Kazzen161

Makaton is used alongside speech. It often encourages a child's speech, because it takes the frustration out of communication, making them feel less stressed about actually speaking. Makaton is a simple sign language; PECS is pictures.

My son used to hate them being wobbly - he used to wobble them lots until they fell out. He used to keep all his teeth that fell out on his shelf - yuck!

If you are aiming to get him into the special school part-time, is there any way he could attend there part-time now? They would get to know him and you would get to see if it was a suitable place for him (I presume you have looked round the special school already - not all of them are good with children with asd). Our county has Behaviour Units, and children who are excluded or attending part-time school go there for a few sessions a week - they work with the school to help get the child into school more, and they contribute evidence to the assessment process.

I have queried this before at the school where I am a Governor, and I was told that if the EP/Beh Support/EWO agree that it is a suitable option, then reduced hours are not counted as an exclusion. I feel that it should only be a short-term option, and you should be asking what difference the assessment will make - what things will they be able to do then, that they cannot do now (and why can't they do them now)? They must have experience of children with asd - have they already put in place all the usual strategies?

Why do you have to pick up your work schedule? Can they not e-mail it to you?

I would recommend the book "The Red Beast" - it is very good re: anger management - looking at triggers, looking at alternative responses, discussing how your body feels when you are angry, etc.

I think you are right not to accept any violence, but does he also see that his sibling is told off if they have done something to annoy him? At school we always say "yes, x should not have called you names, but you should not have hit him, as now you are in the wrong too. What should you have done?" (Told a teacher). We then get x to apologise to the child, and the child to apologise to x, then punish both as appropriate. Also, does he have a timer so he can see when the 10 minutes is up? Otherwise he might be getting confused, as sometimes he ends up in his room for longer than other times. Some people think it is not a good idea to send a child to their bedroom as a punishment. I always sent my sons to sit on the stairs as a punishment, but sent my eldest son to his room to calm down if I could see he needed it (ie: before he did anything wrong).

You should be able to turn the water supply to the tap off somewhere. My stopcock for the upstairs water is in the cupboard where the immersion is. Newer houses might have isolation stop valves on the pipe supplying the tap.

You are right. There is a lot the school can do, without it even costing anything. The school should have received the ASD IDP DVD - have all staff used it? It is supposed to be the minimum that staff should know about ASD. You can see it online at http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/165037 Did they say why your son bit the child? There is bound to be a reason. They need to look at prevention at this stage - it will take your son some time to learn to walk away from something that is annoying him. (My son used to hit other children). The school should be very careful about excluding him - as he has a disablity, they have to be sure that they have done everything possible to prevent such incidents happening, before they can justify excluding him. The suggestion that you talk to the other parents in a meeting is disgusting. No way should they be putting you in that situation. They could ask you if you would like them to talk to the parents, or to send out some information on ASD, but to suggest they invite all the other parents in and expect you to "account" for his behaviour is not on. I am surprised they even told you that other parents are complaining and angry - that is for the school to deal with, but they should not be involving you. Altogether, the school does not sound very supportive of you or your son.

When my son went to secondary, they purposely put him in a class with a very understanding tutor. Unfortunately she left after a year, and his next one was not so good (even though she was the INCO). There are so many factors that you cannot control at secondary (eg: we made sure he got a locker that was easy to get to - then they moved classrooms and the locker changed). It sounds as though changing forms is worth a try, but it is possible that the same issues will occur. If they are set for maths and english, will his teachers change? I often feel that my son did well at secondary inspite of the school, not because of them, but he did not have a statement. It sounds as though it would be useful to read through his Statement and make sure he is getting the specified help. As you say if he does not need help in the class, then it is not much to ask for a named TA that he can speak to at the end of the morning and day. Sometimes just being listened to and a bit of sympathy is enough, even if the problems cannot actually be changed.

My son used to make up stories, loosely based on something he had heard or seen. He told his teacher that he had gone into the woods and found a car on fire and put it out by himself. This was total fiction, based on something he had seen on TV. School and I had to agree that we could never believe what he said, unless we checked with each other first. Sometimes it was that he misinterpreted something that had happened, sometimes I think he said it to make his life sound more exciting. Unfortunately because of the sort of things your child is saying the school have to take it seriously. You need to try and explain to your son the problems saying things that are not true can cause (the "cry wolf" story) - that if something bad did happen to him, the school will not believe it.

For more serious incidents, we fill in an incident report (what happened before, during and after), and then this may be followed up by a more senior member of staff if appropriate.

