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Dummie

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Everything posted by Dummie

  1. Hello We're in the progress of statementing. I've received a copy of the SALT report and am a bit concerned/confused. The first part of the report basically list what his communication, comprehension, expression, speech/phonology and functional communication is like. Next it mentions what the current intervention is. The progress made and the current therapy targets. Then there's the conclusions and recommendations. 1) High level of adutl support to enable the child to attend to, understand and participate verbally in task and interact socially with peers. - what is considered high level? 1:1 or 1:2 or 1:6? This will affect the kind of school we can approach. - what kind of adult support? 2) Specialist teaching by teachers and staff with competence, skill and specialist knowledge in ASD - does this basically mean he needs to attend a specialist school? 3) School will need access to specialist training in PECS and TEAACh - what happens if I want my child to attend a school that uses ABA? Can anyone shed some light please. Many thanks in advance.
  2. Hello Everyone My 3yr old is in the process of having assessments done for the LEA to decide whether a statement needs to be issued. So far I've received a report from SALT and I attended nursery last week to meet with the Educational Psychologist who was there to assess DS. Does anyone know who else needs to carry out assessments? The reason I'm asking is because since his dx in July last year he's only seen the Paed and Clinical Psychologist once. We've still waiting for OT appointment to arrive!! I have concerns about sensory issues but this has never been assessed. So I'm sort of wondering how ALL of DS needs can be known if only a couple of assessments are carried out. Does this make sense? DS has a dx of autism and attends a specialist nursery on an assessment place. Nursery, SALT and Ed Psyc have all said that a statement will definitely be issued and all reccommend a specialist provision to meet his needs. Thank you in advance for your advice.
  3. Thank you for your replies. During a beginning of term meeting 2wks ago at the nursery when the head mentioned she'd get the ball rolling for the statement, I did ask if it there was a possibility that the LEA would refuse a statement. I was told that this would be highly unexpected because all the children who attend the nursery have a statement in place for when they leave. I'm thinking that the nursery is aiming for a specialist placement for A next year. Maybe I should ask her directly about her thoughts on mainstream and what she considers A would struggle with. The head has actually suggested that I find A a mainstream nursery for him to attend on the days he doesn't go to his current one to 'see how he copes'. This has led me to think she has thought about it. However I can't find him a nursery place!!!! They are all full and are not even accepting us on any waiting list. If I could get him into a mainstream nursery then at least we'll know how he'd cope. I agree with not wanting to dismiss mainstream until we've tried it. Or else we'll never know. In the letter I received from our case officer, it says AS YOU ARE AWARE, THE SEN PANEL AGREED IN DEC 2007 THAT IT WAS APPROPRIATE TO UNDERTAKE A STATUTORY ASSESSMENT OF A'S EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND HE WAS OFFERED AN ASSESSMENT PLACE AT XXX NURSERY. THE SCHOOL HAVE NOW ASKED THAT I START THE ASSESSMENT. So this means that everyone agrees that there is a need for an assessment, right? And now the LEA are going to do it. Will the statement (if given) be different if A attended a mainstream school via a specialist school or will it be the same? ie do I need to mention I'm hoping to send A to a mainstream? The reason I'm asking this is because if he went to mainstream then I'm hoping he'll get 1:1 help but if he goes to a specialist school then because the teacher student ratio is very small then he won't get 1:1 which means that the statment should be different, right?
