may help in securing funding for the future. Please PM me for further information.

Sincere condolences to you & your family upon the tragic loss of your son .We will say prayers for him and you all. God Bless.

We went to tribunal under DDA a couple of years ago & I was devastated when I received the schools defence because it contained very few truths & even suggested we may have had a personal vendetta against a teacher, we hadn't & I think the teacher concerned would have been equally surprised had he read their defence! He was not even consulted about the case or asked to contribute! The tribunal were not interested in the slightest about this remark - they only were concerned about facts not opinions! i.e. had discrimination taken place. In our case it was whether 1. our child had a disability as recognised under the act. 2. If she had a disability , had the school made resonable adjustments or not , which in our case was had the school adapted our child's work so she could see / access it & 3. if they hadn't made reasonable adjustments had our child been treated less favourably. Make sure you send as much evidence to the tribunal as you can & all relevant factual evidence such as IEP's etc & try to stay focused on the facts & the actual act of discrimination that has taken place. I was shocked that the school's head lied to the tribunal, he gave verbal evidence and had no written evidence or anyone or anything to back up what he was saying. He was unable to prove that they had done the adjustments but we could and it was our evidence & their lack of evidence that resulted in us winning the case. Good Luck!

I would contact Ian & explain the symptoms you are experiencing so that he can advise. Perhaps it may be better to refrain from wearing them until you receive further advice from Ian, and especially outdoors , near roads etc.

yes, we have & were the first in Lincolnshire & we won ! Our child is not on the spectrum but has visual perceptual problems & dyslexia. We represented ourselves , it was a very emotional experience because we were fighting for our child's rights. Felt quite daunted too but the opposing side are probably feeling scared too especially as they may have broken the law!! They may put up what seems a convincing defence, don't be deterred. Having a solicitor & Ipsea rep should help a lot for support & advice specially on any legal technicalities. Be prepared for anything we were totally honest & weren't prepared for the Head of the school we were taking for discrimination to be as 'economical with the truth' as he was, to put it very politely! ! Good luck & hope all goes well!

Might be worth contacting the Disability Rights Commission for advice- they have website with helpline nos & you can e-mail them & someone will get back to you & advise you if you may have a case & who best to contact I have found them helpful in the past.

As a parent you can apply in writing to school and ask for copy of your child's school records and school has to comply with request within certain timescale( can't remember how long though!)

our daugther has dyslexia +visual perception difficulties +her primary said there was nothing wrong- she was on sen register at 6years but they gradually took her off.we had privat assessment at 11 & took report to school but they said ed psychol report wasn't relevant.We applied for a multi disciplinary assessment and was refused by LEA. So we took her case to sendist tribunal who found in her favourand ordered lincs lea to assess her- she was awarded full time statement 32.5 hours (which from being told doesn't need to be on sen register was quite something!)(she was in sec school by now) So my advice to anyone would be to follow your instincts and fight tooth and nail for what you believe your child needs - you know your child best and often parents become quite expert on their child's condition. I naively thought that the teachers would know best - only later did I realise the teaching staff were telling me there was nothing wrong with my child yet without any experience or knowledge ofher conditions. I have also worked in school as LSA & even known a teacher tell a parent her child is not autistic despite having a report from a leading professional confirming disgnosis all too often parents have to become their child's champion in order for them to stand any hope of getting their needs met it's wrong but sometimes it's the only way.

my daughter had (s) similar knee + joint pain incl knee 'locking out' went through lots of tests finally decided it was joint hypermobility. also recently seen podiatrist cos had problems with toe 'locking out' and she found she had weaknesses in ankle joint and wasn't positioning foot correctly plus had one leg longer than the other.

Border terriers are also a lovely natured breed, about cavalier size but robust & quite game. Ideal too if you think your child might like to be involved , walk them on the lead etc. I know our son used to get frustrated because he wasn't physically strong enought to walk our big dogs . The kennel club have an accredited breeders scheme and can put you in touch with a reputable breeder of your breed choice Often lots of puppies available in rescues after xmas- it is heartbreaking though but in some instances you can end up saving their lives. Greyhounds & lurchers are usually quite laid back , enjoy a walk but more than happy to spend all day asleep on the sofa. Have to be careful if you have a cat to make sure you get a cat friendly one though!

