hi there, i have written on here a few times about my 11 yr old son who was recently diagnosed with autism. He has had his struggles with school with dyslexia speech and language probs and severe anxiety which resulted in him having a breakdown two months ago. Cahms suggested we do some diagnostic tests which showed him to be autistic.
We have had our struggles with school and they have been saying right up until a few months ago that my son is likely to get a level 3a/4c in the impending sats tests, and just needs to work a bit harder (?!!). We have now been told this week that he will not be sitting the sats tests as he would not be graded in any of it as he has not reached a level where he could be assessed. He would not even get a level 2.
How on earth can a child be going from a level 4 to ungraded in a matter of a couple of months! I have always told them of his struggles and have always been told although he has his struggles there is no reason why he shouldnt still get a good result!....now we are being told "well...look at his diagnostic assessments, you dont seriously expect us to be able to educate him to a level where he can sit his sats do you?!" But it is US parents that pushed for the assessment...not the Ed Psych, not the school, and i now feel angry that they are hiding behind this assessment rather than ever discussing his struggles with us!
At the parents evening tonight we were shown our son's mock sats assessment sheet which is given to our son to read. It said well done he has reached a level 3b and with a bit more effort he could reach a four!....when we asked, we were told it was a year 3 sats paper he has sat, and thats what he will be sitting in May as he hasnt reached the national sats level. Although i do understand him sitting a lower level sats paper i do not want the wool pulled over his or our eyes and be led to believe he has made excellent progress, as he and us parents were told! No, he hasnt, he is now being taught as a 7yr old, but no-one wants to discuss that with us! We just get fobbed off by them! And like i said...if it wasnt for the fact that we had the diagnostic testing done, we would be none the wiser to the degree of his struggles and why he had the breakdown! We feel so angry and let down, and we just don't know what to say or what to do.
Does anyone out there have any opinions on this and what we should do? My 7yr old daughter has just started the same school. Please help, we are desperate for advice!
Thankyou.
