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Clare63

Returning old forum member...

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Hello there, I hope its Ok to return to the forum which in the past gave me enormous support and help with my AS son. In the past I had helped with diagnosis, statements, DLA, Carers Allowance and education, made many good friends and shares stories of both joy and sadness.

 

I feel a little akward and embarrassed returning after whats been a couple of years, but would very much appreciate some pointers, information and advice about AS & A Levels.

 

Firstly perhaps I should ask where I should post thread under which topic heading ? Education ? or maybe Beyond Adolesence ?

 

Brief summary of my query ~ Aspegers son aged 17 in second year of 6th form at specialist school, supposed to be taking Chemistry, Physics and Maths.

AS exams earlier this year resulted in poor results best of which being a "D" grade.

The school are now saying whilst he knows the facts he is struggling with the questioning style in AS/A Level papers as they can be quite abstract and require elaborate answers.

They are concerned they are setting him up to fail due to the amount of work involved and the fact he does not understand the questions.

My query is :- (a) surely as specialist school they should been able to find ways to help him understand/answer the questions better ? b if not then surely they should be raising this with the examination board, governement who ever ? to request that such exams are made accessible to people on the spectrum ?

 

Hopefully someone will have had expereince of this and can help or point me in the right direction.

 

Thank you in anticipation.

 

Clare.

Edited by Clare63

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Clare as someone who has AS, who has taught to A level and been an examiner and who has been through a few university courses up to postgraduate level I would make the following comments.

 

There is a point where we have to accept that the system is the system and that life is life. As we move up the education system there are less and less allowances made in respect to individuals. It is within the scope of establishments to test all sorts of things and 'do you understand what this question means or what this task is' is simply part of this process. In a way if your son can't work out what is being asked he is simply falling down at the first hurdle and he will not be the only one.

 

You have not stated what type of Specialist School he attends. It may be a case that the teachers there simply do not have enough experiences of examination processes and as such may be struggling to teach him in the right way in respect to assessment criteria and processes. They may be making the mistake of teaching to his preferred learning style which may be fine in respect to gaining knowledge in his own way, yet they may possibly not be addressing how he needs to apply this knowledge as such when it comes to assessment tasks there is a big discrepancy.

 

When I was a head of my subject I was often asked by parents to look at coursework and spend time talking to their child about examination processes. Often these young people were in well thought of schools at times private and I can honestly say some of their teachers didn't have a clue about what and why they were asking them to do. The parents knew it and to be honest felt embarrassed to ask at times. I never charged for offering advice but I could have done and they would have been happy to pay.

 

What concerns me in a big way is that we have created an education process like a large sausage machine where we push young kids in at one end and we expect them to pass through the whole system without too much difficulty. The whole point of having levels in education is that they should be differentiated and as such be asking more and more complex things of individuals. The reality is that many times I have seen people who have been highly successful at a previous stage of the education process and be poorly equipped to deal with the next stage. In a way there are far too many expectations that they should do well yet we are often asking far too much from them at that stage of their life.

 

When I studied for my MA I joined my universities AS group and was twice the age of any other members of the group. I have to be honest and whilst a few were having a great time, there were other who were very depressed and having the worst period of their life. They all talked about parental expectations and felt as if because of their levels of intelligence in some aspects of their life they were obliged to pursue an education at that level. In my view some of them were simply not ready for the environment they were in because they were lacking in the skills to cope.

 

Clare I do not personally know your son, but as a parent myself I know I need to take a broad look at my sons own abilities and encourage him to develop as a human being in a healthy way. I know he has strengths and weaknesses and I have to be realistic about any scenarios I ask him to engage in. It is right that we encourage our children but that we give them space to grow. I know personally that as someone with AS that it is a developmental condition and at times I was or am a few years behind my peers in respect to understanding in a number of areas. His results of the summer will be a reflection of where he is at in respect of what was asked of him, they will be fair. It may be the case his school could do better and if that is the case they may need to spend money on sending people on the right courses with the exam boards to find out what is expected of candidates, they might simply lack experience and know how. It might be the case that your son is not ready for this level of the education process, I am not saying he is not intelligent and hasn't a good knowledge base, rather he struggles with the application of it, and that is what 'A' levels are starting to test. I can only offer these as suggestions for you to think about.

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Thank you for your response and its contents which I found very useful, sobering and interesting.

