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Post 16 support

Mumof4

Hi!

My son, aged 16, has a diagnosis of ASD. He achieved the grades at GCSE to go back to school to 6th form to do A levels, which I think was a surprise to him, us and most of all, the school!

He has a Section 139a form detailing his needs etc, and it's the school he was at anyway so they know him. However, he is clearly struggling with the workload and the depth of the A level studies. I feel I am letting him down 'cos it's subjects I didn't do so I am out of my depth too! I spoke to the SENCo about 3 weeks ago and suggested he would benefit form support in some lessons, but she suggested this would be 'uncool' post 16 . He know s this but says he is less concerned wiht being cool now than ever before!

I don't know what to do next to help him. HIs other option was college in the next town , but he does not yet go out or travel independently and has no desire to so do, so 6th form is still the nest place for him to be. I have asked our GP to refer him back to the Community Dr as we have had no practical help etc for years. At the moment my son is resigned to struggling on, but this seems so unfair.

Any ideas?

  • Hiya, I'm 17 and I've been diagnosed with Aspergers about a month ago. Being cool is the least of your worries if you're struggling with A levels. And let me put this in laymans terms:

    All the other kids with ASD at my school in the SEN department (even though they're much younger) agree with me that being cool is NOT important. Many don't care about their 'street cred' or whatever popular people have, so frankly, I think the school's just giving you the runaround. When I received my diagnosis I took it straight to school and I had to fight to stop them giving me a Teaching assistant for my lessons, instead I arranged to go to them if I need help.

    I really dislike my school but because of my servere hatred of change I also chose to go straight on to 6th form thinking it'd be more helpful because the teachers know of my 'good pupil' reputation, meaning they wouldn't badger me as much as a teacher at a completely different college.

    Keep going with the schools SEN because I don't know about anyone else but if I got turned down assistance because they thought my peers opinions mattered more than my education, I'd set my mum on them. And she yells. LOUD. xD The headmaster is terrified of her.

    Keep going! They've got no excuse to deny assistance!

  • I too agree with ColinCat. If your son needs the support then does it really matter how old he is? If the school is truly inclusive then they should accept that some of their 6th formers need more support than others in order to fully access the curriculum. Is there anything on the section 139A assessment that could help in encouraging the school to provide the support he needs. Does he perhaps need the work to be differentiated for him? Does the school need to be more aware of the written and spoken language they are using to present the subjects? Could you ask Connexions to come back in and give advice? Do you have a local autism outreach service who could come in to give advice to the school or a local NAS branch where another parent/pupil has been through similar and may be able to share their experience.

    Hope this helps.

    Jenniferwave

     

     

  • hi mumof4, I am also a mum of 4 and my 16year old son has AS and Dyspraxia.

    I do agree with Colincat the school should continue the support for as long as your son needs it and i would be fighting for it too but dont panic if it doesnt work out with the school, there are options.

    I dont know if this will help you but i thought i would let you know what happened to my son as it is very similar.

    We live in scotland so it is a different system basicaly though my son did his exams in 4th year, did better than expected so also stayed on for 5th year to study highers (roughly the same as Alevels) however this was a big jump educationaly speaking and he was soon struggling, he ended up dropping most of his Highers and repeating intermediate grades (similar io GCSE's at levels A and B) at the end of 5th year i was basicaly told that they thought it was time that my son moved on from school instead of staying on till 6thyear, that they couldnt offer him a full enough timetable and it would be in his best interest to leave!! We were devestated didnt know where to turn or what was for the best. In follow up meetings the school did agree to keep him on if he didnt get a college place.

    This all sounds very gloomy!! it was at the time but please keep reading.

    He did get a college place doing a NC level course, this alows him to continue with his education it is the equivilant of doing his highers/A levels and is in media and film making, which he loves. It plays to his areas of interest. He is having a great time nd has made FRIENDS because they like the same things. Im not going to say it has been easy, there is less suport sometimes at colleges, I had to do a lot of ground work just the same as with schools. My son does not go out or independantly travel so the college arranged taxis for him. I went with him on the first day and sat in the cafe just so he knew I was there incase I was needed. There has been hard days but there has been good days too. I now think he is in the right place, but I think what helped him most was finding a course that was realy his likes all in one and i know he was lucky to find that.

     

    Hope this helps in some small way.

    Sam

    x

     

  • Hi Mumof4 The Senco might say that it is uncool for your son to have support post 16 but if he needs it then they surely have to provide it especially as your son has gone through the school and they are fully aware of his needs. I would go back to themand tell them that they have to provide the support he is entitled to irrespective of whether it is cool or not. Better to get the support there than moving your son somewhere else and he is not happy there. Colincat