Hi, my son is 11 years old, and was seen by an educational psychologist Dec 2009 because of his behaviour at school. In September 2009 my son started a new school, because his last school were going to exclude him.
My son has a moderate hearing loss in both ears, and is supposed to wear his hearing aids on a daily basis. However, when wearing the hearing aids hes gets overloaded with noise and destroys his aids.
When seen by the psychologist there was a concern that my son could have aspergers syndrome. Nearly 2 years on, we still have no official diagnosis. CAMHS have been involved and did the ADI-R with me, and came to the conclusion that because my son developed within normal limits, but shows autistic traits in the communication and social sections, he doesnt have any form of autism.
I know theres something wrong with him, at the present time he is not attending school as he cannot cope with it. When i try to get him to go, i get punched and kicked, but educational welfare aren't listening and are going to fine me.
He was seen by an autism specialist who went into school to observe him for 2x30 mins sessions, and she said he has no signs, because he was using eye contact. I think what they havent thought about is that with my son having a hearing problem, that he lip reads!!
My son got a statement for 20 hours a week 1-1 or small group sessions, but has not accessed this because of the none attendence at school. His statement review has gone through and is now not being reviewed till May 2012, which means he will have been in a mainstream high school for nearly a year before they review it. Another educational psychologist and the high school have raised concerns about the transition to high school and think that my son will not be able to cope with the constant moving from classroom to classroom, and having 13 different teachers a week, so they have wrote letters to the LEA to see about provision for him at a special school.
So at the moment i don't know who or what to believe. The DISCO assessment was mentioned by the original psychologist, but the psychologist i saw last week said it wont be done because the ADI-R has been completed.....feel like screaming!
If you have a legal right to appeal to the Tribunal then you as the parent submit the appeal in the first place. Just remember that you have a two-month deadline from the date on the letter that gives you your legal right to appeal.
It does sound promising that the LA are willing to increase the hours on the statement, and that the next review will be in December. These are all good signs that the LA are listening and willing to compromise. However, I'm still left wondering whether anyone is providing any advice, support or strategies to help your son get into school in the first place.
I think it would be a good idea to call the NAS Education Rights Service on 0808 800 4102 to talk about what to do next. They can listen to the details of the current situation, discuss your options and help you decide your next steps.
Thanks for replying, there is now an update on the statement situation. The LEA rang me today with regards to concerns from the high school, current primary school, Ed Psych and myself. these concerns were put to the panel today, and they have decided to increase his statemented hours from 20 to 25 hours a week, and the next review will be in December.
I saw this as a way forward, they could of rejected it completely, but the high school still isn't happy. The high school are saying that it doesn't matter how many hours they offer in a mainstream school, unless my son has a complete turn around and attend everyday, and can manage academically with the workload it won't work. There has also been an emergency meeting between the SENCO and deputy head at the high school to discuss where the school stands. I've got a feeling that they don't want him at the school, and they have also questioned my daughter who attends the high school about his violent outbursts towards her, which i am not happy about, as they already knew what they asked her because i told them.
So do i appeal about the revised statement? Do all parties involved appeal toghter or seperately?
I understand that one of your concerns is regarding the lack of diagnosis, but I'd like to pick up on something you said about your son's statement review having gone through and the statement won't be reviewed for another year and therefore he's stuck in mainstream, but unable to access it. If I've understood this correctly I think you are saying that you have had an annual review and the local authority haven't amended the statement. If this is the case they must tell you this in writing and tell you of your legal right to appeal to the Tribunal. You must submit the appeal within two months of the date on the letter. If I've misunderstood what you mean by a statement review, I am sorry, but if you are in a situation where you have a statement that is less than two months old you still have a legal right to appeal to the Tribunal against the contents of the statement - including the placement. I hope that in addition to the educational psychologist writing to the LA to request a placement in a special school, that if you do have a legal right to appeal to the Tribunal you consider using it.
As part of my voluntary work for a disability charity, I am in the process of writing a presentation on AS, to raise awareness of the condition. One of the myths that I debunk in my talk is the idea that ALL children/adults with autism display gaze avoidance. It is sad that some professionals, of all people, still with-hold diagnosis if a child makes good eye-contact
With regard to lack of eye contact, this is just ONE of the possible signs of autism.The diagnostic criteria give many examples of possible behavioural signs, and a child is not expected to display all of them unless the child/adult is a 'textbook case', which is quite unusual. I have AS and eye-contact has always been an issue, even though, like longman, I have been told that I have quite good eye-contact. But it is only very recently that I have started to look at the actual eyes; more often than not I look at the nose and mouth. And when I do look at the eyes, I don't get any feedback or information from them.
I know many other people with AS who make what appear to be good eye-contact, but they too have disclosed to me that they can't read the eyes.
In a higher education support context I've come across deaf and blind students with aspergers. I suspect it is something that gets missed because the deafness or blindness symptoms are considered the usual explanation for behaviours. I wonder if there has been any research on this.
I also think research is needed (unless someone knows of some already) into how to gauge eye contact.
I'm often told I have good eye contact. I cannot fathom this myself as I find eye contact unsettling and unhelpful. As you say in respect of your son, I look at peoples mouths. I cannot think why - it isn't always pretty, I cannot lip read, it serves no possible benefit, it just has become what happens (unless there's something else drawing on my attention). However I have become a good actor in formal situations.
When I was younger I talked looking downwards (into my tie as my parents put it).
I wonder whether health consultants go only by the diagnosis of a marked avoidance of eye contact. How do you tell whether someone is looking at the eyes or just part of the face?
I had a lecturer many years ago who other students complained, when talking to him, that they always perceived that he was looking at their throats, and they thought he might be a vampire. I couldn't detect this myself. Perhaps he was looking at people's throats because he found looking them in the eye uncomfortable.
