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School SEN support

NAS36985

Hi, my 5 year old daughter recently had an ASD diagnosis. She is high functioning and ahead of many of her peers academically.  At school she is well behaved. However, her diagnosis report highlighted her difficulties in having a two way conversation, her lack of understanding of friendship, her odd use of language (although it was complex) and her inability to recognise emotions from pictures. There were other things too.  

I gave the report to the school but they seem disinterested.  They said they were surprised at her diagnosis. They said I would probably meet with the Senco to see if there was anything they could do at school.  My feeling is that there are things they could do to help with her social interaction that it is very difficult for me to work on at home with her on her own.

Can the school refuse to put her on the SEN register if they don’t see any problems at school? (there will be problems but on the surface it doesn’t always look like it).  Do I have a right to SEN provision for her or is this something they decide based on the needs they think she has (as opppsed to her consultant).

I would appreciate some advice as next term I want to push for a meeting as it’s been a few weeks now and I’ve had nothing from the Senco.

thanks in advance

Parents

  • I am a school SENCo and have been for the last 12 years. I am surprised that the school seem disinterested in your daughter's diagnosis. May I ask was it a private assessment or NHS? 

    NAS24448 mentions an EHCP. These are the equivalent to the old Statement and are usually provided for children with significant difficulties accessing the school curriculum without additional support. The funding that they provide for the school is usually used to provide a 1:1 support assistant for a child to help them access lessons if they are behind academically or if they struggle with their behaviour perhaps for sensory reasons. 

    If your daughter's school are not seeing problems at school then it is unlikely that she would need an EHCP. However as I said these are usually needed by children with the most significant difficulties, the school should be offering support and provision for many pupils who have special needs but do not require additional funding to meet those needs.

    For example, the school could put a visual timetable in place to help a child with transitions. They could ensure prior warning of changes to routine are explained. They could ensure the child is sat away from distractions or is given a special working area to use. These would not require the school to have additional funding. In your daughter's case I would be expecting the school to provide support for her social difficulties. This might be in the form of social stories helping her to understand playground games for example. Or it might be inclusion in a social skills group to help develop the skills she is lacking. 

    I have worked in both independent and state primary schools and I would immediately be putting support of this kind in place if we had a child with these types of difficulties. 

    Do try to see the SENCo after half term and discuss what times of support your daughter would benefit from. 

  • in reply to Silverdale
    Silverdale said:
    In your daughter's case I would be expecting the school to provide support for her social difficulties. This might be in the form of social stories helping her to understand playground games for example. Or it might be inclusion in a social skills group to help develop the skills she is lacking.

    Interesting. Can I ask if there you have provided that kind of support, and how common it is relative to other SEN support? Are there standard materials for social difficulties, or are they adapted or created by the SENCo? Do teachers make any adjustments, in class or otherwise? I'm not a parent, but interested in all-age autism support by the local council.

    Sorry for all the questions. Also would be interested in what you make of CBeebies Pablo!

Reply
  • in reply to Silverdale
    Silverdale said:
    In your daughter's case I would be expecting the school to provide support for her social difficulties. This might be in the form of social stories helping her to understand playground games for example. Or it might be inclusion in a social skills group to help develop the skills she is lacking.

    Interesting. Can I ask if there you have provided that kind of support, and how common it is relative to other SEN support? Are there standard materials for social difficulties, or are they adapted or created by the SENCo? Do teachers make any adjustments, in class or otherwise? I'm not a parent, but interested in all-age autism support by the local council.

    Sorry for all the questions. Also would be interested in what you make of CBeebies Pablo!

Children
  • in reply to Cassandro

    Sorry for not replying to this sooner, we have been away for the bank holiday weekend. 

    Yes I have provided this kind of support on many occasions. I would say it isn't as common as support for difficulties with reading and spelling but there are many children with speech and communication difficulties as well as ASD who benefit from this type of support. 

    There are some good materials available which suit different age groups. For example "Time to Talk" is one I particularly like for younger children. There is a similar one called "Socially Speaking" which is for older children I think and also has a board game that goes with it. They are all available on Amazon. 

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Talk-Programme-Interaction-Reception/dp/1855033097/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527587046&sr=8-1&keywords=Time+to+Talk+book

    Another good programme is called "Super Flex" which is designed for children with ASD to develop social thinking skills. 

    www.amazon.co.uk/.../0979292247

    Most of the catalogues that sell school resources will have a section for ASD or communication resources. For example LDA or Smart Kids. 

    We use social stories and comic strip conversations based on the books by Carol Grey. 

    I hope that helps.