jools

thought i had put the link on. thanks for putting it up bagpuss. we've told him all about it and he keeps looking at the website so hopefully he will be happy on the day. you watch.....he'll be fine and one of the others will freak...lol

has anyone been here? i went with my nt daughter about 5yrs ago when she was 7 on a school trip and she was scared in some places. we have booked to go next week with all 3 but i'm starting to wonder if its really a good idea with G. sometimes the things i think he will freak at, he suprises me and is fine. i can remember getting stuck in the dark room where there are lots of doors which don't lead out! and i'm not sure what he will make of that. also can't remember if any of the rooms have noises as he really doesn't like that. but i know he will love most of it....especially getting wet hope i'm doing the right thing

hi josie medication is such a personal thing that no-one can tell you what to do. i can tell what we did though. when it was first mentioned that G be medicated we said absolutely not. we didn't feel it was the way to go for him and us. we had read up on it (probably too much) and were truly against it. however his school work was suffering, and he was always unhappy. after nearly a year and lots of talking to our wonderful camhs person we decided to give it a trial run.it was one of the hardest decisions we have made. we discussed it with G and he agreed to give it a go. that was 11 months ago and we haven't looked back. we can see the difference it has made and more importantly so can he. he is much calmer and his school work/life has improved dramatically. get as much info as you can and i think my piece of advice to you would be, to be open to any suggestion and only take things further if you are sure that is what you want to do. don't be rushed into anything, read any info offered and discuss with partner/child (if appropriate), then make a decision. <'> <'>

fantastic

i hope bard doesn't mind me answering but it means......English as an additional language. i have to say that looking at bards class for next year my school don't know they are born!

the advice from Bard is excellent. i too cry sometimes from sheer frustration and anger so have sympathy with you there. is there someone you could take to the meeting with you.....a partner or friend? it really helps to have someone there to make notes and back you up if you reach the point where you feel you are not being listened to. i also want to add that you are not asking for 'special treatment'. you may be asking for 'different treatment' to the majority of parents and i believe the school have an obligation to act upon it, if it is the right move for your child. good luck <'>

in part 3.B it states......... 'Access to ICT specialist equipment provided by the school for G's personal use i.e. Alpha Smart' This statement is dated jan '07. in May we had a transition review (he is currently in Y5) the teacher wasn't present but she left a report which states '....it is becoming apparent that as demand to write more increases the Alphasmart is restrictive in that only a small amount of text is visible........G really needs to be able to view teh whole piece of writing at once. I think in the future a laptop would be a far better option to assist G.' i asked at the review if this could be actioned asap so that the laptop was his normal mode of recording work and so that by the time his sats arrived next year he was more than comfortable using the laptop. i asked if they would contact teh same man who assessed him for his alphasmart and was told yes. today hubbie has spoken to LEA about other matters to do with his statement and the LEA officer brought this up. she said that as it was an interim review (which we didn't realise....no-one told us ) his annual review would be oct 07 and they would look at the laptop then. i'm not happy with this. it mentions the alphasmart as an example of ICT equipment in his statement. surely if the teacher and the senco think he needs a laptop then they should go about assessing him for one and trying their hardest to get him one. am i missing something?

I am also a TA and it is generally more expected that you gain a relevant qualification. you would need a placement in a school while you do this so if you may want to start asking now if you are to consider taking this route. i did my placement in my childrens school and now work there on a permenent contract. you are probably more equiped than most people who undertake this course and i'm sure you would make a great TA

not upset or offended here there are some similarities between your little one and mine. G is dx dyspraxia, asd and has traits of add

" he just has no attention span at all, unless its for the playstayion. he forgets what hes meant to be doing after a few seconds and then wanders around reading stuff, fidgeting and asking lots of questions" my son has asd and add. to have add or add traits he does not need to be bouncing off the walls. G has never done this. his attention howevcr is attrocious unless doing something he really wants to do such as playing football on the computer!

thanks for all the replies i have asked that his ta comes. i'm going to ask the senco on tuesday(she works part time) to rearrange it for after half term. i've spoken to the asd oureach lady who can only come after 3.30 this half term but has more time next half term this is his transition review and i presume his annual review

ok, now his class teacher says she can't make it because she has a dental appt is it just me or does it make more sense to rearrange this meeting for after half term?? if his class teacher can't even come then i don't see the point in having it. funny thing is i'm not even suprised. this is the school all over. the head teacher even asked me yesterday which TA i would like to come. G only has 1. unless he was letting me have a choice over who i think would be the best person just to have a coffee and natter with!!!!!

this is G's first review (statement dated jan 07) i have just been told it is at the end of may and the senco said she isn't inviting the LEA because he hasn't had his statement long and things won't need changing. its more of an official need because he is in y5 so this is his transition review. part of his statement still isn't being implemented (social skills groups) although there is a meeting in school next week about this so this might change. is it normal practice that the lea don't need to be there?

