Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
Hope all of you are well in these difficult times?
My son has Autism and attends mainstream school. Some things he finds challenging, some very easy. He is 'high functioning' though I find that misleading as it suggests it's not so tough for him!
My question is around his expected level of attainment. He is doing ok in school, and without an EHCP at the moment. The school is going through the process of applying for one for him.
My question: Should we expect he get given support to achieve his full potential or just a sufficient education? He's very clever and I think with help he could achieve a very high standard of education.
Does anyone have experience of the education system in this circumstance?
Would appreciate any advice out there!
Andy
I have worked in mainstream education for around 8 years and speaking from experience all children should be challenged. For example in maths there were 5 levels of work to complete in a lesson and the children chose where they felt comfortable. The work would cover below age related (bronze, silver ) , age related(gold) and above age related (mastery, challenge). If children routinely complete challenge then additional work should be provided so as not to hold them back. So whilst additional support isn’t necessarily given there is provision for those children who are working at an advanced level. A similar strategy was used for English where lesson outcomes/ expectations were tiered starting with basic skills through to more advanced skills. Some schools also run a gifted and talented programme where such children are involved in other activities with other schools aimed challenging them further. I guess, in short, schools should be encouraging all pupils to achieve their true potential.
I hope this helps
welcome to the forum Mindreadingmum ,,,, trying to sneak in without being noticed ?
Hi aidie, I’ve been here a few weeks but has trouble logging in so was unable to comment.
see, dogs have things sorted
Pleased to meet you too. My dog is called Charlie, he’s currently snoring on the sofa!
thats ok just pleased to meet you. That sounds a bit desperate ! whats your dogs name ?