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About Statements and any personal experiences of 6th Forms

Bidd

Hi there,

I am a parent of a 15year old boy who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome 5 months ago. Mike is a very able boy who goes to an Independent School having achieved a very high score in his entrance exam, particularly in mathematics and verbal reasoning and an average mark in English. As a result he won an academic scholarship upon admission.

Over the years Mike has struggled socially and got into trouble many times and as a result he has been labelled as disruptive and argumentative. I think it's only just sinking in for Michael that he has problems which are not anybody elses doing.

The school have been informed of the Psychiatrist's diagnosis, the Psychologists assessment and the Speech and Language Specialist's report and they are beginning to address Michael's needs. I have began the process of applying for a statement, I will find out next Friday if the application can continue. We have decided that if this is a 'no' we will appeal and obtain the assistance of a solicitor if we need to fight our corner. Can anyone offer me any personal experiences of applying for a statement this late on? Mike would like to continue into 6th Form and possibly university all being well.

Mike is at a very low point in his life and is very negative and often says 'what's the point' if a suggestion is made for anything. I have been advised by one of these specialists that a complete change of an appropriate environment is perhaps what he needs. We have thought of a residential school and have seen one on the internet which is run by a Quaker organisation in Thirst, Yorkshire. Has anyone any experience of this residential school specifically for high functioning Asperger's children or know of anywhere else to recommend.

Any information would be welcome.

Thank you

Karen 

Parents

  • Hi Bidd

    I'm new to this forum but felt I had to respond to your post. I am also mum to a 15 year old boy with a diagnosis of high functioning autism, who is very bright but whose autism and sensory issues makes life pretty tough for him. My son also has a secondary diagnosis of impulse control disorder - changed from ADHD when he was 13, and some of his behaviours can be quite challenging. 

    I was interested in your question about the quaker schoool near Thirsk - I know exactly which school you are talking about as we seriously considered it - Our son went to an independent prep school and did well but had a dreadful time coping in mainstream secondary. In year 7 at secondary school he 'crashed' completely and we were advised to look at special schools. The school you are talking about was one of them. Our experience is that alot of these schools for 'bright' ASD kids (ie not labelled as low IQ or LD) actually specialise in EBD ( emotional and behavioural difficulties) and have also tagged autism on in more recent times, but are not truly geared up to meet their needs or have a mix of kids who 'clash' with each other. Our son did a taster few days at the school you refer to and was completely overwhelmed as many of the kids are not on the spectrum and are very socially aware and quite 'loud'.

    I don't want to sound negative, but it is really important that as parents we understand that a special school that claims to understand or specialise in aspergers doesn't automatically mean a better experience, whatever they say on the propspectus or Ofsted ratings. We looked at a number of schools and we thought we had chosen very carefully for our son. However he had a very hard time, because of the mix of kids and the complete lack of proper understanding of autism of some staff, made worse because he was boarding and therefore we didn't see him so often. Because of his autism he couln't easily explain that it wasn't working for him.

    There are some fab schools out there and our son is now happy and settled in a good (independent special) school, but he lost most of his Key Stage 3 becuse of the mistakes we all made. The main NAS website has a good checklist when looking for schools and their helplines are grreat for advice. I suppose all I am trying to say is that a special school is not automatically a good school or the answer for your child's individual needs....what we all really need is somewhere special that works and this can be special, independent or mainstream, it just needs that special atmosphere and people. Please make sure you have a list of things to ask any prospective school about what's important for you all and that they really 'get' autism and will tailor their support to your son and go the extra mile rather than expecting him to conform to them....

    Good luck xxx

     

Reply

  • Hi Bidd

    I'm new to this forum but felt I had to respond to your post. I am also mum to a 15 year old boy with a diagnosis of high functioning autism, who is very bright but whose autism and sensory issues makes life pretty tough for him. My son also has a secondary diagnosis of impulse control disorder - changed from ADHD when he was 13, and some of his behaviours can be quite challenging. 

    I was interested in your question about the quaker schoool near Thirsk - I know exactly which school you are talking about as we seriously considered it - Our son went to an independent prep school and did well but had a dreadful time coping in mainstream secondary. In year 7 at secondary school he 'crashed' completely and we were advised to look at special schools. The school you are talking about was one of them. Our experience is that alot of these schools for 'bright' ASD kids (ie not labelled as low IQ or LD) actually specialise in EBD ( emotional and behavioural difficulties) and have also tagged autism on in more recent times, but are not truly geared up to meet their needs or have a mix of kids who 'clash' with each other. Our son did a taster few days at the school you refer to and was completely overwhelmed as many of the kids are not on the spectrum and are very socially aware and quite 'loud'.

    I don't want to sound negative, but it is really important that as parents we understand that a special school that claims to understand or specialise in aspergers doesn't automatically mean a better experience, whatever they say on the propspectus or Ofsted ratings. We looked at a number of schools and we thought we had chosen very carefully for our son. However he had a very hard time, because of the mix of kids and the complete lack of proper understanding of autism of some staff, made worse because he was boarding and therefore we didn't see him so often. Because of his autism he couln't easily explain that it wasn't working for him.

    There are some fab schools out there and our son is now happy and settled in a good (independent special) school, but he lost most of his Key Stage 3 becuse of the mistakes we all made. The main NAS website has a good checklist when looking for schools and their helplines are grreat for advice. I suppose all I am trying to say is that a special school is not automatically a good school or the answer for your child's individual needs....what we all really need is somewhere special that works and this can be special, independent or mainstream, it just needs that special atmosphere and people. Please make sure you have a list of things to ask any prospective school about what's important for you all and that they really 'get' autism and will tailor their support to your son and go the extra mile rather than expecting him to conform to them....

    Good luck xxx

     

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