girlracer76

Hi Sally On the statement he gets a total of 19hrs per week of assistance on top of the school action plus that he already receives - this 19hrs is split into differing amounts of time for differing needs. This means that he will still get full time 1:1 TA support plus the extras required. The new news is that the head of the ASD unit at his new school to be is coming to meet us and our son at school this Thursday so we may have some more information soon as to when we can get him moved Thanks again everyone Sue

Just thought i would update you all as we got so much advice from you all - After my husband and myself applied for statementing for our DS it went to the board and thankfully wasnt rejected! We received the draft copy on the 20th August (earlier than the 2nd of Sept that we had been advised) - we have agreed the draft copy and requested a different school (one with an ASD unit) - this has been agreed and we are just awaiting to hear from the school regarding a start date Needless to say we are soooo pleased that this has gone our way as reading on hear it could have so easily have been different - it hasnt been easy - we have had to admit to ourselves the severity of his condition and the help that he has required but the tears have been worth it. DS is aware of the move to the new school and he is obviously anxious - does anyone have any experience with moving ASD kids to new schools and how to prepare them? The other recent news is that we saw his consultant again last week and has been diagnosed with secondary ADHD as well and we have agreed to start him on medication (ritalin) - we have noticed some difference already so fingers crossed. Also she has agreed to refer him to CHUMS and Occupational therapy for fine motor control and sensory issues. Thank you all so much for all your help and advice - we have taken everything on board and it has helped us so far - still a long road to go with many more difficulties ahead but we know that this site is here for us to vent and question.

Hi As some of you are probably be aware from my numerous posts on my son and the constant problems at school, i have a now 7yr old son who was diagnosed with ASD in March this year. He does not yet know of this diagnosis and we as parents are wondering when the best time (if there is one!) is to tell him? and how would be the best way to tell him? We are starting to wonder if him knowing would help him understand a little more about his outbursts and his withdrawal needs but we are also concerned that he may be a little young to grasp the concept. Any ideas or how you guys did it would be great Thanks Sue PS this great has been a great help to us - we are new to it all and it's a hard and fast learning curve - so thank you all for being there and listening to my worries and concerns, it means a lot! x

Hi Our son has been excluded on a fixed term of 5 days again today with the possibility that this may become permanent! We have literally just got past the panel for the application of statementing who have agreed that assessment is required (which was a relief!) however, where does this leave us with regards to the assessment if he is permanently excluded and has no school to attend? Can he still be assessed out of the school environment so that we are able to get him into a school that are more able to cope with his needs? Am really confused as to where to go now and what to do - they just seem to have no idea at the school in how to handle our son and that excluding him doesnt help and just confuses/stresses/upsets him more which makes the situation at school worse! Any advice/answers welcome Sue

We were giving our son clarocet junior - it took a little time to kick in but we were definitely noticing a difference HOWEVER they taste disgusting - he is just 7yrs old - he therefore started refusing to take it and it was causing massive meltdowns in itself - he can't swallow tablets so we were having to crush - they discolour and flavour food - he really was struggling so we have had to stop and we are back to square one with stress, anger and anxiety levels at a huge high! We tried it in drinks but it just floated on top - we tried mixing it with chocolate (not great I know but we were willing to try anything), we have also tried in a spoonful of jam as he loves jam but the taste was still too strong! Does anyone have any other ideas of how to give it to him or if there is an alternative that will could give instead - we found that fish oils made him more hyper! Thanks x

Thanks for your reply - i could read without magnifying glass so no need to worry lol - it sounds exactly like our son - we are trying desperately to persuade our GP to send our son to occupational therapist at the moment! He was given x 2 fixed term exclusion again over the two weeks leading up to half term due to his explosions - he is really struggling and it's so hard to see/watch - did you try any medication with your son? people keep talking about meds for ours but we are not sure - we have tried some herbal stuff which work a little in calming him but if he is going to go into melt down he will do so meds or no meds! We have the board meeting this week to see if they agree that he requires assessment for statementing not holding my breath though! We are having problems with the head as well though as she seems to think that he is just being naughty - she doesnt understand asd AT all!! Anyway thank you again for your reply and everyone else who has replied - its reassuring that you are all hear to answer questions and reassure that everything is ok x

Hi Robert7111a Yes he understands what he is reading - he is often sent home with year 4 reading comprehension work and you can discuss what he has read with him at length especially if it is a subject he is interested in.

