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Supporting my nearly 16 year old when the school can't

JustmeandOURautism

My son will be 16 at the end of this year. He is very smart, an amazing memory and an ace at Maths and after years of the high school telling me there would be ways for him to set exams am now being told it is not possible as they are unable to extract the potential from him and they don't have any staff qualified enough to work with my boy.

It's really frustrating because it seems like such a waste, we can't move schools before that is mentioned as we live in a small town and there is only one high school and my son attended the ASN department of the school.

Am getting  really down because as smart as my boy is he doesn't have great social skills or care skills and it is not likely he will work or leave home so I suppose exams are kinda pointless.

So now am trying to work out how to move forward with my son to give him a full life if that makes sense, when he leaves school I need to be able to make his days etc worth while but how?

I hope I am making sense

Parents

  • I am so sorry. We find ourselves in a somewhat similar situation with our young person, 15, though they have also missed a great deal of school due to anxiety and needs not being met, despite an EHCP and a tribunal and also being highly intelligent.

    we have managed to access some alternative provision which is proving helpful and offers functional skills in maths and English and some vocational skills if appropriate while looking at every alternative option. Can school source some tutoring or have you looked at online schools such as Academy 21 or Nisai if that might work? Local colleges usually offer lots of catch up opportunities for those who have missed out on GCSEs for those who are often autistic or have mental health difficulties, if that might be an option.

    We are also thinking about whether we might need to set up a trust in case our child is unable to work and looking into supported living options. And in the meantime we are trying to support with social skills and mental health. 

    i think there are things out there if you search hard and long but I feel your distress and how let down by the system many parents feel. I wish you well.

Reply

  • I am so sorry. We find ourselves in a somewhat similar situation with our young person, 15, though they have also missed a great deal of school due to anxiety and needs not being met, despite an EHCP and a tribunal and also being highly intelligent.

    we have managed to access some alternative provision which is proving helpful and offers functional skills in maths and English and some vocational skills if appropriate while looking at every alternative option. Can school source some tutoring or have you looked at online schools such as Academy 21 or Nisai if that might work? Local colleges usually offer lots of catch up opportunities for those who have missed out on GCSEs for those who are often autistic or have mental health difficulties, if that might be an option.

    We are also thinking about whether we might need to set up a trust in case our child is unable to work and looking into supported living options. And in the meantime we are trying to support with social skills and mental health. 

    i think there are things out there if you search hard and long but I feel your distress and how let down by the system many parents feel. I wish you well.

Children
  • in reply to NAS77880

    Thank you for you suggestions I had never heard of Academy 21 or Nisai - we are in the highlands of scotland in a small town so there isn't allot here but Academy 21 is online so may be useful I will mention this to the school- it appears to be based on English curriculum so will look into doing it from scotland

    Thanks again think I need to get searching from as much online resources as I can as there is defo nothing close by