School

Can I ask what kind of voilent meltdowns he has? And why he goes to school for only one hour ? My son is 6 years old and recently diagnosed with childhood autism. He goes to mainstream school full time. after 2 weeks of year one he is showing negative behaviour like pushing, biting and spitting... he never does that at home or outside... And some days he is very good and get appreciations too... I'' worried about him because if the school doesn't allow him to stay in mainstream. 

Yes, he is pushing, biting, hitting, spitting and just generally lashing out at whoever or whatever is in his way during the meltdown. These behaviours only appeared at the beginning of year 1 also. He was going to school for 1 hour as the school didn’t want to permanently exclude him but could not cope with his behaviour and felt they couldn’t keep him or the other students and teachers safe from physical harm & it was happening every day. Since I wrote this post he has attended a 6 week period at a pupil referral unit which has really helped him to control is violence a lot but he is still only doing half days in mainstream as all of the noises and people are just too much for him and by the afternoon he can’t cope with it anymore, they have created a smaller group of 6 pupils that need the extra help for him to work with rather than the main classroom but even then he can only stay in there for no more than half hour before it gets too much for him. Once his ehcp gets approved he will be going to a special school as mainstream obviously isn’t the right place for him. I hope you manage to get some support for your son x

Thanks for your reply. Does your child have sensory issue Aswell? Is he sensitive to noise? My son still puts things in his mouth like fingers and pencils etc.  My son is recently diagnosed so I have no idea what is going to happen next. I just get to know that he isn't not getting extra hours as his level of Autism isn't much that he should be given extra hours. But from last few weeks he is showing bad behaviour like pushing and hitting etc sometimes daily and sometimes he is quiet settled. Spoken to family support worker and she said we will set some targets and strategies for him and if. It won't work then they will contact to local authorities to give some hours... he is above average in studies and doing very well as compare to his class fellows

Hi, yes he is very sensitive to noise, he wears noise cancelling headphones around school and out in the street. He also has to have blue tac or playdoh to hand as fiddling with these reduces his stress and helps him concentrate a bit more. Is there a certain time of the day or certain lesson his behaviour gets worse during? The schools senco should be able to put things in place to help avoid these. Every special needs child gets extra funding and as his parent you get a say in how this is used, for us a 1:1 is needed throughout the school day but for some children they just need to be away from the classroom for certain lessons etc. Having a ‘safe place’ has been great for my son as when they can see him starting to get wound up he goes to his safe place and plays with his playdoh etc until he is calm enough to go back. Have you applied for a statement (ehcp) for him? That will state exactly what he needs and what the school need to provide for him x

Hi, yes he is very sensitive to noise, he wears noise cancelling headphones around school and out in the street. He also has to have blue tac or playdoh to hand as fiddling with these reduces his stress and helps him concentrate a bit more. Is there a certain time of the day or certain lesson his behaviour gets worse during? The schools senco should be able to put things in place to help avoid these. Every special needs child gets extra funding and as his parent you get a say in how this is used, for us a 1:1 is needed throughout the school day but for some children they just need to be away from the classroom for certain lessons etc. Having a ‘safe place’ has been great for my son as when they can see him starting to get wound up he goes to his safe place and plays with his playdoh etc until he is calm enough to go back. Have you applied for a statement (ehcp) for him? That will state exactly what he needs and what the school need to provide for him x