summertime

Bard I think our daughters were seperated at birth our latest bunny had to be black to go with the whole goth thing and nearly all her friends on myspace are random japanese people she's found. she wants to do japanese studies at uni (oh and she's been begging me to take her to see spamalot too but the funds arent available )

dd got the job :D

fantastic news :D :thumbs:

have you set one to master and one to slave?

a couple of years ago I was sitting with my eldest in the cafe at our local BHS when a family came in, they sat at a table for four with their little girl aged about 3 and baby aged about 6 months. dad went and got some food and they all sat together eating and chatting. nothing unusual there you may think but they had another child, aged about 7, clearly autistic and while this little scene played out he ran around the table continually circling it and squeeling. he seemed quite happy in his persuits but other people weren't and you could see them thinking what are the parents thinking letting him act like that. I felt such admiration for the parents, they were clearly doing the best they could for all their children and handling the situation well. I wanted to speak to them, to acknowledge that I realised what was going on , and to say well done. but i was stopped by how condesending that could have appeared, so instead I just smiled as I walked past, but I still remember them and wish they knew how much i admired them

*summer sneaks in the back door and jumps in the front of the cake queue while the others are arguing MWhahahah

ok scrap that, apparently its at the discretion of the school but ive always worked in a school where the day ten rule appllies http://www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance/faq/#faq21

slightly off topic but you are entitled to take 10 school days off for holidays. they have to authorise them. if you take more than that it goes down as an unauthorised absence

avoidance

:clap: :thumbs: Go Ellis :D

dd has just had a phone call for an interview at our local supermarket, I've been nagging her for ages to get a part time job because at 17 she's getting expensive to keep and she should be saving for uni. Fingers crossed

Hi flipper and welcome to the forum I can't give any advice on diet im afraid, but you'll find loads of help and support from others here

Fantastic, things certainly do seem to be going well atm, long may it last

whats the position and what kind of company I'd try to find something out about the company and what they are good at. It could be their commitment to training staff or if for instance it was a local supermarket you could mention how the staff always seem friendly and content.

Can anyone tell me if there are any services available to raise autism awareness for colleagues of HFA, AS staff there is a lot of talk on the forum of people finding employment, but what happens next, who is there to make sure it works. Its something Ive been thinking about for a while and have even thought of setting up some sort of consultancy to provide it if it isnt already available, I do loads of training with students but does anyone actually carry this on into the workplace?

Definitely. hope all goes well in september

don't mean to sound flippant but Ive worked with several polish children this year, but that doesnt mean I can speak polish. as I say too few teachers actually understand asd and the little knowledge they do have is often a dangerous thing especially when they dont even attempt to put their knowledge into practice. sorry if i sound a trifle bitter but Ive worked with a senco who claims to have a good understanging of AS and then made the kind of mistakes that not only infuriated me but also could have done some lasting damage to the child

its easier to put support in in the classroom as that support can then help out with other children too, its not quite as easy to put in support elsewher and if support is put in its not always appropriate. Ive seen far too many children being 'helped' with social skills by velcroing a dinnerlady to them at lunchtime, they end up being minded not educated in social skills. there are far too few people with the training to help develop social skills, its not high on the academic agenda, and atm too few teachers are autism aware. I hope things go well for him and that things can move forward xx

interesting thread Im now thinking of popping off across the water to visit one of them can anyone recommend one thats good for teenagers.

we should be able to accept others differences yes, but unfortunately the worlds not like that yet I don't know your son and am generalising her but if a childs behaviour is seen as poor due to social differences e.g. being 'in your face' then I would be trying to teach him those social skills rather than punishing him for his lack of them. some schools have little awareness of how to help them and things go from bad to worse. back to the original question, maybe a managed move may be the best way forward as it gives everyone a chance to try before you buy so to speak

I would say that very much depends on why they are in special measures, if for instance they are struggling with behaviour managment it could well be that they have a big hurdle to overcome and they may not yet have the ability to help with his difficulties. have you read their most recent ofsted report, if so what does it say they are failing in. schools in special measures generally do improve but not overnight so it could be that it isnt the time for your son to join, however if its just a problem with subject areas then thats something that can improve quickly with some quality staff training

people are great sometimes arent they :D sounds like she's one in a million

they should surly have had some training on gifted and talented children and how to help them, the staff should be planning for the differing abilities in each class from sen to g&t. there should be a member of staff responsible for g&t so it might be worth asking who it is and having a chat with them my dd is 15 now but had reached level 5's in all 3 subjects at the end of Y3, she's now in Y10 and has 6 gcse's (3 taken at night school)under her belt already, she had the highest CAT scores her high school have ever recorded but she's been kept busy and stretched throughout her education. it can be done its just a case of planning. (senss stands for special educational needs support services)

sorry, yes of course i mean 3.5 days without knowing what his specific difficulties are then I cant really advice on where they should be going, but there are plenty of agencies/professionals who could be involved, ed psych, behaviour support, SENSS etc. If he had a diagnosis then the autism outreach team could be involved but not without a diagnosis or in our county being on the way to getting one