Part time at school

hi there,

my daughter is five and is in reception year at primary school. We held her back a year bc of delays w speech and other issues. 

She has struggled a lot and due to problems with her behaviour she is currently only doing half days at school. She was recently diagnosed, though she was obviously on the pathway to diagnosis for some time prior to this. I feel it is clear that she needs extra support at school but this is just not forthcoming and it has been made clear to me that it will be a long time before any is available (I know that getting an EHCP is hard but it feels like she won’t be getting any support until the summer term at the earliest).

I wondered if anybody else has experienced this? I feel like it is so bad for her that she is not getting to go to school full time and it feels like it is down to a lack of resources for them to handle her rather than out of the school’s concern for her. I feel like she and we are being fobbed off. I just don’t know what to do and I’d love to hear other people’s experiences. 

Thanks so much. 

Parents
  • Hi NAS, my son was diagnosed late at age 11 although he was showing signs at an early age. We were seeing the school doctor who said he probably had autism but didn't want to 'lable' him. Helpful! Anyway, when he joined secondary school it was clear my son had issues and needed help. But because he didn't have an ehcp due to not having that 'lable' the school couldn't help us. He ended up refusing to go in after two weeks having been attacked by another kid. He was out of school for a year before joining a different one. He struggled badly as he couldn't cope in mainstream but couldn't go to a special school without an ehcp. We finally got a diagnosis and the school helped with the care plan. He thankfully got it just as he stopped going to that school due to severe anxiety. All it entailed was having a meeting at the school with his keyworker, camh, and an educational sycologist and think there was someone else but can't remember now.  He's now in a lovely special school and doing so well with lots of support. He still misses days there and has his struggles but the school is brilliant.

    I would suggest getting that care plan. It wasn't difficult for us and it's made a huge difference to my son's life. I've found that you have to fight for your child no matter what. Sometimes it feels like a huge hurdle to jump over but you'll get there. Remember that you're their voice. 

Reply
  • Hi NAS, my son was diagnosed late at age 11 although he was showing signs at an early age. We were seeing the school doctor who said he probably had autism but didn't want to 'lable' him. Helpful! Anyway, when he joined secondary school it was clear my son had issues and needed help. But because he didn't have an ehcp due to not having that 'lable' the school couldn't help us. He ended up refusing to go in after two weeks having been attacked by another kid. He was out of school for a year before joining a different one. He struggled badly as he couldn't cope in mainstream but couldn't go to a special school without an ehcp. We finally got a diagnosis and the school helped with the care plan. He thankfully got it just as he stopped going to that school due to severe anxiety. All it entailed was having a meeting at the school with his keyworker, camh, and an educational sycologist and think there was someone else but can't remember now.  He's now in a lovely special school and doing so well with lots of support. He still misses days there and has his struggles but the school is brilliant.

    I would suggest getting that care plan. It wasn't difficult for us and it's made a huge difference to my son's life. I've found that you have to fight for your child no matter what. Sometimes it feels like a huge hurdle to jump over but you'll get there. Remember that you're their voice. 

Children
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