sons open day

[tjw]

hi

i have been into ds school today for a meeting with his yr 2 teacher, she says he is a very good boy, helpful ect, which is nice to hear, then we got on to his work for his reading and writing he is 1c which i think is quite behind i did ask her about this and she says he will be fine, then she showed me a maths test he did and he only got 1/2 point out of 20 which suprised us both because he realy likes maths, i did explain that working on the whiteboard he is great but putting pen to paper is a problem, i did sugest getting act in to help out and give them some pointers but she feels this is unnessery at the mo, he is on action school plus what do you all think should i push for more help for him any advise would be greatful

thanks

theresa

ps ds is dx with asd

[OAASIS]

hi

i have been into ds school today for a meeting with his yr 2 teacher, she says he is a very good boy, helpful ect, which is nice to hear, then we got on to his work for his reading and writing he is 1c which i think is quite behind i did ask her about this and she says he will be fine, then she showed me a maths test he did and he only got 1/2 point out of 20 which suprised us both because he realy likes maths, i did explain that working on the whiteboard he is great but putting pen to paper is a problem, i did sugest getting act in to help out and give them some pointers but she feels this is unnessery at the mo, he is on action school plus what do you all think should i push for more help for him any advise would be greatful

thanks

theresa

ps ds is dx with asd

 

Hello Teresa,

 

often children with ASD's have difficulty wth auditory processing so if the maths test questions were given verbally then it could be that he has not fully understood the questions. They can also panic if the test is against the clock and this means that they are not processing the information properly, putting too much attention into worrying about not being able to finish the task, and not actually concentrating on the content of the questions. If none of the above apply, your son may need his maths work breaking down into smaller chunks and by using visual/solid objects. For instance, if he is learning about adding two or three numbers together, he may need cubes to help him make the connection with the numbers. If he is working in fractions, he made need a shape that he can make into smaller parts, such as a circle which can be split in half, quarters etc. He then has a visual way of seeing the question as opposed to just imagining it in his head. Another problem could be the way the questions are written. For example, a very able year 6 student with AS I once worked with, had a test question which read something like 'if a candle burns 1 inch in 2 hours, how far will it have burned after 6 hours?' He was unable to answwer the question, despite reading it many times. When I asked him why he hadn't answered it he said it was because it didn't say how long after 6 hours.

I hope this helps and that I haven't confused you.

 

Kind regards,

 

OAASIS

[JsMum]

 

 

Its great that he is helpful and a good lad, but Im sorry I feel the school are groosly letting your son down, I would absaloutly put forward for a statement, how long has he been on SA+? he is clearly not receiving enough support.

 

Contact IPSEA for a letter example of how to request an assessment of SEN.

 

GO all the way for statement.

 

JsMumxxxx

 

[julie1]

I would ask for a meeting between the class teacher and the SENCO and see what help they are already offering and what more they can do. Look at your sons targets on his IEP and check they are SMART targets. Ask about what progress he has made from reception ect. Show them that you are an involved parent and that you want to work in partnership with the school. Ask the school about requsting statutory assesment if they feel now is the right time. I personally feel you will be turned down by the LA, Your sons grades are low but he has only just started yr2 and perhaps with careful support he may well start to make more progress, dont forget by the end of yr2 the average child will be at a level 2. Last year i worked in a yr2 class it is a very busy year and the children did make progress allbeit some more than others. my advice would be watch carefully and ask for half termly meetings to check progress, good luck

[Sally44]

My son in year 4 and he is just now on 1C.

As you say he is behind now in year 2. What you need to know is 'what are his difficulties'. For example I do have a good idea why my son is at 1C eventhough he is very intelligent. He has problems with combined together do make it difficult for him to learn concepts and apply them in different situations. And I know all these things because he has been assessed and he has a Statement that itemises all his needs and how each of those needs should be met in school.

Sometimes it can be assumed that a child with an ASD will not make the same progress as their peers. In many cases that is true. But in many cases they can be ahead of their peers. Or even more typically there will be a spiky profile where they might be brilliant at science, but be very poor at literacy or maths.

Also if he is struggling in year 2, then year 3 is much harder because they are supposed to be much more independent.

Make sure that all IEP targets are SMART and take a representative from the Parent Partnership with you to IEP meetings so that they can help ensure that is the case, and that all progress is recorded as well as any failure to meet targets or loss of learnt information. It is very important to be able to track progress because when a child is not making progress the school is supposed to get advice from outside professionals such as the Educational Psychologist. The EP should make recommendations as to how the work should be presented and the child supported. When it becomes apparent that the child is going to need more support than school currently provides then the school or parents ask the LEA for an assessment towards a Statement.