  4. Hello A is 3yrs 4mths. He was dx with autism July last year and since Dec has been attending a nursery for children on the spectrum. He is due to start reception in Sept 2009. And even though this is more than 1yr away it's something that I am thinking about lots. When A was dx he was non verbal, had no eye contact, hardly responded to anything and mostly existed in his own world. Since then, he has come a long long way. He has more words than I remember and is able to point to and name things and request for things (but is developing echolalia), he responds quite well, is able to make his needs known either by verbally or by gesture. He can count up to 15, knows most of his alphabet, colours, shapes etc etc Socially he is coming along really well too. He will now copy physical movements of other children. So will copy them dancing, runny, jumping etc. When he sees other children lining up, he will join the end of the line. In Surrey where we live, there are 2 schools for autistic children. The nearest one is for children who are more seriously affected by autism. I don't want A to attend this school as I am concerned about him copying behaviour. This school leans more towards teaching the children self-help skills and not the academic side. I'm concerned this school will limit A in his learning and development. The other school sounds quite good. We've been told they only tend to accept the 'more able' children. However, it is 1hr drive away from where we live. In rush hour in the morning it'll probably take 1hr 45mins. I feel this is too long a drive to expect A to take each morning for 5 days a week. So I'm really beginning to panic. What are we going to do? This has led me to think about mainstream school but I've no idea if he'll cope and the sort of help I can expect him to receive. I 'think' he should be OK if he had 1:1 help to help explain things in the way he can understand. He adapts quite easily. I feel his peers at mainstream will provide him with the correct models (behaviour/social/speech) to copy. The nursery has just requested the LEA to carry out an assessment of SEN. I've received form through the post yesterday. It's a ADVICE FROM THE CHILD'S PARENT form. Do I list all my thoughts on this? I'm so scared of messing things up for A. Or can anyone tell me where I can find out what all my options are? It's such a mine field. There's so much to look into. Where do I start? Also, is anyone willing to share what type of school their LO attends and their reason for this choice. What are the things you considered? Thank you so so much in advance for your help.
  5. Hello There I've just noticed that the farm/adventure park I'm planning on taking DS tomorrow offers lower admission prices for disabled persons and their carers. How do you 'qualify' for these prices and do you need to provide 'evidence'?
  6. Last night was the same as usual. He woke around 1:30am and didn't go back to sleep again until around 4:30am. I then had to wake him at 7:15am to get up for nursery. I spoke to our paed. She recommended I give him the medication at 7:15pm tonight and aim for a 8pm bedtime to try and cut out the night time waking. I did this tonight. However, he fell asleep by 7:30pm. He was really tired and was actually requesting to go to bed at 6:30pm. Tonight I only mixed the melatonin with 10ml of multi-vitamin syrup. Fingers crossed for tonight.
  7. Thank you for your reasurrances. DS slept really well. Not a peep from him until he crawled into my bed around 5am but he immediately fell back asleep again. I called our paed in the morning. She said it was OK to break open the capsule but she said to mix it with food or juice to avoid upsetting his tummy. So tonight I mixed it in with a pot of his yoghurt. I gave it to him at 6:50pm. We did our bedtime routine and I left his room at 7:10pm. The medication didn't work so quickly tonight. I had to do our whole rapid return to bed routine for 1hr 20mins before he fell asleep so I'm not sure if the medication worked or not coz that's how long it usually takes me to get him to sleep. Oh well, I'll just have to see if he wakes up tonight and see what time he wakes in the morning.
  8. Thank you for your replies. I had just split open the capsule. I was told to give him one capsule which I did, just minus the capsule itself. I suppose because as he didn't swallow the capsule itself there was not that time delay where the capsule melts which meant the powder entered his system immediately!
  9. Hello Today our paed gave DS 3yrs some Melatonin. When I got home I found they were capsules. This is the first time we have had this medication. Our paed advised me to give him 2mg so a minute ago I broke open the capsule and gave the powder to DS on a spoon mixed in with a little water. Our paed had advised that the medication will take 30-60mins to work but DS fell asleep within 5mins!!! I'm worried now. Should I not have broke open the capsule? I'm sure the capsule itself is not part of the medication but I can't help wondering??? Need reassurances and/or advice please. Dummie
  10. Just come on to vent. And to hopefully receive some words of wisdom and advice at the same time. I had the most stressfull day today. Started at 8am and by 11am I was already wishing it was bedtime. It all started when I gave A his orange. I usually buy small mandarins because 1) he doesn't like using his front teeth to bite into things 2) doesn't like me cutting them in half and 3) likes to put orange segments whole into his mouth. Anyway, the supermarket didn't have any mandarins so I brought the smallest orange I could find. Turns out the segments were quite 'fat' so the only way was to cut them in half really. He had a fit. Screamed and screamed and screamed. I tried everything I could to get him to eat it but he wouldn't. In my mind he was just being naughty and fussy. I just didn't step back to consider his feelings. In the end I forced one into his mouth. I'm so so so sorry. I did give up but he continued to be whingy and upset most of the day. I've been so stressed. He's been waking up lots and lots during the night just screaming. His reaction to everything is to scream. Whether he's happy, fraustrated, angry, sad, excited......he's always scream and it just goes right through me. I really am feeling so tired. How do you cope? I mean, how do you mange to cook tea when he can't be left alone? He's taken to coming into the kitchen and pulling everything out and banging the cupboard doors. I know I could put locks on the doors but if it's not one thing he's going to find something else isn't he? What do you do when he has a melt down because the books he's lined up is not completely straight? I feel so torn. Where do you draw the line on what's being naughty and needing discipline or what's something that is due to his ASD? I hope you're able to make sense of this post. I'm not good at expressing myself. Thank you for reading.
