Teachers that do not understand Aspergers

[Greenman]

My son who has Asperger's started high school last September and since then he has been getting on well. But, for one or two teachers who say they know or understand Asperger's. Keep complaining to us about our son making noises during lessions. We have tried on a number of occasions to explain to them this is part of him and that he does not always know that he is doing it. Still, every so often little notes keep coming home in his contact book.

 

Has anyone else had similar problems with school teacher?

 

Andy

Greenman

[Bard]

My son who has Asperger's started high school last September and since then he has been getting on well. But, for one or two teachers who say they know or understand Asperger's. Keep complaining to us about our son making noises during lessions. We have tried on a number of occasions to explain to them this is part of him and that he does not always know that he is doing it. Still, every so often little notes keep coming home in his contact book.

 

Has anyone else had similar problems with school teacher?

 

Andy

Greenman

 

I am a teacher, and when my AS boy started Secondary in September, I sent a double sided sheet of A4 with bullet points of information specific to him.

I made it concise and directly relevant to school, and I also e-mailed it to the Head of Year to enable him to circulate it to B's teachers.

Most said it was useful, and found it explained certain inexplicable things about my boy!

Writing it down means that a very busy teacher can refer to it, rather than trying to remember what you told them.

It also means that you can refer to it if there is ...trouble. You have forewarned them.

Hope your boy's school is as receptive as B's.

[Greenman]

I am a teacher, and when my AS boy started Secondary in September, I sent a double sided sheet of A4 with bullet points of information specific to him.

I made it concise and directly relevant to school, and I also e-mailed it to the Head of Year to enable him to circulate it to B's teachers.

Most said it was useful, and found it explained certain inexplicable things about my boy!

Writing it down means that a very busy teacher can refer to it, rather than trying to remember what you told them.

It also means that you can refer to it if there is ...trouble. You have forewarned them.

Hope your boy's school is as receptive as B's.

 

We have done the same and we have had meetings with the Senco and have given her copies of paperwork from the hospital and action plans etc, The Senco was spoken to the teachers concerned plus has spoken to our son's class about his Asperger's. Yet messages still keep coming home every few weeks.

 

Andy

Greenman

[Tally]

I would make sure that little notes find their way back to school in his contact book as well.

[Guest Lya of the Nox]

we tell teachers every parents eve bout the autism,

some seem to care some dont,

we get no contact via letters from school, and plod on

[hev]

hello greenman just noticed you joined

 

stevens school were told and told about steves aspergers,made no difference really,it was falling on deaf ears

[cmuir]

Hi

 

I would provide leaflets from NAS and give them to the teachers and headteacher. Give them the opportunity to ask questions if they want to. More importantly, they need to be told that this isn't something your child can help, it's part of the condition and that drawing attention to the fact will add a whole lot of stress. Acceptance and tolerance are key! Unfortunately, there are people who aren't interested and don't want to know. Fortunately, there are others who don't know anything about ASDs, but are interested in finding out more - let's hope these teachers are that type!

 

Best of luck.

 

Caroline.

[David Matthew Baker]

I can tell from working as a support assistant that some teachers care others don't. There are a few at my present school who refuse point blank to even allow a support assistant in the same room as them. Then there are others who dictate what you can and can't do. Often they have strange ideas that certain behaviour is just such and such child been awkward and causing bother. I'm having to rearrange my timetable at the moment and have had one teacher tell me that a student doesn't need support. He doesn't really have a problem he is just awkward. Funny another teacher asked me a while back if I could possibly support this child in lessons. His problems are communication related. I do find that some teachers don't appreciate that you should teach differently for different children. They seem to like a one approach fits all route. I find it really frustrating myself but can't really do anything about it. One teacher even asked for support then won't let me in lessons. Instead I get one student at a time to play on 'word shark'. They don't really need any assistance once the program is running. It's really a massive waste of my time. Going to see if SENCO will allow me to change to the lessons of this other lad (was the English teacher of his who specifically asked about support). Another annoyance is certain teachers who think they are experts just because they've dealt with someone with that particular condition before. Seen my AS student mishandled before. Particularly by supply teachers who never seem to want to listen to me. Urgh!!!

[krystaltps]

It is pot-luck, I'm afraid. David has summed up the variety of attitudes that I work with. It is very rare to find a teacher who not only understands, but accepts and is willing to keep an open mind and attend training.

My experiences with my own son have been hugely varied, and he is only 8. My best advice is to approach ANST, or south of the border, the SENCO, and have them intervene on your behalf. Teachers have no choice other than to take on board what the ANST-co tells them (Scotland).... not sure what it's like in England though. But I can say that my ANST-co has been invaluable to me and C.

Hope this helps...

[lorryw]

There are huge differences in the behaviours and abilities of those on the "autistic spectrum" A quick look through this forum shows that no two people with autism are the same.

My heart sinks when yet another teacher appears in our staff room having been on an "autism course" and now feels they know all the answers. Autism awareness is very important and courses can be useful in raising this but there is no one size fits all teaching method.

