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phasmid

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Posts posted by phasmid


  1. The DDA currently only applies to schools from KS3 and above. KS2 and lower will have to abide by it from Dec 3rd this year. Then, as you say, they will have to provide at least one disabled parking space. Currently they do not need to have one. However they should be writing a Disability Equality Scheme and inviting the views of disabled parents, pupils, staff and visitors - if they are sensible they will also be seeking the views of parents of disabled children - as a part of this process. I'd be asking them if they are setting up a forum and if you can be on it if I were you JenRose.


  2. Sect 7.21 of the SEN CoP states that LEA's must act on a parental request for assessment of needs "..unless they have made a statutory assessment within 6 months of the date of the request". However, regardless of whoever makes the initial request you have the right of appeal to SENDIST if they turn you down. But, in all honesty, the chances are that the 6 month limit before a new request can be made will pass before you can get to SENDIST!


  3. I think you have little choice left to you now. If this is the only provision available to you then your going to have to either take him out and home ed as suggested or put a stop to it. If you go with the former then what's to stop this carrying on with someone else's child? If you go with the latter then you have given them plenty of chances to sort this and yesterdays events would seem to show they are not going to stop this without being made to stop it.

     

    A formal complaint to the CoG would have to be investigated. If that fails to fix things then you complain to the LEA. The ofsted route that is now open to you might be worth looking at as well.

     

    Time to fight fire with fire.


  4. Mel you should be so proud of your son. He has taken control of this situation by allowing the other child into his personal space. More than that he has made a start on making a possible friendship with him. Its very early days admittedly but it does sound like some progress is being made, at last! Your feelings of anger and frustration at the way this whole thing are more than justified, imo. The school could have done this long before now and I have to question why they failed to do so. In your position I would be keeping my options about a possible complaint over this firmly open...and making sure the school were aware of this too.

     

    I hope that this is the beginning of the end the nightmare for you all and that things get better for you all from here on in.


  5. If the teacher won't do anything and the head won't listen then I still say it is time to go over their heads and complain to the CoG. Would they do nothing if this child was doing this to a member of staff? I doubt it. So why should he get away with it just because it is a fellow pupil? He shouldn't. They are supposed to be a specialist unit geared up for this. It needs to be stopped. Get hold of the anti-bullying policy (a public document your entitled to see) and pick them up on their failings.


  6. You are going to have to get tough on this...the unit is letting this other student terrorise Jay. What sanctions are being used to deter this other boys behaviour...any? They must be seen to be supporting Jay as much as the other child. Jay has the right to go to school and be free from this type of behaviour. Your being given excuse after excuse after excuse. They are simply not facing up to the problem, this other child is being allowed to ruin Jay's education. How long until he flatly refuses to attend a unit that is supposed to be a specialist environment for him? What do they intend to do then. Sorry Oxgirl but in your position a letter of complaint would be going in first thing tomorrow! They have no right to blame Jay, they have no right to expect him to cope! They have no right to allow this to carry on!!!


  7. Jay is in an ASD Unit attached to a mainstream school. He attends some mainstream lessons and the Unit is supposed to be a safe haven for him to relax in away from the stress of mainstream. Unfortunately, it has turned into a nightmare for him because there is a lad there who is continually tormenting and taunting him. :crying:

     

    Are the staff aware of what is going on at the time, and if they are what are the staff doing when this is happening? They cannot ignore it, nor can they blame Jay for reacting to it - any child would react to being bullied. He has every right to object to being bullied. What's more they must react to it.

     

    It's so difficult. Obviously, this lad is there because he needs to be as well, but it just isn't fair on poor Jay. He is terrified of this lad and doesn't want to go back to the Unit. He was even glad he had a maths lesson today so he could get away from him. :unsure: He feels nervous and on edge all day long and he doesn't feel like anyone cares.

     

    It may be difficult because the other child concerned has issues but, that does not allow them to ignore it. All children have the right to an education free from the fear of being bullied or harrassed (in fact that is a part of the UN convention on the rights of the child). Having been made aware of this the school must react to it.

     

    The helpers keep down-playing it and making out to him that he is over-reacting and even telling HIM off if he gets cross with the constant annoyance from this lad and it is wearing him down so much, he just can't take anymore. He broke down totally this afternoon and doesn't want to go back there, and I can't blame him. I feel like they're not doing enough to protect him from this kid or not taking his feelings seriously!! :crying::crying::crying:

     

    ~ Mel ~

     

    Of course he seems to be over-reacting, that, is a big part of ASDs, not being able to express your emotions in the 'normal' way. They ought to know this! As all other approaches seem to have failed I would sugest a complaint, in writing, is made to the chair of governors. Ask them to investigate what is going on. Get hold of a copy of the schools bullying policy first and on every point they are failing on stick it in the letter...pull them up on it point by point by point. Give them a set amount of time to respond - a week is good - and make it clear that in the meantime you expect Jay, as a vulnerable child, to be closely watched and the other child to be prevented from bullying him. Jay is a victim here and therefore needs protecting not blaming!