 

Firstly, I am afraid, I have not yet reached that point where I am able to "accept the system" and that "life is life" far too many people have let my son down, by what "I see" as giving up on him because he does not fit the system or that he does not or is unable to live his life as others see it show be. I can not "give up" or just plain "accept" things, I will neither push him into a direction where he is likely to fail, I lost all my expectations and dreams long ago, after diagnosis. I now focus on supporting him in achieveing his goals and aspirations for the future, his "goals and aspirations"

 

The school/6th form he attends is a private specialist school for young people with aspergers, this is only the second year they have offered A Levels. Much of the problems I have gleaned result from key staff leaving quickly after the start of the acacdemic year and no replacments found until either much later in the school year or not at all.

 

Basically what I would really like to know is, whether or not there are Educational Guide Lines/Training/Support for teaching A Level's to people with aspergers ?

 

My son wants to do these A Levels and believes he can, but how do I manage his expectations when he says he knows he can do them and get good results, when everyone else has little or no faith in him to achieve his potential ?

 

Sorry but I am still feeling a little raw and unsure what to do, would like to give your response full justice for the time you have given me. But I am struggling at the moment to feel positive and find a way forward, lots of thinking and discussing to be done at home I guess.

 

Many thanks again.

 

Clare

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I think the point here Clare is that the state has a basic role to provide support at an appropriate level to the age of 16, or it was when i was working in the education sector. There comes a point where education then is no longer a right but a choice and your son is making a choice in all honesty.

 

I have made posts before outlining my thoughts in respect to specialist AS schools against mainstream. One of the points I have raised is what happens post 16. I know for example as a teacher of Design and Technology I had a lot of very succesfull young people pass through my hands who I suspect have AS. For them they managed to find their place with certain subjects and importantly teachers. I would also say that many of those individuals recived unconditional offers from top universities and we talked with people at the next stage of the education process in trying to find good fits for their abilities. It was possible to do this in a creative subject area where talent if properly developed shines through. It helps if as in my case you have between 50 - 70 students at this age range each year all getting good results.

 

In my experience when it come to 'academic' subjects a term I don't like such as the ones your son is undertaking it gets more difficult because people are only interested in grades. As a deputy head of a sixth form I have developed compact agreements where if kids were suitable for the next stage but had great difficulty with 'A' levels universities would take them on my recomendation and this would continue if they did well on those courses, in other words build a reputation.

 

And this is the issue I feel when it comes to areas like science. At postgraduate level universities are full of individuals working on their own research areas based on their special interesst and for individuals with AS and hight levels of focus and intelligence this can be a good fit. The problem is bridging them across to those positions if that is where there talents and abilities lie. I would also be very wary of this concept as a stereotype which is circulated in building hope, there is however some truth in it for some individuals.

 

One more sobering thought I would offer up is this. In my experience as a head of my area in one of the top performing schools in the country at no point were independent and private schools prepared to open a dialouge with me. This was either through arrogance or through a lack of belief in what they were doing. What is sad is that this sort of attitude does little to help develop the potential of the young people in their establishment. Clare as a parent I would question is your sons school insular or possibly arrogant in this respect? I would think about taking a look at other options such as mainstream schools or the local sixth form colleges. What is a possibly good environment up to one point in life might not be the best option after it. As I said your son is in a position to make choices. I would question what is the purpose of his school at present to help him develop the skills and approach he needs to move onto the next stage of the education process, or to give him a comfortable environment in which to develop a different skills profile?

 

I think the answer for an AS adult of his age is both, remeber I was once in his position. I personally believe one set of skills related to education at this level is often best developed in mainstream environments. The other supporting skills are best developed in the home and through engagement in other interest areas such as sports and hobbies etc... Specialist schools often claim to do it all but I am not sure they are realy in the position to do so. Others might disagree and I respect their viewpoints. But in these things I think you really do need to look at the next stage and what lies post 18.

 

A few more personal thoughts.

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Thank you once again, I am printing off your replies so that I can read them a few times and digest.

 

Sadly my son left mainstream at end of Year 7 after a nervous breakdown, the same year he was diagnosed with aspergers. He was then taught at home by tutors supplies by the Children Out of School Team, I then fought long and hard to get him into a specialist school as I thought this was the best and right thing for him, it's not really worked out at all, if I am totally honest, he finds them disorganised and feels they don't understand him. He has no behavioural problems, which many of the other young people do, who take up lots of time, my son is the quiet anxious type and tends to get forgotten on a regular basis, the school have admitted this !