Hi there My son was diagnosed with ASD back in march - he is 6yrs old and finds school really stressful. His worst times appear to be connected to literacy/writing! He has a reading and spelling ability of a 11-12yr old and is able to write but doesn't 'like' too! He complains that his arms ache and that he does want to. We find that we have the most problems with his 'red beast' waking and he goes into his rage cycles. He does suffer with low self esteem and we wonder if this is part of the problems - we are also aware that he has low imagination levels so to try and just make something up is very difficult for him. My problem is that the school are having distinct problems trying to get him to do the work in class - we were being sent home the work for him to complete but they now say that they can't use this work for continuous assessment as we as his parents are able to get more out of him as home ability wise then they are at home (basically they think that we are dictating the work to him and he is not doing it himself - which we are most definitely not doing!) . Basically i guess what i am asking is whether this is a common problem with ASD children? and, if anyone has any ideas of how we can help my son and the school to get him to achieve the work that he is capable of in the school environment? We really are struggling with this at the moment - he spent 40minutes under the table yesterday and went completely into his rage cycle the day prior to this. This has been an ongoing struggle for the past year and we are just looking for any advice that can be offered really. Thanks in advance

Hi there My DS paediatric consultant has just requested that we complete a Conners questionnaire - we are awaiting diagnosis for AS which will hopefully come at the next appointment early March - consultant was insistant that she could not diagnose until a child was 7yrs. We completed questionnaires previously but not the conners - she stated that there was definitely AS there and unlikely to be ADHD at the time. Now we are aware that DS has deteriorated within the school setting considerably since christmas - DS hasn't settled at all this term and he has recently been excluded 4times in 3weeks! Am I right in thinking that the Conners questionnaire is to assess for ADHD - if so how is it scored? Can a child have AS and ADHD in combination? Am getting a little confused by this assessment process in general to be honest! Any help/advice/words of wisdom would be much appreciated Sue

So just had a call from the school again, our son has bitten one of the teachers, headbutted them (most likely from being restrained), and the head has requested he be picked up immediately and excluded for 5 days. This would be the 4th exclusion in 3 weeks and is frankly getting ridiculous. Yesterday, he had a wobbly in the morning, but because the head wasn't there, they kept him at school and he calmed and did work all afternoon. Both my wife and I have bent over backwards to try and have one of us at home to be able to go in when needed, but this week it's not been possible to do that for 2 days. We have to work! I refused to pick him up because I am at work (and my wife is a nurse so she can't just leave). So I'm expecting a call from the head very soon. What is our position on this? can we refuse to pick him up? We've cooperated with the school 100% up til now, but we think they are not 'manning' up and dealing with the problem. Plus 5 days exclusion (plus half term in the middle) isn't going to mean a ###### thing to kieran. Please help, any advice welcome! REALLY STRUGGLING WITH THIS NOW!

