puffin

Lorne - i agree that you ought to push for implementation in September - but September needs to be planned now - I would push for a meeting before the end of term to plan for next year.

Lorne - this SHOULD NOT happen - I can see some parallels between your experience and the Buniak case where a child was excluded from school activities such as plays and outings because of a disability - I think that eclusion from sports day would fall into the same category http://www.ipsea.org.uk/buniak.htm - I think that you should contact IPSEA and get some advice. http://www.ipsea.org.uk I'm also not sure of the legality of the school denying your child the right to full time education

Great news - glad it all worked out Perhaps we should start referring to you as "Not quite so desperate"

I think you should take her to the GP/pead (if this would not be too stressful for her) and get her physical stress symtoms documented - the fact that the schools decision is making her physically ill is something that could be presented to the HT and Governing Body. Could you get the doctor to writea letter stating the importance of maintaining this existing friendship - she is hardly likely to feel very confident about making new friends when as soon as she does she gets moved. It seems like the school are effectively excluding her from the social side of school. Surely they should have strategies for bringing new children into her circle rather than excluding her from her existing friendships.

Sorry to hear about your problems - the school are acting in a disgusting manner - it's a sad fact that there are some teachers - with little understanding - who think that you can change AS behaviour by forcing the child to confront stressful situations. I have been in a similar situation and you have to be very tough and persistent with the school. Have you contacted the LEA? They should have an SEN policy that the school is meant to follow. I would also very strongly recommend that you contact IPSEA - http://www.ipsea.org.uk/ - they have helped many people on this site in similar situations and can give you the best advice. I would also recommend that you demand a meeting and take an ipsea representative with you. good luck

Sorry that you are having so much trouble with the school. I'm sure I've read on my travels that it is against the Disability Discrimination legislation to deny an SEN child schooling for being in nappies - perhaps another poster can quote chapter and verse on this. Good luck

I think you should go with the flow, play it by ear and let him run if he wants to - he may feel worse if you pull him out as it may give him the impression that he is not good enough to be with the others. It may be that the taking part and "being there" is important for him. I've been through this with my AS daughter - she wanted to run in a local cross country series of races - and up to the age of 6 or so it went OK she was always among the last few - but then suddenly all the average and poor runners dropped out and she was fininshing a whole minute behind the next last - but still she wanted to do it - and it worked out OK we just focussed on the positive - the other parents were great giving her a big clap - then suddenly at about 8.5 she didn't want to do it anymore so we dropped it. Do they have any other events that he could do as well - M was always great at throwing stuff - OK not always in any specific direction - but they had a "throwing the ball" event - and all the kids could have a throw. I was a bit worried as she sometimes threw right over her head and hit the people behind. The PE teacher stood on the far side of the sports field - out of range - saying stuff like "see if you can hit me" - not something to say to an Aspie as she took it rather litterally - the ball came flying out of her hand and PE teacher was sent scuttling out of the way as it landed exactly where he had been standing - - she got maximum points for her class and gave everyone a good laugh which made her day.

My 9 year old daughter LOVED the new Dr. Who - she has even turned down party invitations that clashed with it. But since last night's regeneration she seems really confused and puzzled - that Dr Who can become someone else. has anyone else had this problem?

In that case just suggest that you copy the file - as there is so little time to take it in (often works best if you smile and take on a rather stupid expression - often the staff assume that you are not able to understand the contents and let you copy away)

HH - I know how you feel - i was in the same position last year and spent nearly half my life having to go to school when M could not cope. We changed schools - not an easy decision as M was in her last year at that school and the new school knew nothing about AS BUT - they were willing to learn. Despite being viewed with suspicion at fist as difficult parents - M has had a wonderful year and gained so much both academically and socially - the support and calm environment has worked so well. I think that many ASD/AS children are very perceptive - they KNOW when the teachers cannot cope/do not want to cope - this then creates a feeling of confusion and panic and utimately poor behaviour - a vicous circle. If the school are not understnading the problems - perhaps it is the wrong school.

Try the Director of Education for the LEA - ask why so much dragging of heels and damage to your sons health/education is forced to start so late in the year.

I think SEN funding should be ring-fenced and schools not allowed to let it disappear into the crock of gold (and spent on other things) while the head teacher fobs parents off with a sob story about the school being broke.

Lisa I'm really sorry for you -this is a really bad decision. Now you must muster all your energy to fight the school to provide some sort of support on SA/SA+ if that is what the tribunal says they must do. Is there a possiblity of moving school? I was in a similar position a year ago and moved my daughter to another local school where the support has been amazing. You could alos try putting pressure on your local councillors/parliamentary candidates with the general election looming.

I would definitely contact IPSEA and consider what options you have - it does not sound as if the school is complying with the disability discrimination legislation. I would also look around for other schools that may suit your child's needs better as it sounds as though the current school do not have any real understanding of SEN. I moved my AS daughter and it was the best thing I have ever done - we were labelled as very difficult parents by the previous school and the new school was relectant to take her. However the best moment came at a meeting last week when the HT said (in a slightly baffled tone) that it was wonderful that we had struck up such a positive partnership and how much progress had been made by the girl who used to spend whole days under the furniture.