 

We did look at mainstream colleges, many children at the school study also at mainstream colleges and other 6th forms, but Connor said he could not cope with the environment, we tried but it did not work out.

 

I personally feel with the huge fees this school gets, some of the money should be invested in proper training for the staff for exams including GCSE, AS and A level. At the moment its seems to be the blind leading the blind, so to speak, I am trying to explore and research teaching techniques and revision plans for A level students to see if they can be adapted in some way. I fail to see how they can offer and expect people to pay for exams if they are unable to adapt and find stratigies for people with aspergers.

 

I am so confused, so much to think about, just feel we are running out of time. My son has funding at his school until he is 19 so we have two school years left.

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Clare I would go back to my concept of the sausage machine. I simply think to many people simply believe that between the ages of 16 and 18 you do A levels then between 19 and 21/22 you get a degree etc...

 

I think we should be saying what you should do is what is right for the individual at the point where they are ready to partake in the choices they make. There is no compulsion to follow a conventional time frame. I think it is important to remember that AS is a developmental condition and we develop skills as we progress through life. I saw too many individuals with AS in my last universtiy who had to resit their first year and as such they had real pressure given 4 years funding to make things work the second time around. The fact was they were not ready for this and in effect were blowing their future life chances out of the water. At 22 or 24 I suspect they would be ready but the drive is to push them through the system. In contast universities are full of many mature students who felt they hadn't had particualry successful school experiences did something else for a few years and then took up the opportunities on offer.

 

We have a lifetime to pursue these things what many kids need in my opinion is the chance to consolidate what they have learnt not just at school but about life. Very often we don't allow them the chance to consolidate at all rather we bounce them along from one challenge to the next untill they either suceed against the odds or they become exhausted and disolusioned. As parents allow yourselves the space for your family to think things through in respect to your best interests not what others such as myself might think or say. I only offer these thoughts to give you a few starting points to explore a range of options.

 

Best wishes

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Thank you very much for your view point and sharing your expereince. Given me much food for thought, I hope you don't mind, but may have further questions and will return at a later point.

 

Clare.

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No problems or PM me.

 

Thank you once again, I am waiting confirmation of an appointment with the Head of Education to take things forward. Connor is adament that he is able and committed in completing the work required for the A level's in question. I need now to discuss with the school what can be achieved in the two years he has left there.

 

I will keep you posted and will no doubt have plently of things in this respect I would like to run by you.

 

Kind regards

Clare.

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Hi Clare welcome back, does your son have a reader for his exam questions?,any extra time during exams ?or a scribe for him?

 

Thanks Suze, he does get extra time for his exams but does not need a "reader" or "scribe" , would be helpful if they were able to translation the question to such they he would understand what they mean/looking for same for scribe if they could change his words to be elaborate enough for his answers.

 

Clare.

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There are websites that publish the answers to the questions a few weeks after the exams. If you and Connor could look at them would it give your son an idea of what is expected? Also teachers are supposed to be explaining to students what the exam questions actually mean. eg what the terms 'describe' 'define' 'hypothesise'.

 

Another problem is the relating to real life examples. 'What does the Harber process do to the surrounding woodland by placing the plant at site A?' I preferred the vocational science AVCE route. Also another option could be the Access to Science courses.

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There are websites that publish the answers to the questions a few weeks after the exams. If you and Connor could look at them would it give your son an idea of what is expected? Also teachers are supposed to be explaining to students what the exam questions actually mean. eg what the terms 'describe' 'define' 'hypothesise'.

 

Another problem is the relating to real life examples. 'What does the Harber process do to the surrounding woodland by placing the plant at site A?' I preferred the vocational science AVCE route. Also another option could be the Access to Science courses.

 

Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direct to get idea for support, also for pointing out that teachers are supposed to explain what exam questions me and the examples you gave, that will be very useful for me to bring up at my meeting at school. To be honest I think "they" the school are so new to all this, they are not really sure themselves how to go about things particulary regarding examinations and young people with aspergers..

 

Clare.

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Just found your response Clare anytime. If you can get the exam syllabus from the website of the examining body

that can help you find out what your son should be learning.

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