Jump to content
Sally44

School hinting at 'home issues' affecting performance

Recommended Posts

Not sure where school are intending to go with this.

My son does not have severe sleep problems as some children do.

He is in bed by 9pm, which is later than I would like, but he just does not go to sleep any earlier.

He is typically asleep quite soon after that, although he can have days when he isn't, but then so do most kids.

When I have seen him in school I will admit that he is always yawning. And at home he isn't doing that, eventhough he is having the same amount of sleep.

 

School are hinting that his ability to learn and concentrate is greatly affected by his 'always being tired'. And I don't know to what extent he is actually tired, or just bored!

 

At home he is quite active in that he is often moving around, even when watching TV he is not sitting still. I feel that he actually needs more sensory input to pep him up a bit. When we saw a private OT she commented on how he would concentrate well and stay on task and that he used 'a trampette' and other equipment to get quick bursts of sensory input to help him concentrate, and said that this was a good strategy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Does he have a statement ? If yes, then submit the report from the independant OT advising he needs to move around etc during the school day. If they can manage to fit in several 5-10 min breaks during his day when he can be supervised doing "excercise" then his concentration may improve,

If they decide not to incorporate the OT advise into the statement, then they can hardly blame you if he can't concentrate.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We have the same problem and an OT has recommended that he gets bursts of activity to assist with concentration but also to help with hypotonia (low muscle tone) and tiredness. I don't know if your son has the same problem but children with low muscle tone often find just sitting all day very tiring. I notice my son is also constantly moving around at home and snacks alot as he is an oral sensory seeker too. OT says crunchy snacks often perk up the system and this is why he craves them.

 

School either think these suggestions are bonkers or tell me that they're doing all this stuff already so I think alot depends on whether the school are prepared to take on board OT suggestions.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello, my son use to be tired and even put his head on the table to sleep while at school-I also work with children with ASD's and have had a few fall asleep when they are having difficult moments-I believe this is due to coping strategies and they are shutting down because it's easier that deal with the situation.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I haven't submitted the OT's report in my parental comments. But can I take it with me and submit it on the day if needed?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My son has low muscle tone and poor postural control, and his 'engine' tends to run low most of the time. There is a programme called The Alert Programme, which OTs will be aware of, which is based on the notion that for most of us our engines run Just Right; if they run a bit high then a person tends to be a bit hyper or excitable or easily aroused, and may need input to help him/her calm down to reach the optimum Just Right range. DS2's engine runs low, so he is constantly floppy and droopy; it can be a real physical effort for him to sit in a chair at a table for any length of time, which obviously will affect his ability to concentrate and focus and therefore learn.

 

Input on improving his postural control will help, and he also has it written in to his Statement that he needs a Sensory Diet; the thing is with that is that it has to be managed by an OT. At his old mainstream school the teachers tried their best but it just didn't fit in with the rest of the class; they used to let him bounce on a trampette or take him for a walk round the playground but it was all a bit vague; sucking water through a straw was one strategy to wake up his system, but he was not allowed to have it readily available on his desk because it was a rule not to have drinks on the desk... even though it was in a non-spill beaker...

- also the 'exercises' or strategies need to be very specific for the child and need to be monitored as they may need changing week on week.

 

DS2 is now at an autism-specific school and they are much more aware of the notion of a sensory diet. The whole 'engine' idea is referred to constantly so that the children can learn to become aware of their own state eg how their engine is running and take appropriate action, eg use strategies to calm down or to pep themselves up.

 

Frankly I think this is one of the main reasons why mainstream could not eventually work for DS2; the whole environment was not one in which he could learn how to monitor himself.

 

Hope that helps, have to dash because it's half term and the natives are getting restless and I'm apparently hogging the computer!!!

 

Quickly edited to say the engine runs either slow or fast, not low or high... but Just Right is ideal.

 

Lizzie xx

Edited by BusyLizzie100

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I also work with children with ASD's and have had a few fall asleep when they are having difficult moments-I believe this is due to coping strategies and they are shutting down because it's easier that deal with the situation.

 

That is a very interesting comment to me because one of my 7 year old twins who is very like my ASD son in so many ways does exactly this - she will say she is tired and put her thumb in her mouth and cuddle in or zone out as soon as something she can't cope with happens especially socially! Today she has been very hard work and I have been thinking more and more about seeing about getting her assessed, I have been for a long time really but the thought of going through it all again scares me rigid! Don't know why!

 

Anyway - Sally, I did a post containing the same thing recently - School and the head are saying that DS's innability to concentrate etc are due to his lack of sleep. He has ADHD and ASD and does have a sleep problem for which he takes menatonin so he sleeps 10 hours per night. The head said 10 hours isn't enough but last night I was reading about sleep dissorders on a website attatched to a hospital (so reliable) and it stated that for a child of 10 the ideal amount of sleep is 9.5 - 10 hours.

 

I personally feel that either our kids are bored at school because the lessons are - well - boring or their support isn't perferming properly. Or it couldbe that they are the type of kids that just find school boring and would rather be somewhere else which at lot of NT kids feel too.

 

Schools don't seem to allow for different personalities and need to blame SOMEONE for the the reasons why they can't get through to the child. Perhaps its a personality issue - the teacher and child don't get on like DS and a certain teacher who does art and handwriting for example - very few of the children like her and I have been told she has a very dry sence of humour that DS probably doesn't understand - why 99% of the other kids don't like is not known though :rolleyes:

 

Sue

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My lad is 16 and he is always tired, always has been like that. He has always needed a lot of sleep, but even when he gets it, he is lethargic and droopy all day. I think he just finds life tiring, tbh. He has a little more stamina than he used to, but still tires incredibly easily. Even at the moment, getting up at 9.30 as it's half-term, he's still yawning and flopping about. I think some AS kids just do find life stressful and wearing.

 

~ Mel ~

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My daughter has always had sleep problems, but we just had to get through it, she now takes melatonion which works well.

 

What I am interested in is your remark about the school saying that it could be a home problem causing his problems.

This in my opinion is often seen. It is often the case that issues are blamed in someway on home life.

 

others have given you advice on the route you might take with his tiredness, but it would be good to open a good communication with school so they know it is not just homelife causing all problems..

When we went to tribunal, my health was brought up, my divorce, and her lack of sleep.... sad....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The yawning you mention might very well be a coping strategy for social stress, like purplehaze wrote. In that case, the reasons lie within the structure of the school surrounding him, and not with you or his home life.

But how to tell'em ...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

my sons school think that too, there wonding if my son sleeping ok, and also trying to interfer in his home life as well but we not giving them a chance i never thought of what mani said because i am having a lot of bother with my sons school and its got to a point it going to all hopefully be sorted out by using the mediation service.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My DSs school often say that he seems tired but as soon as he's home he's fine. I feel that it's because he is stressed and anxious at school.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...