8 year old with ASD emphasis on speech delay

Hi,

My son goes to a mainstream school in Year-4 but way behind his peers.Any suggestions of good private tutors to support him with his curriculum.We live walking distance from Marylebone station.

Thank you

Parents
  • Hi NAS36513,

    I’m sorry, I don’t know of any Private Tutors.

    Parents can be great at supporting their kids if they fall behind, especially when they are only just starting out in the school system (Year  4) and as young as your boy. There are lots of really great text and activity books on the market (try W.H.Smiths) that closely follow the national curriculum and can help in key areas such as maths and English. Also there are lots of free games and online resources (such as Khan Academy,) that help making learning fun. Perhaps making regular time to do these with your son at home may help scaffold and support what he is learning in school?  

    However, if your son is on the spectrum and is falling behind noticeable this could be important indication that his school are not supporting him effectively and enabling him to access learning, such as offering him suitable adjustments or giving him extra support in the areas he most struggles with. It could be indication that his school are not educated about Autism and may not be meeting his Special Educational Needs effectively. Therefore I think that personally, before rushing to get a private tutor, I may be more inclined to first thoroughly hold the school to account and ask them exactly why they think he is so far behind, what they have put in place to help him so far, and (as these measures are not working,) what they intend to now do to better help him.

    Schools have a duty of care to ensure that learning is accessible to all their pupils, and for many kids on the spectrum, this may mean that they require a different approach.

    A great place to start may be to ask your son’s school (in light of his diagnosis and him being so far behind) if they will initiate an EdPsych Assessment for your son so that you (and they) can get a clear idea of what your son struggles with and exactly how the school can best support him. It may be something seemingly small, such as he needs extra time with which to process information, answer questions and complete his tasks or tests, that may be firmly holding him back. An EdPsych Assessment (which conducts Psychometric tests with which to establish things like processing time required, reading/information comprehension etc) could really help pin point the things that your son needs in order to learn effectively moving forward.

    Best of luck.

  • Thank you so much for taking time out to reply.I do try by getting him resourses at home but he doesn't respond well to it as he gets distracted easily and starts getting upset when he can't resolve the challenge.He only started taking after age 4 so he in also unable to communicate properly.

    Thank you

Reply
  • Thank you so much for taking time out to reply.I do try by getting him resourses at home but he doesn't respond well to it as he gets distracted easily and starts getting upset when he can't resolve the challenge.He only started taking after age 4 so he in also unable to communicate properly.

    Thank you

Children
  • Hi NAS36513,

    Sorry, I really didn’t mean to sound flippant in any way about helping him at home; I totally understand just how hard it can be to get an ND child to positively engage with homework or learning at home, I really do. I just wanted to offer about the resources and games in case they were something you were not aware of. My own kids really loved the online maths games when they were your sons age.

    I would like to please ask the following, if I may: do you think his school are doing all they can to help him?