Help!

Hi, my name is Shonagh and i am a newbie on this site.

My 10 yr old son was diagnosed with Autism in 2009, currently we haven't major problems at home but the last 6 months of school have been an utter nightmare for him.

Between too many changes and lack of consistency with how teachers handle situations and lack of experience have resulted in my son being apprehensive of going to school each morning but so far he still goes.  There are odd days when i literaly have to drag him to school which leaves me emotionally drained and usually in tears once i have headed for home. I am finding that it is me that is giving the school ideas on how to deal with the situation when i feel they are the ones that should have the expertise.

I would like to give you an example and any advice would be most grateful.

The other week for some reason my son decided he didn't want to take part in rugby, which was outside.  No amount of persuading made him change his mind so he was kept inside with a support teacher to watch over him.  The options that they have started using weren't offered to him as far as i am aware.  He proceeded to head to the window to watch them which he was then told he wasn't allowed and to sit down and think about the choice he had made.  This resulted in a cushion throwing episode. They then brought in another support teacher to help, one that he currently doesn't like and he then chose to play with some of the stuff in the area as he hadn't been given anything else to do.  These things were taken away from him and she proceeded to speak to him which ended in him throwing more cushions and hiding under tables.  They removed practically everything in the room, tables, chairs, cushions etc and he sat out doing nothing for around 2 hours, being observed.  By the time i came in which was the end of school i could see he was upset.

The problem seems to be now that he is choosing not to engage in any work he finds boring or doesn't like etc I am at a totaly loss of how to deal with this problem at school and because i now am standing up for him and putting in complaints if things aren't followed through they seem to have become offhand with me.

Anyone got any ideas on how to help solve this?

Thanks in advance, Shonagh

Parents
  • Thank you Rosie and Lee

    I am starting to realise that I know more than the teachers do and thankfully his class teacher takes on board the things I have been saying and has even been reading a lot into it herself, which I am pleased about.

    Everything you have said rings true, you hut my thoughts exactly "why stop him looking out the window" He was certainly not being naughty in his choice and I am not exactly sure myself what set him off that day, all he said was he didn't want to take part.  The support teacher certainly treated him like a naughty child which just made the situation worse.

    I certainly agree having a small support group of teachers working with him would make things so much better, there has been too many changes.

    I have requested a meeting with all that support him so I can go over everything and make sure they are all handling him in the same way.  Fingers crossed it will go well.

    At the end of last week I had a few discussions with the teachers and he has now a daily visual timetable in place which they go over with him every morning, this seems to be workin and is making him feel more confident in what is going on. They are also in the process of changing his options to incentives to encourage him to do his core work.

    Thank you very much for your advice and support and I will be going to the link to read and also pass this link onto the teachers.

    Much appreciated, Shonagh

     

Reply
  • Thank you Rosie and Lee

    I am starting to realise that I know more than the teachers do and thankfully his class teacher takes on board the things I have been saying and has even been reading a lot into it herself, which I am pleased about.

    Everything you have said rings true, you hut my thoughts exactly "why stop him looking out the window" He was certainly not being naughty in his choice and I am not exactly sure myself what set him off that day, all he said was he didn't want to take part.  The support teacher certainly treated him like a naughty child which just made the situation worse.

    I certainly agree having a small support group of teachers working with him would make things so much better, there has been too many changes.

    I have requested a meeting with all that support him so I can go over everything and make sure they are all handling him in the same way.  Fingers crossed it will go well.

    At the end of last week I had a few discussions with the teachers and he has now a daily visual timetable in place which they go over with him every morning, this seems to be workin and is making him feel more confident in what is going on. They are also in the process of changing his options to incentives to encourage him to do his core work.

    Thank you very much for your advice and support and I will be going to the link to read and also pass this link onto the teachers.

    Much appreciated, Shonagh

     

Children
No Data