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PLEASE - Son diagnosed autistic 14 now struggling re statement

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My son was diagnosed autistic in May 12 aged 14. I pushed for this after many years of problems. He has never been picked up in school - - - long story and now we have so much ground to make up.

This is a very late diagnosis and his education to date has been nothing less than a torment and frustration to him.... now we know why. My son is below average in all subjects and considerably below in others - though he is intelligent and capable in other settings. Further my son refuses school and sometimes walks out. He is not badly behaved he is simply unable to manage. His experiences of education to date are poor, he recieves repeated negatiuve feedback, is often called lazy, manipulative and stubborn. 

My question is do I push for a statement? 

I have requested the SENCO at school refer my son for statement though I cannot help feeling she is being obstructive. She has written that staementing process is very different these days and school can meet most childrens needs within budget etc. She has questioned my son's diagnosis in both her emails, asking who did it, when etc. It is clear she thinks I have told lies???? I have no idea what the agenda is here...

Why do I want a statement:

Because my son is going into year 10 in Sept and only has 2 years of formal education left.

He has a great deal to make up and it is clear he has a range of difficulties thriving or making progress in his everyday school environment without more help. 

Although school have been helpful nothing seems joined up or focused. My sons low moral, underachievement etc are evidence that they are not aware of his specific needs & nor are there any specific targeted plans to help him. 

Maybe, just maybe, if my son has a thourough assessment and an education plan tailored to his needs + support then he might experience the joy of education that many of his peers enjoy. Maybe his new experiences will influence his future choices about further education and most importantly improve his life chances in the long run. 

I would love to know what other people think... Time is of the eccence and I have nobody objective with knowledge of this area to bounce off.

Any information is better than nothing

Thanks Thanks 

Parents

  • HI Again KaloJaro... love the profile name BTW Smile

    You are very percveptive to have picked up on my sons mental health and offering suggestions about CAMHs. I think it is an absolute critical area for parents family or carers of ASD children to be alerted and informed about - it really is something we might not acknowledge, realise or want to accept. Labelling a child as depressed is really not what we do, it is really difficult for our culture to accept this even exists win adults let alone our children... thank you!

    Thankfully may son was referred by the school nurse and was seen quite quickly by our local CAHMs team. I have to say she sounds like your "one" teacher who noticed... she was & is a breath of fresh air & couldn't believe he had not come to her attention in the 3 years he'd already been at the school! She wasn't aware he existed, didn't realise how sad he'd been presenting to the support unit etc etc. it was I who called her after being adviced to do so and she sought out my son and called me back within 24 hours. She had lots of details about my boy, she chatted to me for over 30 minutes and was the first person i'd spoken to at school who'd ever discussed my son from a caring viewpoint. Up until this, although I hadn't realised,  the emphasis had always been on attendence, attendence attendence. She promised to call back soon with a progress report and did so 2 days later. She informed me that she had wanted to sit back and assess everything she had picked up about my son from the various departments in school and take her time to reflect, also seeking the imput of her professional colleagues in her team. She adviced me she had done a risk assessment and my son was in the catergory of being a young male at risk of suicide. She was extremely helpful, didn't frighten me she explained this in context as this is a group at highest risk in our country etc... She explained that she felt he may be depressed, very low moral etc etc and that he would benefit from seeing somebody specialist. She was true to her word and pushed my son through to CAMHs as quick as I think she could. We attended the first meeting a few weeks ago but sadly he has refused the last 2 meetings. I have remained in touch and she has agreed to visit us instead. My son has always been reluctant to socialise so meetings of this nature have always been a no no... now I know he has ASD I am beginning to understand why. I will make sure CAMHs stay engaged and ensure my son get's their full support. I Will also discuss the statementing process with them too, I had no idea they had any involvement??? 

    Thank you so much you are such a valuable asset to us...Innocent

Reply

  • HI Again KaloJaro... love the profile name BTW Smile

    You are very percveptive to have picked up on my sons mental health and offering suggestions about CAMHs. I think it is an absolute critical area for parents family or carers of ASD children to be alerted and informed about - it really is something we might not acknowledge, realise or want to accept. Labelling a child as depressed is really not what we do, it is really difficult for our culture to accept this even exists win adults let alone our children... thank you!

    Thankfully may son was referred by the school nurse and was seen quite quickly by our local CAHMs team. I have to say she sounds like your "one" teacher who noticed... she was & is a breath of fresh air & couldn't believe he had not come to her attention in the 3 years he'd already been at the school! She wasn't aware he existed, didn't realise how sad he'd been presenting to the support unit etc etc. it was I who called her after being adviced to do so and she sought out my son and called me back within 24 hours. She had lots of details about my boy, she chatted to me for over 30 minutes and was the first person i'd spoken to at school who'd ever discussed my son from a caring viewpoint. Up until this, although I hadn't realised,  the emphasis had always been on attendence, attendence attendence. She promised to call back soon with a progress report and did so 2 days later. She informed me that she had wanted to sit back and assess everything she had picked up about my son from the various departments in school and take her time to reflect, also seeking the imput of her professional colleagues in her team. She adviced me she had done a risk assessment and my son was in the catergory of being a young male at risk of suicide. She was extremely helpful, didn't frighten me she explained this in context as this is a group at highest risk in our country etc... She explained that she felt he may be depressed, very low moral etc etc and that he would benefit from seeing somebody specialist. She was true to her word and pushed my son through to CAMHs as quick as I think she could. We attended the first meeting a few weeks ago but sadly he has refused the last 2 meetings. I have remained in touch and she has agreed to visit us instead. My son has always been reluctant to socialise so meetings of this nature have always been a no no... now I know he has ASD I am beginning to understand why. I will make sure CAMHs stay engaged and ensure my son get's their full support. I Will also discuss the statementing process with them too, I had no idea they had any involvement??? 

    Thank you so much you are such a valuable asset to us...Innocent

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