Encourage specialization or accept schools view that becoming an all rounder is best

[Benj]

My son Sam is 7 and has very recently been diagnosed with Aspergers by a pediatrician. We're in the process of seeking help for the school from the LEA etc and my wife and I are in the process of learning as much as we can (although we're still comparatively ignorant at this point). Sam is in ordinary school but has been struggling with all the issues that those with Aspergers often struggle with (from what I've read). He's very adept at certain things (maths) and can concentrate for huge periods of time on his particular interests (space and the stars) and spends hours reading. He struggles at school because certain subjects (PE,handwriting,group activities) really upset him and he doesn't understand why he has to do certain activities (which causes his teachers problems).

 

My natural instinct is that Sam shouldn't necessarily have to excel at all of these attainment areas which he finds difficult and that it might be rather counter-productive to try to force him into the educational mold which the school normally adopts. It appears to me that there's nothing wrong with being a specialist and that forcing him to do some of these things that are making him miserable is likely to lead to him becoming depressed and discouraged. Does anyone have any experience of making these kind of decisions? Is there a consensus view on such things? (And if so is it based on good evidence?)

[Lyndalou]

Hello Benj

 

From a personal point of view, I feel it important for your son to get at least a basic grounding across the various areas of the curriculum.

 

I was very good at English at primary school but certainly at the age of 7 I screamed and cried at home while trying to do my Maths homework and it is highly likely that I have dyscalculia although I am not diagnosed as having it. My mum persevered with me and my fits of sheer frustration and I slowly made progress. It is fair to say that I hated the subject and when I went onto secondary school my problems were compounded by a teacher who became regularly frustrated with me and my inability to understand what she had spent some time trying to explain to me. Of course, the rest of the class found this very funny! However (and here's my point), I passed my 'O' Grades in Maths and Arithmetic with a great deal of effort (some experts believe that people with dyscalculia can achieve around this level) and although I still struggle with some aspects of basic arithmetic, I have always required the level of ability I have in order to budget and to pay my bills. I have had to ask for help when I've become confused but I've owned my own flat and had to ensure I paid the mortgage. These days, my husband deals with all the household bills but I still have to ensure I keep within my own budget etc.

 

I also took swimming lessons for around 2 years from age 10 to 12. My mum knew I hated going but the bottom line was that she had paid for it and I had to go. Part of the criteria for attending was that I had to swim in swimming galas and I came last in every race I was ever in. I dreaded going to those galas, especially since I overheard those who were good swimmers blaming me for the club losing at them! However, going swimming will have improved my co-ordination and helped my general fitness. Going swimming made me have to deal with various sensory issues; problems with being wet outside of a bath or a shower and my clothes becoming damp and difficulties with changes in temperature. Going swimming forced me to have to try to organise myself and plan ahead (although I was always last out as I had a set way of getting dry and getting dressed - I was under much more pressure to go faster with school swimming lessons).

 

I'm not saying for one minute that you should force your son to be miserable but I hope that by using these examples I can show that pushing the boundaries of what you (or your son) think your son is capable of, this may ultimately be of benefit for him. I included the swimming example because I think that kids with ASD require education in the broadest sense (especially as you mentioned PE). I could also include that I hated going to Brownies but that this will have helped me to understand the concept of group activities and games (in 2 years I never got a badge and couldn't understand why!). I hated going to the area orchestra (again, I had to do this in order to receive flute lessons and I couldn't understand why I was made 4th Flute) but it put me out of my comfort zone, having to speak to people I didn't know.

 

Push the things your lad is good at! These are the things he will excel in and will be the things he loses himself in. These are the things which will make him feel safe and make him feel happy. He may not necessarily however, always think he is good at the things he does well and he may be self-critical and perfectionist (a common AS trait) so he will need encouragement when he 'fails' even in these subjects as he will probably set his standards very high.

 

I read quite routinely into the wee small hours when I was a child and I could spend hours in my room with my books. Reading was my safe haven and it blocked out the noises all around and managed to get me out of doing things too (mum left me to it as it meant I was intelligent ) but I kind of wonder now if she ought to have taught me how to cook as I opted out of this at school! Activities outside of school made sure though that I didn't spend all of my time on my own just reading. Yes, there was a great deal of anxiety and yes, I would have preferred to do my own thing but yes, in the long run much of it taught me a great deal.

 

I hope that helps a little

[Sally44]

My son is diagnosed as autistic spectrum disorder [which includes Aspergers, but he is not diagnosed with Aspergers specifically because he has a severe/profound speech disorder]. He attended a typical mainstream primary school. We moved him to a different mainstream primary school for the start of year 3, which was termed "enhanced resource", which meant there was a higher adult/pupil ratio, and more experience of ASD and more children with an ASD within the school. The school also had an autism unit, but the children in the unit were much more severe ie. non-verbal or challenging behaviour.

 

Our experience as that my son simply did not learn in the same way as the other children, and the things you raised were big issues for him. He can sound like a professor in his areas of interest, and yet has huge gaps in his vocabularly and understanding [standard scores ranging from 2 [where 3 is classed as severe], to 14/15 [where 8-13 is classed as average].

 

My son became physically/mentally ill from the start of year 5, and was out of school for most of 2011, refusing to go. He developed alot of nervous tics, was further diagnosed with an Anxiety Disorder and OCD, all due to his anxiety not being managed or addressed.

