Parents evening teacher is sitting on the fence

[Haze]

Parents evening this week and after it i thought of asking the teacher do you have splinters on your ###### after sitting on it for so long, Here's the report he my little one is hyper, loves routine and functions at best if kept hates change easily distracted and angry and refuses to share is literacy is below average but the positive is his above two years for maths and computers he his a wizz. Im sat there looking at her amazed and said you can breath. Her reply i bet you have a large stock of wine at home my reply was yes but i know my son and what is best for him you obivously don't bye and off i went. Fab i knew when he started main stream school we would have problems and here we go what do you think and how best to tackle it until his consultant will ok him for aspergers at ten then we have no support and school are cleary sinking fast

 

 

 

hazexx

[Sally44]

Why have you been told you have to wait until he is 10 to get a diagnosis of Aspergers? Who told you that?

By then he could be out of school due to not coping, and it will give you no time to get a Statement for his secondary years.

[Sally44]

But I also wanted to add, that at the parents evening you could have said that you have concerns that he is on the spectrum, and could the school refer him to the speech therapist and EP.

 

Is your child on school action, or school action plus. The teacher had admitted your child is behind with literacy. What are school doing about that to a) find out why he is falling behind, and what support is he getting.

 

There are different routes to a diagnosis area by area.

 

We were eventually referred by school after he had been there for just 4 months.

 

We saw the SALT first, who assessed him and told us to expect a diagnosis [in about 18 months time], of an ASD. She referred our son onwards to the "communication clinic", which was a multi disciplinary team based at our local childrens hospital. He was seen by the clinical psychologist and developmental paediatrician twice over 18 months, and eventually received the diagnosis.

 

So I would push your GP to refer you to a MDT that has expertise in assessing and diagnosing children on the autistic spectrum - and also ask school to refer him to the speech and language therapist and the Educational Psychologist. Have a meeting in school to talk about it, and then send in a letter detailing everything that was discussed and agreed.

[justine1]

Hi

 

I agree with Sally. It seems strange that you have to wait until your child is 10 before you can get a diagnosis. That aside school should be taking steps to help your child now,he does not need a diagnosis to get help. You should ask the teacher to put all of what she told you at parents evening on paper so you have that as proof that he is not coping,it will also help with the diagnostic process.

[Sally44]

Rather than being annoyed/angry with the school [whether that is justified or not], is not going to get you what you believe your child needs.

 

Make a note of ALL the difficulties he has, including speech and language and social communication, finding it hard to concentrate, being hyperactive etc.

 

Contact your local authorities Parent Partnership [their usefulness fluctuates from area to area - they are still employed by the LA so are not really independent, but they are better than nothing]. Ask them for advice on how to get the support your child needs in school, and ask them to attend any school meetings you have about your son.

 

Ask for a meeting with the school SENCO and ask the PP to attend.

 

Get a copy of the SEN Code of Practice [which can be downloaded from the Education forum section at the top of the page under SEN Educational Publications. Read the relevent chapters for your son [school action, school action plus, getting a Statement].

 

You will see that "Special Educational Needs" is NOT just academic ability [however the teacher has already admitted he is falling behind with literacy, yet is a whizz at computers - this indicates a spikey profile typical of an ASD], it is also speech and language difficulties, social communication/interation/forming friendships/holding a two way conversation etc, it includes emotional literacy in themselves and others and may include getting upset, angry outbursts, being agressive, not being able to feel or interpret or communicate their own emotional state or needs, sensory difficulties including problems perceiving or coping with information visually, auditorily, touch, smell, taste, balance and co-ordination [if can cause children to be distracted, to be irritated in environments and unable to concentrate, avoidance behaviour, clumsy, problems with motor planning and with thinking things through or doing things in the right sequence].

 

If your son is on the spectrum he is most likely to have difficulties in two of more of those areas.

 

At this meeting with the SENCO say what you were told by the teacher at parents evening, and that your son is suspected of being on the autistic spectrum and that you have been told he is falling behind in literacy. Ask them what SEN stage your son is on and what support he currently receives in school.

 

Write all this down [ask the PP to take notes also]. Ask the school to refer him to the speech and language therapist [if he has not already been seen by one], and also the Educational Psychologist.

 

When you meet the NHS SALT ask her to carry out standardised assessments of all his receptive and expressive speech and language skills and also to assess his emotional literacy and his social communication and interaction skills. Put that in writing in a letter to them as well.

 

Ask the EP to assess using standardised assessments too.

 

Ask the SALT if she refers on to any other health care professionals so that your son can receive a diagnosis. In that way you may avoid this other unhelpful healthcare person. Or ask your GP to refer you to someone else that has experience of assessing and diagnosing children with an ASD - a multi disciplinary team is always better than just one person.

 

Keep a diary of everything your son says or does that is of concern to you.

 

See what happens with that.

 

Another way you could get people in to assess is if you ask the LA to carry out a Statutory Assessment for a Statement of special educational needs. However you usually need at least two IEPs [which I presume your son does not have - Individual Education Plan, and a diagnosis is helplful]. So I would try to hold out and see what the first option achieves.

 

Don't go and wait to be told that finally they are referring him. You have to be a bit more pro-active and you have to have evidence. So use the diary and the evidence you have that he is falling behind and has a spiky profile and ask the school to refer him. That is what their budget is for. Put the request in writing.

 

You can also contact the LA Autism Advisory Teacher. They may not even need a diagnosis for them to come and see your child in school. But they need the school to invite them in. That may give you further evidence of your son's difficulties because they should observe your son and write some recommendations to the school and give a copy to you.