  8. I just wanted to thank you for all of your replies. We have had a lot of sleepless nights and thinking to do over the weekend and we have written a long letter of complaint to the LEA that ran to 8 pages! It really ruined Easter that they dumped this on us and then had nobody available to answer the 'phone.

     

    This seems to be a favourite tactic used by far too many LEAs. It is often NOT the case that the LEA itself is on holiday over school holidays like Easter and Whitsun. In the meantime you have been left to stew.

     

    We have found out:

    - there have been more restraint incidents than we have been made aware of. On one occasion she was carried screaming to a group room and was restrained by a male LSA for over an hour who was alone in the room with her without the school informing us properly (vague information about her being upset at school that day)

     

    As a male school employee this is something we are warned about. Basically you should not put yourself in a position where an allegation 'could' be made against you. That should be rule number one, taught on day number one.

     

    - I am really concerned that this treatment is totally wrong for AS and secondly that it is not appropriate for a male staff member to restrain an 11 year old girl in this way.

     

    You have every right to be concerned. This treatment IS wrong for ANY child, never mind one with AS. A male member of staff can restrain a female pupil although it would be preferable for it to be a female member of staff. See above.

     

    - the special needs person at the LEA had not approved the reduction in LSA hours.

     

    Then the LSA has no business being elsewhere. This is not open to debate. As these are statemented hours it means the school are under a legal obligation to provide them.

     

    - there has been no new evaluation or assessment of her school support needs since she was 7 (now 11)

     

    That's ridiculous. Where are the records from each annual review? What do they say? Etc, etc!!

     

    - Her current Statement provision/IEP makes no reference to the current problems - it contains really minor issues such as not waiting in the dinner queue

     

    That simply shows that the school/LEA have not carried out proper reviews in accordance with the CoP.

     

    - she gets no speech and language support at school - despite problems being shown in this area in her previous assessment - when she was 4!

     

    Following the assessment who was supposed to provide this? The health people or the education people? My guess is it wasn't made clear at the time and they will have been being arguing over it ever since. It needs to be clarified.

     

    -She cannot be accepted into the local unit as the pupil whp made death threats against M is there (remember the thread about this last year) - therefore they are intending that she should go to a unit 30 miles away. However most of the children have learning disabilities whereas M is acceptionally bright.

     

    Don't dismiss it out of hand, at least have a look at it before making your mind up on it. It could be the right environment for her - it's possible. If you look and it isn't then at least it will be an informed decision. The problem with the 'right' unit may not be an easily solved one.

     

    One of the probles is that noone really seems to know what her needs are at the moment and we are reluctant to move her anywhere until this has been clarified.

     

    Sounds to me as if you need everyone involved with your daughter to sit down together and talk to each other. A full scale review needs to be done as a matter of urgency. I would suggest you write to the LEA seeking a review as soon as possible - give them a time limit to respond. I hope you get it sorted, for all your sakes.


  9. We are having a problem with M's school at the moment. M is 11, has AS, is on the verge of puberty and in a mainstream middle school class with 1:1 LSA support. She has made huge developmental strides at this school and everyone has been pleased with her progress. However since about February there has been a downward spiral caused by illness and many changes

    - the flu and post viral fatigue symdrome,

    - an assault on M in the playground by an older child

    - irronically disability training for staff which means that her classroom staff are replaced with supply teacher several times each week - meaning that there are now 4 teachers per week teaching

    - an adverse reaction to a vacination,

    - and that her LSA seems to be working with another child approx 50% of the time

    She is going through a stage of automatically saying no to various - usually trivial- requests. When she acts in this manner the staff physically intervene.

     

    Phas jr had post viral syndrome about a year ago. It left him very washed out and constantly tired after very little activity and of course any little bug knocked him for 6, she's going to be very fragile till she's fully recovered. The school need to accept this is the case and be supporting her through it. When you couple this with the fact she has suffered an assault in the playground AND her AS its no wonder she is reluctant to go out at break times.