Every child is different and Bards idea is brilliant. It saves an awful lot of misunderstanding and upset if you know why a child is presenting with a certain behaviour.

When my son was younger I helped out in class and it was a great way of seeing exactly what was happening and building a relationship with staff.

[Greenman]

Can I thank everyone for there replies, which have given be some good ideas to try putting to the school. Most of my sons lession he does not have a problem or the teacher does not make an issue of it in regards to his noises.

 

Doe anyone else have a child who has a compulsion to make noises i.e tapping, humming, noise making? If yes, how have you dealt with it. All suggestion welcome!

 

Andy

Greenman

[Bard]

Doe anyone else have a child who has a compulsion to make noises i.e tapping, humming, noise making? If yes, how have you dealt with it. All suggestion welcome!

 

You need to look up something called 'stimming'

Many of our children do some form of humming, tapping. flapping, rocking....oh the infinite variety!

B used to hum, and then about 3 months ago, he changed to light, rapid tapping and running his fingers lightly over surfaces.

How have you dealt with it?

Well you can't stop it, and neither can they...

I find a nice glass of red helps.

[Greenman]

Doe anyone else have a child who has a compulsion to make noises i.e tapping, humming, noise making? If yes, how have you dealt with it. All suggestion welcome!

 

You need to look up something called 'stimming'

Many of our children do some form of humming, tapping. flapping, rocking....oh the infinite variety!

B used to hum, and then about 3 months ago, he changed to light, rapid tapping and running his fingers lightly over surfaces.

How have you dealt with it?

Well you can't stop it, and neither can they...

I find a nice glass of red helps.

 

Thanks Bard,

I hear they bottle some lovely Red in Sussex - Fancy cracking a bottle sometime?

 

Joking apart, this we have found is a circle we'd like to break. Our 12 year old son makes noises in class, notes come home. We talk to our son, he gets upset, on come the tics and wet beds and noises etc. The following day, our 12 year old son makes even more noises in class, and more notes come home and so on and so forth! It's really getting us down at the moment. These teacher's are quick to send home notes when he is, in their eyes bad. But, I wish they would send home notes when he is good! They just can't see this would go some way to breaking this cycle of notes and problems at home.

Believe it or not the teacher's in question say they are the ones who understand AS. If this is the case, I'd hate to meet the ones who don't understand!

 

Andy

Greenman

[Mumble]

We talk to our son, he gets upset

I think this may be where the difficulty could be. Do you have a problem with your son stimming at home? If not, then there shouldn't be a need to bring the school's problem into the home. Whilst I wouldn't advocate that parents advise children to ignore/disrespect the teacher, maybe on this you can talk to your son about other people not knowing much about AS and the teacher misinturpreting stimming as conscious behaviour; that way your son may begin to understand why the teacher writes such things, and may be able to ignore these comments to a greater extent. The school/this teacher needs to be helped to understand that stimming is not something to 'be dealt with' but rather a way of coping with a confusing environment. If anything needs to be 'dealt with' it is the environmental trigger leading to the stimming. However, I understand that this is very difficult for NTs to comprehend, particularly because you have a different sensory perception and for you these things are not a problem. If you do want to talk to your son about the notes being sent home, then perhaps it would be best to use this conversation to help him to explore/explain patterns in his stimming and the environmental pressures he is finding difficult. This way, you/he could write a reply to the teacher explaining what is behind the stimming, and if possible the teacher could then work to remove/lessen this stimulus.

 

Mumble.

[zaman]

I know people who have channelled the stims in school into something 'discreet' - like shredding tissues in the pocket, etc. But I think from what I understand, stims are what some autistic people do to kind of let off steam when they are getting a bit stressed, so if you try and get them to stop, then things are more likely to explode in one form or another. Perhaps it is more a case that school needs to adapt to him, rather than the other way around.

[Greenman]

I think this may be where the difficulty could be. Do you have a problem with your son stimming at home? If not, then there shouldn't be a need to bring the school's problem into the home. Whilst I wouldn't advocate that parents advise children to ignore/disrespect the teacher, maybe on this you can talk to your son about other people not knowing much about AS and the teacher misinturpreting stimming as conscious behaviour; that way your son may begin to understand why the teacher writes such things, and may be able to ignore these comments to a greater extent. The school/this teacher needs to be helped to understand that stimming is not something to 'be dealt with' but rather a way of coping with a confusing environment. If anything needs to be 'dealt with' it is the environmental trigger leading to the stimming. However, I understand that this is very difficult for NTs to comprehend, particularly because you have a different sensory perception and for you these things are not a problem. If you do want to talk to your son about the notes being sent home, then perhaps it would be best to use this conversation to help him to explore/explain patterns in his stimming and the environmental pressures he is finding difficult. This way, you/he could write a reply to the teacher explaining what is behind the stimming, and if possible the teacher could then work to remove/lessen this stimulus.

 

Mumble.

