Headteacher of special needs school - insanity

[AmyNelson]

Autistic? Or just addicted to TV?

 

Nick Hilborne

 

When a headteacher wins instant fame by turning up at parents' homes and confiscating children's TVs, the real story can get overlooked.

 

Duncan Harper believes that some children who arrive at school too tired to work after spending hours watching TV or playing computer games are being wrongly labelled autistic.

 

It was his response to this problem which led to last week's headlines such as "Head confiscates TVs from pupils' bedrooms" and "School's ban takes it to top of the class".

 

His school, New Woodlands in Downham, south London, is a special school for 58 boys and six girls aged five to 12 with emotional and behavioural problems. Following an inspection three months ago, it was graded as outstanding in all categories.

 

Mr Harper said the key to the school's success was its excellent relationship with parents, who are contacted by phone every two weeks. With their backing he and his deputy Elizabeth Davis, have regularly visited homes and confiscated TVs or PlayStations.

 

The haul this year stands at two TVs, four PlayStations and a Gameboy.

Mr Harper said that although around 20 per cent of his children had been diagnosed with some form of autism, none actually suffers from the condition.

"We don't like labels at this school," he said. "Labels take the focus off parenting at home and teaching at school. They are part of an excuse culture. True autism is where a child has massive communication problems and cannot relate to their peers or to adults.

 

"What we're seeing is children who at first appear unable to communicate. They tend to be obsessed with computers and machines. After a few weeks here they are able to mingle with their peers, and they're not biting, kicking or scratching each other."

 

Of the 50 per cent of the children at the school diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Mr Harper regards only two as genuine victims.

http://www.tes.co.uk/2247241

[AmyNelson]

I cannot believe the insanity of this.

 

When children with autism first start school it will take them time to get used to the new routine and they will react, and once they get used to it, they will calm down.

 

How on earth does he translate that into autism not existing??? Those same children are not then transferred into mainstream schools, so they must still have some kind of different need. The UK Government doesn't spend extra money on special education schools unless they are really needed.

 

In fact 'excuse culture' is actually looking more like 'blame culture' from him towards the parents.

It's well known that autistic kids like computers, computer interest does not cause autism.

[lil_me]

I would be interested to find out what the people who gave the diagnosis think of his diagnosis of the children, does he have any idea of the diagnostic criteria at all I wonder.

 

Wonder if anyone on the forum has a child at this school and what they think

Edited June 17, 2006 by lil_me

[Canopus]

Those same children are not then transferred into mainstream schools, so they must still have some kind of different need. The UK Government doesn't spend extra money on special education schools unless they are really needed.

 

I spent 3 years in a residential school for EBD. The head mentioned at the Y9 annual review that my behaviour could be good enough in a years time to return to a mainstream school. I knew this was a false promise as the only people who left the school before the end of Y11 were either expelled or withdrawn by their parents on the grounds of bullying.

[Elouise]

The journalist has written two conflicting sentances.

 

First in # 2 there is this

Duncan Harper believes that some children who arrive at school too tired to work after spending hours watching TV or playing computer games are being wrongly labelled autistic.

Then in #6

Mr Harper said that although around 20 per cent of his children had been diagnosed with some form of autism, none actually suffers from the condition.

 

This reads as if he was trying to get through to a journalist the differance between autism (as nathan has) compared to autistic traits which MAY point to an ASD disorder or MAY point towards as the schools made group indicates, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

 

UK Local government does not spend money on special education of any form unless it has to. Central government merely formulates the policies.

 

Sadly there ARE parents out there who for whatever reasons think parenting involves saying yes to everything and they then wonder why said child by five is a horror to live with. If you add that into any form of ODD or CD oh BOY.

Most parents of ASD kids are already up and running on behaviour intervention, SALT, CAHMS and so on before 3 and thats way before other parents are whining that their little stars are not top of the class.

I can imagine those stratergies working with kids like Sam but Sam is a complete muppet who goes like a tornado from ADHD (real Macoy not some flight of my imagination and he does not sleep because he does not sleep not because his room is filled with gadgets)

Nathan however would produce some spectacular behaviour if anyone tried to get near his gameboy, at his old special school he was one of the very few allowed to have one IN class as it made his behavour better and that was with two teachers working with one Nathan..

