Awaiting _____ diagnosis

What are you classing as the vast majority? Vast majority to me means about 80-90%, which would be surprising indeed.

You say one class had 17 - but how many on average in a class? You said something about ability profile which I'm not clear on, do you mean that it's a lower ability set or inclusion class?

Remembering that SEND is supposed to be an umbrella term to cover learning difficulties which may have a medical/developmental cause, but also children who struggle to access learning for any reason including ESL, trauma, patchy school attendance, severe poverty, difficult home life etc. I don't think I would be hugely surprised to see about 6-10 pupils per class with some kind of note. More if you're including everything including things which might not directly affect learning e.g. allergies, asthma, diabetes.

I do kind of see the point that the wording assessment should have been used rather than diagnosis (though this is splitting hairs a bit - an assessment includes a differential diagnosis process). But it seems that's not really what you're objecting to, you're objecting to the fact there are too many of them in your opinion.

Some accommodations can and should (IMO) be offered to everyone. It takes the stigma out of them.

See this is where I think your lying my son has slow processing speed it had to be in his education psychology report observed by multiple staff members evidenced by him not completing tests fir him to be put forward for extra time as a parent I've never just been able to "rock up" and demand extra time and it was put forward in year NINE ready for year ten mocks year ten is too late

I really get you @Singleandproud .

I mentioned my granddaughter as being obviously autistic but I didn’t think to add to those who know her well. She masks very effectively. I agree it’s helpful to staff to understand this.

And by the way, many years ago I was that very quiet, well behaved, academic girl too. I was diagnosed last year at the age of 64.

@Bozzul but exam access arrangements have to be assessed in advance and the students normal way of working they aren't just handed out like smarties - unless the entity of Year 10 go skateboarding and break their wrists the day before an exam.

DD is predicted all 9s in her GCSEs is exceptionally gifted, but her processing speed is 'average', she gets extra time as to meet her full potential she needs that time to get her answers formed and on the paper. She would no doubt still pass if she didn't get extra time but probably 5/6 which is not fair when she should be hitting 8/9s.

GCSEs are required for the workplace, most good workplaces are now open to reasonable adjustments there too so it's really not an issue to level the playing field.

Fucking hell. Would you like to be a little more disparaging and dismissive of school admin staff?

Well this proves you know fuck all. Autism is obvious is it? Lol. My child was an expert masker.

Goady nonsense. Or maybe you really are clueless. Your wording says goady though.

But YOU don't know if they need it or not.

My DD doesn't 'look' autistic to those that don't know her well or only have a basic understanding of the condition and normally no understanding of it in girls, she just comes across as highly academic, quiet and well behaved - until the shit hits the fan and she can't cope anymore.

Her disability only disables her occasionally but when it does she loses the ability to talk, make decisions etc. 9/10 she doesn't need the accommodations that are on paper for her, but her teachers need to be aware of them because on a bad day she does need them, and on a really bad day I'll get called in to pick her up if she is too dysregulated. And her dysregulation shows as tears, motor tics and panic attacks - her autism is an issue for her and no one else.

I'm guessing mainstream for all the rhetoric that's being blasted all over social media suggests sen kids are being targeted yet again do they not understand they are the most defended population parents of sen children are used to fighting

Unfortunately

Are you saying you think parents are chasing assessments/diagnoses to explain away behaviour that would be solved by some decent parenting?

OP, have you considered the reason so many of them may be seeking a formal diagnosis is because of unqualified people like you clutching at their pearls, calling them snowflakes and denying they need anything special in the first place.
As a TA you're not qualified to say whether they meet requirements for diagnosis or not, and it sounds like you dont have the right levels of empathy to be working with children anyway.

You should hand in your notice if this is your mindset.

"I thought that a child does not need to have a formal diagnosis before support is put into place."

Yes the code of practice is clear on this.

What on earth do you mean?

The support my dd got was being allowed to wear ear defenders in class because of a sensitivity to noise. She could also access a quiet area between classrooms if she was overwhelmed. She wasn’t getting free biscuits.

I write a lot of reports for send kids. In the areas where I can assess, once my assessment is complete and awaiting diagnosis, my report will flag their significant traits for x.

In areas where I am not qualified to assess, I describe the traits I see without adding any kind of a label eg 'Fred finds it very difficult to focus and it is this, rather than his motor planning which impacts significantly on his handwriting'

I also provide a lot of advice to teachers and sendcos about creating ND affirmative classes, looking at the environment and signposting to resources on teaching methods (I'm not a teacher and wouldn't dream of telling a teacher how they should educate their kids).

If 90% of your class have some firm of learning need, then it is your duty to accommodate it to ensure they learn to the best of their ability and meet their potential.

"But if you can see it's glaring, and so can school then that's good enough. I'm saying these aren't glaring"

You are not qualified to say that.

SEN support should be needs rather than diagnosis-led. So schools should provide differentiated SEN support where necessary. But it is should not be simply a matter of diagnosis as children with same conditions can have different profiles / needs.

I don’t understand your point.

My granddaughter is very obviously autistic. Her teacher raised concerns with her mother. Reports have been written BUT she hasn’t been diagnosed yet. Or even assessed.
Don’t you think it helpful for a TA to be aware of this?

The high ratio is something the SLT need to address and resource properly.

It doesn't make the OP's comments any more reasonable or their approach any more acceptable from someone who works with children.

Some aren't even on a path to being assessed and some don't seem to be updated for years (which might say more about the assessment system than our recording system).

I think it’s more the delays to assessment. After two years of my fighting for it, my DC was finally referred age 12 by the school to CAMHS for an assessment. At age 16, I gave up and got them on a private wait list….but then the pandemic happened. They were finally assessed and diagnosed privately as an adult at age 18. The suspected condition was correct.

Support before diagnosis is completely normal though. My dd is literally awaiting diagnosis (her assessment was on the 1st Nov and we’re waiting for the report to come through). But she’s needed interventions at school for the nearly two years between referral and assessment. Without it, she wouldn’t be in school, despite performing near the top of the class academically.

Where I do have sympathy is that 17/30 seems like an unusually high ratio - and it must be hard to balance that number of competing needs. I think there are maybe 5 kids in dd’s class with either ASD, ADHD, or dyslexia. Though, there may be others. I only know where the parents have been vocal about it.

Awaiting assessment also means shows traits of..