Independent Support Mentor

[Flora]

bill is still receiving 5 hours home tuition provided by the LEA while we thrash out his final statement. The autism outreach teacher (a very lovely man who's known bill for 2 years) visited us today and has offered for bill to have an Independent Support Mentor to come to the house in addition to the home tuition. Apparently it's a new service (to our area) of people who are trained in ASD to spend time with autistic children on a 1-1 basis doing 'child led activities'. He already has someone lined up to work with bill and was just waiting to get our agreement (You can imagine my surprise in actually being offered something that I didn't have to fight for!!)

 

Has anyone heard of this service or benefited from it? If so what was it like??

 

Flozza

[Flora]

Obviously nobody has experience of this.

 

anyway, the ASD outreach teacher rang yesterday and the mentor will start the week after next. She is going to come and spend one day a week from 10.30 (after the tutor's been) until 3.30 doing stuff with Bill.

 

I've got mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it's good that he's been offered this support, but on the other hand I'm worried about how he will cope with it.

 

The outreach teacher says it's a new service only just set up so he also isn't sure about how beneficial it will be yet. Theoretically it's a great idea. It's meant to be a rapid response service for kids who 'suddenly' reach a crisis point in their education.

 

I wonder if it's a local service, or if other LEA's are setting up similar things?

 

Flora

[oxgirl]

I've not heard of that before, but it sounds like a really positive step, Flora. Hope it goes really well on Monday.

 

~ Mel ~

[V1971]

My son has been receiving that for nearly a year, he was shy and un-cooperative at first but he now loves it! This service will however end when my son turns 5 because school will take over.