reduced timetables

[fgilbert]

Hi,

 

It has been a rocky week for us and I thought rather than lurking, searching forum I should join and share.

 

I have a 5 1/2 year old son who is currently in year 1. He has not got a diagnosis yet but we are currently waiting for the results of the ADOS test.

 

School feel that he shows strong traits of ASD. He has had input from o.t. and salt since he was 2 1/2 year old. Pead.consultant believes it is just developmental delay with expressive language delay and hypotonia (low muscle tone)linking into fine and gross motor delay. However, in school in class of 30 he struggles. He is SA+. Despite having TA in class he is ego-centric, has issues over personal space, finds transitioning between tasks and is unpredictable. He does have little quirks at home e.g. wearing soft trousers, things smelling and loves collecting rocks.

 

He is currently at home and not in school as school do not feel they can support his needs and he must have one-to-one. We finished a 5-day exclusion yesterday after a boy was hit on the head with a rock as my son stated "i wanted to see what brains look like." However, at re-integration meeting they said they hadn't sorted support for him yet so would have to remain at home for more days and on return be on a reduced timetable.

 

I have visit from the outreach teacher of the primary school in our area which teaches children with moderate learning difficulties. She has given us a new structure of reward chart, visual timetable for days activities and use of now/next prompt cards. She is re-arranging her children so that she can see my son in his school.

 

Today i have CAMHs visiting us at home- first appointment.

 

At the same time we have an appeal in as the local authority refuses to carry out a statutory assessment!!!!

 

I hoped someone may be able to answer a few questions for me-

 

1. what am i able to do with son when he is not in school? exclusions state you must not be seen in public places during school hours but reduced timetables are authorised absences? I'd like to take him to soft play and maybe a few trips...

 

2. How should i expect timetable to increase hours in school?

 

3. lunch time tricky period - can school make ewan come home for lunch?

 

Feels very over-whelming at the moment, really want him to be interacting with his peers and be getting an education.

 

fritha

[justine1]

Hi

 

Welcome to the forum. I have aa son age 8 with ASD/aspergers and a son age 5 with ASD/HFA. My 8 year old had four exclusions in one school year (during year 2) he was on flexi-schooling, he only went to school 9am-12pm everyday. He also struggled with lunchtimes so it did work out well that he was able to eat at home. However I could not see that this was a long term solution and so the school successfully got a stat assessment and thereafter he got a statement he is now doing very well at an ASD unit.

 

To answer your questions:

1) If your son has completed his exclusion time and is now only on a reduced timetable there is no reason why he cannot go out, however I would try and make an outing educational not just a day out. When my son was on flexi-scholing I would take him out from 12-2pm and then do some work from 2-3pm and also in the late afternoon when he would have normally done homework anyway. I did stick to a timetable even though I could be more flexible this was because he would co-operate more and his younger brother also needed structure.The school did give me some work for him, this is actually the law so your son's school need to do the same, on top of that I would let him do educational games online (like BBC bitesize website.)

 

If however your son is on exclusion you cannot take him out. I personally feel that even though the exclusion in itself is a punnishment, by not allowing the child out it just re-inforces the punnishment so it shows you working with the school and does'nt give the child mixed messages.

 

2)In my son's case his hours were not increased even when he had a TA with him. In fact some days he did not go in fo example sports day, when they done any school plays or school trips, as the school felt he could not cope with any of it. Only when he got his statement and moved to an ASD unit was he able to return to a full timetable, it took 7 months and he had already finished year 2.

 

So if I were you I would keep pushing for the stat assesment. As hard as it is when your son gets excluded it does actually help as evidence that he is not coping, the school should be pushing as well becausee they clearly cannot cope either even with a TA which in my opinion means even with a statement mainstream may not be suitable.

 

3)Your son can go home for lunchtime so long as you bring him back in time for his next lesson (registration after lunch) I know of some children who go home for lunch becaue of religious/cultural reasons and because your son does'nt cope I think its a reasonable request. My sons school did suggest this but because I do not drive it would'nt have worked they did however manage to get him to eat in a separate classroom,with only three other children and his younger brother was allowed to eat with him.

 

 

Here's hoping things will get easier.

[puffin]

Is this not an illegal exclusion?Perhaps you should contact IPSEA and get some advice on this?

 

make sure that the school have involved the autism outreach worker from the Local Authority

[Suze]

Did your son go to nursery school at all?...........how was he there?

 

.............if things have moved on dramatically since the original assessment was requested...ie camhs are now onboard and he has an exclusion, it may force the LA,s hand and they may agree to assess, particularly as school are saying they can,t cope.CAMHS carry alot of weight in regards to statementing they helped big time with ours.You may find if they contact the LA you might not need to go to appeal.Best of luck welcome to the forum xx

[Kathryn]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

Justine has been in a similar situation and given you excellent advice as have others. As it's been said, your son is not excluded at the moment and so you do not need to worry about keeping him indoors during school hours.

 

Technically, what the school is doing now amounts to an illegal exclusion, and could also be a disability discrimination issue. Your son should have been allowed back into school the day after the exclusion ended. The government guidance is very clear on this and specifically states tht children with conditions such as Autism/ADHD should not be kept at home for that reason. You could ask for the attendance record to see how they are recording his absence - particular codes have to be used for each absence category.