You could have a talk with the PP first to get some things straight in your mind about what you want to ask school. Then arrange a meeting with the school Head or SENCO, yourself and the PP and talk about the long term. A Statement does entail alot of work for everyone involved. It maybe that school are waiting to get more evidence togehter??? But they need to explain this to you. Either a child is going to make progress without much support, or they are going to need significant support. If it is the latter, and the school cannot provide that level then a Statement is needed. As they take 26 weeks from start to finish and we are already near to Christmas, you need to get one started to have it in place for the beginning of year 3.

I sent in my request for an assessment on new years day 2007 because I was sure my son needed a Statement and also a different school placement. The Statement was not agreed and finalised before he started year 3 in September 2007. We went to an Educational Tribunal in January 2008 where the LEA agreed to our wording of the Statement and the school placement. So you can see the timescales you are looking at.

[tjw]

hi

and thanks for the replys i went into school today and asked for georges iep which they havent got but are going to do me one now i have also told them that at the end of this term we will be getting act in for assesment and that i will be going for a statement

thanks for all the advise you have given me on this i never slept last night because of this and i feel ilike i am letting my son down but hopefully something might start happening now i will keep you all posted.

jsmum he is not getting any support at school he has been on sa+ for 6mths now but they keep saying he is coping fine, i no he is well behaved but also feel he is left behind a little because of his behavour. if that makes sense also the school told me that they dont think he would get a statement.

once again thanks for all your replys

theresa

[Sally44]

When school moved him onto School Action Plus they are supposed to get advice from outside professionals such as speech therapist and educational psychologist. Have those professionals observed and assessed your child in school and do you have copies of the reports and the recommendations they made?

[tjw]

hi sally

thanks for your replys, i am going to make an appointment with the head tommorrow, and then senco, george has never had any outside help at all, i have requested his iep i have not had one since he was in reception, i asked for one of his yr 1 teacher and he said it had not change d since reception so didnt update!! i have also requested that they contact the local act team who i have spoken with and would be happy to come into and see george, i am writing down all the info you guys have written on here and going in for armed which i hope will help my case, pp have said they will attend meeting with me but i am going to this one on my own first, i will keep you posted but thanks again for all your help

theresa

[Sally44]

I may be useful for you to get in touch with your local Parent Partnership. They can come to any meetings with parents. They know about IEPs and that targets should be SMART. The PP are employed by the LEA, but are supposed to be independent. But if you just want someone with you to ensure that everyone knows what the procedure is, then the PP are the right people. You can also ask them to take notes of the meeting and then they can confirm anything you are told at the meeting.

If a child is on SAP and has IEPs these are supposed to be reviewed regularly (there is a legal minimum number to be done each academic year - I think it maybe 2, but i'm not sure). We do them termly in my son's school. I go to that meeting along with the SENCO, the SALT and my son's TA. All IEPs should be reviewed, and if a target is not met within the timescale set, then that has to be recorded. Then the next step is to either try another approach or ask the EP for advice on that specific area. That is how you gather evidence of progress, or lack of it, or areas of specific difficulty.

If your son has had the same IEP targets since reception, then that means the targets were not SMART, and that the school are not meeting his needs because if they were, they would have moved onto other targets.

So phone your PP and talk to them about it. Then arrange a meeting with the SENCO, yourself and the PP to talk about it.

 

The SEN is a graduated approach. Ie. the level of support is gradually increased until the child is making progress. Your child is now stuck at the same level of support since reception because school have not used the IEP as the tool it is to identify where they should increase support or where they should get specific advice from a SALT or EP.

 

You are absolutely right to be concerned. As if they don't progress through SAP and you don't have IEPs that demonstrate lack of progress and areas of difficulty, then it becomes much harder to progress onto getting a Statement. You might ask for an assessement and the LEA reply that 'school are not doing all that they could'. So you need to get school on track.

 

Remember to put everything in writing. Ie. after speaking with the PP send a letter into school about their failure to hold regular IEP reviews, that IEPs are not SMART etc and ask for a meeting. After the meeting send in another letter detailing what was discussed, what was agreed and what the timescale is for things to happen. Also ask the PP to confirm that that is what was discussed and agreed during the meeting.