Is this right...

[justine1]

Well just a follow-on from my post about Sam not liking Tuesdays. I have still been having problems with Sam on Tuesdays and so I spoke to the school once again who then spoke to him,he told them he does not understand it at all! Quite a shock when he is a level above where he is supposed to be....anyway they told him he needs to ask for help and thats why he has someone with him. So hoping this will now help along with the ear defenders etc that they are already using.

 

I have requested that he be seen by an ed psych,I reminded them that I had already requested this back in October..which they apologised for not following through. Apparently as it not an "emergency" referral it may take time OR he may not be seen at all???? Is this possible?

 

Thanks in advance.

[chris54]

The way it generally works is that each school is allocated so much of the EP time and have to use it as best they can.

So most urgent cases get seen first. EP time is a very scarce commodity.

[Sally44]

I think it would be wise to put your concerns in writing to the school so that you have it on record exactly what your son has said, that you are concerned he maybe on the autistic spectrum [i am presuming he is not diagnosed at all]. Anxiety is a huge part of being on the spectrum, and so is difficulty with concepts, so him getting upset and anxious and saying "he does not get it at all" is very important.

 

Schools do have an EP budget, but they are also supposed to identify and meet childrens' needs. And you stand more chance of that happening if you have put your request for school to refer him to the EP in a letter.

 

You can also contact your local authority and ask to speak to their autism advisory/outreach teacher. They too could come into the school to observe your son and offer advice to school. But school need to invite them. Again they are on a budget.

 

If he is trying to keep it all together in school, and then all his anxieties, worries, frustrations are coming out at home, I would ask your GP for a referal to Childrens Clinical Psychology, specifically to a department that has experience of working with children on the autistic spectrum. Their additional advice [and again get it in writing], will be useful when asking school for support, and you can submit all written evidence to your LA if you request that they carry out a statutory assessment towards a Statement.

 

From now on always get it in writing. You don't know if you may need to request an assessment for a Statement, but if you do you need all your evidence to hand. You cannot submit verbal evidence.

 

Have you downloaded and read the SEN Code of Practice yet? That details each SEN stage and what school should be doing.

 

It is very hard getting professionals involved in mainstream schools. The lack of input you are experiencing is typical. However those parents that push more, tend to get their children seen. BUT remember that within a mainstream environment this is always going to be the level of input available, unless your child has a Statement or is in a more ASD specific placement.

 

I did try to keep my son mainstream for as long as possible, until it was so clear that he was not coping, and that being seen once a year by a professional simply was not enough. Every child is different, and so the level of support and placement needs to meet the needs of the child. Our own son now attends an independent ASD specific placement for children with around average cognitive ability who are on the autistic spectrum and who have speech and communication difficulties.

 

What can easily be done [by everyone including parents], is because their child is good at, or excels in some areas, they believe that is their functioning level across all skill sets. With an ASD that is not the case. There is always what is called a "spikey profile". So in some areas [those associated with an ASD such as speech and language, social communication, play skills, imagination, needing routine etc], they will always perform at a lower level. For example on standard scores [where 8-13 is regarded as average] my sons scores ranged from 1-15. A standard score of 3 is classed as severe difficulties. So you can see he was about as spikey as you can get. And as these scores are for each skill set, it can mean that if a task requires a number of different types of skills, the outcome is going to be at around the lowest standard score for the skills needed for that task. So if my son needs to use a skill [assessed as level 1] as part of a whole task that includes other skills sets [some of which he may have scored up to 15 on], he will fail at the task because he cannot get past the skill that he performs so badly at [ie. level 1]. Does that make sense? If you view it as a 100m hurdle race, then you can see that if he cannot get over the hurdles, he cannot complete the race.

 

Also your son is self aware for him to have identified that he does not get it at all. This will affect his self esteem and confidence because he will see that the other kids around him do get it. That places him in an anxious state. And when anxiety is at a high level for a long period of time [ie. chronic anxiety as opposed to acute anxiety], it can lead to avoidance behaviours and other mental health issues. After years of struggling in school our son has been diagosed with an Anxiety Disorder and has OCD on top of his ASD and Dyslexia, Dyspraxia diagnoses.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Sally44

[justine1]

Thanks.

 

He is at an ASD unit,has been for just over a year(got his dx in 2009 and statement 2010.) He is integrated for a few lessons but not all....with maths he is integrated but goes to a smaller class whereas with Science(the reason he claims to hate tuesdays) he is in a larger class. The school and myself have spoken to him about why he hates tuesdays so much on a few occassions,and they have come up with a few solutions,which help on some occassions but not always.

 

He has very good attendance,having missed just 2 days(due to colds) since september. However it is always a battle to get him to school on tuesdays and when he gets home he is usually in a bad mood.

 

I have put everything in writing and so have the school. I requested he be seen by an ed psych last October at his annual review because he was last seen by an ed psych in Feb 2010 when going through statementing and he was at mainstream,I believe not all the tests were done,and in fact have this in writing as he was unco-operative. I believe now he is in a better environment these tests can now be carried out and the tests that were done will be more accurate this time. Also they may have a better understanding as to why he hates tuesdays. I know it sounds like it is not a big deal,as he is happy at school and getting the help he needs....I hate complaining but even though it may be small its a problem none the less.

Edited May 20, 2012 by justine1

[Sally44]

I think that as he is relatively happy the rest of the week, that they need to find out what is upsetting him so much. It maybe the concepts in science that he does not get. Or it could be that he just cannot concentrate or process information in a larger environment.

 

I would put in your request that this anxiety could spill over into other lessons and environments which could lead to a deterioration which you are trying to prevent as overall he is doing well and is supported well within this school.

 

If he does start to refuse school on Tuesdays, I would make sure ClinPsych are involved because they can back you up. What you don't want is for the LA to involve the EWO. And the fact that his attendance is so good backs up the fact that something is bothering him during this lesson.

 

Ask them to try delivering the lesson in a small group [if that is possible]. Or to keep him in the unit and not feed him across for Science for a couple of weeks, just to see how he is.