 

My son also has a Sensory processing Disorder, and Dyslexia/Dyscalculia to a severe degree, and Dyspraxia [some same problems as your son with PE, writing etc].

 

What we found was that for children that are around 'average cognitive ability', there is not Local Authority maintained schooling option. It is either mainstream, where they don't cope, or special school for moderate learning difficulty which they don't have and which is not ASD specific.

 

We also looked at Local Authority maintained schools [primary and secondary], that had autism units on site. What we found was that the children were often more severely autistic than our son. Or if they were more aspergers type children, the unit always fed the children across to mainstream classes. And our son could not cope with that. He has severe difficulties understanding group instructions, working in a group, he cannot write, he cannot tolerate the background noises, smells and distractions to the point that it was making him vomit.

 

I agree with the statement you are making to some degree. However as our children do not have 'social communication' or 'group skills' etc, they should really be in a school that teaches this as part of their therapy. As these skills are needed in the real world. Some children, who excel in certain areas or subjects may get by without a high degree of those skills and be termed 'eccentric' etc. But for the majority of children it is a confusing and worrying experience for them.

 

My son also has prosopoagnosia [face blindness], and this makes it very hard for him to read other people as he struggles to identify their physical characteristics, how old they are, their voice tone, their bodily or facial gestures and expressions. As he said himself "I cannot tell if someone is my friend or my enemy". Which places him in a high anxiety state, especially in crowded environments where after years he still could not identify the children in his class by name or characteristics!

 

We ended up going to 2 educational tribunals. The second one was in October 2011, where we won a placement at an independent ASD specific school that has OT's and SALT's employed on site as well as an Educational Psychologist. There are 7 other children in his class, a specialist teacher qualified to teach children with ASD along with 3 TAs, and my son also has specialist dyslexia teaching from a qualified teacher twice a week. In that environment he is now attending nearly full time [since starting Nov 2011].

 

This school is the ONLY one that could manage his Anxiety and OCD and more importantly where he feels safe and where his confidence and self esteem is growing, rather than diminishing.

 

I believe that my son had a breakdown [although they say that children that age [10], cannot have them]. He attempted suicide and had very serious self harm behaviours all because he thought he was "stupid, rubbish, a loser, weird, a freak" [all words he used about himself, or heard other kids call him].

 

He is very self aware and has some theory of mind, and so he would ask questions like "what is wrong with my brain" "if I do x, y and z will I be like other kids" "why can't I control my brain" etc, which was all very upsetting for him and us.

 

What I would recommend you do is find out about your son's diagnosis and how it affects him, as well as any other possible co-morbid diagnoses he has [dyspraxia sounds likely - which may also suggest a possible sensory processing disorder].

 

Find out how the special educational needs system works, and start working towards your son having a Statement [these might be replaced with something else - better or worse - from 2014]. Get a copy of the SEN Code of Practice which explains the process and details what is an SEN. It can be educational, speech and communication/social interaction/play skills, sensory and physical, emotional and behavioural. Children on the spectrum must tick some of those boxes to even get a diagnosis.

 

So don't be fobbed off with "your son is doing very well academically and we have no concerns", because what about his ability to hold a conversation or play? What about his ability to organise and plan and sequence what he needs to do, what about PE and handwriting or riding a bike or brushing his teeth or climbing a tree?

 

You may find that your child does cope in mainstream with support. Or you may find things deteriorate as he progress through primary school.

 

The SEN process is a very slow one. It takes 26 weeks to get a Statement, and you often have to appeal the contents of the Statement [as LAs deliberately write them in a way that they are not legally binding on them to provide the provision and therapy the Statement details - or rather doesn't detail]. And if you appeal that usually takes another 4-6 months. So that is a year gone straight away.

 

I would see how he is doing in year 1 and especially year 2. In year 3 they have to become much more independent, and he may not be able to do that. He may need alot more structure and direction and not "self directed learning" as most of our mainstream schools tend to use.

 

There are independent schools that almost all LAs use for children like my son. But they will never tell you that. Because they cost alot of money and it takes going to an Educational Tribunal and paying for independent reports and having expert witnesses to get such placements. But for our son we had no other choice. He is now in a school where he 'fits in' and where he is like all the other pupils.

 

So as bad as things might get. Things can work out well in the end. But you need to learn the system, and to know what the possible options are and you have to find that out yourself [and use websites like this one, and www.nas.org.uk, www.ipsea.org.uk, www.ace-ed.org.uk and www.network81.org]. Don't automatically believe what your LA or its professionals or the NHS and their professionals tell you. If your son does get a Statement he will get everything it contains. There is no monetary limit on what a Statement can provide. So if the LA or NHS says they don't provide it, that maybe true. But if you have a professionals report that proves your son needs it, and that is included in the Statement [as it should be by law], then it has to be provided and if the school or the NHS don't have it, the LA must pay for it.

 

For example, Sensory Integration Therapy cannot be provided by the NHS regardless of the child have a Sensory processing Disorder. But as our son has that diagnosis, and as our independent OT said he must have that therapy, it is provided in his independent school.

 

I'm going a bit too far into the future with this post, but just wanted to branch off from your original post to some of the options and subjects that question will raise over the next few years.