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School don't see my daughter's difficulties

jamaicanbluetaz

Hi there, I've just joined the community.  My 10 year old daughter was diagnosed with Aspergers in July 2013.

She has always hated going to school and it got to the point that I changed her school to a smaller school in the hope things would change.  As it is things are the same.

Once I got the diagnosis I believed the school would be willing to help - ah yes, they say all the things I want to hear - then my daughter informs me they are not quite telling the truth.

Recently I had my third meeting with the headteacher - one of my daughter's year teachers and the SENCO.  My daughter does not have a statement.  She does not present symptoms or difficulties at school, however the stress of the whole school - information processing, social etc - builds up and then she has a huge meltdown at home over something trivial.

I put this in an e-mail - what the stressors at school were.

In the meeting I was told that children with asd cannot behave one way at school and differently at home - it was impossible for them.  If she is going to have a meltdown she would have it at school just as easily as at home!!  This is contrary to all the asperger literature I have read and discussed with others. 

Further they told me that they do not see her having any difficulties at school - she is no different to all the other children at school.  She does understand what she is doing, she needs a motivator to get her to work faster (she is slow at processing tasks etc!!) and as for difficulty in the dinner hall they will watch out for this but they cannot staff anywhere else for her to go.  As far as distractions go - she doesn't get affected by sensory distractions otherwise she would have made a fuss many times when there is painting or cooking etc happening in the school.  When I suggested ear plugs for her so she didn't find noises distracting they told me this was only used for severe autism and there was no need for my daughter to go down this route.

They are not seeing that all of this quietly builds up and up until she blows up and that to alleviate her pressure they only have to change a couple of things.

Basically there answer to all of my points was that is severe autism, not aspergers, she does not present this at school but they will watch out for it in future.

Has anybody else had problems like this - silly question I know people have had problems like this because I have heard it but now it is happening to me I don't know what to do.

I know this is a bit of a rant and may not make sense - but basically all the "typical" symptoms of Asperger Syndrome and some not so "typical" are apparent in my daughter at home and with what she says about not liking school and other social occasions but the because the school don't see any of it they are treating it as if it is not happening.

Hoping somebody out there will reply to me.

Thanks for reading.

Jamaicanbluetaz - xxxx

Parents

  • I had a look to see what else is around. One that seems popular is "Accessing the Curriculum for Pupils with autistic spectrum disorders - using the TEACCH system to help inclusion" Gary Mesibov & Marie Howley 2003, but this depends on contexts where TEACCH can be used. Another is "Supporting Children with Autism in Mainstream Schools" Seach D, Lloyd, M & Preston M (Questions Publications 2003), which looking at the extracts on line appears to get down to issues quickly, but is aimed at Secondary.

    What surprised me about Martin Hanbury's "Educating Pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders" 2005, which I mentioned in a previous posting, is that this is recommended by NAS (according to the back cover), and the author is a head teacher in a school for children with autism. That is not a critcism of the content, but I'm trying to see it from the perspective of a teacher picking up a book like this in the hope it will help understand schoolchildren with autism in a classroom.

    For a start, explanation of autism is based around the Triad of Impairments, with bits on Mind Blindness and Central Coherence theory, as well as a long intro on the difference between Kanner's and Asperger's Research.

    I keep trying to get across to NAS that the triad is a diagnostic tool, not a guide to helping teach children on the spectrum. Yet NAS it appears is recommending this book. I know NAS has lots of good stuff on the website, like education in the classroom and the playground - but are teachers reading it? Teachers will read what they are guided to read, which will tend to come from Education publishers.

    Chapter 2 is on "The impact of Autism on Learning"; the impact of what Hanbury calls the three waves: affect of the condition, behaviour arising from this and attitudes arising from this behaviour. The behavioural stuff is about Fear, Flight or Fight, but there is some useful content here (pages 22 to 24 about attitudes to autism by parents, peers and professionals.

    The attitudes he ascribes to parents are grief, anger, anxiety, cynicism, optimism, defensiveness, openness, isolationism, and collaboration, and Hanbury recommends fostering attitudes which are at the positive end of the contnuum. But that does lead me to wonder whether that induces the seemingly patronising attitude some teachers show to parents.

