non attending school

My 16 year old son with Asperger's has not attended school since before Christmas. He was only just turned 16 when he started Year 12, having taken GCSEs at 15 (and got good results without doing any work to speak of). He was just overwhelmed by the work demands of 6th form and got really behind, so he stopped going to some lessons and then wouldn't go at all. Lots of stomach aches and headaches too. It doesn't help that for the last 5 years the school has had a head who actively discouraged SEN kids from coming to his school and failed to give most statemented kids more than a tiny fraction of their support hours (I was part of a group that threatened legal action and got him to leave!). The new head is putting things right but it will take time especially as all the money has gone on building projects which have nothing to do with SEN.

John is re-starting Yr 12 in September in a specialist AS unit in a mainstream school. We are really thrilled. He is supposed to be doing voluntary work in the meantime but the only way we can get him to go to it is to pay him for it!

If your son is missing school then there is something at school that is making it unbearable for him. Try to find out from him or the school what it is. If it can't be fixed at that school, time to find another school which can support him adequately, or home schooling as suggested above. If he has a statement you can apply for a home tutor at least five hours a week. (We tried home school for about three days when our son was 7, but he wouldn't do anything we said - your mileage may vary).

My 16 year old son with Asperger's has not attended school since before Christmas. He was only just turned 16 when he started Year 12, having taken GCSEs at 15 (and got good results without doing any work to speak of). He was just overwhelmed by the work demands of 6th form and got really behind, so he stopped going to some lessons and then wouldn't go at all. Lots of stomach aches and headaches too. It doesn't help that for the last 5 years the school has had a head who actively discouraged SEN kids from coming to his school and failed to give most statemented kids more than a tiny fraction of their support hours (I was part of a group that threatened legal action and got him to leave!). The new head is putting things right but it will take time especially as all the money has gone on building projects which have nothing to do with SEN.

John is re-starting Yr 12 in September in a specialist AS unit in a mainstream school. We are really thrilled. He is supposed to be doing voluntary work in the meantime but the only way we can get him to go to it is to pay him for it!

If your son is missing school then there is something at school that is making it unbearable for him. Try to find out from him or the school what it is. If it can't be fixed at that school, time to find another school which can support him adequately, or home schooling as suggested above. If he has a statement you can apply for a home tutor at least five hours a week. (We tried home school for about three days when our son was 7, but he wouldn't do anything we said - your mileage may vary).