What to do?

[sam'smum]

Sam got his statement in record time without his diagnosis of HFA and gets 25 hours per week, which is great. Apparently this was due to my kicking and screaming on the phone every day .

 

However, the lsa(s) dealing with Sam (he has two, one on Mondays and Fridays and the other on the remaining school days) are only mums. They have no formal training and I am starting to wonder what good that does. The special needs school have said that they are assessing Sam to see where his difficulties lie (remember, he is only in reception having just turned 5) and that they will give the lsa ladies advice as to how to deal with these problems. Sam has good expressive skills, the main problem is his social skills and being too self-led (I think this means basically that he only wants to do what HE wants to do, not what the teachers want him to do. To be honest, having seen some of the things they have been learning about I can't blame him. What 5 year old boy really wants to learn about Vincent Van Goch and then draw the sunflowers ????

 

Sam had a funny day yesterday where he was fine in the morning, threw a wobbly at PE time and "had to be restrained" and then did some lovely work in the afternoon. The special needs lady was supposed to visit yesterday afternoon but didn't turn up due to sickness .

 

Should I make some more noise and demand that he receives more specific help as the school keep banging on at me about his "strange behaviour" (their words, not mine)?

 

Anyone able to share some words of wisdom with me?

 

Thanks all.

 

Janine

[Helen]

If Sam's Statement doesn't include his HFA diagnosis then his Statement isn't entirely accurate is it? I would be inclined to ask for an amended Statement.

However, the lsa(s) dealing with Sam (he has two, one on Mondays and Fridays and the other on the remaining school days) are only mums. They have no formal training and I am starting to wonder what good that does.

I went to an information session where an LEA officer explained his recruitment method for LSAs, "getting someone from the bus stop" was the comment he used.

 

You could ask the LEA for someone with more experience/ official qualifications to help your son, whether you'd get that level of support is another matter.

 

You could ask the headteacher/LEA to send your LSAs on a course but these tend to be just one day courses and are only arranged at certain dates to also accommodate other LSAs.

What 5 year old boy really wants to learn about Vincent Van Goch and then draw the sunflowers� ????

I remember both my children doing this at a similar age to your son - it was part of the National Curriculum... looks as if it still is...

Edited May 21, 2005 by Helen

[Hectorshouse]

I agree with helen, if the statement doesnt include the dx then it is not accurate and needs amending. Unfortunately many LSA's are not trained and often only really supply a babysitting service to the child when in school. Some LEA's have Special Needs Assistants that are specifically trained, but its not the norm, sad but true.

 

You say that your child was restrained ... have you given permission for this? Did they use an appropriate method i.e. Team Teach? Often when a child with ASD has a meltdown, restraining or any physical contact only make the situation a lot worse.

 

I have the same problem with T with regard to only doing what he wants to do (according to the school!) but recently I was given another perspective, T only does what he wants to do, as these are the areas in which he achieves, where he often displays poor behaviours or meltdowns, are in the areas where he doesnt achieve! There is a huge issue with self esteem for our children, and often they are accutely aware of areas that they cannot compete with their peers academically or otherwise. Often it is the rigidity of their condition that causes problems, or the lack of understanding of literal interpretation that our children use that causes problems, and finally there is the concept of 'mind blindness', basically our children do not have the same 'cause and effect' processes that NT children have.

 

HHxx

[oracle]

This may not be an ideal solution but it's one that we are working with in our area with 'some' success, depending on the school and their attitude. Would the school allow you to go in and train the LSA's? Maybe some informal meetings where you exchange information about Sam and how the condition he has affects him. This is your best chance of them understanding Sam and picking up general ASD knowledge as well.

 

The outreach team and will give generalised information. You can be specific so if you could do it together then that would give a much clearer picture.

 

Sadly schools are allowed to restrain. I have been into this one with the DFES and read their policies. But it is a good idea to question their approach to this, along with informing them about new OFSTED recommendations, about what schools should be doing when they know a particular lesson is going to produce fireworks in a child. If PE is going to be one of those lessons then the school needs ot deal with this. What is Sam gaining from anything which leaves him feeling as if he needs to lash out?

 

Carole

[Zemanski]

Com loved Van Gogh, kandinski and mattisse and could spot a henry moore from 200 yards at the age of 3. Some kids, boys as well as girls, love this sort of work and others don't. I remember doing aboriginal artwork with Y1, painting bright spots on black paper with cotton buds, and my AS lad in the class (who had no interest in australian wildlife) painted my little pony with the same technique - you could suggest the teacher has variations on a special interest theme for your son up her sleeve, I used this all the time for writing, maths, etc. you'd be amazed at how many pages he filled with multiples of my little pony and when we did 'the girl was walking down the street when suddenly .....' he did ' the pony was galloping across the field .....'!

 

LSAs are not generally highly trained - they're paid a pittance and are not there to teach as such only do as the teacher and senco ask (although many do in fact do much more very well:notworthy: ).

It does help if they have some ASD understanding but mostly I've had to do this each time Com gets a new LSA. If the LSA is good they will learn to understand your son and work well with him regardless of training - Com's best LSAs have not had good training but were prepared to listen to us and adapt to him, it's mostly about getting a feel for him. An LSA who is kind, patient and prepared to try to understand where a child is coming from is worth their weight in gold whatever their background.

 

It is very difficult to get an ASD trained LSA in mainstream - LSAs with specific training or experience will tend to be in the slightly higher paid jobs in special schools and units because most schools don't have the funds for specialists so don't tend to employ them unless the need for access to a specialist is actually in a child's statement.

 

zemanski