    Chapter 3 is about sharing positive attitudes towards pupils with autism, which includes "nurturing home-school relationships" p29-31 - good stuff here but it patently isn't happening in most schools.

    Chapter 4 is entitled 'Addressing Behavioural Issues in Autism' which includes the bit mentioned in a previous posting about sensory overload, but is mostly around Fear and Flight, and "desensitising" a child (aversion therapy by the sound of it). It is all about changing the child, not changing the system.

    Chapter 6 Established and Effective Strategies, is a review of common methods, and Chapter 7 is about sharing good practice. What good practice is that then? I'm not sure I've learnt much from skim reading this book, but I'm not convinced I'd learn any more from reading it in depth. Surely there is better stuff around for helping teachers?

    Which gets me back to the point I made earlier. Don't pile on the critism on the teachers. You have to have a go at the Local Education Authority, and the National Curriculum bodies. And NAS, its not enough to put your own ideas on your website if teachers are being told to consult elsewhere. You need to start making sure what is out there is helpful.

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  • I had a look to see what else is around. One that seems popular is "Accessing the Curriculum for Pupils with autistic spectrum disorders - using the TEACCH system to help inclusion" Gary Mesibov & Marie Howley 2003, but this depends on contexts where TEACCH can be used. Another is "Supporting Children with Autism in Mainstream Schools" Seach D, Lloyd, M & Preston M (Questions Publications 2003), which looking at the extracts on line appears to get down to issues quickly, but is aimed at Secondary.

    What surprised me about Martin Hanbury's "Educating Pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders" 2005, which I mentioned in a previous posting, is that this is recommended by NAS (according to the back cover), and the author is a head teacher in a school for children with autism. That is not a critcism of the content, but I'm trying to see it from the perspective of a teacher picking up a book like this in the hope it will help understand schoolchildren with autism in a classroom.

    For a start, explanation of autism is based around the Triad of Impairments, with bits on Mind Blindness and Central Coherence theory, as well as a long intro on the difference between Kanner's and Asperger's Research.

    I keep trying to get across to NAS that the triad is a diagnostic tool, not a guide to helping teach children on the spectrum. Yet NAS it appears is recommending this book. I know NAS has lots of good stuff on the website, like education in the classroom and the playground - but are teachers reading it? Teachers will read what they are guided to read, which will tend to come from Education publishers.

    Chapter 2 is on "The impact of Autism on Learning"; the impact of what Hanbury calls the three waves: affect of the condition, behaviour arising from this and attitudes arising from this behaviour. The behavioural stuff is about Fear, Flight or Fight, but there is some useful content here (pages 22 to 24 about attitudes to autism by parents, peers and professionals.

    The attitudes he ascribes to parents are grief, anger, anxiety, cynicism, optimism, defensiveness, openness, isolationism, and collaboration, and Hanbury recommends fostering attitudes which are at the positive end of the contnuum. But that does lead me to wonder whether that induces the seemingly patronising attitude some teachers show to parents.

    Chapter 3 is about sharing positive attitudes towards pupils with autism, which includes "nurturing home-school relationships" p29-31 - good stuff here but it patently isn't happening in most schools.

    Chapter 4 is entitled 'Addressing Behavioural Issues in Autism' which includes the bit mentioned in a previous posting about sensory overload, but is mostly around Fear and Flight, and "desensitising" a child (aversion therapy by the sound of it). It is all about changing the child, not changing the system.

    Chapter 6 Established and Effective Strategies, is a review of common methods, and Chapter 7 is about sharing good practice. What good practice is that then? I'm not sure I've learnt much from skim reading this book, but I'm not convinced I'd learn any more from reading it in depth. Surely there is better stuff around for helping teachers?

    Which gets me back to the point I made earlier. Don't pile on the critism on the teachers. You have to have a go at the Local Education Authority, and the National Curriculum bodies. And NAS, its not enough to put your own ideas on your website if teachers are being told to consult elsewhere. You need to start making sure what is out there is helpful.

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