Oooohhhhh i am so mad!!! very long..... sorry!

Hi there.

Like some others, it sounds like the TA was in a panic, hence her totally unacceptable behaviour. Shouting at a child in school shouldn't happen - it's a training issue as longman says.

The eye contact is another kind of training issue and it unfortunately shows a complete lack of awareness. My son (now 11 with Aspergers) has been criticised for years for not paying attention in class. He tends to sit at the back with his nose in a book - but listening, so he can tell you what's been said. The book is his security blanket for the classroom and he feels safe hiding behind it - he takes one more or less everywhere. It's taken until last year for staff to realise and accept that he is actually listening in class and that having the book open is acceptable and actually helps him. This is despite us telling staff why he needed a book and that he was listening anyway.

Unfortunately as ASD is a hidden disability, it's so much harder for the individual aspect of that disability to be recognised and accepted by staff. In my son's class in a child in a wheel chair. They haven't been nagging him to get out and join in PE for the last 4 years! In fact they've rearranged all the class rooms so his class can stay on the ground floor (and quite right too).

So, what the TA/trainee teacher did was wrong and showed a severe lack of experience and knowledge. Unfortunately, it probably isn't surprising.

All the best and I hope she has learnt from this episode - and that your son is ok.

Hellsbells

This is a training issue. A Teaching Assistant may not have the right training, by definition of the post, and hopefully the school will attend to this in future. It may be that TAs shouldn't be left with responsibility for pupils on the spectrum unless they have had the training.

Having said that I'm not sure whether teacher training adequately covers it. The kind of textbooks generally available are those for clinically disadvantaged pupils on the spectrum. There doesn't seem to be much around to deal with children who can cope most of the time, and whose difficulties are less obvious.

This may be something NAS needs to look into nationally, with the various education bodies.

Shouting is not on. She really needed to calmly explain what he'd done wrong and why we do not run away.

hi - this is typical of professionals, whether care staff, teachers, or whatever who don't understand autism.  I've spent sooo many hours over sooo many yrs trying to get thru to these people, generally without much or any of a result.  Yes, she may be gd in certain situations but certainly not all.  I think people of whatever age with autism need staff who are well trained in autism and I mean well trained. I've learnt the hard way as my son is in his 20s now.  So yes,  you're 100% right to be furious.  If she has had training in autism, ask exactly what that training consisted of, how long it was + who provided it.  There are loads of people who wk for all sorts of organisations who'll tell you they've been trained in autism.  Generally they have, but quite often it's superficial.  2 days? A wk?  See what I mean?  My son suffered in all sorts of ways when he left school because his staff had either no training or inadequate training.  I learnt the hard way.    You absolutely know when you're talking to someone who really understands autism.  If you don't feel that connection then the alarm bells shd start ringing + you need to take action.  bw

This did get me thinking. In the classroom, it is very common to make sure kids are paying attention by ensuring they look at you and it does become second nature. It is wrong to expect it from AS kids, perhaps other kids as well. I have made this mistake with a student who didn't disclose his ASD. Not asking him to look at me but trying to catch his eye. I was mortified when I realised I was making him feel uncomfotable.  I agree that teachers need to think about this more carefully and be more attuned. What helps me to remember is to remind myself that people listen with their ears not their eyes.  In fact I notice with some students they turn their head away and look down so they can hear you better and focus on what you are saying. This might be worth passing on. As to how your son was treated, appalling, ASD or not, Teachers should not be shouting unless an emergency. It is unacceptable to force any child to look at an angry shouting face that is scaring them. Clearly even more so in your son's situation.  Looks like a good outcome to get her better training though. And I guess we all make mistakes especially when we are learning.  I expect she will learn a lot from it.  Hope your lad is OK now.

In my opinion she was discriminating against your son and breaking the Disability Discrimination and Equalities Act

She should be ashamed of herself. Would she ask someone in a wheelchair to get up and walk????? People with AS often find eye-contact very difficult because we usually struggle to take in more one stimuli at a time - we get distracted, bombarded with information, and eye-contact can cause great inner angst. This is beyond our control - it is neurological and should never be considered rude or defiant. Nobody should shout at anyone for struggling with eye-contact, even if the person has no diagnosis of AS, for there is usually a good reason and it is very rarely a sign of defiance.

Well she has apologised to ds profusely and is being sent on an autism awareness course - Ds is also not allowed to be let outside his classroom unless there is an adult present. A fair result I think? 

Oh MrsP, she was definitely very wrong in the way she behaved.

I should think she was in a state of panic which then made her act like that. Not the thing to do if you're a teacher.

I hope she will apologise to your son. And hopefully she will learn from this.

Sharon