Stigma: flicking wrists, looking at sky, dribbling, and making 'aah' sounds
Posted by
Leanne
on 24th February 2010
at 13:26
Hi
I have experienced a similar issue myself.
My youngest has very delayed speech and has displays some of the more typical autistic behaviours and so getting him statemented was relatively straight forward. My eldest however has Aspergers and is academically bright but I feel he suffers much more than my youngest because his disability is invisible. Some of his teachers refuse to believe he has difficulties mainly because his are social and emotional issues and the fact that he is not trashing the classroom means that everything is ok.
He presents as a very sensible, well behaved child but he can not even cross a road himself and has no idea of personal danger - he is 14.
He attends a mainstream secondary school and the only advice I can give is to keep in constant contact with the school and get the teachers email addresses so that you can contact them if you need to.. I contact them to check on what homework he should be doing etc because he misunderstands what is expected of him.. he is very literal. We also keep in touch with the SENCO .
Sorry I cant give you any answers , the system really isn't fair.
Leanne - Community Champion
Posted by
bumblebee
on 24th February 2010
at 14:14
Hi Karen,
I know just how hard it is to prove that a child with high functioning ASD/AS is struggling...I have 2 daughters aged 11 and 14 who were/are in similar situations...It took such a long time of battling to get my 11 yr old's needs met and we are still fighting for the other one!! You are absolutely right that these schools just dont see the disability and the cleverer the child, the less they see!! The only thing that got me through to the school was reminding them about the law and that EVERY child matters!! and that includes ours too!!
I agree with Leannes ideas, and thought maybe you could ask for a meeting with your school SENCo and find out if your daughter is on 'school action plus' on their SEN register. (sorry if you already know this!) This is the level of support children should be on if outside agencies are involved like either a paediatrician, or a speech therapist etc... or someone similar. If she is on school action plus, then the SEN code of practice says she should get 6-10 hours per week of additional support and you could ask if they will give this to her in school.....this could be enough to help her settle and progress without needing a statement.....
If this amount of support doesnt work with her and the school have tried it, then it is a really good basis to ask the local authority to initiate a statutory assessment and then issue a statement.....it is a good way to prove that her needs can't be met at school action plus level and the next level up is a statement.....Id definately try everything with the school first and if you get no where, there are ways to ask for a statutory assessment yourself.....
Claire - Community Champion
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Posted by
The Weird One
on 23rd February 2010
at 22:18
Why do pepople think that Autism is about people who only flick their wrists, make 'Aah' sounds, dribble, and look at the sky???
Why oh why???
Neither of my kids do it!
and I think the whole education system is based on it - therefore, if your kids don't do that, then they're ok! It makes me really angry! Somehow, this whole thing needs to be changed, for the kids that are in the mainstream setup.. I want to get a statement for my daughter (11), but they think she's not Autistic enough!!! Ummm....aren't here other ways that these children struggle ... apart from flicking their wrists and jumping on the spot??
My daughter, by the way, does well academically in most subjects, but struggles with processing, and will struggle when she goes to secondary school, with the repetive comments that she makes (could be seen as insults to 'normal' kids) and is therefore vulnarable. Also with a few subjects - needing extra time, etc.
Anyone got any ideas???