High functioning asd and no interest in a diagnosis.

[coodawoodashooda]

Has this worked out for anyone? Does anyone wish that this is what they opted for?

@grasstreeleaf that's down to a piss poor school not representative of the education system or the experience of most people.

@BlankTimes so if teachers don't necessarily know and parents don't necessarily know, why are people being so judgmental over parental choice not to push for assessment? Why would anyone push for assessment if they did not believe their child needed it?

@grasstreeleaf as your child is looking forward to a career now I feel that due to time period, our experiences are very different. Many ASD children are higher than average IQ - and this can help them go undetected, they are 'fine in school'. Your DC experience sounds terrible too.

It's not about you or any other parent.

It's about the child getting access to a support network that will either taper off as they "outgrow" it or stay in place and hopefully progress with them into adulthood.

[quote grasstreeleaf]**@BlankTimes so if teachers don't necessarily know and parents don't necessarily know, why are people being so judgmental over parental choice not to push for assessment? Why would anyone push for assessment if they did not believe their child needed it?[/quote]

Becaue we are talking about people who do know. People who say 'oh my DC is suspected ASD but we are not going to have them assessed'. People who say 'school said we should consider ASD but we are not going to have DC assessed. It's not about people who don't know/notice/suspect it. It's about people deliberately not having a child assessed who, for whatever reason, has raised suspicions.

@grasstreeleaf parents who suspect ASD but choose not to have their children assess are mostly being discussed on this thread.

If I'm reading your posts correctly, your child was misdiagnosed with ASD, which you didn't agree with, and your child's academic progress suffered as a result.

@DoucheCanoe it was down to the way additional needs were funded at the time. My LA had actually reduced AWP funding so there were more funds available for Statements because so many were applying for them. So more Statements could be rewarded. As a result the threshold for what were considered additional needs was lowered and the perception of what constitutes additional needs somewhat distorted.

Unravelling the way funding works is the only way to find a quantifiable element in additional needs but this quantification is the only true signifier of what needs are indeed additional.

@TableFlowerss I don’t want to say too much as it’s a very niche industry and not really my story to tell. Imagine it’s like someone wanting to join the army or become a pilot but then finding out they have a heart murmur or are very slightly colour blind. It may not actually affect their ability to do the job, but without a 100% clear medical certificate they will either be rejected or face very expensive private medical assessments with board certified doctors (DS ran up medical bills in the ££thousands due to some medication he took for a short while, but was no longer taking!) so it just wouldn’t be worth trying to get a diagnosis which then may end up costing them more money to certify or mean a straight rejection. No adjustments can be made for this job but to be fair it’s already pretty ASD friendly which may be why it attracts a certain type of person.

I have teacher friends who have flagged challenges children are having in the classroom to parents and suggest referral for ASD etc- where the parents don't want to proceed or hear it. They're clear that the kid would do better with some help, it's never a case of hand rubbing for extra money. Some parents do bury their head in the sand.

your child was misdiagnosed with ASD, which you didn't agree with, and your child's academic progress suffered as a result.

My D.C. received no diagnosis for ASD. My DCs reception teacher assumed they had ASD. I did manage to get my D.C. a Statement with significant individual funding, though, by describing their individual development, behaviours and abilities. Which I later got ceased when the funding was no longer been spent on them and no longer needed.

They're clear that the kid would do better with some help, it's never a case of hand rubbing for extra money.

Sadly not my experience at all.

@grasstreeleaf the system has moved on significantly since your child's experience.

A teacher can't assume ASD and can't seek an EHCP (statement) without parents contributing to that.

The issues you describe sound as though they were related to a specific teacher and school making assumptions about your child's academic ability and not a diagnosis of ASD.

Ironically in your case, an assessment for ASD might have helped - to confirm that wasn't applicable to your then child.

@grasstreeleaf we're going to have to agree to differ, both of our perspectives are valid - your experience is at least 5+ years ago & mine is current.

There's very little money in the system/long waiting lists now.

It's about the child getting access to a support network that will either taper off as they "outgrow" it or stay in place and hopefully progress with them into adulthood.

