Elaine

Thankyou all for your input. For several reasons, we've decided to keep his current placement, but try to get more support. We met with the SENCO in December and again went over the problems he's having. We asked for the teachers to provide classnotes and/or textbooks as he can't write decent class notes. We also asked that the homework be more appropriate so that he can do it independently. She couldn't promise any of that, but his homework assignments and class hand-outs seem to have improved since the meeting, so maybe she had some influence over the teachers. I have also discussed the problems with the CC Inclusion Officer, who said that she'll speak to the SENCO and attend his annual review. So we're keeping on top of matters and are supporting him at home as best we can.

Thanks very much for your reply Sally44 In answer to your questions: School – It's a voluntary controlled state school, not enhanced resource or anything like that. Class numbers are around 30. It seemed to be good for SEN when we visited. It is small (about 400), they run several clubs at lunchtime, including one for SEN children, so my son can avoid being in the playground and the SENCO came across very well at the time. They do have a fair number of ASD children. Annual review. That was in April last year. Next one is planned for March. At the review there was only the SENCO and one of the T.A.s. No one else was there. No one submitted any reports. The SENCO said this was normal in secondary school. I don't know about that but in primary school we had the inclusion officer as well as the speech therapist, educational psychologist, autism outreach representative all of whom submitted reports. It felt like we'd just been dropped. Professional input – at the moment none at all. All help seemed to disappear when he went to secondary school. Alternatives – there's very little choice nearby. There is an enhanced resource school about half an hour away, but it's over twice the size of the current school and he'd still have to share the playground/dinner hall/hallways with all those other children. Most, if not all, of the lessons would be in normal classes. Being a state school, I would expect them to use the same style of teaching as in the current school. There’s very little in the way of autistic schools and most are for more severely affected children with behavioural difficulties. My son is quiet and behaves himself in school, which is why he has so little support. I can only think of one independent special school which sounds suitable but that's about an hour away, which isn't practical. I'll give the parent partnership a call tomorrow and the inclusion officer and see what they say.

Hi – I was wondering if anyone out there, with a child in secondary school, could offer some advice. I've got an ASD son (12) in Y8 of secondary school. Things aren't working out educationally and I'm not sure where to go from here. The problem seems to be their style of teaching. I have no idea if this is typical of secondary schools these days or not. Things were certainly a lot better in my day. Basically instead of teachers writing notes on the white board or giving handouts, pupils are expected to write their own notes based on what was said in class or what they read in a textbook. Maybe this is OK for some pupils, but it's too hard for him. He has difficulty concentrating, difficulty remembering what was said, difficulty with reading and writing. End result is that his class notes are utterly useless and he learns next to nothing. He isn't keeping up and his teachers and T.A.s are doing nothing to help. Homework is all internet based research type pieces, with no guidance about where to look, which again is too difficult for him (I help him with this). I can't do much about the classwork as they don't give textbooks out, and I don't know what he's supposed to have been taught. I have spoken to the SENCO a few times about our concerns. But whatever issues I raise, they always deny everything. Her primary concern appears to be in defending the reputation of the school, not in helping the children. The worst part is that we spent ages looking into secondary schools and moved here (a couple of years ago) in order to get him into this school as it was small and gave the impression of being SEN friendly! (He can't cope with noisy crowded places and the schools round here are huge) Anyway, I'm not sure how to progress matters. Any ideas? Are subjects taught in this way in your schools? How do your children manage? He does have a statement with a few hours (I think about 10 or 12) and he does have access to a T.A. for each lesson. (I also have two other children to consider, who are still in the feeder primary school, so changing schools would be a last resort. My daughter is getting on well and has friends there, but my younger son is quite badly autistic and hyperactive too, so I dread to think how he'll cope with the secondary school.) Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading

No, this board not anti-vax, everyone has their own opinions. However, if you look at the MMR Patient Information Leaflet, produced by the vaccine manufacturer Merck and published on the NHS website here You will see that at the end of the extremely long list of known adverse reactions is listed "death". Seems to me that the vaccines issue has become so political that when children suffer known adverse reactions to vaccines, it's just too controversial to admit. I feel so sorry for the parents, it must be heartbreaking

Thanks for all the information Lynne. If things don't work out with the state schools, I'll try the independent route, but don't hold out much hope, my CC is awful. (Last year, my youngest son was due to go to a special ASD unit, it was written into his statement. Anyway, at first the CC refused to provide transport as, they claimed, all schools can take ASD children, therefore it was our 'choice' to send him there. Eventually, after a lot of phone calls they agreed, but refused to provide him with an escort (he was only 4 at the time). Again more calls and they agreed to that too. Then, when everything seemed to be going our way, they closed down the unit !!!!! ) Thanks for replying Suze and Canopus. I am a member of a local support group and have asked around about schools already. (And I've asked the other Mums at my children's school). There is one school that is good in terms of academic achievement and some people have found it quite helpful (others haven't), but it has 1500 pupils. It's the sheer size of it that concerns me. Knowing my children, they'll find it overwhelming. (And I would like a school where the teachers and the head actually know who the children are, which isn't going to happen in a school that size.) I'll pay it a visit anyway........

Thanks for the relies everyone! Lynne, would you mind telling me how you managed to get funding for an independent school? My CC take the view that all schools should be able to take ASD children, so if you choose another school (even if it's a special school) then it's parental choice and they wont pay.

Hi Do any of you have experience of, or opinions on, what sort of secondary school is best for ASD children? My eldest son is in Year 5 of a local mainstream primary school. Over the years, the school has been very supportive and he's doing well. Recently he's started to worry about going to secondary school. He finds the idea of going to a large school daunting. Unfortunately, all the secondary schools in our local area are large (1000 to 1500 ish). (And all have their share of bullies) Given the choice, I'd send him to a small independent school. But we can't afford an independent school and the nearest small state secondary school is in a neighbouring county. (It's about � hr. away, so we'd either spend a lot of time in the car, or move house.) It's so hard predicting what would be best. I'd be interested to hear other peoples experiences of secondary school. Thanks Elaine

Hi all I thought I'd update you on this, just in case it's of any help to other people on the diet. As most of the diet/autism information I'd read listed gluten as the offending part of wheat, I decided to give gluten-free wheat starch a trial. (My boys did not like the regular wheat and gluten free bread and were fed up with the diet) I found a couple of suppliers of inexpensive, gluten free wheat starch based mixes and tried them out with my sons. The bread produced by these mixes was great. It looked and tasted pretty much like normal bread and was even good enough for sandwiches for one or two days. The cake mixes were even better, producing cakes indistinguishable from regular ones. We were delighted - unfortunately, after a few days, my sons started having stomach aches again. I put them back on a wheat -free diet again and they felt better. After a while, I tried them out again with the GF wheat starch based mixes, again they had stomach aches after a few days. In total, they tried it out three times, each time they got stomach aches, so it seems that wheat (whether gluten free or not) does not agree with them. Still, some good has come out of this. I've found an amazing online shop, based in Germany, which sells a vast range of gluten free products at very reasonable prices and I've found a WF/GF/DF bread mix which the boys like. So, now they're happier with the diet and feeling well.

Hi. I was at the talk too (and found it very interesting). One thing that he mentioned stuck in my mind. He referenced a study which indicated that (many) ASD kids who have been vaccinated do not produce an antibody response to the vaccination (whereas NT kids do). Which presumably would mean that they could still catch an illness despite having been vaccinated against it. As this has major implications, I wanted to check it up myself. Unfortunately this bit was rather rushed and I did not take down the details of the study. I've been to the Sunderland website and couldn't find anything there. A Google search also proved unhelpful. Does anyone remember this bit and/or take notes? Thanks

That's absolutely appalling! I've never been in that situation, but it might be worth phoning your 'Parent Partnership' advisor. In the past I've found them helpful. Sorry you're being put through this.

