help from school pre assessment

Welcome to the community.

You might find it helpful to contact the helpline offered by IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice). The charity offers this advice on its website:

"A child does not need a formal diagnosis in order to receive support in school. Support should be available based on the child’s needs. The relevant issue is the difficulties and challenges a child faces, which do not change if and when a diagnosis is given."

IPSEA - The myth of needing a diagnosis before you can get support

The NAS has some related resources that you might find helpful:

NAS - Extra help at school

NAS - Resolving differences

Hi,

Firstly depends on your country. In England you don't  have to be diagnosed.You have to be experiencing difficulties in education outside of behaviour management that can be put in place by a teacher.Autism at every level of the spectrum meets the criteria of need identified in SEND. I am so sorry you and your daughter are experiencing this treatment from a school. Shocking lack of educational and SEND judgement to say let's wait for a diagnosis.

If you are in England,every county has a local SEND offer. You don't even have to be diagnosed to use this. You also don't  have to be diagnosed to get an ECHP, You have to have needs that the school is not meeting. This is the same with the SEND local offer.

Regardless of how many years a SENDCO has worked ,autism,particularly high functioning autism, is not always understood by them because they don't all have understanding of the neurodiverse.

Firstly, look at your local SEND offer . You will find this on your local authority's website.

Secondly, look to see if your council has a SENDIASS or system of support for parents. You might have the team under Information,Advice and Support.If they do,write everything down and request support to go to the meeting at school because you think the school is failing your daughter under the government identification of SEND.

Also think about everything you have told us and divide it into the five areas of need that schools should be supporting.

1. Communication and interaction.

What they are seeing is the autistic struggle with communication every time that your child struggles with noise or distractions or literal interpretations. Neurotypical children will tell you - sir,they're annoying me,miss that clock is too loud. High functioning autistic children will just struggle through it. Their brain is wired differently so they don't tell the teacher. Each time one of the teachers calls your daughter quiet they are actually highlighting her autistic communication. She will most likely be obedient, following the rules they have set, and her quietness is actually silent communication. Autistic girls rarely act out. Autistic boys act out. Some schools fail to see the autism because they are more bothered about the outward shell of quietness being a good thing. Sometimes this is wrong judgement.

. Equally, ask how often your daughter puts her hand up in class to answer a question,and how often the teacher has to speak to her directly before she speaks. It is likely the she has a small group of people that she talks about learning with in the classroom. Ask who your daughter works with in different classes. Ask how many questions does she get right in class,and is she worse at one subject than another. Don't let the school tell you that her best subject is English so she must be a good communicator and understands metaphors etc. This is rubbish. I am diagnosed autistic,aced English,taught for -mm I think I'm in my 43rd year of teaching, and have two degrees in education. I tell you this so that you use your knowledge as her baseline, not the school's .

2. Cognition and learning

Your daughter takes things literally - this is part of her cognition. Even high functioning autism has areas of cognition that impact daily life. Remember that cognition has nothing to do with intelligence. Autism has nothing to do with intelligence. Cognition is the process of thinking,learning, memory and perception. Think about any of these areas that might be difficult for her,particularly anything you routinely do for her or to promote her. How good is she at remembering names,faces,thinks to do,shopping etc ?

3. Social,emotional and mental health. You have mentioned behaviours that come under this umbrella. If you don't mind me saying, I would push mental health. They are not meeting your daughter's needs which is impacting her mental health which is why they see different behaviour to you. Making sure she masks is why she will maintain  different behaviours to them. I have to tell you that masking is so horrendously exhausting.

4.  Sensory needs. We might sensory seek or be sensory sensitive. Every autistic person is different but it does sound as though your daughter finds it difficult to manage when she is put in a quiet room e.g. for exams,whilst at the same time she is hearing noises that she is sensitive to, can't filter. This sounds like evidence of some sensory need if it prevents her from creating what she is truly capable of . Use the word - barrier. This situation is a barrier to her ability to achieve at the level she would if the school took her barriers seriously.

