School

Hi NAS36918

Hopefully, you will have some more advice from the forum soon. While you are waiting, I am going to add some links to Education Rights which might help you, as carer, to improve the quality of support given.

The following article contains a lot of helpful information about education for a child with autism.  This includes information regarding getting extra support for your child in their education setting: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/in-education.aspx  

It can help to pass on information written specifically for education professionals about autism spectrum disorders: http://www.autism.org.uk/professionals/teachers.aspx

You may want to contact our Education Rights Service who provide information, support and advice on educational provision and entitlements. For further information: http://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/education-rights.aspx

Hope this is helpful for you.

Nicky-Mod

HI NAS36918,

Sorry I didn't understand your OP better. 

It is true that sometimes our ND kids receive 1:1 support (and can be taken out of class) to work exclusively on specific areas of their school work or sometimes areas of their holistic development too. 

If this is happening too often though, it can feel as if they are simply being isolated from accessing whole school life, which could be indicative that the school they are in is not actually meeting their needs? 

Do you have any examples of specific things your child struggles with, or what he is being taken out of class to do, so that others on here may be able to offer specific examples of what school could do or what their own child's school have done which might help you with planning things to include in his EHC Plan? 

Hi AngelDust

Sorry for the convoluted post – I was up late.  I think my question should have read “How to best support an autistic child in a mainstream school?”  Autistic children in specialist schools have therapists and therapies to help them achieve their potential.  Their education is also integrated into the curriculum so that it is inclusive.  Having a peer group to share ideas and discuss work is important.  I am not sure if it is possible to do this in a mainstream setting where interventions may involve removing a child from the class to be educated by a TA.  My child is 8 and I am trying to improve the quality of support in his EHCP. 

Does anyone have good examples of provision in mainstream school which is integrated into the curriculum and inclusive?

Hi NAS36918,

I am not confidant that I completely understand your query, but hope the following brief overview may be helpful?

In the U.K, the majority of ND children (on the spectrum) attend mainstream schools (by ‘mainstream’ I mean not a special school.) Whether a child attends mainstream school or a  special school depends of the severity of their ‘affect’ (their presenting challenges,) such as if they are deemed to be ‘low functioning’ or ‘high functioning.’

In mainstream schools, all children with additional or special needs are entitled, in law, to receive appropriate support and adjustments. This means mainstream schools (by law) have to put effective support in place which enables each child with special needs to achieve and succeed.

Sometimes, depending on the abilities of the child, this ‘appropriate support or adjustments’ in school can be minimal, and is largely agreed between school, child and parents/carers (via an IEP or a SEN Support Plan) and takes place during the child’s everyday ‘normal lessons.’

If a child needs more support than school can ‘reasonably’ offer in what they consider the ‘normal parameters of their normal classes’ (for example if the child needs a 1:1 assistant which is ‘more than’ other children in mainstream classes routinely access) the school or parents/carers can apply for an EHC Plan.

During the creation of an EHC Plan different evidences are collected by the Local Authority, (the LA create the plan) such as medical reports, school report, Educational Psychology Report etc. The EHCP Team then use all this gathered information (and the child and parent/carers views too) to create an individualised plan which is supposed to use the information in all the reports that have been gathered to create an EHC Plan which accurately reflects the 'holistic' needs of the child and how those needs are going to be met (met in school and also in ‘life’ too, such as through accessing other therapies, like Speech and language therapy etc.)

Sometimes it is true that different 'therapies' your child is accessing may not usually 'talk' or communicate with one another directly, each one instead offering their own specific area of expertise or support. However, part of the process of having an EHC Plan created involves a 'planning meeting' where all professionals who contributed reports and parents/carers are meant to all sit round a table together to decide what the plan should include.

Part of the process of an EHC Plan is also to identify (and name) what sort of school the child needs to attend, i.e whether mainstream,  specialist school or other provision such as mainstream with 'Autism Inclusion Unit' attached etc. And it is the duty of the LA to find a school place for your child that meets their needs. 

How old is your child and where are they/you in the process outlined above?