Both my husband & daughter are dyslexic and wear coloured lenses - they've made a tremendous life changing difference to both their lives. Husband never read more than odd line of text after getting lenses he sat down & read for 2 hours solid. Daughter couldn't mange without them her visual probs are quite profound they don't cure them but they do help to alleviate many of the symptoms. I know there has been some pretty amazing results with asd too. I recently started a non profit making group to raise awaerness of visual perception processing problems & Ian Jordan came up & gave a talk in Lincoln . Over 130 people attended parents & teaching professionals- it's created a lot of interest & we're hoping to get some local schools to undertake pre- screening in the new year. Several people in the audience have gone on to have their children screened and are stunned by the difference the lenses have made. One lady said her child stopped fidgeting when the glasses were on & it helped her concentration. Hope everything goes well for your son tomorrow

I think it very much depends on the person as to how good they are at their job. Having worked in school it is not unusual for some schools to employ dinner ladies, parent helpers etc. Do they have a recruitment policy which explains how they will advertise vacancies ? I think you are quite within your rights to enquire why they think a particular person is suitable to work with your child ; what previous experience has she got & more importantly what training & support is she going to receive in the future. I have worked as a LSA / TA & we all have to start somewhere but I think it can undermine the role of TA's & LSA's when schools seemingly pluck the nearest most convenient person available regardless of their experience or knowledge.It perhaps speaks more of the schools attitude to the role & value of LSA's & may be their knowledge & understanding ( or lack of it ) of autism. My daughter is dyslexic & has visual processing probs. two years ago her lSA's were specifcally trained VI LSA's . Last year the school changed how the LSA's worked & it was whoever was free at the time. My daughter's LSA went to work with a child on the autistic spectrum & with no experience felt very out of her depth & eventually left the school. Meanwhile my daughter found herself constantly having to explain to LSA's what they were meant to do. It was a very chaotic & disruptive year & to me highlighted the need for specifically trained lSA's. My daughter is now starting GCSE'S & one of her lSA's is a delightful lady but has no computer skills & my daughter is undertaking IT ! She finds it very frustrating that her lSA cannot support her .Sadly I think the education system so often fails our special needs children.

Hi Lauren If it's of any help...in my daughter's case, our original concern was that she may be dyslexic & that was poo-pooed by school. During first few years we couldn't afford a private assessment. Eventually we were able to get her assessed privately & it was comfirmed she was dyslexic & various recommendations were made. The school said report was irrelevant!!By this time she was approaching secondary school. LEA refused stat assessment said her needs could be met.She was nearly 4 years behind also. She was diagnosed at same time to have visual perceptual problems(double vision, pattern glare, sensitive to light etc & was prescribed filter colour lenses. It was recommended that she had print enlarged, double spaced & produced on coloured paper & red font etc. It was on the grounds of her visual perceptual problems that we were able to get an mda through sendist & that her school was found guilty of disability discrimination because they did not produce work in the desired medium. Following the mda she was statemented 32.5 hours (by this time she was at secondary school & we had a supportive Senco who was brill at her job which hepled, she took a lot of notice of our daughter's visual consultant.) Daughter is now approaching year 10 & to be honest has not received very much help for her dyslexia but help has been forthcoming with vis processing & we have had to compromise.She does get LSa help in somelessons to copy board work or scribe for her when vision is poor & so indirectlysome aspects of her dyslexia such as short term memory have benefitted although she has not received specific specialist dyslexia teaching. Many childre with visual perceptual probs can benefit from a specific style/ size of font of by having their work double spaced or produced on coloured paper & from having handouts of board work or one to one help scribing, reading, copying work. In my daughter's case she also has to have access to a dark room to rest during the day when necessary. It could be worth taking each aspect of your son's learning disabilities & how they impact on his ability to learn & how the curriculum needs to be differentiated in order for him to access it. Keep a diary of every thing. Our daughter was always very stressed especially after school, we thought she was just difficult it was only when she started to get the right support at school that she changed & we realised it was nothing to do with her but the system . The LEA's own ed psych said in her report that our daughter's needs had neither been recognised or met throughout her primary years & that this had effected her emotionally. We took her school to sendist for dda to try & stop it happening to others. The school was ordered to undertake training & apologise. However, the LEA were very upset about the disability discrimination, we didn't make it public, but we did find them(LEA) to be very co-operative afterwards! If applicable, it just might be the route you need to take to get the support your son needs and if all else fails & you don't mind the publicity the local press may be interested in your story.

I hope you don't mind me joining in on the conversation.I don't have a child with ASD but do have a child with visual perceptual processing probs & dyslexia & have in past been turned down by LEA for stat assess& had to go through Sendist to apply for MDA- we ended up obtaining a full time statement & daughter's school was also found guilty of disability discrimination under DDA. I have worked as LSA in school & know how often the system lets children down. I think the advice about writing every down is very good, makes them more careful about what they say. Also, I don't know your child's circumstances but it may be worth checking under the DDA that every reasonable adjustment is being made & that your child is not being unfairly disadvantaged in any way. The Disability Rights Commission are very helpful & IPSEA. Stick to your guns & don't feel threatened by there being two of them coming, maybe they're not feeling that confident with their decision!! Stick to your guns & fight them all the way until you get what you think is right for your child. It's can be very tough & stressful but sadly from my own personal experience & from another friend whose child 's asperger's it's the only way, very unfair & wrong I know. Wishing you all the best for the meeting