"Should" generally means we recommend this but...... "Will" is stronger, so they cannot argue over not inviting the specialist staff to the MEP and Reviews, and that is also the chance to "review the access to the specialists" - so it should be be stated in the review that they have not been consulted.

Because of his sensory issues he can't shut out all the sights/sounds/smells going on around him, so from his point of view, it is not just you and him, but you, him and a whole lot of different and changing sensory input. Have you asked him what he finds stressful in that cafe? Could you find somewhere quieter, where he would be less stressed by all the sensory stuff, and could concentrate on having a conversation? If the having a conversation aspect is more important than the going out aspect - why not stay in?

Do your own research - use something like GABBITAS which includes independent schools.

I can't see how this reviewed Statement is legal, as it does not apppear to have been based on any evidence. The LA do not appear to have followed procedures. Definitely get advice from IPSEA or similar before responding. Was there any review in Year 5? Statements must be reviewed at least annually. Generally Year 6 reviews are held around now. Is she sure that a review was not held but her she was not invited/did not receive the invite?

Do her siblings get transport to their school? If so, it may be that the LA will save money by sending her there (sharing the transport). If a class has a Teacher and a TA and about 30 children, I can't see how they would not notice your child leaving the classroom. The school surely then cannot guarantee the safety of any child - they are just relying on them not wanting to leave.

Have you looked at other independent schools? It sounds as though you are in a good position to get whatever school you find that is suited to your child. Don't worry about 16+ yet - it is no good being in a school til 19 if it is not the right school. What is SRB?

Thinking it through: If you apply for a Statement, and you get it - great. If you apply and you don't get it, then you have not lost anything; you have started the process and can appeal if wanted. If you still get turned down, I don't think that you can apply again for 6 months, but if you have just moved, the new school is unlikely to want to apply straight away anyway, and by the time 6 months is up it may be that the new school is better and he no longer needs a Statement. I can't think of any negatives at the moment. Did you find out why he the girl?

>>Hello, if a school can not meet a child's needs then the local authourity need to say where they think is the best place and then you can agree or disagree.>> This is not how it is supposed to work (though the LAs would like it to be) - parents are supposed to express a preference, and the LA have to go with that barring certain exceptions. In this case, if she waits for the LA to name a school she could be in for a long wait

No child should be able to get out of school, and certainly not unnoticed. Presuming it is a primary school, Ofsted are coming down very hard on schools whose safeguarding is not 100% - so unless she is doing something that no-one could imagine a child doing (eg: jumping a 6 foot high wall), then they will fail their Ofsted (even if everything else is outstanding). For any child there should be an agreed (between school and parents) strategy of what to do if she leaves the school grounds (eg: whether to follow or not). Make sure one is written tomorrow. If they say they can't keep her safe, get them to put that in writing. I would imagine there should be a risk assessment re: this too. Have you put your complaint in writing, listing the days she has escaped and what was done? Ask for the Complaints Policy tomorrow, and follow it. Aslo ask for their School Security Policy (and or/SafeguardingPolicy). A child does not have to have a Statement to have an LSA. It is not up to you to worry how they will pay for it - it is for the school and LA to argue over. Read the SEN Code of Practice before you go (downloadable from the dfcs web-site).

If no mainstream is suitable/will take him, and the special school has no places, then you need to start looking at independent schools or schools in other counties. Whether the LA will support you in this (as it will cost more) is questionable, but you might find that a place suddenly becomes available in the special school if you start talking about such schools!

If you had kept him off school because he was signed off with stress by the doctor, that might have helped in arguing for a change of placement. If you deregistered him, the LA don't really care why you did (I know they should). When you deregister your child you have to agree to provide a suitable education for him, so the LA may think he is not in urgent need of a school because you are educating him satisfactorily. We are not saying we agree their reasoning is right, just that that is what they might think. Have you asked the LA?

If you have a good relationship with the paediatrician, I would tell him what the EP said, and ask for his advice. If he tells the EP she is talking rubbish, it will have greater impact.

I would be careful what you say. I woudl not say about evidence for another placement, as the school may then come under pressure from the LA to be even more secretive! You have a right to know how he is progressing, and what provision he is getting, so just ask for them. Say you need them in writing as it is too much to take in and remember verbally. If they don't give you stuff in writing, put it in writing yourself saying "as per our meeting on...., this is what was said/agreed. If there are any errors, please let me know". Then it is up to them to come back to you. You could ask them to give you a timetable that shows what they are providing each week, then you can check with your son if it is happening.