Treatment of SEN

[Isthisright1]

Not sure if I'm right or wrong so posting to see what the general view on this is. Have NC to protect identities.
AIBU to think that a child with SEN (ASD) should not effectively be ignored? Have recently witnessed over some time a child basically being treated like they are invisible and never engaged with in any way.
This child throws things, nobody says anything they pick the stuff up, she breaks things they just shout no to her, spoils things, the same. Lies on floor and is ignored completely, sits by door or window and is ignored. No attempt made at any interaction at all.
It seems to be a case of clean up/clear up whatever is disrupted but act as if the poor child is invisible and huff and puff in her direction like its all so difficult. She is spoken about within earshot as if she is nothing but a nuisance and it is not nice.

At first glance it does seem like the problems are very severe and there is little eye contact/communication but the other day I said hello to her and she had eye contact with me. She threw a load of pens and I picked them up then put them back on the table and said "let's leave them there now" smiled and she went to throw them but put them down then sat next to me, and sang the alphabet song.
I don't know who to raise this with but I think this little girl could really benefit from somebody making an effort with her.

I agree you must speak to the parents, I am speaking as both a parent of a child with Asd and an early years practitioner who works with children with SEN including Asd.

Just go for it, you will be fine and you are leaving in 3 weeks anyway so you have nothing to lose

Agreeing with everything marne said, btw.

DS2 started nursery at 2 and has had the same wonderful 1:1 ever since. He regards her as his mum at school (he's known her for almost 6 years!) and with her there feels safe and confident. Without her he would not be thriving in mainstream (individual specialised timetable, but he plays and interacts with other children and has an adoring fan club. He also uses his PECS cards with other children).

Do OFSTED have comments pages for nursery settings like they do for schools, btw? It would be worth leaving one if you do talk to the nursery manager and get the brush off.

Please report this ASAP to the parents and nursery manager.

I was once witness to a nursery nurse holding down a non-vocal 3 year old child with autism "to get him to go to sleep". The first thing I did (after directly questioning the staff) was tell the parents who promptly pulled their child from nursery, contacted ofsted, and launched an entire investigation in which one key member of staff was fired and two quit. It was horrible but that child moved to another nursery who were so lovely and is now thriving in a specialist asd setting.

Iam not sure about ofsted. I do know the local authority are reluctant to get involved as when I tried to complain re my dd they would not listen to me and said rules were down to the individual setting and not them.

If you whistleblow the nursery they will take you very seriously.

www.ofsted.gov.uk/contact-us/whistleblower-hotline

Oh god please, please tell the parents.

I have a severely autistic, non verbal 3 year old and I would be devastated and absolutely fucking furious if I discovered this was happening.

Interaction is key. They have to be told and the staff need a kick up the arse.

Op first I think you are absolutely right to be concerned, obviously. Secondly if the local authority is funding, surely they will get involved?

Another vote for telling - I've got two sons with ASD, if it was one of mine I'd be endlessly grateful that you'd cared enough to notice how they were being treated. Maybe you could invite her over for tea, or take her to one side one day?

In my experience, nursery workers in the main know little to nothing about ASD. It was missed in both my children throughout 3 years of nearly full time nurseries (3 different ones), and picked up on within a few weeks of starting primary school. And looking back, there were some pretty glaring clues, despite them being verbal!

My DS is probably going to get a diagnosis of ASD soon, btw. He's verbal but doesn't have the language skills to talk to me about this kind of issue.

He's actually fairly reluctant to go to nursery at the moment, although he seems happy when I pick him up, and is affectionate with his key worker. I stress so much about this kind of thing happening and him not being able to tell me.

You must tell what you have witnessed. It is very important. Both for that child and for any children in the future who might otherwise be treated that way in that setting.