Is it possible for a child with AS to thrive in a mainstream school?

[frutilla]

My son has just been diagnosed with AS and it's going to be a few months on waiting lists before he can get the tests the psychologist advised that he needs. Meanwhile it's a nightmare doing home-learning with him, near impossible. A few short sentences have to be dictated letter by letter and he can still only do capitals, he refuses to copy a picture as requested and so I provide a blank for him to colour in but even that proves too much. I really can't see how he can possibly progress without one to one help or by switching to a special school. He is of average or above intelligence but cannot focus on set tasks. There are 30 in his school class. Any advice or experiences? Thanks!!

[appealtakingovermylife]

My ds is 11 and is just weeks away from leaving his primary school.
He was diagnosed at 8.8 with aspergers and has totally thrived.
The school senco and my ds explained his condition to his classmates last year in year 5 and they were amazing with him ( ds also suffers from terrible anxiety and some of the children didn't understand his problems before the talk)
I think that you have to make it clear to the school that communication is vital, however trivial something may seem, things can really affect your child at home and vice versa. A home-school book is a great idea, the teacher and yourself can document any incidents/issues so know that if there is a change in behaviour for example there could very well be a valid reason for it.
My ds never had 1:1 help but if your son needs it, he will get it.
The spectrum is so broad, there's no "one size fits all " but I know that my ds will be leaving primary school with nothing but positive thoughts:)

[Opipjo]

My Ds is just moving in to year 3 in mainstream. Has had an ASD diagnosis since Year R and is getting on very well in school. He doesn't have 1:1 support, but there are some children in the school that do.
My Ds mostly struggles with sitting still/focusing on task/paying attention/general social skills.
As appeal say's it's such a far reaching spectrum and also lots of communication is needed. For my son going in to Juniors, we're going to have a home/school book so i can write in there if he's had a bit of a bad morning and vice versa :)

[WineIsPaleo]

Our DS has severe autism, severe learning difficulty and very little language, he is 10 and is absolutely thriving in a mainstream primary school (with ABA and LOTS of 1-on-1 therapeutic support).

What does your son need in order to thrive? That should be your starting point, not 'what is available'. The law is very clear - your son's needs need to be met, and he needs to be supported appropriately. By law, you have a right to demand a mainstream school, the local authority cannot refuse that request unless there are some extraordinary circumstances (doesn't sound like they apply in your case!).

Does he have a statement of SEN? How is he supported? Get Special Educational NEeds Code of Practice (free to download online), it's dynamite.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

It's possible a child with AS could thrive in a mainstream school. What is less possible, is finding a mainstream school that understands the condition and is willing to put in the funding and resources to make it possible I'm afraid.

His focus. Has he NEVER focussed for very long on anything, even his favourite things? Could he focus on minecraft? Because if he can, the problem is less his focus and more the class teacher's ability to engage. Be very careful at blaming things that aren't going well as HIS problem. They are the school's.

[Swanhildapirouetting]

If your child is only in year 1 perhaps they are not differentiating enough for him in the homework- if that's what you mean by home learning?

My ds2, now 12 was very bad at handwriting/spelling, turning his ideas into sentences - we didn't push it and did quite a lot of dictating things letter by letter. Looking back WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE is gone back to basics with him (or school should have noticed his motor skill difficulty) and done something like WRITE from the START and really homed in not on writing sentences but writing itself as a motor skill. And all sorts of OT related stuff to help him.
I think we were misled by the fact that his older brother had difficulties, and grew out of them and became a proficient writer and speller/reader SATS 5 etc, so we tried not to get too fussed. Mainstream worked fine in one sense for my son, as he enjoyed it, but I think he really did get lost academically in terms of his literacy skills. He more than made up for it in terms of his ideas and contribution to class work and discussion etc, so I suppose they thought the skills would follow. So you could say he learnt plenty, just not writiing or spelling.

I would push for extra OT support, phonic help, sensory awareness. Be very clear what his extra needs are and they might just be glad to a set of rules to work to in his IEP? I wasn't very aware of what my son needed, as he was late diagnosed (8 years) and seemed quite happy, involved etc, behavior good.