 

If a teacher was to ask me to remove stuff for Sam I WOULD because Sam is Sam. If anyone asked the same for Nathan I would suggest they could try and perhaps go in wearing protective clothing of the sort worn by Father Ted to deal with Father Jack and ...let them try!

 

The one thing that does concern me is the probablity that this could easily become a 'one behavior intervention fits ALL children'. I know from my own four horrors this is not so. It should have been presented by journalists as 'with this small group (about 16 children) it has been found to be beneficial to encourage them to SLEEP by removing distractions to sleep from their bedrooms. It would also have been good to know what conditions these children truly do have recorded on their statements before any sweeping generalisations were made by the journalist.

 

Sorry I have dealt with journalists from the BBC to the local rag and all have had their 'own angle' and slant they want to print. The few times I have seen my comments in print its not been what was said....its been spun to get the angle even though I always stick to three points and hammer them home repeatedly

[curra]

Mr Harper said that although around 20 per cent of his children had been diagnosed with some form of autism, none actually suffers from the condition.

 

True autism is where a child has massive communication problems and cannot relate to their peers or to adults.

 

 

Mr Harper must be a real expert then and he should share his knowledge with the scientific community worldwide!

But until he does that, his "discoveries" look more like he's discriminating against autistic children who have some kind of verbal communication.

 

Curra

[lorryw]

I saw the chap being interviewed on BBC Breakfast Time. He didnt mention autism as far as I can remember. It was simply a strategy being used to help improve the behaviour and learning of some of his pupils. The items were confiscated and then returned as a reward if the childs behaviour improved.

He seemed a very caring and sensible chap to me.

[lil_me]

Wonder what his view are on this article and how true it is then. Read the OfSted report for that school and most was listed as outstanding.

[Zemanski]

difficult to know how much his words have been twisted - the real shocker is the bit about autism, his attitude to technology is probably reasonable

 

To be honest I am not very keen on my kids having the sort of access to videos and game stations so many young people have, I am horrified by the way some parents bundle their kids off to their rooms and expect technology to do their parenting for them - I'm talking about kids in general here not ASC kids. It seems to me that all the family social contacts are undermined by this and it does contribute to behaviour problems, I'm sure.

 

My kids have restricted access (still quite a lot of access though) and all technology is in communal rooms, it means that we always know what they are up to with it and things like bed times are times to settle and wind down with bedtime routines and stories and gentle conversation that help us bond as a family, as an educator I feel really uncomfortable with the way people seem to think a video can replace all that.

 

Zemanski

[jen]

If my child watches lots of cartoons before going to school in the morning than I know he will not have agood day. He goes in hyperstimulated.

So I can understand part of what the headteacher says. The school have an excellent offstead so I presume the papers have miss quoted what the headmaster really said it states he gives them back as a reward. So I would presume the headmaster thinks they have there place as long as time is restricted on them.

 

Jen

[Zemanski]

Com's school had an excellent ofsted, particularly for SEN, and a lot of people here know just what I think of how they have supported Com.

Ofsted reports are very misleading, especially where things like meeting the needs of ASC kids are concerned

 

Z

Edited June 18, 2006 by Zemanski

[call me jaded]

I do think there is an element of over diagnosis, and the criteria for diagnosis varies from region to region. Plus there is an incentive to diagnose as the entire education system is label-led.

 

As others have said, it's probably the media spin which is making him sound insane.

[Daisydot]

I have two ASD children.

 

Child one really doesnt bother much with TV, Video games etc. He has access to them, but he will play for a while and go off and do other things. He is ASD but these games are just not a problem.

 

Child two is absolutely obsessed with the Xbox, Video games, computer games and if none of those are available, is looking for a DVD or video to watch. He has been like this since he was a baby, when he would want to watch CBeebies over and over again. We are told this child learns visually and has marked auditory problems. He needs the visual to make sense of what is being said. We have always tried to limit the amount of time he spends on these type of games. We used to put a DVD on which helped him relax and go to sleep (and sleep through the night usually). Of course, these were only kids DVDs (usually Thomas the Tank!).