That's the way it is supposed to work. However once individual funding is gained it can be a fight to taper the support off. These are people's jobs! This is funding 'in the bag'. From there the child isn't allowed to flourish because that would mean ceasing of funding ceasing of somebody's funded role.

To this day, I don't know how I managed to unravel what was going on with my child. Well, I do. The government decided schools had to fund additional resource upfront before additional funding could be justified. At the time my DC's school just couldn't show they had spent the requisite amount of money on additional support for my D.C. - they weren't getting any.

There's very little money in the system/long waiting lists now.

Which is awful for the people who desperately need support. However, previously it was no better as the support was not going to the children who actually needed it as it clung onto by schools on behalf of children who no longer needed support. The funding for schools was actually no greater, the AWPU had been reduced which meant to retrieve the rest schools were incentivised to apply for more additional funding,

A teacher can't assume ASD and can't seek an EHCP (statement) without parents contributing to that.

As was the case then. It's why my child didn't get diagnosed but did have numerous assessments (Statutory Assessment) as I was persuaded to seek them by said teacher. I did also gain significant individual funding but without any particular diagnosis just a statement of needs. The teacher didn't make any of the requests officially as the process was quicker if a parent requested the Statutory Assessment.

They are actually disincentivised now, because they will fund the first 6k of the intervention.

It has led to the creation of a systematic gas-lighting of parents of undiagnosed Sen children and denial of resources and responsibility. Typical gaslighting includes - they're fine in school/ you won't get an EHCP etc because they're academically able, a private assessment won't count and other fables. You need to run everything you're told as a parent through a legal fact checker.

And I was gaslighted the opposite way. It's horrific, isn't it?

@grasstreeleaf bloody hell that's just as rubbish in a different way!

Surely there's some middle ground between over funding and complete denial!

@Nayday

They are actually disincentivised now, because they will fund the first 6k of the intervention.

It has led to the creation of a systematic gas-lighting of parents of undiagnosed Sen children and denial of resources and responsibility. Typical gaslighting includes - they're fine in school/ you won't get an EHCP etc because they're academically able, a private assessment won't count and other fables. You need to run everything you're told as a parent through a legal fact checker.

Absolutely this, 100% describes the current situation and it's been this way for quite a while.

@Nayday

You'd think so. But as I said it wasn't overfunding overall. People were fighting for it. Some schools just really learnt how to play the system and clung onto one child's funding because they couldn't guarantee to get it for another child who needed it.

Unfortunately/ fortunately I can be quite persuasive in obtaining stuff through writing. I did when I was persuaded that was it needed for my child but was hugely disappointed when I realised the funding and additional 'support' was not only not helping but actually began to be harmful to my DC's education,

@grasstreeleaf ugh, sounds like a rubbish system just became broken in a different way. There's going to be change again soon I think because it seems to actually breaking down - specialist schools are full, LA's being taken to court, and Sen parents voices being heard (not to mention Cahms virtually grinding to a halt). I like you will keep going until my (ASD in our case) son's needs are met.

It's why I am passionate about defending my own integrity though. In my initial discussions with that teacher I realised she seemed to be coaching me in terms of what to write. I exclaimed that I refused to lie regarding any of my experiences with my child. I continued in this vein and was always able to provide balanced, evidenced reports. It's the only way, only protection against a broken system IME.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/1862438-Teachers-do-not-adhere-to-Statemented-1-to-1-support-do-not-believe-in-sub-levels-make-APP-assessments-up-How-much-of-what-parents-are-told-by-schools-about-teaching-is-a-box-ticking-exercise

This was a thread I started at the peak of my frustration! Uncovered a lot!

• They are actually disincentivised now, because they will fund the first 6k of the intervention.

It has led to the creation of a systematic gas-lighting of parents of undiagnosed Sen children and denial of resources and responsibility. Typical gaslighting includes - they're fine in school/ you won't get an EHCP etc because they're academically able, a private assessment won't count and other fables. You need to run everything you're told as a parent through a legal fact checker.*

No, these are not cause and effect. This lying, cheating and intense bullying of parents was going on, when we entered the SEN system 24 years ago, before EHC plans or the 6K initial funding had even been thought of; and it was nothing new then!