School work and social skills

[madme]

We had DD (8) 's parent teacher recently. DD has aspergers. No statement. Has an IEP. We feel very frustrated. She is bright and in her previous school was designated gifted and talented. At that school they advised us that it shouldnt be more of the same but a little harder but things that would really stretch her- we were lucky enough to have some input from a specialist G&T outreach teacher in the area. As she is now in a different borough there is none of that but they do have the reports. We were told last year that she was going to be tested to see if in year 3 she was already at level 4. I have never been able to get an answer as to what happened. We have now been told that her an a few other girls are being tested and may be moved to a different teacher for maths. My question is if she can achive a level 4 should she still have to spend every maths lesson going over and over the same things. I accept that they have to ensure that she really can do all the areas required but why can she only go to a little harder work once she has done the same as the others. I'm sure that last year there was more differentiation.

She has friends. Two are also quirky like her which helps. She does however come home often very upset as someone as said something and she takes it to heart- eg a quip like you are stupid- she doesnt know how to deal with these situations. She still wants to control everything but is getting a little better. She worries most evenings about what has happened in the playground. She still is far too outright in many situations. eg standing in queues will talk about people. We asked whether they have social skills lessons. We were advised that they don't. We were told that she had no behavioural issues. We tried to point out that we were talking about her difficulties with social interaction. The teacher said that he has had training in Aspergers and that they cant seen any problems. Academically she is fine. Because she isnt running around the school causing chaos as far as they are concerned she is fine. We asked what training the supervisors had and were met with a blank stare. We asked whether they had more focussed play to help social skills- were were told that play was self directed ! Are we asking too much for there to be some sort of social skill intervention?

There is a lot of good about the school. We just feel that we are being seen as over protective middle class parents.

[JsMum]

At this stage you have a good cause for applying for a statement due to her AS and her social and communication needs and also her emotional and mental health, she is been bullied too and this needs sorting out, calling someone stupid with speical needs is profoundly distressing and can cause far more damage than a punch in the eye, the school should be addressing her interaction, social inclusion, social skills training, as well as helping her with her communication.

 

Your child does not need to be throwing chairs and tables, bottom of the set to get a statement, they need to have a disability that causes it much more difficult to learn, interact, communicate and socialise than that of her peers who do not have any disabilities and the statement clearly states where her needs are, what provisions and services she should require so she is not at a disadvantage of her peers who have no disabilities, IE Inclusion for children with disabilities, Statements where really only ever used in the past when more special schools survived and special needs children where automatically placed in special schools but some parents wanted their children in a mainstream school with additional support and so a statement was drawn up, Now adays because there is NO ###### special schools open any more they are placing(some)children with (hidden) disabilities into mainstream schools with very little support and so when children like yours starts to face difficulties it is very difficult to get a statement and now its gone the other way and now parents are fighting to get a statement in a mainstream school when that child NEEDS a statement and for some quite possibly a special school but there isnt any places due to very few special schools.

 

You can apply for a statement your self, IPSEA have a format letter and you can start the process.

 

Your daughter has needs basically and the school/LEA can not use the reasons they have given for not giving your daughter a Statement, I would say as she gets older her difficulties will increase and quite possibly effect her mental health as this is where my own son started to become very distressed was because of the social context and the enviroment of a classroom and mainstream school setting.

 

your school should also be making reasonable adjustments and meeting her individual needs.

 

Good Luck

 

Look in the education section above to get further websites and lists to help you throw the process.

 

 

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=20381

 

JsMumxxx

 

Edited October 17, 2009 by JsMum