[Swanhildapirouetting]

Sorry, in a nutshell, ditch the usual homework and say you want to concentrate on homelearning that will help him not frustrate him. Drawing skills are very high order motor skills imho, my 12 year old still cannot draw, nor can my 14 year old (dyspraxic) for that matter.
Buy Write from the Start!!!! Buy playdough.

[TigerLightBurning]

We had some tips from OT for handwriting. DS has trouble with pencil grip. Suggestions: writing on an easel to get the correct angle. Egg chalks. Use laptop to write sentences for comprehension work. Work on handwriting separately. Lie in prone position when writing again to encourage correct pencil grip. There is lots of stuff you can do. I think using the laptop really helped school realize that DS's comprehension was better than they thought based on handwritten answers.

[TheFirstOfHerName]

It depends on the child and the school. DS2 has AS, ADHD & is gifted in Maths, Science & Music. He is thriving in a mainstream secondary school, he loves it and it is a really good fit for him.

Here are some of the reasons they can meet his needs:
The school has a large (20 members of staff) expert learning support department.
The school takes 25% of children on academic aptitude and 10% on music, so there are a couple of dozen other children working at a similar level to DS2.
Each year group contains about a dozen children on the autistic spectrum (more than you'd expect statistically), so all the teaching staff have become experienced with AS/ASD.

[TheFirstOfHerName]

From your OP, it sounds as though fine motor skills are difficult for him. Over the summer, I would try to get him to do short periods (five minutes) of threading, jigsaws, drawing patterns/zigzags/waves, and reward this with five minutes of something he likes (Minecraft or whatever is his thing).

[Swanhildapirouetting]

Another tip is to always do homework in the morning before school, if you can possibly carve out a niche (we had a 45 minute slot from 7.30am) When they are tired, what could be an interesting task becomes just a horrible slog.
Personally I wouldn't turn things into tasks at all, just enjoyable activities you do because they are fun and there is no pressure to finish or achieve whatsoever. Frustration and fear is the enemy in ASD homework situations.

[frutilla]

Thanks so much for all your responses!! The school have been very slow. They suggested the Ed Psych come into to assess him during a class but then I heard nothing back at all. Months passed. The teacher finally said she had discussed stuff with the Ed Psych but there had been no report. I asked for assessments but none were forthcoming (salt, iq test and motor skills). Finally, I have been referred to a family behavioural unit and am on a waiting list for an appt, the date will be given to me within three months. I was told IQ test isn't done by Ed Psych in my borough, the behavioural until won't do it and the gp won't help as it's not medical. Round and round in circles. Basically waiting for the appt for behavioural unit now......
Sports day today was very hard for DS, he was crying intermittently and I had to go up and comfort him. It's not easy for him to do the team relay stuff they expect him to do. I will just continue to support him as I can, and not worry to much about the curriculum. I don't think anything can be done till next year now anyway.

[Swanhildapirouetting]

My child had no IQ test, no SALT test, no motor skills test (apart from the observations in the original diagnosis from CAMHS) yet he still had an IEP and was on SAplus for social and communication problems/Autism, which covered all the issues with getting upset, needing extra tlc in group situations. I am astonished that your school is not implementing any sort of autism strategy on him (sorry if that is the wrong way to put it), They don't need an ed pysch for that.

We just went back to the school play for this year's Year 6 (ds is now year 7) and I reminded how much ds2 got out of school, even though he had his bad days. He was completely at home there, not a iota of tension. That is because he was supported pastorally, even if his literacy left a lot to be desired [still a bit cross about that) and had a wonderful role in last year's musical.

[Swanhildapirouetting]

If I were you I would read up anything you can lay your hands on so that you are completely informed, sensory issues, motor issues, behavioural triggers.

[frutilla]

I don't believe the school will do anything unless I push really hard. I contacted the SENCO about the IQ test but she never got back to me. "Leave it with me", was her response but nothing and that was weeks ago.
I guess I will wait till the parent teacher meeting. Nothing will happen this year now, for sure!