DS had disruptive child sat behind him

So how would you suggest they go about acclimatising the child to a classroom environment?

Practising being in there when it’s empty and slowly adding more children at break times who are offered the chance to also watch Paw Patrol on their break as a treat in an effort to support this child, but not at the expense of their own learning. Until there’s a large group in there together and so he’s more used to the environment and no class time has been disrupted.

He hasnt started school yet but I'm glad he will likely go to a very specialist setting.

It sounds like this child needs to be in a specialist setting, too. The current set up isn’t working for any one. Let’s not pretend it’s inclusion it’s just cost cutting compared to a specialist setting.

Absolutely raise it. Had similar in my dd's class where the child in question was sat next to her and would sing shout bang his water bottle on the desk.

The school's initial response was that DD needed to be really grown up and not let him disrupt her.

Wtf. She was 9 years old.

I pointed out that it's far easier to not be distracted when sat on the other side of the classroom than right next to him.

They had a 'reshuffle' and he was then sat on his own.

Your dc's learning should not be continually disrupted due to another child.

I wonder in what world it's become acceptable to have children in mainstream classrooms watching paw patrol on iPads.

There is no world in which it's in the best communal interest. Educational strategies are being put into place with no concern for the impact on teachers or other children. What a nightmare - I still believe school can only work if children in a classroom all face the same/ similar expectations.

Did you mean to quote me?

So meanwhile the other children will be distracted? Nope. That's ridiculously unfair.

And meanwhile what about the other children?

SEN children in mainstream (who need this level of support) take significant attention away from the class and the average child loses out in scenarios such as this.

We really need proper facilities in place that can support children who can’t cope in mainstream without one to one support. All children are losing out at the moment.

I completely agree.

Inclusion is a complete waste of time when it’s not benefitting any party as is the case here.

My little bean would get zero benefit from being in a mainstream classroom and the mainstream children wouldn’t benefit having him either.

A targeted activity would be far more appropriate - eg my son lives bubbles so a playground activity with bubbles, balloons that all kids could enjoy would be far better for his inclusion.

if it is disrupting your son’s learning, I would speak to the teacher. Keep the focus of the conversation on your son. Your son is having trouble concentrating while an iPad is playing cartoons at a high volume. Your son is coming home upset for being chastised when he gets distracted by cartoons. Don’t ever say that the other child should not be doing certain things.

now, I absolutely agree that there is no excuse for disrupting the class like this. We went through a ridiculous number of headphones until we found a pair that ASD dd could use. It cost a ton of money, but it was a necessity. We never considered using her tablet with volume on around other people until we resolved the headphone issue. Yes, it was inconvenient, but I just feel like as a parent it was my responsibility.

If someone won't wear headphones then they watch on mute. If they won't wear headphones OR watch on mute then they don't watch at all. It's not okay in an enclosed space where others can't get away from the noise.

I would definitely talk to the teacher and ask if the child can wear headphones and if they can’t, suggest the that the teacher finds a time when it is less disruptive. This is where “integration” is a nonsense. The child may be sat in the classroom but they are certainly not integrating, just disrupting the others. In this situation no one’s needs are being met.

No, this should not be let go. I have an autistic child who took a while to settle into mainstream school, I would not have expected her to be allowed to distract other children and disrupt their learning. And I worked in SEN for many years myself, I’ve never heard of this being allowed and it would not have been acceptable at either school I’ve worked at. This is terrible practice. @CocoBean22 I would speak to the class teacher and the head. And if nothing is done asap then move the complaint on to the governors using the schools complaint system. This is really not okay.

But can't you see that this child would also be much better off in a specialist setting? This isn't parents being harsh, it's just what's right for all the children.

Head's need evidence that a child isn't coping successfully to be able to get them a place in a specialist school - and one way that they can demonstrate that the child isn't coping and get them the place they need is for lots of official complaints from parents. Getting a place can be very difficult because there aren't enough.

Not with an iPad that distracts everyone else.

I’d start by sitting in the class for the start of the day and talking about which parts of the day they will be in the class for.

I’d have them in the class for the first part of learning to get the explanation and then move them out to a desk with the TA.

I would get them in gradually with lots of movement breaks and sensory breaks.

Using the iPad watching cartoons is not appropriate in lessons, especially out loud without headphones.

If he needs to regulate with an iPad that isn’t something to be done in the class.

I have two sons with ASD, both of whom have struggled with classroom learning - one cannot access mainstream education at all and is not completely toilet trained at 7, the other moved to a specialist setting for high school with a mainstream syllabus but solely for autistic children.

I expect school to use the strategies that work for them but not at the expense of other children in the class.

I’m well aware that’s it’s not easy but it’s not acceptable to disrupt the rest of the class.

Maybe by using a quieter comfort/transition object or activity?
My youngest is autistic and found the classroom hard enough to deal with, without being sat in front of something noisy and distracting. My eldest had glue ear, he wouldn't have been able to hear the teacher. Classrooms are always a compromise but the other children aren't just there as learning aids for 1 child, they are also there to learn.

The child may be having ‘reward time’ for completing his learning etc. Even then he needs to be wearing earphones/headphones or be in a different place for his reward.

Other children in the class need to accept each child has different needs but they should be able to concentrate on their learning as well.

If the child is only able to watch the iPad with the sound up or unable to go somewhere else for it, then he needs to have a different ‘reward’.

Exactly. However the school decides to acclimatise him, it shouldn’t be at a cost to the rest of the class’ education.

It’s also for the school to solve, not OP.

And in the meantime it’s ok for everyone else to suffer? I couldn’t do my work well with Paw Patrol on in the background, let alone something appropriate for me. You can’t damage 29 pupils learning for the sake of getting 1 child into the classroom (even though they’re not learning).

If by year 3 they still aren’t accessing the curriculum, then they should have a specialist placement.

OP - I would be complaining for sure, that’s crazy and I would rather move my child to a different school than accept they have to learn with paw patrol blaring within 2m of them

As a parent of children with sen, I disagree that the we op should let it go. Why should her son’s education be disrupted because the school can’t meet the needs of another pupil.

And the child who is deaf or can't cope with loud or lots of different noises?

Oh silly me, no one cares about people like them

Definitely speak to the teacher. Reasonable adjustments should always be made for kids who struggle with school, for whatever reason, but for goodness sake, this is definitely not reasonable!

Of course you go in, absolutely ridiculous.
Follow up with an email noting your concern that your child cannot hear the teacher because of the noise.

Yes speak to the teacher, he should be using headphones and if he’s not capable of that he’s not ready to be back in the classroom while the other children are trying to learn.

Speak to the teacher. It's ridiculous. If the kid can only be in class if they are watching paw patrol, they shouldn't be in class.

Yes, speak to the teacher and escalate if necessary. Be your child’s advocate. The child clearly can’t cope in a mainstream class.