 

I think this headteacher is right to say that if a child comes into school tired they probably don't peform well, and that is up to parents to police. but a child could be tired for lots of reasons.

 

I would not dream of taking my kids access to DVDs, X-Boxes away, but I think it does need to be limited and policed for the older ones, and in moderation is fine.

 

I also have no doubt that many adults spend hours playing Computer games etc and go into work tired the next day. Is this headteacher suggesting bosses should go round and confiscate employees TVs etc in case they dare be a bit autistic at work the next day.

 

Daisydot

[PinkSapphireAngel]

Com's school had an excellent ofsted, particularly for SEN, and a lot of people here know just what I think of how they have supported Com.

Ofsted reports are very misleading, especially where things like meeting the needs of ASC kids are concerned

 

Z

 

 

I totally agree there, when our primary school had its last OFSTED 4 years ago (cannot wait for the next one!!) I made it V clear to the inspectors what nonsense their SENCO was talking and I know lots of parents voiced the same anger/concerns but the ofsted report was nowhere near honest enough about the schools SEN provision and attitudes.

 

I am sure the school are due a new one as its been 4 years and whether my kids have left (ds1 is in yr6 and I am moving the other 2 in January hopefully) I WILL be making sure ofsted know exactly how bad and dishonest the school really are.

[Paula]

I think the teacher is an idiot and its just another take on "its the parents to blame "attitude that surrounds ADHD and AS among other conditions.

 

 

 

My son was displaying aspergers at two years old he didnt play video games or stay up late he was in bed for 6 pm so how would he explaine that. Too much sleep and not enough parental stimulation maybe Hes a nutter.

[Lucas]

I must get the Panda to use the whacking stick on this one, to whack the nonsense and faff aside.

 

Number one: Children who arrive at school tired and lethargic because they were up all night watching TV and playing games will behave worse and not learn- true, but the same thing would happen if they were into books and were reading into the early hours as was the case with me before I even had a computer or TV in my room.

 

Number two: The headmaster is of course no scientist and it shows. He has commited the ABC fallacy which many psuedo-scientists rely on. They say that if A equals B and B equals C, then A must equal C, but they're wrong. C may have more than one cause. He also did not use a control group.

 

If he comes to pupils houses and takes things away and the pupils behaviour improves, he cannot rely soley on that evidence to conclude that what he took away was the cause of the problem no matter how tempting it may be to jump to that conclusion. We have not been told if behaviour among a control group: those who have not had their belongings taken, has improved or not also. And because in this case C(improved performance) may have more than one cause, which he has not investigated, he can't conclude the improvement has anything to do with his policy.

 

It is highly likely that the pupils are just making an effort to improve their behaviour in an attempt to get their things back, in which case this will be only temporary because the underlying issues behind their behaviour and performance have been completely ignored by this headmaster, he used a quick-fix solution as so many do.

 

His own words have likely been twisted, Mr Hyperlexic here can tell by the layout of sentences- mixing direct quotes from the headmaster with journalistic narrative of his opinions, that is exactly what the journalist intends.

 

I do however take issue with his quoted and expressed view that he has the authority to decide what 'true Autism' is.

 

Excellent relationship with pupils parents: yes.

 

Sweeping quick-fix measures to improve your own Ofsted report instead of addressing issues: no.

[Canopus]

Com's school had an excellent ofsted, particularly for SEN, and a lot of people here know just what I think of how they have supported Com.

Ofsted reports are very misleading, especially where things like meeting the needs of ASC kids are concerned.

 

Not many people know this, but Ofsted inspectors have to adhere to a hard and fast set of protocols set down by central government. They determine how good a school is by how well it complies with these protocols. This can result in Ofsted reports being very misleading to parents.

 

An example of this are some schools in rural parts of Lincolnshire and Somerset that have very high quality teaching and parents and kids are very happy with the school, but the school gets criticised badly for lack of multiculturalism because it is 100% European and the teachers don't understand ethnic cultures well so can't teach them.