Frizz Report post Posted May 12, 2009 I am mum to a 9yr old girl with Aspergers. She has many problems at school,including agressive behaviour towards staff or other children,when she is angry,confused,stressed etc. The latest difficulty however is a complete point blank refusal to complete schoolwork, either at school or home! She is a bright & knowledgable girl but has a poor attention span & little self discipline. We are currently serving yet another exclusion after an agressive moment, it has taken approx 10hours to complete 2 pieces of 'easy' work that could have taken her less than 2hrs to complete! Anyone else out there been here? Any tips or advise would be most welcome. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted May 12, 2009 Hi Frizz Welcome to the Forum. Yes we have been there.Ben was never excluded although he can become very frustrated at times. Ben is half way through SATS he is in year 6.He has had a really good teacher this year and is coping much better.He coped well with SATS so far and appears to have done better than we could ever have hoped for.Although I may not be so positive by Friday after numeracy. Ben has often refused to complete work that did not fit with his agenda or that caused frustration.Last week he completed the first lot of homework that I can remember without a battle.Ben can be very disciplined indeed and will spend ages writing stories or reviews about things that interest him.He just does not feel the same about work that he considers irelevant. Does your daughter currently have any support in school and are they helpful ? Karen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frizz Report post Posted May 12, 2009 Hi Frizz Welcome to the Forum. Yes we have been there.Ben was never excluded although he can become very frustrated at times. Ben is half way through SATS he is in year 6.He has had a really good teacher this year and is coping much better.He coped well with SATS so far and appears to have done better than we could ever have hoped for.Although I may not be so positive by Friday after numeracy. Ben has often refused to complete work that did not fit with his agenda or that caused frustration.Last week he completed the first lot of homework that I can remember without a battle.Ben can be very disciplined indeed and will spend ages writing stories or reviews about things that interest him.He just does not feel the same about work that he considers irelevant. Does your daughter currently have any support in school and are they helpful ? Karen. Hi Karen. She does have support but its only temporary as her statement has been awarded but not finalised. She is currently working in solitary as usualy finds the class room too much. The aim is to get her back into class before the end of the term. Sendist are involved & working hard but its early days & progress is very slow. J has all her knowledge in her head & I believe she just doesnt see the point in recording it! As for numerecy.......total shut down! Is that common? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted May 12, 2009 Hi Karen. She does have support but its only temporary as her statement has been awarded but not finalised. She is currently working in solitary as usualy finds the class room too much. The aim is to get her back into class before the end of the term. Sendist are involved & working hard but its early days & progress is very slow. J has all her knowledge in her head & I believe she just doesnt see the point in recording it! As for numerecy.......total shut down! Is that common? Hi again.I don't know how common it is to have problems with numeracy in ASD.I think it is probably more common to have difficulties with literacy due to difficulties with theory of mind.One theory states that having ASD may be associated with increased ability in mathematical thinking.Ben certainly does not fit with this view he is gifted in literacy.I suppose it just goes to show people with AS are individuals. I am sorry that you have had to involve sendist.Hope things are sorted soon. Karen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mum of 3 Report post Posted May 12, 2009 Hi Frizz, welcome to the forum...No tips, but sympathise...All my DS has to do is practice writing his name, once a day, and it's like blood from a stone! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diane Report post Posted May 12, 2009 Hi Frizz, Yep I know this one from personal experience. The answer for us was to reduce our DS anxiety. As always easier said than done as they have to accept they have a problem first. I needed lots of help from CAMHS with this and also an outreach teacher after two years my DS is a different child and learning. Good luck. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mossgrove Report post Posted May 12, 2009 We have been there and done that. Ultimately part of the solution was to move our son from mainstream to a special school. he was so stressed by the mainstream envionment that he didn't really learn anything. He is now in year 6 and after 3 years in a special school he is faring much better. Simon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frizz Report post Posted May 12, 2009 Hi Karen. She does have support but its only temporary as her statement has been awarded but not finalised. She is currently working in solitary as usualy finds the class room too much. The aim is to get her back into class before the end of the term. Sendist are involved & working hard but its early days & progress is very slow. J has all her knowledge in her head & I believe she just doesnt see the point in recording it! As for numerecy.......total shut down! Is that common? Ooops-Ive been reading too much! I meant sendis not sendist!