5. Physical needs. She may not have physical needs,but this does not negate help.

Ask the school why they have never sought help from the authority given that they keep saying they can't see anything wrong. If you are telling them these barriers she has to accessing education they should be taking that seriously and getting support. The SENDCO is not qualified to make decisions about your child in terms of autism. Please don't  tell them that as they won't cooperate with you. I would request that the school work with you to refer your child through the local SEND provision.

5.  

Thirdly, write down everything you have just mentioned to us, and any other areas of distress or difference. Send this in an email to the SENDCO and the Prin cipal/headteacher, and write that you are clarifying the level of difficulty that your daughter experiences . Your understanding is that under the Equalities Act of 2010 education must consider reasonable adjustments for those children who have protected characteristics . You consider your child's undiagnosed needs as autism.   Please can they advise if this is not their understanding of the Equality Act, as you have told them the impact of masking on your child's health. As your daughter is in her GCSE years her difficulties are manifesting at an alarming rate at home, and you are sure that they will understand the masking autistic individuals do to maintain the expectations of the school.

Given that your daughter is awaiting diagnosis you are disappointed that they have not shown knowledge of masking and its impact on autistic meltdown and the overwhelming stage of mental health .  They will surely know that as a society we have underdiagnosed females for the very masking situation that they are seeing at school. 

You could write -

Included in the email is a list of areas that affect my daughter at specific stages of her school day. I would like to discuss these in the meeting,and request that before the meeting takes place you give some time to reviewing your understanding of the presentation of my daughter at school within the masking knowledge about autistic females.

Or something like that. From this point communicate verbally but always request that the information the school are telling you is sent in an email or letter or written note. Emails will provide you with a paper trail of exactly what the school is doing,or not doing. Make particular note of any time that the school says they are waiting for a diagnosis. This is wrong and against the code of practice to not listen to the holistic picture.

Apologies for the length of my writing - my autism kicking in .

If it were me, I would do something like the info above and if in England also contact the local council's SENDIASS team, or IAS and ask for someone to accompany you to school meetings. Tell them that you are autistic and the school is not listening to you. That's exactly how they are treating your daughter - not listening to her behaviours and barriers.

Bless you for being there fo

r your daughter and I wish you well in your next step.

Hi,

Firstly depends on your country. In England you don't  have to be diagnosed.You have to be experiencing difficulties in education outside of behaviour management that can be put in place by a teacher.Autism at every level of the spectrum meets the criteria of need identified in SEND. I am so sorry you and your daughter are experiencing this treatment from a school. Shocking lack of educational and SEND judgement to say let's wait for a diagnosis.

If you are in England,every county has a local SEND offer. You don't even have to be diagnosed to use this. You also don't  have to be diagnosed to get an ECHP, You have to have needs that the school is not meeting. This is the same with the SEND local offer.

Regardless of how many years a SENDCO has worked ,autism,particularly high functioning autism, is not always understood by them because they don't all have understanding of the neurodiverse.

Firstly, look at your local SEND offer . You will find this on your local authority's website.

Secondly, look to see if your council has a SENDIASS or system of support for parents. You might have the team under Information,Advice and Support.If they do,write everything down and request support to go to the meeting at school because you think the school is failing your daughter under the government identification of SEND.

Also think about everything you have told us and divide it into the five areas of need that schools should be supporting.

1. Communication and interaction.

What they are seeing is the autistic struggle with communication every time that your child struggles with noise or distractions or literal interpretations. Neurotypical children will tell you - sir,they're annoying me,miss that clock is too loud. High functioning autistic children will just struggle through it. Their brain is wired differently so they don't tell the teacher. Each time one of the teachers calls your daughter quiet they are actually highlighting her autistic communication. She will most likely be obedient, following the rules they have set, and her quietness is actually silent communication. Autistic girls rarely act out. Autistic boys act out. Some schools fail to see the autism because they are more bothered about the outward shell of quietness being a good thing. Sometimes this is wrong judgement.