I have found home/school diaries quite useful and have certainly used them to query things. (Although with anything of importance I usually ask for a chat.) Bard, Brooke and Flora have said it all really. The teacher is being over-sensitive. It's not your problem.

Hi, Thanks for all your relies. Just wanted to say that I went with my gut feeling and have arranged to keep my son on in nursery for another year. Initially I was concerned that the people involved would be irritated at me for changing things, after the statement had been finalized. However nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone involved (the CDC staff, the C.C. Assessment and Monitoring team, the Nursery) were shocked at the way the change from Unit to Provision was being handled by the Head and supported my decision fully.

Hi I'm also considering using enzymes for my two boys. They're GF/CF, but I'm pretty sure there are other foods which also affect them,such as apples and bananas. Big Mamma, do you have to use the full range (Zyme Prime, Peptizyde, No Fenol) ? Thanks

Hi, I've been doing GF/CF with my two sons for the best part of 5 years by now, but still can't produce nice tasting bread with the standard GF mixes. I was wondering about trying baking with gluten free wheat starch. For anyone using the gluten and casein free diet. Have any of you tried using products made with gluten free wheat starch? And if so, were there any problems? Thanks

Hi Just wanted to back up what others have said. Melatonin isn't a medicine, it's a supplement and can be bought without a prescription (eg from Biovea). I've been using it off and on with my two boys for 4 years and have found it a great help. They usually need it during the light Summer months. It helps them get off to sleep really quickly (usually within half an hour) and has no side effects (unlike sleep deprivation). It is also completely non-addictive. Elaine

Hi Our family has certainly had it's share of tummy troubles, so I thought I'd let you know what I've found out over the years. Constipation can be caused by lots of things. The most obvious I suppose being dehydration. Assuming your son is getting enough to drink, there are a couple of other things which most doctors don't seem to know about: Coeliac disease can cause constipation http://www.gluten.net/celiac.html Blood tests for coeliac disease are not 100% accurate. It is possible to have coeliac disease and still have a negative blood test http://www.coeliac.co.uk/documents/5929_co...nosis_a5_d4.pdf (In A User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HD (by Luke Jackson) he writes that one of his brothers had terrible constipation until he went on the GF/CF diet) Cows milk intollerance can also cause constipation http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/cache/-1066729402.htm Hope this helps Elaine

Hi Claire I've read 'Gut and Psychology Syndrome' and 'Breaking the Vicious Cycle' (by Elaine Gottschall) and attempted to do the diet, but had to give up due to non-compliance. At the moment I'm doing Gluten and Casein free with my two ASD boys (8 and 4), but try to limit the amount of refined carbs (as they'd live on little else, given the choice). I first attempted the SCD diet with my boys after trying GF/CF and feeling that we weren't progressing very far. There had been an initial improvement, but then things levelled off and they were still horribly restrictive in their eating habits. We managed about a month of SCD altogether, but after that time the novelty of almond and honey cakes really wears off and they were thoroughly fed up of it. As far as results are concerned - there did seem to be an improvement on top of that gained by just doing GF/CF, but I didn't feel that the gains justified the cost (boys missing out on nice food).

Hi If it is dangerous for your son to travel alone, then you should be able to ask for an escort. You'd probably need backing from a special needs professional who knows your son. (From my experience, county council people will try to get out of providing these services if at all possible. I only got my issues resolved by LOTS of phone calls and getting a member of the CDC assessment team involved)

Thanks for your replies Brooke and Mel. It certainly helps to hear other people's experiences. Unfortunately to make matters worse, my local school is now oversubscribed (with several on the waiting list and going to appeal). This came as quite a blow to me as the Head had previously agreed to keep his place open, but clearly wasn't able to. He can stay at nursery until he's 5, which would be great for him. But after that is a grey area.

