Confusedmum

Thanks for your replys Kathryn - There is another smaller school (170 pupils) which also has and Intergrated SN Unit. There is not question that the other school is the better (small class sizes, More staff ect, ect), but its not local but its only a 10 minute drive away(but out of our catchment). The school she is at now is literally across the road from our house, and alot of the children in her class she has known since being 6 months old. But she hasnt made any solid friendships. Im lucky i know that she is currently in a really careing school im just worried that long term wise, that because its such a big school it might not be the best choice. My decision will also be made more difficult because DD2 will start school in sept 2009 (along way off i know) and i will need to apply for her school place before the end of sept 2008. So i need to make my mind up sharpish, i obviously i want them at the same schools but i dont think that DD2 would get into the smaller school thankfully she has no SNs, but she would do if she had an older sibling there if you know what i mean.

Hi All, School are going to apply for an assessment this term, Senco feels that we shouldnt have a problem aleast getting an assessment so fingers crossed. My problem is that i am still unsure about the suitabilty of her current school, they have been great and really supportive. DD seems to enjoy going most of the time. However they dont have much experiance of working with children on the spectrum (but they are willing to learn) and the school is massive (400 plus pupils). She is coping so far, but im worried that long term wise this may not be the school for her. So what i was wondering is when/if the LEA do there assessement, do they also assess to suitabilty of the school.

Hi Rocketgob, My little girl has recently been given a Dx of AS, just before her 5th birthday at the time of her assessment our pead actually said that the age of 5 is a young age for a child to be given a Dx of aspergers. However that doesnt mean that he would fit the spectrum. I just think that at the age of 2/3 it would probably be very difficult to cover the triad of impairments for a DX of AS, especially with social interaction. However that doesnt mean that they wouldnt give him a Dx of ASD. Again as others have said the earlier a child get a Dx the better. But in our case its only really now that DD has started school that we have found that she has needed it. DDs pre school were absolutley amazing !! and to be honest if it wasnt for them i would have lost the plot along time ago, lol. Personally i think i would go into the nursery and have a word with them, Ask them if they have must experiance of working with children on the spectrum, as even though your son is still very young you may find that by treating him as though he has ASD may well help him loads. As regards to having a heightened senses yes my DD definatley dose she cannot stand loud mechanical sound such as the hoover, washing machine ect, sense of smell well that also quite funny as she actually smells most things as soon as she picks them up clothes, toys ALL food, paper EVERYTHING, lol.

Until very recently DD had shown no interest in interacting with any children other than her little sister. She started school this september and after a rocky start she has settled in ok. Recently she has started to really try and make friend with a few of the boys in her class, but her way of doing this is to hug and kiss them. To start off with none of them seemed to mind but recently according to DD teacher this has started to annoy some of them. The ASD teaching team have been coming into school to work along side DDs teacher for a couple of hours each week and today she brought in a social story to explain to her that its ok for her to kiss and cuddle her family but not her friends at school. She went histerical and was absolutley heart broken , she wouldnt even let her teacher of the TA comfort her (she normaly does). I think that she thinks that she can no longer to play with them. She has been trying so hard recently and i just hope that this wont knock her convidence. I was just so chuffed that she had finally started to show some interest in other children that stupidly i didnt pick up on the fact that this would annoy the other kids. I feel so annoyed at myself for not picking up on this before, if i had then i would have explained to her myself.

Hi Zapper, My little girls has AS, She was diagnosed in september this year just before her 5th birthday, it was her nursery that referred DD to our local child development centre. Her assessment and diagnosies was actually extremely quick, we had our first interview with them at the end of july and by early september we had our dx.

Hi Jadzia, Welcome to the forum, its a fantastic imformative site, and there are quite a few of us with daughters on the spectrum myself included i have a 5 YO daughter who has AS. I also have a daughter who is 3 (NT).

Im Really suprised by this my DD (5) remember most of the childrens names in the entire school and i actually believe that this was part of her AS (having a really good memory). Not that i thought that all people with AS have a good memory i just thought it was quite common.

Hi Brooke, Just picking up on what you said about him being fine at milk time and song time, do you think that this is because this is quite stuctured, DDs nursery used a visual aid timetable for her and it worked a treat. It was really simple how they did it, it was just a picture for playing in the home role play area, a picture for painting a picture ect ect. It may be that he is still a bit young for this but it might be worth a try.

Mumble, Have you read all of these ? Im looking for a good aspie autobiographie, is there a particuliar one you would recommend ??

Thanks Mumble , That great DD is just 5, im sure that they do a beavers club at our local church where DD use to go to playgroup.

Is it true that they now take Girls, and what ages do they start from? im sure my DD (5) would enjoy something like this.

Oh Claire, im sorry i dont know what to tell you to do, but i just wanted to give a few of these <'> >< <'> to let you know your not alone here. Personally i would let him calm down first and then take him in. Im dreading this, its half term here this week, and as my DD has only just started school sept this is the first school holiday for us.

Hi Ivy, Parent partnership may be able to offer advice re good Mainstream nurserys, but i would contact the other nursery you mensioned that you had a place at before, you never know they may still have a place available. Does your area have an early years inclusion service? or better still an ASD teaching team. Ifso maybe they could advice you on nurserys in your area. However you may also find that just 2 mornings a week will be enough for your son for the time being, My DD started off with just 2 mornings and i gradually increased this to 4 mornings over a 12 mth period.

Hi Ivy, Personally i would go and have a look around at some of the private nuserys in your area and ask them what experiance they have working with children with SEN. My daughter has Aspergers and she went to a mainstream independant nursery, they had a fantastic special need teacher, they also have 2 other children with ASD at the moment, she really loved it there, she still misses all the staff (she started school in sept). Also most nursery sessions are 2.5 hours long and all 3-5 year old are entitiled to 5x2.5 hour session per week (during school term time). Hope this helps.

Thats so sweet of them , My DD also seems to have this effect on some of her girlfriend they all seem to mother her (when she lets them near her,lol). Even DD2 who almost 3 trys to mother DD1 (5) all the time, its comical really. I also really admire your DS stain power it must have been really stuff for him to stick it out. <'>