  11. Hello Everyone I'm going through one of my many guilt trips at the moment. This time it's about the lack of time I feel I spend playing with Aidan. To be honest I'm feeling totally clueless about what to do with him. He mostly prefers to play by himself and I find it hard to interact with him. It's such hard work trying to keep his interest and concerntration. Is anyone on here soooooo organised that you have a play/activity routine for your child? Or do you just do things that pop into your mind? Maybe I'm just not creative enough. How do you fill the whole day with meaningful activities? Thank you in advance for your help. Dummie
  12. Thank you everyone. Feeling somewhat reassured about this daunting task ahead of us after reading your posts. It feels like everything A will willingly eat is not allowd now and trying to get a 'I won't eat it unless I recognise it' toddler to try new things is Tomorrow will be spent at the supermarket reading food labels. I'll probably spend sooooo long lurking that security will be alerted!
  13. Hello A has recently started hitting his own head with his hand during his meltdowns. Luckily these don't happen too often (maybe 2 every 3wks). Is it something I should be worried about? Has anyone else experienced this? Usually during these episodes I find it best to ignore him. Once he's run out of steam he'll usually come to me for a cuddle. I'll cuddle him and pat him on the back and he usually falls asleep as he's so exhusted. Dummie
  14. Hello Everyone We are just about to start A on a dairy and gluten free diet (and also soya free). We've been told to search out the free from ranges at our local supermarkets which I will do when I'm next child free but I was thinking. Apart from the free from ranges, are there less obvious regular food items that are suitable but not labeled free from? For example baked beans and tinned tomatoes (sorry, don't know if these are FF but I'm just trying to give an example of what I mean) I was just thinking that those of you who are futher on on your journey on implementing this diet must have a list of everyday items that you know are safe. A list that would be extremely useful to those (like me) who are just starting this journey. Just posting to see whether it would be possible to share. Dummie
  15. Thank you for your quick replies. I really appreciate it. The problem is when we moved to where we are now 8mths ago I couldn't find any nursery placements whatsoever as there was such a shortage. It wasn't until my HV personally contacted a few nurseries that we were offered a place for 2xmorning sessions. Our HV did this for us based on our concerns about DS's development prior to him being dx. We cancelled this mainstream nursery placement when we were told about the specialist nursery that would become available to us. We had stupidly assumed that it would be a 5day nursery place considering he so obviously needs it. Do you know if this is the sort of thing that Partnership with Parents could help with? I've been given their leaflet but have not yet been in touch with them. Thank you again for your help. Ivy
  16. Hello Everyone My son will be 3yrs in Dec. He was dx as autistic a few months ago and have been offered a place at a local LEA run nursery for autistic children. Unfortunately the nursery is only able to offer 2 morning sessions a week and I would very much prefer for DS to attend 5 morning sessions. I've been searching the internet for privately run specialist nurseries all day but have come across nothing. Does anyone know where I can find such information? Also, am I right in thinking that the gov provides funding for 3-5yr olds to access nursery education for 5x2.5hrs per week? If yes, then what happens if the nursery is not able to provide these hours like in our current situation? Thank you in advance for your help. Ivy
  17. Hello nikki (waving like mad). It's great to 'see' you here too. A 'familiar' face Thank you for the link to this forum. The information here has been extremely helpful.