 

Hi, Mumble, thanks for the message,

 

A lot of what you have said I can agree with. we have tried on a number occation to talk to the teachers in question and to explain why he does what he does. As you know AS goes in waves, so when he is getting on well the problem disappears and the notes stops. Even his stimming all but goes. Then we get that slide back down and the stimming increases and the cycle of notes begins again. We have spoken a number of times with the Senco, who in turn has spoken to the teachers in question. One is even a fellow Governor on the same body. It's like banging your head on a wall! They just can't see, that if they would praise him more and try to not keep picking up on his stimming. The problem would not be as bad. As the school's SEN Governor I am walking this fine line. So I do not want to be seen as abusing my postion to sort out this problem.

**********************

Quote:

 

Whilst I wouldn't advocate that parents advise children to ignore/disrespect the teacher, maybe on this you can talk to your son about other people not knowing much about AS and the teacher misinturpreting stimming as conscious behaviour;

**********************

The Senco has even gone as far as sitting down with the class to explain with our sons full consent. What AS is and why our son and others do what they do. As you with agree, children soon forget what has been said to them and our son says that the other children fall back into their old ways. Using his own words "drop him in it!"

 

I know it's maybe half of one and a dozen of another. But, this only adds to the problem. We try to talk to him calmly about his AS and his problems etc. But, if he's had a bad day. He just blows up in your face, and this also can lead to more problems in school the following day.

 

We have always been open with our son about his AS and he does get a lot of SEN support from the school. But, we just wish these odd few teachers would just understand our side of the problem and work with us. So we can make a stable environment for our son the live and learn in.

 

Am I asking too much?

 

Andy

Greenman

Edited May 16, 2007 by Greenman

[cmuir]

With regards to noises, etc, I think it's true to say that most kids are accepting after a wee while. When my son was at nursery, he was very aggressive. The slightest thing would set him off - screaming, shouting, crying, throwing things, etc. Whilst my son was my primary concern, I was also worried about the other kids (mainstream nursery). Staff advised that the kids were very accepting of him. When he was in good spirits, that was great - kids would play with him (and he was very popular). When he was 'in one' - kids would give him a wide berth until he came out of it. Now that my son is at primary school, the situation hasn't changed. Thankfully, the teachers are very good and he gets a lot of support. Yes, it's true to say that he can be very disruptive, but he gets 1-2-1 support from a LA.

 

Sounds like the teachers may be causing a fuss over nothing - I'm guessing that your child's classmates don't see the noises as a problem.

 

Best wishes

 

Caroline

[Greenman]

I know people who have channelled the stims in school into something 'discreet' - like shredding tissues in the pocket, etc. But I think from what I understand, stims are what some autistic people do to kind of let off steam when they are getting a bit stressed, so if you try and get them to stop, then things are more likely to explode in one form or another. Perhaps it is more a case that school needs to adapt to him, rather than the other way around.

 

Zaman, I could not agree more!

 

Andy

Greenman

[Greenman]

With regards to noises, etc, I think it's true to say that most kids are accepting after a wee while. When my son was at nursery, he was very aggressive. The slightest thing would set him off - screaming, shouting, crying, throwing things, etc. Whilst my son was my primary concern, I was also worried about the other kids (mainstream nursery). Staff advised that the kids were very accepting of him. When he was in good spirits, that was great - kids would play with him (and he was very popular). When he was 'in one' - kids would give him a wide berth until he came out of it. Now that my son is at primary school, the situation hasn't changed. Thankfully, the teachers are very good and he gets a lot of support. Yes, it's true to say that he can be very disruptive, but he gets 1-2-1 support from a LA.

 

Sounds like the teachers may be causing a fuss over nothing - I'm guessing that your child's classmates don't see the noises as a problem.

 

Best wishes

 

Caroline

 

Hi Caroline,

 

I agree, he does have one or two what he calls friends that are good to him. But he does say that others do keep saying to the teacher that our son is annoying them during certain lessons. Which happen to be the lessons, which is the teacher/s that do not understand AS and send home notes. I feel these notes in his contact book are in part to blame. As they tend to worry and make him stressful, which leads to problems at home. If only they would start putting some positive comments in his book, this would go some way to making him feel better about himself and in turn would I feel help to reduce his stimmering.

 

Another problem we had just this afternoon was one of these said teachers rung us up at home saying did we help our son with his assessment as she can't get him to do much work in class! Our son is one of these AS children who loves computers, but finds it hard to put pen to paper. Yes, we helped him with capital letters and punctuation, but thats as far as it went. He is a bright lad (with a higher than normal IQ) and he does take it in while in class, but, his written work does not reflect this in anyway. Also at home there is no distractions, the TV is off and my wife a teaching assistent can work 1-2-1 with him if it's needed. Like with math, which is not his hottest subject. Like most AS children he does have a problem with auditory filtering while in class or in a large noisey groups like parties etc. I do feel that the school needs to do more to understand his needs. The problem is that teachers can't see AS, so they tend to put the blame on to the child, rather than the noisey and stressful class room set up.