Playground year 1

Yeah this is true, and i hope that it does turn out fine, he is more than happy to go every day and doesn't display any signs of being unhappy so things are ok at mo anyway. Jus me being a natural worrier anyway! And thinking of 'what could happen' but i supose thats natural.

I did discuess how things are in the playground from his teachers point of view and she said he does run around playing chasing games etc sometimes with children from his class, i told her what he tells me 'on own, just like to get breeze' etc, he said it must be the way he sees things?

I did also say to my son 'oh yout teacher said you sometimes play games etc, thats nice....

He said... 'Sometimes they run around but i am still on my own ?? and i prefere to get just breeze' 

Maybe he does see it differently, but he has never said that he has played?? I wonder if he kns what 'a friend' or 'playing togeather' is??? 

For the first 7 months of school he refered to everyone as having a partner i.e 2 boys being partners i think this was related from partners like batman & robin etc friends/partners.. 

Thanks for your reply.  Any more welcome lol x

You might not need to worry too much, although I can fully understand why you are concerned, it is just that things might turn out better than you think.

When I started school (was undiagnosed at the time) there was a mixture of different emotions. I was excited about starting school and being a 'big girl', but I recall that school was initially daunting and confusing - as it is for all kids, but for me this was magnified. I spent long periods alone in the playground, not knowing what to do. I have one clear memory of myself just standing still in the playground while all the kids ran around me ,and I was crying to myself, feeling sad because I was confused. However, the class teacher got some girls in year 5 to look after me, and they became my playmates and school friends. My favourite game was 'dungeons', which involved lots of running and imaginary stale bread and carrots - I played this game every day for the first school year with these two girls.

In year 1, I had no one to play with, although I eventually befriended a girl in my class and she came over to my house for tea. However, the friendship was off and on and I had no other school friends. I did sometimes play with a younger girl (who also was later diagnosed with AS), but we both often got into trouble for disrupting the play of other children.

I grew to love primary school, despite the confusing start, and the last few years of primary were my best, although I annoyed other children, had some academic problems, and my parents were very concerned with my developmental profile (I did not get diagnosed until age 21).

I loved running really fast, arms outstreched, emulating an aeroplane. Like your son, I loved the sense of freedom and the breeze.

I was teased, but not truly bullied, despite my oddities. In fact I tended to annoy others more than they ever annoyed me, but I went to two mainstream schools that both had a zero bullying policy and a good intake of kids. There was no bullying at all  to my knowledge, so I must have been lucky. Bullying often depends on the type of school, and not all mainstream schools are bad in this respect.

Crystal, thanks for the advice and info i think i will try to push to start statementing my son so as you say if i need to move him, the statements there already.

Katie,  thanks or your reply, school sounded bloody awful for you! And this is what i eorry about for my son just that the gap between him and peers becomes so big that hes a target.

Sounds like he views school and home maybe as you did, two different worlds that you simply cannot mix.

He also like you did has imaginary friends based on star wars characters. 

He also tells me he plays games with the clouds! 

He uses soft toys and calls them friends at home. Line them up talks to them sometimes thy have dinner he has loads he really loves them, i think it maybe because he doesn't have any real friends. He makes up parties at home and invites them all etc. 

I just really wanna insure he doesn't get picked on or bullied at all.  If anything like that happened id want to whip him out of main stream imm. Sometimes i think im being ott as this hasen't happened yet and he seems happy and he only in year 1, but i get so worried as kn he on own etc.  

Thanks stacey xx

Hi Stacy,

Its good your son has been diagnosed at such a young age, my primary school 'missed' me so it took years before I was finally diagnosed with Aspergers (a form of high functioning autism). When I was little, I used to do pretty much what your son did, run around in circles, chase the wind, and generally play with my imaginary friends. It didn't matter whether I played with the other kids or not as they always found a way to pick on me as I grew older, even when I 'followed' the rules. I'm afraid litle kids are ignorant and cruel like that. Like your son, I hated speaking about school at home. As far as I was concerned, school and home were two seperate worlds, and I hated being forced to transfer information between the two. So don't worry, its normal behaviour.

Katie.

hi again - my son (now an adult) is at the classic end.  He was in the "middle" class at school.  He's much younger emotionally than his yrs.  He talks, but on his own terms.  He still keeps parts of his life in compartments.  He can be flexible in a number of ways, but intransigent in others.  He is quite practical and sometimes finds ways to solve problems he may have, altho again, it's the way a younger person wd go about it.  He's also asked questions about:  birth, death, what will happen after he left school etc.  So his development is varied.  In the right environment he is generally content and/or happy.  He has a childish sense of humour which makes people smile.  He's numerate, cd write single words before he started talking (a short phrase) at 5 yrs old.  He cd understand simple phrases before then.  The advice to start the statementing process is in my opinion gd advice.  You shd then be in a better position if you decide your son needs a school for children with autism.   Your LEA shd be the point of contact.  Gd luck.

Thanks, 

My son is the same really, social, emotional, speech ( he has a stummer) languge and overall undertstanding problems.  ( ive gone into more detail abiut how his autisum affects him, in general disscusions, convo title is someone elses headed 'speech and understanding') 

/'iThe school always seem so vauge. And the senco doesnt have much involvment yet orher than his IEP he on school action plus.

Am i allowed to ask for a statement then? Any advice on how to go about asking for one as the senco originally said if its needed they will apply would be helpful. 

What problems is your daughter having at mo? 

So hard isn't it, just wish i cld be a fly on wall. 

Xx

Hi, I have the same concerns about my daughter, She hasn't had her diagnosis of asd yet but is believed to be high functioning too, except she has social, speech and language difficulties. She's just started reception and we're already having problems at the school!! We're currently applying for a statement which once it comes through we're moving her to a special school as soon as we can because of the same concerns you have and because the school is just not meeting her needs.

Can I just suggest though that you apply for a statement now, even though your son doesn't have a lot of problems now, if you decide that moving schools is the way forward you will be held back for a very long time until the statement comes in, we applied in march/april and aren't getting ours until the end of November, if it comes at all. At least then it's in place and I am told that it can be ported over to different schools if you then decide to move your child.

Thanks, yes it is a local authority school.  You child just has to be statemented to attend. Where at present my son hasen't got a sttement. He is on school action plus, the school contacted the dr he was under before diagnosis to ask advise on how to help ryan which they then did his IEP. 

I have just started to attend support groups at the school so soon enough i will try to find out if its going cto be a suitable option for him.  

After diagnosis they said hes ok at mo but if statement needed later then then they will apply for 1.

Do you mind me asking how Autisum afftects your son and is he classic or high functioning??

I do worry, the other day i was told by a family member in the school he was hurt in playground, 

I asked him, he said he was tripped up by boy in his class, took me a while to find out who, he doesn't seem to kn if it was an accident or not.  But the boy didnt say sorry n run away from my son says. He very reluctent to speak about school ever! Gets mad when you press for info. 

Thanks crystal

hi - can understand your concerns.  What's not a big issue at present cd become a bigger one as he gets older and other kids get more savvy, for wont of a less polite expression.  From what you say I don't see any harm in checking the autistic school out to see if it wd be suitable.  Is it a local authority school?  I ask because if it's not it cd cost more + you cd run into problems with your LEA then.   Don't think you or his present school will be able to change his playground routine - as you say, he enjoys it + it probably gives him that big of time to settle his mind after his lessons.  My son always went to autistic schools.  He wouldn't have survived in mainstream, esp as he got older.  They did a good job + he enjoyed it.