Hi all. I have an issue regarding education for our youngest son (4, ASD). Maybe one of you has been in a similar situation and can give me some advice. My son is due to start school in September. He has a final Statement naming a school which had an ASD unit (at the time of application). Yesterday I took him for his first visit, but found several issues: The first one is that the Unit is changing to a 'Provision', which means that the classrooms I'd seen on my previous visit, would be closed down over the Summer, to be replaced by 'a quiet area' somewhere in the school.He'd be registered with a mainstream class, go to assembly and go out of the class for work with the ASD teachers as needed. This seemed pretty pointless to me, as I could have sent him to the local school where my other two children go to (one also has ASD and is supported) The second issue came up while spending some time with the ASD class. After an initial, short period of attention the staff left him to his own devices.He quickly got bored. There weren't many things to do there, but a large, visible stack of toys outside the classroom. Obviously my son wanted to play with them, but was just told that he couldn't. This left him as a screaming, crying wreck. As the staff made no attempt to calm him down or sort the actual problem out (he didn't understand why he couldn't play with the toys ? ASD!!!) I finally decided to take him home early (after just half an hour) So, my first impression was very negative. Combining that with the change from Unit to Provision, I'm very uncertain that I want to go ahead with this and feel like keeping him in his nursery until he's 5. Even more so, as this school is all the way through town and hence requires that my son, will need to be transported by taxi, while I take the other kids to the local school. Has any of you had experience of ASD 'Provisions' vs 'Unit'? Does anyone think my first impressions of his handling, might have been influenced by my presence? Sorry for the seemingly rather long post and thanks for reading.

Hello Ian Thank you for your reply. The lecture sounds very interesting and if it weren't for the distance/cost I'd attend. Perhaps it'd be better for me to have a look at the e-books you mentioned earlier and to get an appointment at one of your clinics.

Hello I have horrible problems with florescent lights, always have done - they make me feel dizzy and sick which makes shopping a nightmare. Anyway, I was advised (on another site) that coloured lenses might help. I phoned up the local irlen lens place and was horrified by the costs involved, which would come to over ?400.00 just to get a pair of coloured glasses! Does anyone know of an optician (in Cheshire) offering a similar service?

I don't really know what to say except sorry you're having a rough time.Take care of yourself.

Hello TheNeil Sorry you've not managed to escape yet, but something will turn up. Is there the possibility of changing departments within your company or working within the same department, but in a more friendly bay? Also, regarding other people not being friendly. I hope this doesn't sound disrespectful, but have you considered that at least some of them may be Aspies too? Albeit undiagnosed. Once I worked in a particularly 'unfriendly' bay. I used to come into work, give a smile and say 'hello' and no-one would look at me or say 'hello' back (and that from day one). This one guy would make some kind of grunt in response, but wouldn't look away from his monitor. He was very clever (PhD in physics) and actually a decent person, but he couldn't make conversation. (In the end I became thoroughly depressed by this and moved into another bay where life was a lot better). That was 8 years ago, before I had children and learnt about AS/ASD. In retrospect, I suspect that he wasn't being deliberately unfriendly. I think that he may have been an undiagnosed Aspie. I suspect that there are a lot of people around - particularly in I.T./Engineering - who have Aspergers and don't know it. Elaine

mum22boys, I feel the same way. The only time I take the children to the shops is to get them shoes and even then it has to be done quickly. Even things like taking them to the swimming pool or the playground is difficult. At the playground, Kieran rushes round like the Tasmanian Devil, stopping about 2.5 seconds at each thing and having no regard to safety. Conversation with anyone is impossible. At the pool he's either spinning or getting out of/into the water in rapid succession. I love my children dearly, but at times like these, I feel that we really stand out and I wish that we didn't. As for holidays, we don't attempt anything stressful anymore. We go to CentreParcs twice a year, every year. Hubby and I would like to do something different, but at the moment it's really not a good idea. (By the way, BD, Jen and Caroline thanks for the ideas about gameboys and social stories, I'll give these a try) Elaine