Awaiting _____ diagnosis

I think people are jumping on the OP without bothering to understand her concerns.
She said that the students with a definite diagnosis are going to miss out because of the students who might or might not have a diagnosis, some of which aren’t even on a pathway yet.
It will not be possible to provide individual rooms for 17 kids to take exams, therefore the ones with a firm diagnosis will have to share and will not have their needs met. It will not be possible to provide quiet/time out spaces for 17, therefore the ones who really need it might not be able to access it, there will be limited resources, access to TAs, access to resource rooms etc, and if the ‘market’ is flooded with students who are ‘awaiting’, then the ones with the firm diagnosis will have to compete and will miss out. The estimate for ND children is 15-20%. Over 50% in a class is unlikely.

@Saturdayssandwichsociety maybe, just maybe they could change the schooling system, change assessments to course work and make the whole school experience less overwhelming.

Our experience was very similar to @Sheepsandcows sadly. DD15 officially diagnosed just a few weeks ago, only spent a year on the waiting list as she was bumped up due to MH issues and distress. We never said she was awaiting diagnosis though, we said she was on the NHS pathway for an autism assessment.

She's still burnt out and currently not in school due to trying to cope in a large noisy secondary school.

Or 'busybody TA, who thinks they're more qualified to run the school than the entire SLT'.

I've had the misfortune to work with a couple of these over the years.

@Ribenaberry12 because many children cope just fine until they get overloaded with demands and they can't cope anymore. For some with a lower threshold that happens at nursery, for others the transition to Infants or Juniors but for a large swathe that's High school age.

It is very common for autism not to be diagnosed until the later stages of High school, partially because lots of autistic traits can be put down to expected development times - until they last beyond that point. And then the culmination of bigger school, poorer behaviour of peers, loud corridors and canteens, moving around the school add exams and hormones in the mix and it's the perfect cocktail of overload.

The vast majority of parents to autistic or ADHD children are likely to have the condition themselves whether they know it or not and therefore the behaviour is completely normal for the family. So it's not until school pick up on it - and that can take a while with the different teachers and never getting to know your group as well as say a Primary class teacher would.

I was a very seemingly unobvious autistic child given I only received my diagnosis at 29 and I can 100% tell you with certainty that not having any reasonable adjustments at all because it was only "suspected" by a few select individuals highly contributed to my CPTSD as an adult, so I really think you're highly unqualified and spouting bollocks if you think it's only the obvious high support needs children that deserve accommodating. If it is suspected in any capacity it should be accomodated.

the op has made it very clear that this isn't a post about semantics!

The OP’s subsequent posts show this isn’t their primary concern.

Bloody hell!! If that's your view on SEN children OP then you need to hand your notice in on Monday.

It is not your place to decide which pupils require SEP to be made for them &/or reasonable adjustments. Neither is it your place to decide what SEP &/or reasonable adjustments are required.

Exam access arrangements are governed by JCQ’s guidelines. If you think any school is guilty of malpractice, you should report them. But just because you disagree with the EAA doesn’t make them guilty of malpractice.

You've misunderstood the OP. Their issue is with the word diagnosis when the students may not be diagnosed with anything. They are awaiting assessment, not diagnosis

Mine sailed through primary. Not an issue. Early signs of things amiss in year 7. Anxiety etc sky high in year 8. Self harm, suicide attempt. So unwell, that she isn't even in school anymore. It's not that uncommon esp with high functioning girls. She managed to mask in primary but the complexity of a huge abd crowded secondary are just too much. I hope you are not a teacher!

Sometimes 'work in a school' is code for teacher not fancying the usual teachers are shit stories, or a governance professional with an extensive knowledge of Law and how it relates to SEND, a Data Manager who knows how important it is to use the correct phrasing and terminology to get correct outcomes, a Business Manager who is responsible for both the day to day functioning of an organisation of two hundred employees, a budget in the millions and is aware of the vital importance of using correct terminology to ensure the school operates within legal boundaries - or it could be somebody who can see that 'Awaiting x diagnosis' is as potentially problematic for a child is as a doctor recording 'Awaiting affective disorder diagnosis' when somebody has gone to them with symptoms consistent with anything from anaemia to metastatic cancer.

It's fine to address needs without a formal diagnosis. The difficulty arises where they make the diagnosis - once it's there saying that the kid is awaiting ODD diagnosis, for example, that can halt the possibility of somebody realising that the child is actually acting out from abuse. Or in extremis, an abusive member of staff putting something on there that increases the likelihood that any disclosure made by a child is likely to be disbelieved.

Language is so important - the woolliness in Sex and Gender is an example of this, as it's now impossible to know which is meant in any data.

