KezT Report post Posted June 22, 2011 well we got the Statement, with the school I wanted named We chatted to the SENCO at the open evening, then arranged a proper meeting with SENCo and his new LSA to discuss DS's needs & go through his Statement. They have been great, and have vsited him at his primary school several times, then he and current LSA visited the new school together. Today he went to the new school alone and met with the new LSA again & his tutor. He was only there for just over an hour. They have decided that perhaps he may need bit more support than they had envisaged "he is a bit more challenging than some of the other ASD boys we have had". I DID tell them that he has severe ASD. I blame the ###### dx of Aspergers and the widespread belief that this means his difficulties are mild I can't wait for the whole word to dissappear!!! This is precisely why I always use the term ASD rather than AS Just because he could parrott words very young does not mean he has a mild ASD!!! GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! I really want him to stay in mainstream school - he OUGHT to be able to get through his public exams (GCSE/A level) at the appropriate age, and I just don't believe the one special school in my county will be able to accomodate that, and I am absolutely against the idea of him boarding anywhere if there is any possibility of hi staying at home. On the plus side, I guess by the time September rolls round we'll be at the 6 month review stage, so the new school can look at adjusting his Statement (is that how it works?). I thik perhaps we should rrange another meeting with the SENCo and talk through his needs gain..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sally44 Report post Posted June 22, 2011 (edited) The whole thing with Aspergers is that their speech development is supposed to be "typical". Parrotting words is not typical, that is echolalia - immediate or delayed. If this is the school you want and which you think will work then time will tell. Do you know exactly how much hourly support he will get and will this be from one person? You can ask them what they will do if they feel he needs more support. How will they increase the provision he receives? Just monitor it as closely as you can. If he begins to show any signs of anxiety then have a meeting with the SENCO and put it in writing. Because things can deteriorate pretty quickly. How do they intend to ensure he does not become anxious in school. What kinds of things can they do. Could he be taken for a walk mid-lesson, or taken into a quiet room. Can they adapt things immediately and get advice if needed the same or next day ie. phone the OT/SALT etc. If they do "have a plan", that will be re-assuring. What you don't want is to be told "don't worry we will deal with things if they arise", because that shows there is no actual plan. At the Annual Review you can now appeal if the LA do not make changes (as well as appeal if they do make changes), and you can appeal any part of the Statement. I really hope it goes well and he settles in fine. Edited June 22, 2011 by Sally44 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KezT Report post Posted June 22, 2011 hmm, but parrotting IS typical at 1-2 years old it was only in hindsight that we realised he pretty much only had to hear a word once before he had it, and much later before we realised he ddn't necessrily understand them all in different contexts so all hs records show age appropriate (or advanced) language skills, hence the AS dx.... I do still think it is the right school, and I think they will have the necesary support in place, We have already discussed break-out spaces and people, social time support, classroom transitions etc. The statement only specified 10 houes 1:1 (plus all PE classes whic will be 1:1 by definition within the Statement) which we said would not be suficient and they assured us they would be fine with as there were spare LSA/TA/mentors knocking around to sit in whenever necessary. I guess it will be a `matter of suck it and see when he actually starts... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted June 22, 2011 Good news! No school is ever going to be perfect, but I hope the positives far outweigh the negatives. If here are problems, you could request an early review once you're a little way into the term. K x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chris54 Report post Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) I do still think it is the right school, and I think they will have the necesary support in place, We have already discussed break-out spaces and people, social time support, classroom transitions etc. The statement only specified 10 houes 1:1 (plus all PE classes whic will be 1:1 by definition within the Statement) which we said would not be suficient and they assured us they would be fine with as there were spare LSA/TA/mentors knocking around to sit in whenever necessary. I guess it will be a `matter of suck it and see when he actually starts... We are very much in the same boat. Son going up to secondary in September, Only 10 hours of 1:1, School saying its OK. We and his primary did try to get the hours increased but, for some reason the secondary school said existing provision was OK and so it stayed the same. In his statement it goes on about transitional arrangement. And in his latest ILP it covers the arrangement that will (In the opinion of us and his present school) need to be in place. The two sencos are meeting next week to talk about this. Friday next week is Transition day when all the kids from all the schools all spend the day at their new schools. Then after that he will spend some time at the new school getting to new the hows and whys, also finding his way around. That is the sort of thing that caused him anxiety, not knowing where the next lesson will be. He would spend the whole of one lesson worrying about where the next one will be. We have had a number of meetings with the relavent people at his new school and they seem to say all the right things and are ready to listen to what we have to say but I do wonder if they fully grasp all of what we say. As far as, is it the right school, despite all the choices there is, the reality of it is it is the only practical chose. The only provision in our county for higher ability SENs children is mainstream with support, most of this is now through delegate funding, with less and less statements being issued. Just to add to the mix its an academy, with their own funding arrangement. Given all that, I do think its the right choice, its local, 10 Minuets walk away, It has class sizes of about 20, it seems to have good SENs provision, It is a satellite to a much larger school in the next town (the two together serve the whole area) which he can transfer to at 14 or 16 (or any other time) if he wants to do subjects not covered locally. I'm not sure its as good as I would like but it is the best that is available. One thing that did disappoint me a little was the school clubs. "We have a wide rang of lunchtime and after school clubs" That good I thought, all but one are sport, that one is IT. Well ITs OK but lad has no interest in sport at all. Edited June 23, 2011 by chris54 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sally44 Report post Posted June 23, 2011 All any parent can do is try to get the must suitable placement with the support being as specific as possible, so that that level of support can be seem to be effective or not. If a child does need more support in those cases you are able to say 10 hours 1:1 has not been enough so we need to increase it to xxx. It is much harder when it does not actually detail the support anywhere. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
