How could I have got this so wrong??

[Frogandbear]

The nursery my DS (who has ASD) attends has applied for funding for him. As part of the process, an equality officer came to the nursery and spent an hour observing him. I have just received his report and I am utterley shocked at the picture it portrays.

He said he would place him in 'range 4', which if I've read correctly, places his development at 25% of his actual age. He is 3 and a half, so this would be under 12 months.

Sure, I understand his development is delayed in communication and social - he is non-verbal, however he picked up PECS extremely quickly and uses that regularly. However, he he has started following two step instructions and his understanding has come on leaps and bounds. He has known his numbers, letters, shapes, colours since he was 18 months. Can sort, match, plays with age appropriate toys, has no gross or fine motor issues. He can do 24 piece puzzles, he can now imitate actions, the list could go on and on.

I feel really caught off guard about this and honestly don't know if it's me - how could I have got it so wrong? I feel so upset about it.... but then I seriously question it and think how on earth can he be compared to a baby?

Can someone who has only spent an hour with him really know his abilities?

[Mumoftwinsandanother]

oh Frog, I could have written this about my boy 9 months ago. Everybody (teachers, autism specialists, the paed) would spend a short amount of time with him, ask him to do a couple of things he wouldn't comply with and then pronounce him cognitively delayed at the range of a 2 year old. I know my boy and he is as bright as a button, just can't communicate well yet/doesn't want to follow instructions. As he is settling down into school and his communication has improved massively I am getting different reports - he is as bright as a button etc. He still isn't age-related expectations but that seems to be around the social side of things. I believe when the tests become focused more on the academics he will show them even better. try not to worry about this too much, as I have been told a thousand times it is to your benefit if they assess him at a very low level to start with - he will get more help. Doesn't stop it hurting though.

[Meloncoley2]

I agree with Frusso. Better in this situation to be able to be able to access help for his difficulties than be denied it because these are overlooked due to his strengths.

[Cakescakescakes]

The difficulty I found in these situations was that when DS was being observed or assessed then he would t engage with the ed psych etc so they would have to give him zero for certain areas/tasks. I know he could do them but they had no way of saying whether he could or not as he would t engage, so had to assume he couldn't. So at 4.5 he was said to be at an 12-18 month level for things.

[Mumoftwinsandanother]

I agree with all of the above posters re the performing seal point, sometimes they don't want to cooperate at that age (or later) and then score lower than expected. In addition, his functioning level at nursery may well be lower than at home (for sensory reasons). Finally, the report will be written as badly as possible in order to access as much support as possible. Try not to worry.

[blaeberry]

I remember at 4.4 my ds did a test that wrongly placed him at 20 months. Unfortunately for us it was extremely unhelpful as we were applying for a language unit place which required average or above ability. No one seemed to twig that one of the main points of the test was language and the rest relied on language and we were applying for a language unit because of the lack of language.

[Mumoftwinsandanother]

I agree with all of the above posters re the performing seal point, sometimes they don't want to cooperate at that age (or later) and then score lower than expected. In addition, his functioning level at nursery may well be lower than at home (for sensory reasons). Finally, the report will be written as badly as possible in order to access as much support as possible. Try not to worry.

[SexDrugsAndSausageRoll]

I had this at 3.4 months, dd language at 12 months (i.e. Didn't access it) though visual skills 48 months which should have been a giveaway....

The social comm clinic soon after scored her double that as they knew how to interact!

[SexDrugsAndSausageRoll]

Btw it was dd doing puzzles that scored her so high... and she certainly didn't manage 24 pieces!! That's pretty damm good

[Frogandbear]

Thanks everyone. I do realise that whatever it takes to get him support is fine but on the other hand it really irritates me that these reports will be on my son's file forever and they are so far from the truth.

Another worry is that reading MS school's SEN policies - they only talk about children in range 1-3. Well if my DS is supposedly in range 4 - where does that leave him? I don't believe for a second that he is in this range but if they take what the report says at face value...

Gah...it makes me so angry more than anything. I've told DH that I am going to start taking videos of DS doing wonderful things so I have evidence in case they pull any stunts in the future...

[Olympiathequeen]

Happened to us. First Ed psychologist assessed DS as severely delayed (aged 5) I think because of the lack of speech. He can add, spell, phonetically decode words, and knows 2 times table (and probably more). We challenged it all and some fudge or other was agreed. Latest ed psych refused to classify him because of the communication difficulty and the small time factor, but listened to his TAs and teacher and us. Basically said lets do the best for him and I will support your school choice as he appears a bright boy but until we can sort better communication we can't know.