     

    Why is her LSA working with another child? Does your daughter have a statement? If so then the hours on it are the hours of support she should be getting - end of, no question. These can only be changed at annual review if the school can prove she has improved. Fair enough that may mean backing the support off a bit in order to show this but, a 50% reduction to do this seems excessive.

     

    Does the disability training the staff are getting include training on ASDs? I know it's a two-edged sword that they are getting awareness training during teaching time but at least they're getting some!

     

    The school's new head teacher (reputation for being tough) has informed us becasue the problems during a 6 week period that they tend to place M in a pupil referal unit from September due to her violent behaviour. On closer investigation we have discovered that the physical interventions have always been started by staff. M believes that she only acts in self defence when the staff attack her! What we have found out is that the situation is escalating from trivial incidents - for example if M is unwilling to go out in the playground often staff are physically dragging her, manhandling her or attempting to carry her. She reacts by fighting to get free and screaming "leave me alone". On one occasion she had bruises on her arms.

     

    I will add that there has never been any suggestion that she has attacked other children or staff prior to the staff touching her - it seems to be a reactive panic response from being physically restrained.

     

    It also contradicts the advice given to staff by Ms educational psychologist who advised that the school to avoid direct confrontations and physical restraint - he even offered to educate the staff in appropriate strategies - but this offer was not taken up by the school.

     

    Each and every member of staff involved in physical intervention HAS to have received training in the correct techniques to be used - for their own sake as well as your daughters. Also each time this happens a log should be filled out. Ideally it should state:

    • What prompted the incident.

    • The behaviour that took place and their reaction to it.

    • The consequences of this.
    Not just that they had to use some form of restraint. There is no way that they should be touching her UNLESS she is presenting herself as a danger to staff, visitors, pupils or herself. You say this isn't the case so what reason are they giving for the use of force? If it is to get her out into the playground then clearly they have no, or little, understanding of the difficulty children with ASDs have at social times to know that these times are often the cause of distress. Reacting in the manner you describe is totally unacceptable!

     

     

    I wanted to know what your thought?

     

    Is this acceptable on the schools part? as it seems to us that this is a dagerous escalation from the staff.

     

    We feel that we are in a no win situation - the staff provoke an incident - usually over something trivial and get a reaction - and now M is blamed for her reaction.

     

    As a behaviour support specialist working in a middle school there is no way on earth I would allow any staff members to react to your daughter in the way you report they are. Ask, in writing, to see the schools policies for:

    • Disabilities.

    • Restraint.

    • Disability awareness training: Including their;

    • Disability Equality Scheme.
    stating that you are unhappy with the manner in which your daughter is being treated. I would also advise raising this with the Chair of Governors as well by cc'ing a copy of the letter to them too. As well as contacting IPSEA as already suggested I would be contacting the Disability Rights Commission and seeking their advice as well.

  10. You will have to do some leg work to start with. LEAs will (or should) give you a list of schools that they run which is supposed to help with the process of selecting a secondary school but they won't give you a feel for what they are like or if they will suit your child. There's only one way to do this properly. Habe a look on this thread. I posted up the advice sheet for transition I wrote for my dissertation on it. Hope it helps a bit.


  11. Asking for help has to be made into a habbit really. Even then some pupils won't. The trick here is to notice it and offer the help without being asked. It is important that the way you approach it is right too. As you say asking 'Are you ok?' won't necessarily get the question your trying to ask answered. You have to be a lot more direct than that. Instead try 'Would you like me to read the question for you?' or 'Do you understand what the question means?'...depending on how much 'help' you're allowed to give them of course. As for the extra time issue many won't take it in a main exam room for the very reason you state. If they also decline the offer of a quiet room there is nothing you can do about it I'm afraid.

     

    Eta:

    Have you spoken to the schools examination officer? Applications to exam boards for extra time etc have to be made through offical channels and ahead of the exam concerned with the reasons for it being backed up with evidence. The exam officer should know this!


  12. Yes, I was just looking at the ACE SEN handbook and that says two weeks. Mine came today for a review on Thursday.

     

    However, it doesn't spell out that everyone attending should send in a report. But if I'm given them at the meeting (which isn't unheard of!) do you think I have grounds for complaint or, if necessary, re-scheduling the review?

     

     

    Yes, you would!


  13. You need to look at the following sections of the CoP:

     

    5.66 through to 5.73

     

    This look specifically at transfer from school to school and the process that should take place. They are already behind schedule as the CoP states (sect 5.72) that this particular review ?Must take place by 15th Feb of the year in which the transfer takes place.?