  18. Shortie - can you tell me what made you decide to enroll in a special nursery rather than mainstream? Also, with early intervention - what did this include? I'm feeling defeated at the moment because we saw the SALT today who said there won't be any 1-1 sessions (posted in another thread). Thank you.
  19. Hello There My son Aidan aged 2.5yrs was diagnosed with ASD last week. The paed who diagnosed him said his primary needs are SALT. Aidan is not yet talking. 4-6mths ago his main way of communicating his needs were by hand-leading. There was limited babbling and no eye contact. Since then I've worked really really hard to teach him to be more vocal and to give eye contact and he will now babble and look at me when he has a need that needs to be met. We saw the SALT today. Feeling very defeated as she said that his treatment with her will consist of her seeing him once every few months to follow up and coordinating with his nursery with advice. She said that 1-1 therapy doesn't usually start until after he is 3yrs old. I have faught a long hard battle for the past year to get this far and am very aware how important early intervention is. When we got the diagnoses last week my reaction was 'OK - now lets get on with treating him!' but today to hear that SALT won't start until he's 3yrs old has really hit me hard. Can anyone advise what I should/can expect. Has anyone's LO received SALT before they were 3yrs old? By highlighting the importance of early intervention - what does early intervention mean? Simply observing? What kind of treatments/therapy does early intervention include? Thank you in advance for your replies and advice. Ivy
  20. My DS Aidan was diagnosed last week. He is nearly 2.5yrs old. I had concerns when he was around 12mths old but no body would listen to me. We moved to another county 4mths ago and our HV picked up immediately that something wasn't right. Below were some of the earlier concerns. 1) he was absolutely silent. No crying. No babbling. 2) no pointing, waving etc 3) no eye contact 4) hand leading 5) will sit in the same spot playing with the same toy pressing the same button for over 45mins 6) didn't interact with us 7) seemed like he was in his own little world and had cut off the outside world 8) not seeming to understand what we were saying 9) ignored us most of the time so seemed 'deaf' at times 10) would become so obsorbed with particular toys that it was very hard getting his attention He is making progress and he now shouts, screams, babbles (no talking yet). I've been working very hard on getting him to be more vocal and it's definitely paying off. I'm now working on eye contact and he's picked it up really quickly. He still hand leads but because we've worked on the vocals and eye contact he will do those as well. He's also pointing (a funny kind of point) and will wave now. We practice all these things ALOT! With the progress he's made so far with me I'm very hopeful that now we've got the right people in the loop he'll come along leaps and bounds.
  21. Hello My son is nearly 2.5yrs old and is waiting for an appointment to see the MDA team, the SALT, orthoptics and audiology. He is not yet talking and shows many of the signs of being on the spectrum. He has just started at a local nursery (in the 2-3yr olds class) and I was wondering if I should be looking at getting him assessed for SEN now. Or do we need to wait until he has seen the MDA team and has been assessed? Even if he is not diagnosed, he is certainly not developing within the normal range. He will be 3yrs old at the end of Dec so will move up a class at the beginning of the Jan 08 term. The nursery has their own SENCO (who is located in the 3-5yrs old class). Thank you. Ivy
  22. Dummie

    Introductions!!

    Hello I've just joined this forum. My name is Ivy, hubby is Andrew and our DS is Aidan who is nearly 2.5yrs old. We are currently waiting to see the multi-disciplinary team so at the start of what seems like a very long and daunting journey. We first had concerns about Aidan when he was 14mths old but our then HV didn't want to know. We have since moved and our new HV is great and it is she who is getting the ball rolling for us and guiding us through this battlefield. Looking forward to getting to know you all. I've got lots to learn and have learnt so much from browsing this forum already. I'm sure you'll see me posting my endless questions soon so in advance to those who choses to take the time to offer their help, guidance, advise and love. Ivy
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