Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone, i would really appreciate any advice you could give me. I am at breaking point. my daughter who is nearly 8 yrs old (diagnosed with ASD at 5) is really struggling at school. this is her first year in junior school and as the workload has incresed her modd and temper have. Before the start of the term i applied for a chage of school to another local school which is still mainstream but has specialist teachers working ther too. In September i was told my daughter would not be able to move until january which i thought was an excessive amount of time to handle this, Now after several meetings at the school about what they can do to help my daughter cope better i have been told she will not be moving in january as they do not have enough time to arrange her new 1:1. I am furious at this i really need advice, i have spoken to parent partnership but i feel there is some reason unknown to me why this is purposely being held up. My main concern is my daughters happiness and then her education and at the moment she is receiving neither as she is too distraught/angry to take part in lessons. she has always been more intelligent than her peers and was reading fluently at age 4. she has each year been performing a little worse and is now below her peers in some areas. I feel the school are not meeting her needs but dont know how to handle this at a higher level than the headmistress.
sorry for the long thread i wanted to put as much info in as possible
thank you
Emma
Hi NAS35252,
There's lot of education information and advice on our website which you may find helpful: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/in-education.aspx
If you need any further information or would like to speak to someone, you might like to contact our Autism Helpline. The Helpline is open Monday to Thursday 10am – 4pm and Friday 9am – 3pm on 0808 800 4104.
Please see the following link for further information: http://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/main/contact.aspx
Regards,
Kerri-Mod
Hi. My son is 6 and in year one. He is having he same problem as your daughter. He sometimes refuses not to do his class tasks and draw something instead of doing what everyone is doing. He is good in his studies and is above average than his peers. His behaviour is changing from last few weeks his is pushing and biting his friends. You said as the worK load had increased his mood is too... what kind of work load? In terms of studies you mean? My son is in main stream and he is not getting any extra hours as his level of Autism is not higher to get extra hours. I have a meeting tomorrow with SENCO and will ask what would be next procedure after getting diagnosed and the statement. Have no idea what that statement is
Hi, I've literally just got off the phone from the head at the new school who has told me what the situation has been and that her current school have passed information on to her that they were going to keep my daughter there whilst trying new strategies before she would move and that they would have a meeting with me to explain this. I have informed the head at the new school that my daughter shall be going to her school in January regardless of what the current school say.
abigails statement was reviewed in November so I did state that things were not working at the school and that her behaviour had been reinforced by the teachers. Thank you for the links I'm going to examine those sites today and make some notes for the meeting with the two heads on Monday.
emma
I agree IQ tests are not an ideal measure of intelligence, and in fact any test for an autistic child may not work due to their inability to sit tests even though they are highly intelligent. But this is about finding evidence to back up what you say about your daughter slipping in standards due to the school's failings.
As part of an early statement review I don't see any reason why you couldn't ask for the EP to test her again. Have you point blank asked the new school what the delay is? I don't see how it can be her present school holding things up. If your daughter's statement says she has to have a 1-2-1, then they have to supply this, they don't have a choice.
This may be useful: http://www.ipsea.org.uk/What-you-need-to-know/Common-problems.aspx#EarlyReview
She is an absolutely different child at home, very rarely looses her temper, plays with her younger brother and does her homework no problem. At school she is now refusing to do most of her work and when she does work it's only for a period of 10 mins. She had had an ed psych visit her but only during the diagnosis stage.
i I haven't had her IQ tested and probably will not. IQ tests are not an accurate measurement of intelligence as they only measure 3 abilities. They can be highly subjective to the culture of the creator. The main difference is that she went to school over achieving and this is gradually becoming the opposite.
i have spoken with the new school and the education officer for the are who was also at the first meeting. I just don't know what the delay is???
can an Ed psych come to see her again?
Thanks
By any chance is your daughter holding in her stress at school and not behaving there as she does at home? This is common in autism and schools rarely take the issues seriously because they are not witnessing it or dealing with it. They may not accept that she is struggling and may brush off her performance to being part of her condition and not even recognise that she is performing below ability. Has she had her IQ tested? Has she had an Ed Psych test her abilities?
Was someone at the new school present at the meeting? I can't understand why the present school is having a say in the move to the new school. Can you not speak directly to the new school?
Also, you are entitled to call an early review of her statement, at which time you can put in writing what your daughter needs and the argument for it. You can also ask for those tests mentioned above.
Thanks for replying, I should have mentioned she already has a statement. I will look at those organisations you have mentioned and see if I can get some advice.
Hi - if you haven't already apply for a statement of educational needs which should enable her to have extra support at school. Also check out the nas + ipsea sites so you know your rights in this area. Cynical as it sounds, it's probably down to budget cuts which they can't admit to.