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reasonable adjustments to school life

Jannia

my lovely 13 year old son is struggling more and more at school. He is refusing to attend. This has come to a head recently and has been remedied by him being able to wear different trousers (black chinos so not that different to school trousers) and trainers to school on the days that he has felt anxious. He has many sensory issues with clothes and has only a few sets of clothes he feels comfortable in. These chinos are one of the few pairs of trousers he wears so they are constantly washed. His trainers are blue and grey and bless him he has size 12 feet so they aren't exactly small and inconspicuous. The school began by allowing him to wear these trousers and trainers on those days that he felt uncomfortable. This has progressed to being almost every day currently. Probably because he has been going through end of year tests and is feeling very anxious. The school asked for a letter from the GP to back up this sensory issue and when they recieved it (it asked them to be mindful of his diagnosis and work with him on those days he felt anxious) they have now decided that "in order to support him and help him get along in the real world" they will not allow him any adjustment to school uniform and he will recieve the same sanctions as any other child. 

He was diagnosed by the community paediatrician and hasn't seen her since diagnosis as he hasn't needed to. I feel like the school thinks the whole issue is down to bad parenting and that they feel the need to help me sort him out!

He is achieving in school and doesn't have a EHCP currently. I have asked for him to be referred for statutory assessment and I feel that since I asked for that they have closed ranks on me and don't want to help.

This is a 13 year old boy who just doen'st see the world the same way as everyone else and he is being punished for it daily. He doesn't melt down in class very often, he tries hard to be part of the crowd and then gets it wrong because he misses the cues to stop, so then he gets punished as they can't be seen to treat him differently.

How do i get through to them that he is different and with the right support, he will be happy.

any help appreciated.

  • my son is in his second year of secondry and we are back to the same problems he had in first. he does not want to do pe as he does not like changing rooms, to many people and to noisey also he has poor muscle tone and finds it very difficult to run and jump (he is very clumsy) i have told the teachers this and although accomidating in first year this year they are now saying to my son that it is the law and he must attend pe. now on the days he has it he is refusing to go to school. last year his attendance was only 58% and i really don,t want a repeat this year, i am really concerned for his mental health. looking for some suggestions.

  • I don't have any advice as such, but the biggest thing I've learned since starting to work with a child who has autism is "Pick your battles". By this, I don't mean you, I mean them! Yes, ok, it's important for children to learn to conform to rules and "fit in" with everyone else to some degree, but there are places outside of school and people outside of school that can teach him this. Schools really need to recognise that if a child is willing and able to learn, but that some adjustment has to be made to make this a more peaceful and less stressful process, they should just get on with it.

    I would definitely push for a EHCP. I was told, in no uncertain terms the other day, that this, being a legal document, is significant back up in the case that a child is not receiving the help that they are entitled to which may help in this situation.

  • When do Education v Medicine ever agree they talk about mult-disciplinary assessments

    what a joke! shocking story.  Do they understand Autism?  Not on your nelly , Awful just awful...Oh !! I feel so outraged..

  • There is another reason the school may have taken this line. If the doctor's note specifies the condition as autism or asperger's syndrome, and the school has looked this up.

    Most explanations of autism use the Triad of Impairments, which is really a diagnostic tool that excludes things which might be confused with other conditions - sensory issues is one of the exclusions.

    Consequently many websites explain autism simply in terms of the triad of impairments, and may or may not explain sensory issues - which often appears as an 'also ran', and may not be sufficiently explained.

    The school may therefore not have found any reference to sensitivity to clothing as an issue.

    I keep having this argument with NAS and I keep coming up against a brick wall. The Triad does not adequately explain living with autism.

    Although NAS mentions sensory issues and sensory overload, and has pages explaining hypo and hypersenstivity and the different sensitivities, this appears as something separate from the main body of 'evidence' presented in the Triad.

    I will repeat this mantra to my dying day - "the triad doesn't explain living with autism" - but I bet NAS will still go on using it, without giving adequate emphasis to sensory issues.

    But it is possible the school has simply argued that they know nothing about sensitivity to clothing - because all they've found is the Triad.

  • It is sad to read that things like this still go on despite increased awareness of autism.

    That they should interpret a doctor's note explaining the disability as grounds for ignoring the disability suggests that this was pre-empted - they intended to impose the rules. Getting the doctor's note was about getting documentation they could argue around. Their interpretation of the note seems to have been sufficient for them to assume they could cure a disability by forcing the situation - that is what this amounts to.

    You should be able to ask for reasonable adjustments. If sensitivity to clothing is part of the disability reasonable adjustment should include relaxing the dress code.

    The trouble is there are still people around who think that if autism is behavioural, behaviour can be changed. The idea persists that autism can be cured and that it is just inadequacy or immaturity that can be put right.

    I suggest asking them why they think imposing the rules is justified with regard to his disability. You need to get something in writing that exposes their arrogance and naivity.

    I think you need clear written evidence that they are presuming to be able to cure autism. Refer that back to the GP or the local Education authority

  • I feel for you, my son was 14 was billed and just stopped going to school, drama, pe, lunchtimes were all too much he threatened suicide which was the beginning off a long and annoying ongoing journey. He was only diagnosed last July high functioning autism!! He is 16 now and never went back to school

     The so called professional people are usless, its just tickong boxes,  apply for a EHC plana even though with that you'll still have to fight for help!!  But at least he will have support intoll 25 and it opens up doors to specialists help when he leaves school. I emailed head of education today and complained thatu son is still not getting transition into college, because of the plan lpcol authority has to help.    

  • Name and shame this bunch of muppets!  

    Some info about formal complaint procedure here, but I'd also be thinking about going to the press.

    www.gov.uk/complain-about-school