Hi Lynda Sorry i wrote incorrect information above (that's what you get from trying to type messages when you have a 2yr old to contend with). Our son has not yet been diagnosed with Aspergers but we were told in September that this is 'likely' with definitive diagnosis of Aspergers and ADHD due on the 12th March - Consultant was quite insistent that she couldn't diagnose our son before he was 7 (b'day due in May) because of possible phased behaviours children go through, although she informed the school that this was very likely and that she would put a 'stamp on it' at this up and coming appointment. Our son has not settled at all since returning from the christmas holidays with constant outbursts and complete lack of control of his emotions throwing chairs and lashing out at the adults/teachers. He runs out of the school and hides under tables refusing to come out - if pressured emotions goes to extremes - he lacks self esteem/confidence in his work which often means he refuses to comply. Concentration is also a problem he is contending with - it appears that unless he has his DS or a book in front on him, he cant concentrate on activities for more than 10minutes without getting fidgety. He also struggles to cope with class group work. He is above average in literacy and reading, now being a free reader and completing Year 4 literacy without much effort although writing is often messy (can be neat like others but doesn't 'see the point') - numeracy is average although due him starting to miss work/lessons due to behavioral mentioned is starting to fall behind meaning that we are completing that work at home. The school have provided him with the access to a child psychologist that he meets for 1hr every monday, but we don't have a social worker (how would you go about getting one of them?) He has had an IEP since the September and he also has of two weeks ago and his second exclusion, a 1:1 TA within the classroom setting - however at the moment there is obviously a trigger at school that is really unsettling him as he is a complete mess at school - very stressed as soon as we reach the school gates - nothing has changed although we have a massive up and coming change with his teacher leaving at Easter (son is not aware of this yet as he appears so unhappy and unsettled at the moment) He is also beginning to isolate himself - not wanting to go out to play and we found out the other week that he eats his lunch outside the headmistresses office on his own - his choice! - he says that the hall is too noisy and confusing - it makes his ears and head hurt and he just wants to be quiet! Because of this ability to isolate he has started to loose friendships which were already slightly strained at times due to his lack of personal space and need to be in control. Kids are starting to call him names as they are starting to realize that if they do this he will get angry and have an 'outburst' We really don't quite know what to next other than wait for the appointment date to come up - we meet regularly with the school but at the moment its all getting a bit too emotional for us and son is constantly worn out due to his outbursts which take so much out of him. Sue x

Have only just joined this site and was flicking through the posts and am so glad to see this particular post from you ModestyBrown - I too have a 6yr old with definitive diagnosis of Aspergers and ADHD due on the 12th March - Consultant was quite insistent that she couldn't diagnose our son before he was 7 (b'day due in May) although she informed the school that this was very likely and that she would put a 'stamp on it' at this up and coming appointment. Our son sounds as if he is having very similar issues at his school/class also Year 2. He has not settled at all since returning from the christmas holidays and has been excluded three times in the past three weeks due to his outbursts and complete lack of control of his emotions throwing chairs and lashing out at the adults/teachers. He too runs out of the school and hides under tables refusing to come out - if pressured emotions goes to extremes - he lacks self esteem/confidence in his work which often means he refuses to comply. He is above average in literacy and reading, now being a free reader and completing Year 4 literacy without much effort although writing is often messy (can be neat like others but doesn't 'see the point') - numeracy is average although due him starting to miss work/lessons due to behavioral mentioned is starting to fall behind meaning that we are completing that work at home. The school have provided him with the access to a child psychologist that he meets for 1hr every monday and he also has of two weeks ago and his second exclusion, a 1:1 TA within the classroom setting - all without statementing - however at the moment there is obviously a trigger at school that is really unsettling him as he is a complete mess at school - very stressed as soon as we reach the school gates - nothing has changed although we have a massive up and coming change with his teacher leaving at Easter (son is not aware of this yet as he appears so unhappy and unsettled at the moment) He is also beginning to isolate himself - not wanting to go out to play and we found out the other week that he eats his lunch outside the headmistresses office on his own - his choice! - he says that the hall is too noisy and confusing - it makes his ears and head hurt and he just wants to be quiet! Because of this ability to isolate he has started to loose friendships which were already slightly strained at times due to his lack of personal space and need to be in control. Kids are starting to call him names as they are starting to realize that if they do this he will get angry and have an 'outburst' We really don't quite know what to next - we meet regularly with the school but at the moment its all getting a bit too emotional for us and Son is constantly worn out due to his outbursts which take so much out of him. Although i can't offer you much advice hopefully the support of knowing that it's not just your child at this stage that is going through this will help as it has me! Thank you for sharing and requesting advice it has helped me too x

Hello I am a mum of a 6yr old child who has just been diagnosed with Aspergers and is being assessed for ADHD presently - we are going through a pretty rough time at the moment as he does not appear to have settled back into school at all well since Christmas and has been excluded 3 times in the past 3 weeks - this is all a bit new to us as diagnosis was only September. It has been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster especially recently and we are having difficulty knowing how best to handle him at times - tell off or not tell off, is it naughty or is the aspergers/ADHD ????? Help required from all welcome. I am glad to see such an active forum and it certainly makes me feel better that you are all out there willing to help and listen That's all from me for the moment Sue x