Teacher reports 10yo DS showing signs of autism - what now?

[Newchallenge]

I had had suspicions at times in the past, but this has come out of the blue, only on directly questioning the teacher at parents evening.

I thought the Senco would contact me but I haven't heard anything. How should I follow this up? Is it a GP matter? I feel clueless.

Ask the teacher if you can arrange an appointment with her / him and the SENCo (even if it is via video conferencing).
Ask them what ought to happen next.
There are two separate things to consider - one is, what are they doing in school to support him. What differentiation helps him. What strategies are being tried to help overcome any difficulties. Ask for copies of paperwork for plans that are being put in place. It isn't uncommon for dc to 'cope' or 'manage' in Primary when they have one teacher who knows them well, and one room, and one set of peers, but then for issues to arise when they move to secondary and life gets a lot more complicated not only in terms of organising self, but also in terms of social groups and 'fitting in', let alone 'being cool' etc as all his peers become teens and have to work their way through their own emotions too.

The other thing is, do you want to get him assessed, and potentially seek a diagnosis. The route for this is different in different areas of the Country, and the school SENCo will know they best way to go about it in your area. So GPs can generally refer to Paediatricians, but, where I am, a referral in from the school is 10x better, as the school staff know the young person really well, and the GP not only knows less about autism than your average SENCO, they are also not likely to know the individual particularly well.

Hi @Newchallenge, as BackforGood suggests, speaking to your child's school and asking them what support they are offering or will/can offer is a good place to start.

This will help if you are looking for a referral for an autism assessment. Why do I say that? Typically a referral from a SENCo will carry most weight as they tend to have the closest relationship to the child (as opposed to a GP or other health professional, but of course there are exceptions and a referral from any health, education or social care professional is perfectly adequate).

*Disclaimer: I work for charity Caudwell Children, we offer autism assessments to children aged 4-11 - including charity-funded assessments)

Thank you. The school put in some individual support when his behaviour started to show in school (previously well behaved in school rather than home). So I should ask for more input from the Senco. She works part time. I don't want to be that pushy parent but with your encouragement I will ask for the phone call suggested as a starting point.

Thank you both