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Primary to Secondary School - Where did the help & support go??!

lisafc

Hi,

I am new to this forum so please accept my apologies if I babble on!

My son is 11, has ASD, dygraphia and is severly dyslexic. He went up to secondary school last September.

The support he received at primary school wasnt brilliant. He was 9 by the time we got an official diagnosis and by then CAMHS were involved as he had started to self harm. CAT got involved shortly after and they were absolutley brilliant. Unfortunatley though I felt the school in general didnt actually know how to deal with him and although certain things improved and support was put in place it wasnt enough. It got to the stage by the time he was in year 6 that I'd resigned myself to the fact that it was as good as it was gonna get. I was told by people that once he got to secondary school things would be alot better as they were better equiped and staffed to take care of SEN children. By the end of year 6 I was counting the weeks until he left!

However, I am not seeing any of this so called better support that everyone told me about. My son is now starting to go backwards. Hes extremely unhappy, fustrated and anxious.

We are now 7 months into secondary school and he still hasnt even got an IEP. He has been given a new support worker at CAT, as unfortunatley the one he had before (who he trusted and seemed to be the only person that ever helped us) doesnt cover his school, but he's met the new one once last September. When I asked the SENCO why this was she said they dont offer the same level of support as they did at Primary.

Also I was told he would have a teaching assistant in most of his classes, I found out a few weeks ago that hes not had any help in class since Xmas! And even before then it was once or twice a week instead of 3-4 times a day! When I queried this I was told it was because they are short staffed at the moment.

At parents evening before half term I found out that at least three quarters of his teachers didnt even know he had ASD and dyslexia! The one teacher actually looked angry when I told her and said well that explains alot. Apparently the teachers are told of specific areas certain children struggle with, like reading or writing etc but they are not told of any diagnosis' etc. I dont understand why??

After some serious pushing I have managed to get a meeting with his SENCO and his new CAT contact on 12th March and I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced similar problems. Is this just the norm or is my sons school failing him?

I have been told to contact the parent partership but I am still waiting for them to come back to me. Would really appreciate any advice in the meantime.

Lise x

  • i symapthise with you.

    Mt children were removed from promary school as the support recieved there and the general understanding of the condition was so bad my children became extremley distressed, The primary school my kids went to spent their sen budget adapting the entire school to accomodate 1 childs needs ( and never denied it) and to hell with the rest of the kids there who had additional needs not even adequate staff training.

    I too was lured into the false belief that secondary school was supposed to be better for sen and support was supposed to be more freely given, so i placed my kids back into school thinking i was doing the right thing one into mainstream one into special. What a joke!in mainstream  I too have experienced teachers quite recently who didnt even know what asc was, the senco had failed to inform staff of the difficulties my child had faced and frankly i feel that she herself had failed to act appropriatly to meet her needs, the result of which is now school refusal after a monster meltdown where i found her wandering by the side of a main road in the middle of the school day- the school wasnt even aware she had not turned up to her lesson. Even Special schools cant seem to get there head around it all, my daughter had her fingers trapped in a wire tie for the teachers amusement, has been called stupid , shouted at for nothing more than needs relating directly to autism, and has been educated as though she has learning difficulties even though she does not. The head at that school admits they have a problem are in dire need of training but still resides over the apalling behaviour of her staff.

    i dont think that we will ever win the education nightmare untill authorities reakky start to provide adequate provision for HFA, the chice at the minute is either mainstream or special where i live nothing in between, Autism specific schools are saved for the worst cases and all those with who are cognitivly able but have additional needs have to make do and lmp it with substandard education or ill educated and unsympathetic schools.

    My kids are now at home as frankly the education system where i live repulses me.

  • Hi lisafc,

    I understand you have an enquiry regarding your son's education. I am sorry to hear that you feel his secondary school is not supporting him well enough. I am not sure how familiar you are with our website but I wanted to point you in the direction of a few pages which you may find useful.

    The following article contains a lot of helpful information about education for a child with an autism spectrum disorder:
    This includes information regarding getting extra support for your child in their education setting.
    You can search for schools that cater for children with an autism spectrum disorder on our Autism Services Directory: http://www.autism.org.uk/directory.aspx
    It can help to pass on information specifically for education professionals about autism spectrum disorders. The following link contains information written for education professionals: 
    You may want to contact our Education Rights Service where information, support and advice is provided on educational provision and entitlements. Please see the following link for further information: 
    Hope this helps,
    Adél, NAS

  • My child's primary experiance was full of lack of support and understanding by well meaning people who misunderstood ASD and how it is a valid special need.  Her secondary experiance is the opposite and I find myself wishing I had known how bad primary had gotten it so I could have movedd them.

    The point is, in my experiance, the kind and quality of intervention does depend on the SENCO and their understanding of ASD and how it is a disability (even in the milder forms).  So no, it is not every school (it may be most, but not all).  There are secondary schools that do understand and do consider social skill problems a valid special need that needs valid intervention even when there are no acedemic special needs.