In this case, it should be 'Awaiting x assessment'. It doesn't change the needs, but is far more accurate than presenting it as a done deal, the kid definitely has x.

OP’s posts are goady, but the legal definition of SEN as set out in section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014 does not include ESL. Nor things like poverty.

I have a friend who is now as an adult due to be an assessed for autism and adhd, who raised no concerns during her schooling. But had terrible substance abuse issues at 15.

these substance issues would have come about from the fact she felt like an alien, but trying all the time to fit in. You don’t know what you don’t know.

I get what you mean OP. I work in a secondary school and I’m always surprised at parents who start the assessment process when their child is 15/16. Like, how were there no signs before when the child has been in education for over 10 years?!!! I do wonder if it is puberty/substance issues/family issues or a whole host of other things but SEND is often the first thing sought.

Exactly this. You're not qualified to make the judgement calls you're making in this post, OP, nor do you sound as if you have the required levels of empathy. I'd look into a new career before your attitude damages the children you teach.

You know op, I hold many TAs in high regard. Many of them have been a fantastic support to my children before and after diagnosis. One was a real advocate for my eldest when others weren’t taking his yet to be diagnosed autism needs into consideration (he has since had the diagnosis). However, your viewpoint as a TA means little. You’re not a teacher or (more importantly) a HCP/clinician. Your job is to support based on the information given, not to judge what is and isn’t appropriate. Having said diagnosis means little, it is preemptively as well as post diagnosis that support in recognising needs matter, not how far along a waiting list the individual is on.

There is more than a little whiff of the usual SEN shit stirring here, it’s getting tiresome.

If my child’s last school hadn’t been of the same mindset as you he would have been assessed and diagnosed years ago and probably wouldn’t have reached the stage of self-harming and suicidal thoughts. You would have no idea of any of this because he masks. Luckily his present school are much more educated and supportive.

But the criteria for it changed, the stigma towards it lessened, increased medicine means more people survive very early births parents have access to more information to make an informed decision.

As a long shot it could be related to Covid in that it could have caused a PANS/PANDAS-like condition - but I don't really believe that.

How many adults through our family trees preferred to be alone? Didn't do well with relationships? Self-medicated with drugs and alcohol? Were diagnosed with other MH conditions instead? I can look through my family tree and see lots of people that applies to and DDs diagnosis was not a suprise - it just means we can put things in place so she can thrive.

I think it's far more likely that autism is far more common than anyone realised and that the current onslaught of continuous ongoing sensory arousal means those that could cope before now cannot and because they are overloading their ability to cope more people will seek assessment.

Schools (and I say this as a former teacher and TA) are one size fits all, they are a safe place to be whilst parents are at work. That is what they always have been and always will be. It is not natural for us as animals to sit still 5 hrs a day, looking at a board, reading and writing. It is no wonder that more children can't cope.

Factory work and farm work whilst gruelling probably suited our ancestors in the past, physical and repetitive work can be a good thing.

A lot of children have very obvious needs and a diagnosis is just a formality. most camhs departments have even threshold for accepting someone for an assessment - locally, a high percentage of kids don't even make it over that hurdle. One of mine is on a 6 year Asd assessment waiting list. Are you suggesting to minimise all her difficulties (she tried to take her own life recently because the MH is so poor because of unmet need due to lack of formal diagnosis) simply because our local camhs isn't able to diagnose within acceptable manner? Should schools pretend kids like her are fine?

You sound like a right goady f*cker who is clearly in the wrong job. sorry

i don’t think the poster meant everyone in school meets that criteria, but everyone you get a shitty thread or comment on here by someone who ‘works in a school’ it’s normally a busy-body type.

Kids with SEN tend to trickle down to the lower sets…you’re talking yr10. So the 17/30 is within a set. How many kids in top set have SEN? You should really be counting by entire year to compare to population and then you still have to assess whether any difference is statistically significant given the small sample size and type of school- state schools have a higher % of SEN kids than fee paying schools. Schools in deprived areas have a higher % of SEN kids than schools in affluent areas.

so half of the class having additional support needs?

following on from austerity, a pandemic, lock downs, recession. Etc it’s hardly a surprise

if health checks for 1 year olds and 2 year olds get dropped, as did the Sure Start centre early child support groups etc stop. The early interventions are missed. The kids have lost a year out of learning. Parents are more stressed than ever. Any funding for intervention in reading / writing in primary school get dropped.

stripping away kids socialising pushed them further onto digital devices. Increasing screen time etc.

none of this is any surprise really. We were all on the bones of our arse and then with no societal resilience we dropped into a pandemic. And now we’re climbing out of it of course there are unprecedented numbers of children struggling at school.