. Equally, ask how often your daughter puts her hand up in class to answer a question,and how often the teacher has to speak to her directly before she speaks. It is likely the she has a small group of people that she talks about learning with in the classroom. Ask who your daughter works with in different classes. Ask how many questions does she get right in class,and is she worse at one subject than another. Don't let the school tell you that her best subject is English so she must be a good communicator and understands metaphors etc. This is rubbish. I am diagnosed autistic,aced English,taught for -mm I think I'm in my 43rd year of teaching, and have two degrees in education. I tell you this so that you use your knowledge as her baseline, not the school's .

2. Cognition and learning

Your daughter takes things literally - this is part of her cognition. Even high functioning autism has areas of cognition that impact daily life. Remember that cognition has nothing to do with intelligence. Autism has nothing to do with intelligence. Cognition is the process of thinking,learning, memory and perception. Think about any of these areas that might be difficult for her,particularly anything you routinely do for her or to promote her. How good is she at remembering names,faces,thinks to do,shopping etc ?

3. Social,emotional and mental health. You have mentioned behaviours that come under this umbrella. If you don't mind me saying, I would push mental health. They are not meeting your daughter's needs which is impacting her mental health which is why they see different behaviour to you. Making sure she masks is why she will maintain  different behaviours to them. I have to tell you that masking is so horrendously exhausting.

4.  Sensory needs. We might sensory seek or be sensory sensitive. Every autistic person is different but it does sound as though your daughter finds it difficult to manage when she is put in a quiet room e.g. for exams,whilst at the same time she is hearing noises that she is sensitive to, can't filter. This sounds like evidence of some sensory need if it prevents her from creating what she is truly capable of . Use the word - barrier. This situation is a barrier to her ability to achieve at the level she would if the school took her barriers seriously.

5. Physical needs. She may not have physical needs,but this does not negate help.

Ask the school why they have never sought help from the authority given that they keep saying they can't see anything wrong. If you are telling them these barriers she has to accessing education they should be taking that seriously and getting support. The SENDCO is not qualified to make decisions about your child in terms of autism. Please don't  tell them that as they won't cooperate with you. I would request that the school work with you to refer your child through the local SEND provision.

5.  

Thirdly, write down everything you have just mentioned to us, and any other areas of distress or difference. Send this in an email to the SENDCO and the Prin cipal/headteacher, and write that you are clarifying the level of difficulty that your daughter experiences . Your understanding is that under the Equalities Act of 2010 education must consider reasonable adjustments for those children who have protected characteristics . You consider your child's undiagnosed needs as autism.   Please can they advise if this is not their understanding of the Equality Act, as you have told them the impact of masking on your child's health. As your daughter is in her GCSE years her difficulties are manifesting at an alarming rate at home, and you are sure that they will understand the masking autistic individuals do to maintain the expectations of the school.

Given that your daughter is awaiting diagnosis you are disappointed that they have not shown knowledge of masking and its impact on autistic meltdown and the overwhelming stage of mental health .  They will surely know that as a society we have underdiagnosed females for the very masking situation that they are seeing at school. 

You could write -

Included in the email is a list of areas that affect my daughter at specific stages of her school day. I would like to discuss these in the meeting,and request that before the meeting takes place you give some time to reviewing your understanding of the presentation of my daughter at school within the masking knowledge about autistic females.

Or something like that. From this point communicate verbally but always request that the information the school are telling you is sent in an email or letter or written note. Emails will provide you with a paper trail of exactly what the school is doing,or not doing. Make particular note of any time that the school says they are waiting for a diagnosis. This is wrong and against the code of practice to not listen to the holistic picture.

Apologies for the length of my writing - my autism kicking in .

If it were me, I would do something like the info above and if in England also contact the local council's SENDIASS team, or IAS and ask for someone to accompany you to school meetings. Tell them that you are autistic and the school is not listening to you. That's exactly how they are treating your daughter - not listening to her behaviours and barriers.

Bless you for being there fo

r your daughter and I wish you well in your next step.

Thank you so much for your reply.  Its terrifying and i too understand the toll of masking. She has her exams in a matter of months and that scares me as without being diagnosed they say they cannot make any adjustments,, not even to sit her at the back of the hall.  

Thank you very much for your help and I will use all the info and advice you have given.