asd units

[lisa35]

not sure if nayone can or should advice us but thought may help to put my thoughts down

Had autism supprt tosee us, son really struggling in mainstream, we find out thurs if lea agree to assess-currently has 11 hrs one toone (not statemented)and struggles without it

We spoke about how when she observed him he was making noises.etc, other kids wound up, and basically he is totally ignored in school

Seems to be getting "odder" older he gets, we re faced with what do we do

A push for one to one all time,hope that he feels better about school, and we all live happy ever after

push for school with asd unit-(one is in really bad area, other better)-even if lea agreed-may not be place

Do we make our son "fit in" with mainstream- or access asd unit with specialised intervention, and kids that are like him??

He s so low at present-scared that if stays in mainstream will get worse, god,really dont know what to do!

Got meeting at scshool on thurs with senco,ed pysch,autism supprt to see what we can do til statement agreeed/or begun, School havent said they cant meet his needs- but even one to one- that desnt help him with socail aspect-even brief social workshops cant be as beneficial as asd specific can they

Hes adamant he ll stay where he is (only has one friend) who is beginning to find him hard work too

Autism outreach really good-said will support us whatever we decide, I know we dontyet, but want tpo be prepared in case of all eventualities. She also feels that it gets harder for kids as they get older (is 13 next) as kids less tolerant- son has no idea about clothes/ fashion,etc,etc

My poor soul, I feel like Im failing him ,he is so unhappy

Any one any wise words? or experiance

xxxx

[Suze]

Hi Lisa, my son is the same age.He attends an ASD resource attached to mainstream high school.He,s alot happier there than he ever was at primary school (he was statemented with 12 hrs at primary).The staff at the resource are able to adapt a timetable to suit the child.My son is disapplied from a few subjects so he can catch up on his maths and english as he is dyslexic aswell and working at a much lower level in these subjects.However you would,nt get a place at his resource without a statement, so you really need to push for this.I really hope they agree on thurs to assess your son,you then need to gather as much evidence as possible that supports your belief that he needs a specialist environment, educationally and academically, he sounds very down at the moment have you had advice from camhs??

[sadie]

My DD ,13, is in ASD unit attached to special school. Started off in' mainstream' special..thought she wd cope cos a small LEA school, but couldn't cope with the changing of lessons/classroom. Didn't initially want ASD unit for her (and DD didn't want to change classes) but has worked better than I'd thought. A lot more input, and joined up work with SALT and CAMHS, and she didn't (and still doesn't )mix with others so social issues aren't particularly relevant.

visit all poss schools and get a feel of them, talk to teachers/headteachers. Wishing you all the best and let us know how you get on.

[LizK]

That sounds so hard <'> .

 

The first thing to do is to get a statement as I think most LEAs/LAs will not place in a specialist unit without one. Realistically you probably need to look at him getting fulltime 1-2-1 support at school first and seeing how he manages with that. School should be able to do that without a statement. I know our LEA won't consider a specialist placement without nearly fulltime support breaking down and have won at tribunal on these grounds too. Certainly my son who is currently doing well at school with fulltime suport would not manage with just 11 hours. You may find that with an increased support package mainstream works. However if you feel it has gone beyond that and there are things that he needs that can only be offered by a unit (smaller classes, therapeutic environment) then it would be useful to get support from the autism team or anyone else involved. Have you visited the ASD units? I thinkt hat would definitely be a good idea in aiding your decision making

 

Good luck

 

Lx