     

    Then sect:

    9.13, this clearly states that all those attending must be asked for written submissions from ?Parents, anyone specified by the LA and anyone else the head considers appropriate.? Then the head MUST circulate these submissions asking for comments including from those who are unable to attend the review.

     

    Hope that helps.


  14. Transition Advice sheet.

     

    Choosing a school:

     

    It is never too early to start thinking about planning your child?s transition between schools. In fact my advice is to start this as early as possible.

     

    Even before admission papers are issued asking you to state your parental preference of school I suggest you start doing your groundwork. Visit any schools you are considering. Arrange to go round them on a normal day and see the school at work. It would be sensible to do this without your child as this means you will be able to concentrate completely on getting a good idea of how each school works. Ask to speak to the SENCo, get copies of the SEN and any other policies you want as well as a school prospectus. If you have specific issues you want to ask about write them down before you go. Take notes as you go around to refer to later. Most schools will be happy to arrange for such a visit. I'd be very wary of any that won't.

     

    Once you have done that, compare your thoughts on them, this is where your notes from each visit will be useful as you can use them to compare responses to the questions you asked. Decide which ones are worth following up and then arrange for you AND your child to visit on a normal day. See how the teachers and TAs react to your child and your child to the staff - likewise the other pupils ? remember to have any new questions you have thought of with you (don?t be worried about your child wanting to ask questions too, after all, it will be their school in the end. Then sit down again and compare notes. If, when the forms come out the schools have open evenings (most, if not all, do) go along. Take a list of any new questions you have and take the time to speak to the staff. Then sit and talk it all through (AGAIN).

     

    After all that, fill in your form and wait for March (normal time for being told whether you have got the place in the school of preference).

     

    Once you know the school, get talking to them. Identify as soon as possible the important staff if you don't know them already. At this point we took our son?s new school a letter describing him, his likes and dislikes, the sort of things that would upset him and how he would react - how they should react to him. We also arranged for him to have around half a dozen visits to the school in the summer term so he could get to know the staff, layout of the building, noise levels between lessons and so on. This was in addition to the between schools 'Transfer Day'. All of which helped him to get a good idea of what to expect in the September. Through all of that and the normal academic exchange of information between the schools they had a very good idea of what he was going to be like. They told us the 'this is him' letter was a brilliant idea, what?s more important was the fact they circulated it around all staff who he would be taught by - we know this as we saw the copies!

     

    Whilst all this was taking place we got to know the school staff ourselves and they got to know us. This meant that if problems occurred once he was there we knew exactly who we needed to speak to and they knew who they were dealing with. We also made it clear throughout this process that we wanted to work with them, for example, if anything happened at home that may affect his mood at school we phoned them to tell them. Likewise if anything happened there that we should know about they contacted us. We got talking. This meant that we all knew each other well long before he set foot in the school as a pupil.

     

     

    Basically, be careful when choosing a school. Take your time and look into each school - don't go on other people?s opinions, what maybe right/wrong for their child may not be the case for yours! Make up your own mind on them.

     

    Once you know the school it's all about; COMMUNICATION!

     

     

     

    Transition advice for teachers.

     

     

    Try and prepare the child in advance as much as possible of what to expect in your class. You could do this by providing a booklet, for example, including in it the following:

     

    Photographs of:

     

    You.

    Your TA, if you have one.

    If the child is going to have a 1-1 TA they do not know, include them too.

    The classroom layout.

    Doors.

    Toilets.

    Any other significant adults likely to be in the classroom.

     

    Give details of normal day-to-day routine in a clear timetable provided in a way accessible to the child.

     

    Take the time to get to know the child and their parents. Invite them in when school is finished one day so you can introduce yourself to them. Get talking to the parents before the transfer takes place and ask them what you can do to help settle their child into your class. Remember that the parents are the experts on their child, seek their advice. Don?t be afraid to say you don?t know the best way to deal with anything that concerns you; most parents will appreciate an honest approach far better than one where you try to bluff things through.

     

     

     

     

    Suggested reading:

     

    The following list of books and websites will help to give you an overview of Autism. It is by no means a definitive list, but, it will give you a basis to work from:

     

    Books:

     

    Delfos, M. and Attwood, T. (2005) A Strange World: Autism, Asperger?s Syndrome and PDD ? NOS ? A guide for parents, Partners, Professional Carers and People with ASDs. London. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

     

    Attwood, T. (2003) Why does Chris do that? : Some suggestions regarding the cause and management of the unusual behaviour of children and adults with Autism and ASDs. London. National Autistic Society.

     

    Howlin, P. (1998) Children with Autism and Asperger?s Syndrome: A guide for practioners and carers. Chichester. Wiley.