I just wanted to mention something that is strange but true - last term I gave my 'phone number to the school as I work a lot from home. The school were constantly on the 'phone complaining about this and that and wanting me to collect my daughter early take her home at lunch etc. This term we gave Mr Puffin's work number - and there has been a surprising drop in the number of 'phone calls. The seem to have decided that many of the problems they would have called about could be coped with until the end of the day - or perhaps they feel that the male breadwinner's job is more important has anyone else had the same experience. By the way the distances between me working at home and husband's workplace are approx the same.

I think you need to try and get some specialist involvement from the LEA. While some SENCOs are great and are very knowledgeable - in some schools they may have little or no special training in SEN. I have of school where the SENCO is not even a teacher but it is seen as an administrative job.

Do they really mean 1:1? Ask them to give you details - asks your child as well - for how many hours? - is the provision shared with other SEN kids? I know that some schools "cheat" on the 1:1 especially if kids are not statemented - they may say that the child is getting individual support but the reality can be that all the SEN kids (with numerous differnt problems such as ASD, ADHD, EDB; Dyslexia etc) in 2 or 3 classes are sharing the same LSA who may have no experience with ASD. My cousin is employed as an LSA 1:1 support for a girl with downs symdrome - but I know that she works in 3 different classes and only for 15 hours a week - therefore I doubt that the child is getting what I would regrd as 1:1.

I found this document yesterday that shows how much schools in Hampshire get - if you look at page 3 and the column for SEN you can see how much schools are getting for children without statements http://www.hants.gov.uk/education/schools/...3mainstream.pdf

The school get a (pretty large) SEN budget to support children with SEN but without statements - you should not feel guilty about the cost as he's entitled to it.

I think that another important issue is to force schools to spend their SEN budgets (for pupils without statements) on SEN. The TES debate showed that schools are not forced to do this and often the sen budget is raided as it is sen as a "soft option" - yet schools are usually allocated 10's, and perhaps even 100's of �000s to support SEN.

I have personal experience as I took some classes here in Sweden by internet/distance mode. Although I am not ASD myself I have an AS daughter and the comments that I would like to add are: ~ This could be a good method of learning for a bright older child as there is a certain level of self motivation and organising involved. ~ There is a risk that there would be little opportunity to practice social skills and their is a risk of isolation. Although one option would be if one or two subjects couls be taken in school. I did this as I took my A level Swedish in class and took A level History and Social Studies at the internet school. ~ It is a bit limited to traditional academic or IT subjects as it would be more difficult for languages, art. PE or practical subjects. ~ However technology could be used more flexibly - I knew one person at the FE college who was dyslexic and followed a special internet programme and the 3 time a week came into college to sit in a small group (2 or 3) where they video conferenced with a specialist teacher. hope this helps

I wouldn't accept this and would be inclined to hold out and see what the tribunal brings. I was offered a similar placement for my 8 year old daughter - the LEA seemed to focus only on the problems of sitting still in class and not on the AS needs at all. We agreed to 1 month trial and at the end of the month I refused to let her go back (much to the LEAs shock as they had taken it for granted) although the staff were lovely it was not the right placement for her. She was frightened by the the volatile behaviuor of some of the others and because she is also in the gifted range she had no intellectual benefit from being in a group where the others tended to have learning problems (although she was much in demand for homework help by the older kids). We demanded reintegration at a new mainstream school - this has worked really well. I have come to the conclusion that about 90% of success/failure of school placements comes down to the school's attitude. It is also interesting how the old school had NO SEN kids in her year - they have all moved to the new school!!! So she is now in a class of 21 with 3 full time adults (1teacher and 2 LSAs) plus a part time SEN specialist. Hold out for what you think would be the best option - I would not be inclined to accept 4 GCSEs if he is gifted. Have you considered legal action?

Hej mirgaika! Hoppas att det g?r bra f�r dig! I'm a British ASD parent living in Sweden so I am sympathetic that everything takes so much time - we started the "formal" diagnosis process fo our child in 2002 - yet we still don't have a final diagnosis yet! They seem to want to everything very slow and sure; so far we have had about 20 hospital appointments - most of these have lasted about 2 hours for different tests and interviews; some for our child and some just for us. I don't know what the process is for adult AS diagnosis but we have met with; Consultant paediatrician, psychologist, special needs pedagog, physiotherapist, occupational therapist and social worker. I know the waiting is hard. As you are a student it might be worth approaching your college or University to see if they offer you any support and help while you are waiting for diagnosis to see if you qualify for LSS status (registered disabled status in Sweden). If you landsting (health authority) has a long waiting list you could find out what rights you have to be assessed in a neighbouring area - or indeed if there is a REALLY long waiting list you may have the right to see a health authority approved private psychiatrist/psychologist and just pay the normal patient fee that you would at the health authority clinic. You may also be able to get some help or advice from the Swedish Autistic society http://www.autism.se/ Good luck and keep in touch