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jordansmum33ok Report post Posted May 13, 2009 Ooops-Ive been reading too much! I meant sendis not sendist!!! i know that feeling lol advice i would give is to keep the work short , not too many long winded questions push abit when child less stressed and praise for even the smallest amount. my son did 7 pages in 13mins with me.. he would not have done that in a week at school as soon as he saidhe had enough i stopped hope it helps Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted May 13, 2009 Ooops-Ive been reading too much! I meant sendis not sendist!!! What is Sendis please ? Don't know that one. Sorry I thought it was SENDIST Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frizz Report post Posted May 13, 2009 What is Sendis please ? Don't know that one. Sorry I thought it was SENDIST SEN and Disability Inclusion Service Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted May 13, 2009 SEN and Disability Inclusion Service I am no wiser. Are they the local equivalent of Parent Partnership or are they a team from the Local Authority that include people like specialist teachers for children with SEN ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted May 13, 2009 Hi again.One hint.Do make sure that any further exclusions are clearly documented and recorded and that the school are acting in line with the behaviour policy. If school are having to use repeated fixed term exclusions and they are documented the evidence may be useful if you decide to attempt to obtain specialist provision.Repeated short term exclusions are a useful indicator that strategies being put in place to support your child's SEN are not adequate.Karen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frizz Report post Posted May 13, 2009 Hi again.One hint.Do make sure that any further exclusions are clearly documented and recorded and that the school are acting in line with the behaviour policy. If school are having to use repeated fixed term exclusions and they are documented the evidence may be useful if you decide to attempt to obtain specialist provision.Repeated short term exclusions are a useful indicator that strategies being put in place to support your child's SEN are not adequate.Karen. SENDIS are specialist advisory teachers for kids on the Autism spectrum-maybe they are local to us? Re the exclusion, I am awaiting a call from parent partnership for some legal pointers. Today is day 3 of the exclusion & we still havent recieved our letter or details of a re intergration meeting for tomorrow! I am hoping to return to work tomorrow but if school insist on a morning meeting I wont be able to. I want an afternoon meeting if I can. I figure if they can bend the rules by not issuing me with the exclusion documentation,then I can try for a meeting that suits me! I may have to back down & phone school tho, as PP may not get back to me in time. Im not normally this difficult but feeling fed up with the ongoing battles at school! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted May 13, 2009 SENDIS are specialist advisory teachers for kids on the Autism spectrum-maybe they are local to us? Re the exclusion, I am awaiting a call from parent partnership for some legal pointers. Today is day 3 of the exclusion & we still havent recieved our letter or details of a re intergration meeting for tomorrow! I am hoping to return to work tomorrow but if school insist on a morning meeting I wont be able to. I want an afternoon meeting if I can. I figure if they can bend the rules by not issuing me with the exclusion documentation,then I can try for a meeting that suits me! I may have to back down & phone school tho, as PP may not get back to me in time. Im not normally this difficult but feeling fed up with the ongoing battles at school! Hi.I think it is worth being difficult.If you are in any doubt there is another current thread re exclusion that might convince you. Ah I know of Specialist Advisory Teachers.I just did not know the name. ACE provide some excellent advice.I will find a link.They also operate an exclusion advice line which may be useful.Karen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted May 13, 2009 http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=21112 Hi.The links for ACE,IPSEA and NAS are all on the first page of this thread.I have not posted again because I only posted it in the last couple of weeks.I came across another similar thread from the last couple of weeks too.It is a bit depressing.Karen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
something_different Report post Posted May 13, 2009 give work in small amounts at a time. not too many questions. and a reward at the end. This first then something she enjoys. as for stress levels in school, could she have some quiet time, without someone pressuring her to work, this could be at set times, or when staff see signs that she is beginning to look anxious or agitated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thompsons Report post Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Welcome I've been through something similar myself.. I was only excluded the once and that was aged 4 from my Pre-school for being aggressive. That should've been a red flag right there. I had problems with school my whole childhood, but when I got to 12, I started to refuse going and if I was to go, I refused to go in the classroom and so I worked in solitary. It was all so stressful that I became very depressed. My Mum then made the decision to home-school me. Which was great because all of that added stress was gone. I could get on with my work, take breaks when I needed - everything was just so much more flexible. Not to mention that there weren't any kids around to tease me Have you considered home-schooling or maybe a special school that can deal with her needs? My little brother (has Asperger's too) is having similar problems also. He's in Lower School right now, but we're looking into special schools for when he leaves as we don't want him to go through what I did.. I think the amount of mainstream schools that really understand and cater for ASD's is few and far between Hope your meeting goes well x Edited May 13, 2009 by Thompsons Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites