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Hi JenRose, If M had a statement, what would you want that statement to say? If you think about that and go and ask for that provision to be put in place I don't think you'll go far wrong. Sort of things to think about:- Where do you want M educated in the long term - at school, at home or combination of both? What does M want? What are his difficulties that hinder learning? What do you think should be put in place to help support him through these difficultes? Think about some of the following (not all will apply to M) 1:1 support, quiet place to retreat to, adaptations to teaching to support his learning style, social skills help, buddy scheme, disapplication from certain lessons/assembly, somewhere quiet to eat his lunch etc. Go and ask for what you want. Try to stay in control of M's education but be seen to be listening and considering their views. Good Luck tomorrow. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Good Luck for tonight. Hope all goes well.

A has this habit of picking at everything and it's costing us a fortune in replacing everything he damages. He picks at the rubber on sky remote controls, he picks at the material on chairs, he picks at his sheets, he picks at himself. We've tried diverting the picking onto something that doesn't matter, we've tried giving him squeezy balls and other sensory/feely objects but nothing we've found so far diverts him. Anyone else have this problem, and if so how did you solve it?

Hi Star, When A was still in school he would often have to leave the classroom for sensory reasons. The school used to use Secretarial and Admin staff to watch over him, he didn't have a statement or any extra funding attached to him at this stage. He developed a brilliant relationship with them over time and they watched out for him at all times of the day and would talk to him and try to ascertain any problems that he was having. Money isn't always needed to finance care, just a willingness on the part of all staff members to help.

Hi, Ian Coates is Head of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Division at the DfES. You can access his letter to all LEAs on the Ipsea web site here

I don't think this is very professional and sounds like this might be the root of the problem. Why would she want to wind him up? I don't think you're being overly sensitive, sounds like totally unacceptable behaviour to me. I think I would have a tactful word with the teacher about the TA's concerns and stopping the visual supports and ask how they propose to progress in terms of support. See how the teacher reacts and play it by ear from there. I certainly wouldn't put up with a TA deliberately winding my son up no matter what the provocation.

<'> <'> Look after yourself Elaine. Hope your dad continues to remain pain free.

We have had a discussion on the boards before about the psychic ability of children on the spectrum. A talks about seeing presences and always has. When we visit old buildings, he's particularly sensitive to this and he sometimes refers to the presences as evil, you can see that he's visibly disturbed by what is happening. I know this is a bit controversial but it is one possible interpretation. I know carole has made some interesting posts on this, I'll see if I can find some. I think when you've explored all the probable causes you need to be open to the improbable ones, but how you make things better for him, I don't know. The link to discussion about spirits/presences is here

Hi Joe and welcome to the forum. There are quite a few people on the forum who have children following GF/CF free diets and I'm sure they'll be along soon to give you some advice. This spray sounds intriguing, I'll be interested to see what sort of replies you get because my son, also 14, gets very anxious, I'd like to get hold of a miracle spray that calms him instantly. What we do to help A when he's very anxious or angry is to give him a melatonin tablet. This was suggested by his Doctor. It doesn't send him to sleep because he's too hyped up but it does take the edge off his agitation.

Agree with everything mossgrove says. As well as upping the dose you could also try a combination of normal and slow release melatonin (suggest you talk to the doctor first). The normal dose helps to get them asleep initially, the slow release helps keep them there. A takes them in combination and is on a total dose of 10mg but this is under medical supervision. Even with this dosage, it doesn't always work if he's particularly anxious. In fact, not working at all at the moment so he's taking a break from them.

PSA, Did anyone consider that the medication your son is taking could be causing his problems? Risperidone is an anti-psychotic and although it is sometimes used to prevent delusions, it has been known to cause them where none previoulsy existed, just a thought, because the sort of things your son seems to be hearing are different from the sensory disturbances that my son experiences. If I try hard enough I can usually trace the sounds or conversations that he hears.

Fingers crossed it all goes well and your key worker can go with you. Let us know how you get on.

Hi PinkSapphire Angel, Just a few good vibes for Thursday. Hope all goes well at the SENDIST tribunal. Let us all know what happens. I'll be keping my fingers crossed for you.

JenRose, I'm glad things are moving forward and don't mean to throw a spanner in the works, but what exactly is this meeting for? If home tuition has been agreed, why does there have to be another multidisciplinary meeting? It may well be just to establish exactly what M's needs are and how best to teach him but we went through a similar phase where the whole purpose of the meetings was to try and force me to agree to a reintegration package. Fortunately for me A's Psychiatrist and Deputy Head felt that this was not in his best interests but I went to the meetings thinking that we would be discussing when and how A's home tuition would be provided. Whatever, the purpose of the meeting, I hope it goes well and you get what you want from it. Are you attending? If so, I suggest you take along someone to write notes and support you, could your mum go with you?

Hi onlycrazygal and welcome to the forum. This is a topic that seems to worry quite a few of us and appears fairly regularly on the boards in various forms. A has always complained about seeing and hearing things that we don't notice. It used to worry me, thought he might have a psychotic disorder, but now I realise it's more to do with his sensory integration difficulties. This topic here was on the visual aspects and might be worth reading. What sort of things does your son see or hear?

Brilliant, well done Nat

I know of a family whose daughter has a statement which guarantees 15 hours LSA support per week. The LEA has written to the family saying they are no longer maintaining statements of 15 hours support or less, since these needs can be met from the school's budget at school action plus and as such the statement is to be discontinued. The family has appealed to tribunal and the LEA has agreed to maintain the statement until the appeal is heard. I understand that the school are eager that the statement should be withdrawn because the teenager concerned has just gained all A* grades in her modular GCSEs exams and the school see this as proof that she doesn't need support and are eager to use the LSA and money elsewhere. The parents are worried to death because if she isn't watched closely the girl self-harms on a regular basis and only achieves because of the support her parents fought so hard for, against the wishes of the school.

I went to a DLA appeal with my stepson. There was a panel of 3, a Doctor, a Lawyer and a person with practical knowledge of disability. To be fair, they told us as soon as we entered the room that they were going to overturn the DWP's decision not to award it and the only decision to be made was whether to award it at middle or higher rate. We sat around a table and the panel asked my step-son questions. They were very straight forward and not designed to trap him, just to see what type of help he needed and what would happen if he did not get that help.. He wasn't coping very well and they continually asked him if he wanted to stop. If all tribunals are run in this manner I don't think representation help is required but I believe that the CAB will sometimes send a helper along to support you.

Brilliant. Congratulations J.

Brilliant, well done Lewis.

Bid that's great news and you don't sound swanky. I'm really pleased that Auriel's school has helped him so much. Congratulations Auriel.

JenRose, I'm so sorry that you are being treated like this. It is your right to have a second opinion and I agree it's unprofessional to talk to you in this manner, almost sounds like you were being threatened. Why does the Psychiatrist who saw M even have to know that you've gone for a second opinion? Is M going to be seen by them again? I'm amazed that they are looking at imagination so narrowly. I can't think of a sinle diagnostic criteria that says that having an imagination precludes a diagnosis of AS. This particular aspect of the triad of impairments includes the whole theory of mind concept, obsessive behaviour, rituals etc. I'll keep my fingers crossed that all works out with the new Psychologist. Whatever happens you will know that you've done your best. What is happening now about school and home tuition? Is M still signed off sick?

Glad the appointment went well today. Fingers crossed the medication solves the problem without side effects.

Viper, <'> I agree with what everyone else has said. Depression is awful. It's far more than just feeling sad. It affects every aspect of your health. Are you sure that you're going through the menopause? I had similar problems and thought I was, but it turned out to be depression affecting my hormone levels. I'm like you, I hate going to the Doctors but in the end I became so ill I had no choice. Forcing myself to go really did turn my life around.

<'> <'> Hope things are much better today and that GP is able to help. I think we all have similar times and understand how you feel. You're not a failure and what makes you think that anyone else copes any better than you do? oOutward appearance means nothing, as you see so often on this forum.