<'> <'> <'> G has dyspraxia, asd and add traits. i burst into tears when ritalin was first mentioned and it took us 10 months to finally decide to give it a go. even then i was convinced it wouldn't and was only doing it so i could say 'we've tried it and it doesn't help him so stop asking us!' 8 months later, he's still on it and it the best thing we have ever done for him. he is a very different child. sometimes i think his asd does show more but maybe thats because he's calmer in other ways? take things easy and don't be pushed into making any decisions until you are ready <'>

thanks for assuring me i'm not going mad (well, madder than i already am!!!) a little update: school say they didn't contact the local asd team because their allocation had ran out. how can that be says I because G is the only child in school with asd and he hasn't had any visits!! they presumed the service was attached to the local rapt team (i don't think it is) and the allocation for that has run out. what they mean by this is the FREE allocation has run out. they have spoken to the LEA who said they may be able to get more allocated time. so I again suggested that someone actually ring the asd team and see what they say! they tried this yesterday and teh girl they need to speak to has gone off on easter break. i spoke to the parent partnership lady yesterday who suggested waiting until after the easter break and if nothing moves to write to the statementing panel. so that is what i'm going to do. i'm not going to speak to school on my own any more. and i won't be asking for an update after easter. if they don't approach me i will writing to the panel asking for a written response.

G got his statement in Jan. 2 of the points are 1. asd awareness training for all staff 2. regular social skills group i think i have been more than patient in waiting for school to sort this out. so far no phone call has been made to asd outreach team to organise training. training was finally arranged 2 weeks ago to send a ta on a course to do social skills training (outside agency and not in this area) with the idea being it would benefit G from may onwards. this course has now been canx by the provider. i asked his teacher today why school haven't contacted the local outreach team who, according to my stuff, advise on social skills groups. and who i keep saying they should ring. apparantly i'm being unfair to ask! its not her job (teacher) to make phonecalls. it costs money to organise things, money they don't have!!!! so i told her money isn't my concern (cue, very peeed off teacher) he has a statement and i intend to get it implemented i said if it wasn't sorted out by next week i'm ringing the lea....that went down like a lead balloon please reassure me i'm not going mad or expecting too much

thats good to hear. i hope everything is ok tomorrow

that is so funny! we are in a catholic school too and go to church far to often for G. he was there on friday with school and actually offered to come last night, much to my suprise. within 2 mins he was saying how bored he was and wanted to know the exact time it would finish (impossible to tell). he ended up sat on floor with hood up because the singing was annoying him. on way out this old dear came to talk to my youngest who had taken his first confession yesterday morning and is preparing to do his communion. she turned to G and said how nice it was that little one had an older brother who could tell him all about it. 'oh i don't know what its all about. i only come cos theres nothing on telly. and anyway i don't believe in god cos i haven't seen him' poor dear almost passed out

about 11.30 G grunted 'theres a card on me shelf if ya wan it! i think its rubbish' of course i think its lovely

thanks. i'm going to ring for an appt (could be months before i get one!) we will give it another go

i asked for an SEN timetable and have got it. the LEA told me i was within my rights to ask for one. how much they stick to it is another question/argument

hi he is back on 10mg 3 times a day so 30mg total. he was on 36mg concerta which is supposed to be a 'straight swap'. i think we might try again with concerta when hopefully nothing else major is going on. i wonder if we try it in the summer hols?

G was on the 4hr dose of methylphenidate, given 3 times a day and it was the perfect dose. in january the consultant said he could change to the longer release and he was prescribed concerta. we gave it 4 weeks and he was a completely different child. not concentrating, upset/angry, more rigid in his routines than ever etc. consultant has changed it back to short acting one and the gorgeous G is back. at the time of the change alot was going on. back to school after xmas break which is always stressful, his statement had began which meant a new teaching assistant for him, and my nana died so alot of upset at home. i'm wondering if we really gave the concerta enough of a go and if outside factors had a lot to do with his behaviour. has anyone else found that changing to the slow release doesn't work for their child? and if so how do they manage taking tablets on a lunch time in senior school. (i can see this being a problem for us)

hi g was first dx with dyspraxia in y2. i didn't feel that was it and pushed for things to be looked at further. when camhs first gave me the connors form to fill in i wasn't given much time and told to go with my first reaction to each question. was also told to base the form on his worse days not his better ones. he has never been given a formal dx of add/adhd but has sufficient traits of add for them to suggest medication. i still don't know why he isn't formally dx. he was later dx with asd. when medication was first mentioned i was so suprised because add just hadn't crossed my mind! in fact i cried I had an image of a child bouncing off the walls which G isn't and really went against the idea of medication for 10 months. it didn't help because he wasn't dx with add or asd at the time and to be honest we were very confused. last august we decided to have a trial of medication (and i half hoped it wouldn't work so i could say we've tried it so get off our backs!) HOWEVER we have seen such an improvement in his concentration and impulsivness its amazing. and more importantly G can see the benefits. i wish we had started it earlier! good luck and hope you get things sorted soon <'>

awwwww