Asking for an exception to the 'water-only' rule at DD's school?

[Lem0ndrizzl3]

I know there's another discussion about water at school at the moment but it didn't really apply to my DDs situation. DD is starting primary school in September and she will not drink water. At all. She is autistic and has a lot of sensory issues around food and drink.

She currently attends half days at nursery 5 days a week and she is sent with water every day but will not even have a sip. She is always so thirsty when she gets home and I'm really concerned about her going all day without a drink.

I understand the issue with squash in the classroom but I'd even be happy to bring in a drink at lunchtime every day if it meant she wasn't getting dehydrated. Would this be an unreasonable request??

Also she has difficulties around eating at nursery. Most days she hasn't touched her lunch, even with lots of encouragement from the nursery assistants. Any suggestions on making sure she eats at school?

Sorry if these questions seem ridiculous, I'm just scared about the transition to primary school and I've been trying to contact the SENCO but I've had no luck.

What the actual fuck is wrong with teachers sniffing kids drinks & not allowing mild squash.

I can't even.

Thank you all for your advice. It's all really reassuring. I'll stand my ground with them when I do finally get a meeting. We have a lot of things to discuss regarding her support needs in school and although the class teacher seemed to be really on the ball at first it seems to have dropped off.

Just remind them your DD is protected by law and that an alternative drink is a reasonable adjustment.

I don't agree with this water rule.

I'm lucky that my DS will only drink water and won't even entertain the idea of squash. I've tried and he refuses.

My nephew who is the same age will not touch water and would rather go thirsty but will guzzle down squash.

I don't see the problem with squash. As long as they're drinking and keeping hydrated is the most important thing.

I've just bought my child an Air Up.

Expensive but so worth it.

uk.air-up.com

Basically you put water in and add a pod that has a flavour and tricks you into thinking you're drinking flavoured water.

The air up idea is unlikely to work for an autistic child who has heightened taste and sensory issues. It's a much more complex issue.

My son loves the idea of the air up, some children are sensory seekers - like my son and enjoy this. He does drink water, however doesn’t drink enough and also has bowel and bladder issues and incontinence. He needs to drink more, paediatrician wants 1500 mls and I can’t get that in all before and after school as he wets bed too so it needs spread across the day. So we do what we need to do and school are now fine. His teeth are cleaned and perfect (11). It’s just another thing in the things you need to fight for at school for kids with additional needs. It’s like they’d rather your child struggled and hated school like mine has for the majority of school life!!

sorry really stupid question - but why aren’t kids allowed sugar free squash?

@serenghetti2011

Sorry I didn't mean to suggest all autistic children would not like the air up, more that I don't think it will change a non water drinker into a water drinker.

An autistic child should be able to have what they are able to drink. In our school this wouldn't even be in question.

Oh apparently it is sticky if spilt.

Can understand no fizzy drinks as kids get bloated and burp but sugar free squash would seem harmless imo.

@parenthood1989 no that’s ok I wasn’t meaning it in a bad way, just that some kids like mine seek out heightened sensory experiences rather than dislike them. I’m getting an air up for myself and my son I don’t drink enough either 😀

Just remind them your DD is protected by law and that an alternative drink is a reasonable adjustment.
This. It's a disability access issue. Does she have an EHCP? That would help to get something in writing included in that if so.

DS doesn't like water either and he is NT. I'm in my 40's and I absolutely loathe plain water too. I gag just using some to take a tablet. DS would go all day without a drink if water is the only choice so he has clear flavoured water. No one knows.

@beachcitygirl me neither! And I am/was an infant teacher. Until my last school I’d never had to worry about this “not even weak sugar free squash as it is poisonous” rubbish.
all of my now adult children had diluted squash from toddlerhood ( although not sipped all day which might be a tooth problem) and have excellent teeth due to a good cleaning routine

It’s because they drink so little that we worry and offer other things just to try to make them drink. This is especially the case if they’re ill.

That said, my youngest ASD child (he’s 17 now) does now drink water. At one time he’d only drink milk. Parents do need to be aware that in some areas tap water tastes really bad because it’s full of chlorine. Our water is drinkable (Cambs) but surprisingly the water where my mum is (Kirklees) is undrinkable and my son won’t touch it. We started with bottled water but now we use the Brita bottles with the little filters.

My DD would rather die than drink water, I've told her teachers, she's also extremely fussy with eating as well so they seem to understand now that she's have weak squash in an opaque bottle. I've found adding ice cubes in the bottle is a novelty for her and encourages her to drink more.

Re the food, I’m autistic and I remember feeling so sick at the smell of the school dinners and being so anxious. I’d just sit there and eat nothing and I’d always be left alone in the hall when everyone else had gone outside. In the end, the school staff told my mum to make me a packed lunch….I had two quarter salmon paste sandwiches (one slice of bread) with the crusts cut off and a chocolate biscuit but I think I ate it. Makes me a bit sad😔.

We were allowed to put freshly squeezed lemon into DS's bottle. We weren't squash drinkers at home so he quite liked the tartness of the lemon. It did make the water cloudy but we got away with it as a reasonable adjustment.
When he went on a residential they said there'd only be water to drink so I negotiated individual cartons of orange juice. Turns out there were other things to drink after all and the juice came back home. I'm pretty sure he hadn't gone 5 days without a drink!

Stress reasonable adjustments every time.

Self importance Iver a bloody drink. This is why I don't have a lot of time for teachers. In the real world, nobody gives a fuck what you drink. We also work throughout the year as well. And I say that as a daughter, sister and wife of teachers and have taught in another life. When I left industry to be a housewares with my husband, I hated the holidays.

Sometimes it's on the advice of health professionals - I've had the GP tell us to give squash when DC have had colds or sick bugs to keep their fluids up.

With DC2 it was a hospital admission for bronchiolitis age 15 months. He stopped eating and drinking because he was so ill and they brought various drinks - squash, juice etc and said if I didn't get something down him he would need a feeding tube. They quite seemed surprised he hadn't had such drinks before.

We were in hospital for a week and he refused every drink except squash. Thankfully he still drinks water now!

BEST STEALTH BOAST EVER 🤣

My dd (who drinks plain water) loves her Air Up. But it’s very subtle and tastes more like diluted flavoured water.

Do you still have any letters from the dietician. There may be a recommendation for squash in writing on this. As others have said, this is a reasonable adjustment. The school cannot expect a child to go all day without drinking.

Okay. I used to mix medicine with yogurt or milk or in with a mixed fruit pouch if they really wouldn't take it.

It's like lots of things if you know there's a more exciting available option then of course you're going to refuse the boring one.

Both my sons are going through assessment but they both were only given water or milk until at least 4- they now have flavoured milk as an occasional treat and one has a rare apple juice. I know as child my mum said I only drank juice because that's what she'd offered to me I then wouldn't drink water and it made my baby teeth bad. I haven't drunk squash or juice for over 25 years now as it's horrible and drink water instead. I see people giving 1 year olds fruit shoots etc all the time and then they wonder why the child refuses water. Makes no sense.

Could try making it gradually weaker and weaker so the change is not noticed.

Yawn. It's getting seriously boring now. Between the 2 juice threads it's constant ignorance about autistic children. Just as well the law is in the child side, because very few adults seem to understand.