     

    DfES (2002) Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Good practice guidance. Annesley. DfES publications.

     

    Websites:

     

    www.nas.org.uk

     

    http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/s...istant/ASDKS34/

     

    http://www.aspergertips.com/

     

    http://www.simonmidgley.co.uk/support/asd.htm

     

    http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/

     

    http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/s...istant/ASDKS34/

     

    http://www.thecbf.org.uk

     

    http://www.asdfriendly.org ? aimed at parents and carers of children/adults on the spectrum.


  15. No, there is no legal requirement to have a home/school book. That said best practice is to keep good lines of communication open and active between home and school and these are one of the most effective ways of doing so. They only take a few minutes to fill in and a few seconds to read. They can be used in a number of ways. School can keep you informed of daily success's and, of course, failures, you can keep school informed of things happening in the home that may have an impact at school. They also take up very little of the teachers time to read and can be filled in by a TA if needs be in school. When it comes to IEP or statement review time they provide an invaluable record of day-to-day occurences that would simply not otherwise be available. If a school refuse to use one then there really isn't much you can do to make them.


  16. Just been sent this and thought it may be of interest.

     

    Hello

     

     

     

    I?ve recently taken over the administration of the BIBIC Chat room and so wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am hoping to be able to update the chat room to make it more user-friendly and will keep you updated of any changes -any suggestions would be welcome.

     

     

     

    The next two chats will have a theme of Autism. They will be run by our own BIBIC therapists and will cover two topics that have been very popular in the past. Please join us if you can!

     

     

     

     

    The first will be taken by Carolyn Hill, Nutritionist on Tuesday 20 February 3.00-5.00pm.

     

     

     

    In our experience at BIBIC common problems linked to Autism and nutrition are a limited diet, a reluctance to try different brands, textures and foods. Bowel problems and disturbed sleep patterns. Carolyn will be available to talk about nutrition for children and young people with Autism. If you have questions which you like to put to Carolyn before the live chat please send them to me and I will forward them to her. Although she will not be able to enter into individual correspondence before the chat they may be used to get the discussion going or to inform Carolyn what sort of things you will want to talk about on the day. Hopefully in time these will become available to view on the site. Join us with questions, comments; share your experiences and anything you have found useful.

     

     

     

    The second talk will take place on Tuesday 13 March 3.00-5.00pm with Graham Valentine, BIBIC Therapist.

     

     

     

    Graham will be available to talk about behaviour issues and Autistic Spectrum disorders within the home and school environment. Join in with your own experiences, questions and comments.

     

     

     

    If you have not yet registered for the chat room and would like to do so now, please follow the link below. For security reasons all discussions take place only with those who are registered and have been allocated a user name and password. Your information will be kept in a secure database and won?t be used for any other purpose than informing you of upcoming chats. If at any time you wish us to remove your details please e-mail me with REMOVE in the subject line.

     

     

     

    To register click here.

     

     

     

    If you have forgotten your user name and password e-mail me on the address below and I will send it to you. You can also e-mail me if you have any problems entering the chat room and I will try to help. hazel.warren@bibic.org.uk

     

     

     

    If you do not wish to receive e-mails from BIBIC about the chat rooms, please e-mail me with REMOVE in the subject line and I will be happy to take your address out of our database.

     

     

    I hope to chat to you on-line soon.

     

     

     

     

    Kind regards

     

     

     

     

     

    Hazel Warren, Administrator

     

    BIBIC - British Institute for Brain Injured Children

     

    Knowle Hall, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA7 8PJ

     

    Tel 01278 684060 Fax 01278 685573

     

    Email hazel.warren@bibic.org.uk

     

     

     

    For further information about BIBIC please visit our website at www.bibic.org.uk or to see a short film about our work please visit www.bibic.org.uk/BIBIC_384K.wmv


  17. I do Hev. Although it has now lapsed I was registered to drive county owned mini-buses and had to pass their driver assessment course to be placed on their insurance. This covered all aspects of driving mini-buses including passenger safety. There is further advice to drivers in the link I gave above in Appendix B (p38): Before Setting Off. One of the bullet pointed items reads:

     

    Do not exceed the carrying capacity of the minibus. Ensure that everyone is sitting, one to a seat, and that passengers are using seat belts.

     

    This is simply a matter of looking round into the passenger area or, getting the escort to do it - why else are they there? The DRIVER was at fault here for not ensuring this was the case with your son and the escort was complicit it failing to do this as well. They are trying to shift the blame here onto a child. Don't stand for it.

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