 

Part time timetables can be helpful where children need to be grdually integrated into school, but they should be put in place for the educational benefit of the child, not, as often happens, for the convenience of the school. I can see where the school are coming from, (they are probably tearing their hair out trying to make the SEN budget stretch) but if more funding is urgently needed to support your son, they should be talking to the local authority and not relying on you in the meantime to look after him during school hours because they don't have the resources. Your son is entitled to a full time education. This includes lunchtimes as well (to answer your question 3) and asking you to take him home at lunchtime is an illegal exclusion in itself. For a child your son's age, a lot of valuable learning goes on during lunchtime and your son has a right to be there: if he needs extra support to help him, so be it.

 

You could complain to the school about the informal exclusion and copy in the local authority. Obviously you want to maintain good relations with the school so you need to be careful about the tone, but you could state your concern that your son is missing out on his education. If you do agree a part time timetable, it should be time limited and kept under review so that everyone is clear when and how the hours are to be increased and what the school will do to support your son in working towards a full day. It would be wise to get any agreement in writing and to set dates for future meetings.

 

As Justine and Suze say, the exclusions both official and unofficial, are useful evidence for your appeal as they show clearly that the schiool are struggling to support your son with the resources they have. Try and get the school to state in writing that your son cannot attend school at the moment, and to say why he needs to be on a part time timetable. Look at the school and LA SEN policies to see what resources woud normally be available at SA+ If you find the school aren't doing everything they could be, for example, calling on outside behaviour support, ask them to do so. If you can show that the school have used the maximum support available, it will help your case for a statutory assessment.

 

Have a look at IPSEA's support sheet on SEN and informal exclusion: there's a lot of very useful guidance in it for you.

 

http://www.ipsea.org.uk/AssetLibrary/Exclusion%20sheets/ExclusionSupportSheet15.pdf

 

Hope that helps

 

 

K x

Edited September 22, 2011 by Kathryn

[Sally44]

Don't know about the exclusions.

But follow through with seeking an ASD diagnosis - have you been referred to professionals or a centre that has experience of diagnosing children with ASD?

 

From your descriptions, that would fit alot of ASD children. Certain skills are good, others delayed, literal thinking and obsessions.

 

Your child is still quite young, but when a bit older there are cognitive assessments that can work out if it is general global delay, or a spiky profile and ASD.

 

Follow through on the Appeal to get the LA to assess.

 

Keep records of exclusions. That he is not in school. How they cannot support him.

 

Try to get as much as you can in writing. Send in letters to the school/LA/professionals asking for information or clarification or confirming what has been said verbally in meetings or over the phone.

 

Your child has a right to an educational placement that can meet his needs and where he will be happy and learn. That may or may not be mainstream. But the best way of ensuring that the school and LA have a legal responsibility to via the Statement.

 

It is very tough now because everything happens at a time when you are most vulnerable ie. dealing with a possible diagnosis and the implications, dealing with a child that is not in school etc whilst trying to keep down a job, and family life etc.

 

It may take some time before you are happy with what you have achieved. But hold on, and keep going, and it will get better.

 

If you win your appeal then the LA will have to get reports from all professionals involved with your child, and that in itself can be useful to get something in writing.

 

Don't agree to anything if you are not happy with it. Get advice via here, or places like IPSEA, the NAS, or Network81 etc.

 

And also don't automatically believe anything you are told such as "you don't need a Statement" or "there are no places available" or "we just don't have any speech therapists available" etc. Always check it out. There are legal requirements and it is very common for parents to be fobbed off and unfortunately, especially in these times, cost cutting is the main concern.

Edited October 5, 2011 by Sally44

[Sally44]

Read your post again and was wondering.

 

Do you have in writing from the school that they cannot meet his needs? Have you got in writing what school think he needs eg. 1:1 support throughout the daytime [lessons and playtimes?].

 

Do you have a copy of the Code of Practice? You can download it from the educational publications section at the top of this page. There are different areas of SEN that would trigger SA+ and a Statement ie. educational, speech and communication, behavioural and emotional, sensory and physical. Your son will push most of those buttons with the difficulties he has.

 

A Statement is supposed to be for children who have needs over and above that which could be supplied via the school and delegated funding [which is usually 15 hours support a week - which does not have to be 1:1, it can be small group etc], plus their budgets for SALT and EP. School do not have a budget for OT, so I presume he gets that via Health?

 

Obviously the LA do not want to have to fund all that. But I would add up what school think he needs eg. 1:1 support; the fact school cannot take him back yet [for his and the other childrens safety], he has input from SALT and OT. Do you get an explanatory letter from the LA when they refused to assess? If not, send in your letter with the current position and ask them to detail WHY they refused to assess. It may speed things up and they may capitulate, or they may just continue along the Appeal route. But it does show that you are demonstrating his needs, and asking the LA for clarification. Have school written to the LA asking for an assessment or was it you? Both can ask. It doesn't have to be school or a professional, and parents can request an assessment even if professionals are saying they don't think the child needs it.

 

In the meantime, I don't know what your position is regarding home education [i don't mean you home educating - don't offer to do that! I mean the LA providing a suitably qualified teacher to come to your house to deliver lessons. If the current position is not sorted out asap [and ask school and the LA for a timescale of WHEN they are intending to get the support in school that he needs], I would again write to the LA and ask them to provide him with some education at home. Again the LA may do nothing. They usually only have to provide teaching when a child is off school because they cannot access school. I'm not sure what the criteria is for not being able to access school, but it is clear that his educational needs are such that currently he cannot access school under the level of provision currently available. Keeps the pressure on the LA [whilst always trying to remain as polite as you can], and again if they do nothing it all will look bad on the LA at the Appeal.

 

When is your Appeal.