School not telling parents their child has suspected autism.

[Biscuitsaretheworkofthedevil]

The SENCO of our primary school has some very apparently thought that my child has been on the autistic spectrum. I was surprised to find they don’t mention this to parents. Is it reasonable for them not to mention this to families?

Further proof that OP is telling whoppers here: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg128/resources/autism-spectrum-disorder-in-under-19s-recognition-referral-and-diagnosis-pdf-35109456621253

And it even says on the health authority website that GPs can refer, but they can't. If they try, it is refused at triage and they are told to send parents to schools. There was uproar amongst schools when the "policy" was introduced as we were given no notice and no choice. But that's what happens.

So the autism assessment team are saying this?🤔

Our GP referred but we had the evidence from school first.

Agreed. It is frustrating.

I can’t believe any trust would ignore NICE guidelines, presentation in girls or concerns from CAMHS.

Well we both know they don't, don't we?

@norfolkbroadd yeah I’m making this up to entertain myself. And the other people who agreed it is their experience are joking along. So glad we have your penetrating insight to catch me out with my “whoppers”.

Masking by girls can be very well done though. I explained til I was blue in the face that dd burst into tears every day after school. There was a poker face from school.

Now that I know, I am more flexible and a better parent. I imagine for some families there must be serious arguments and stress caused by the expectations of neurotypical behaviour and punishments when that behaviour isn’t exhibited.

We don't diagnose. We can, and do, say that we have noticed traits that could indicate Autism or ADHD and then suggest a referral for assessment. Sometimes parents get annoyed, mostly they are appreciative. The idea that school staff are "not allowed" to mention their observations to parents/carers is nonsensical. Parents shouldn't be left to figure these things out for themselves, that's not fair on the parents or the child.

@neverbeenskiing no one mentioned the word autism at son's school. But the Head did drop multiple hints. It was so confusing. I wish so much they just said Autism. I couldn't understand why they were being so cloak and dagger and confusing in their handling.
It took me time to fully realise so I'm glad now for the Head letting me know through the obvious hints. They were clearly really concerned how it would go down. My son's dad reacted badly and was in huge denial. That then made me realise why they're on eggshells over this.

It doesn’t make sense though. It would be dangerous for trusts to ignore CAMHs and concerned parents as regards MH. Autism doesn’t just impact education, it impacts so many other areas that schools really aren’t going to be the best placed to make decisions on.

There again, as a young teacher I had a formal complaint made about me because I had mentioned to a parent, possible traits that could be similar to autism, suggesting that a referral would help to find out more.

Parents removed the child from school too.

@HandaFae that's awful. But I'm so not surprised. I was in slight denial myself at not having actually fully realised but I think it is so insane to make a complaint about the mere suggestion. I would always rather know and pursue diagnosis. I'm so glad the Head let me know in a roundabout way with her hints.

I do understand why it's so difficult for teachers when I hear things like this.

I was diagnosed with autism at 25 years old. I remember having one to one meetings in a separate room in primary school but this was apparently never mentioned to my parents. School definitely knew there was something different about me but apparently decided my parents didn’t need to know… it literally makes no sense. I could have been diagnosed as a child and got the help that is just not available as an adult. Parents 100% need to know!!

My sister is a primary school teacher and has said the exact same thing.

My experience with my son is that the school acknowledged that he has ‘additional needs’ but didn’t elaborate. I’m a first time mum so I wasn’t really aware of what was normal ‘quirks’ of children and what was something to be concerned about. It wasn’t until the health visitor got back involved due to my sons speech delay that she picked up on multiple things within the hour that she saw him that she urgently got in contact with the school to help with the referral for a diagnosis. The school then have acknowledged that those ‘needs’ are likely autism and adhd. It’s sad because I’m lucky he was still at the age to have the support from the health visitor who picked up on what the school likely also did but aren’t allowed to say. If we didn’t, he likely would have gone undiagnosed for most/all his childhood. A lot of parents are like me who have no other children to ‘compare’ and have no understanding, so professionals like teachers really should be able to bring up any concerns they may have to parents.

This is from our referral document!
If a child isn't in pre-school or school, a GP may refer. If they are, then pre-schools and schools are expected to. " prefer" has become " must"

What local authorities CAN do and what they TRY to get away with can be two very different things.

I sat on a new school governor training where they told us "the policy in X county is that we no longer issue EHCPS" which is a total and utter lie. Unfortunately they had me as a SEN parent who knew the Code of Practice inside out, and also one of our very senior psychologists on the call who put that little error straight!

100% agree @DoNotScrapeMyDataBishes - our LA use pre screening criteria for social care assessments and when I told them that it was unlawful they suddenly agreed to assess my child 🧐

I didn’t know it was unlawful. Useful to know. Certainly in terms of EHCPs, the LEAs I have been under have tried to get away with every dirty trick imaginable.

It doesn’t say that though and the links below don’t say only gps can refer in the Lincolnshire area either.

https://navigocare.co.uk/CAMHS/professionals/neurodevelopmental-service/make-referral-neurodevelopmental-service

https://www.ulh.nhs.uk/patients/patient-information-library/autism-spectrum-disorder-diagnostic-assessment-in-children/

That's not the same area. And, as I have said previously, the generally published information doesn't match the practice. In my area, as I said, schools and pre schools are expected to refer, GPs do not.

Expected doesn’t mean anything. There is no way professionals in CAMHS or GPs with struggling potentially ND patients are going to refer for a diagnosis via a school. Why would they if schools
aren't even aware or involved with their concerns?

With my 1st, 2nd and 5th children it was very obvious they had autism right from the start and I was the one asking the health visitor and gp about the referral. With my 3rd it was a lot more subtle but in the end I asked one of the TA's at his SEN review (he'd been on and off the send register for years with various vague symptoms) if it was worth having him assessed for adhd. She gently suggested that we might want to refer him for an autism assessment too. I said that was fine and her reaction suggested that normally suggesting that doesn't go down well with parents.

You’re not wrong. It’s not a good idea. But no one ever claimed that the authorities consistently execute the best ideas in terms of policies. They clearly don’t. It’s not like a joined up whole.