Feedback from Teachers please!!!

[mrsforgetful]

My greatest irritation at the moment to do with school is that 7 yr old DS2 (Possibly Asperger's syndrome- ds1 is ADHD/Asperger's)is having difficulties- yet i don't get enough feedback- i know he's 1 of 35 in a class- but how am i supposed to 'handle' his problems at school if all i get from him is "i had 2 warnings today" I have specifically asked that they send a note home- they do it if the child bumps their head- yet they 'don't want to make mountains out of molehills'about 'behaviour' issues (and i'm sure certainly not to a mum who's desparate for ammunition to fire at the PAED to get the DX i'm sure he will get- but i WANT IT NOW....not when he's 9).Because i do believe DS2 when he says he is trying hard to behave- I am thinking of a 'behaviour book' so that if all's well they can indicate this with a smiley face- and if there was any 'significant' incident that they draw a 'neutral' face- then if DS2 starts on about 'finding it hard to behave' i can see by looking at his book whether this is simply his perception or reality- i can then choose to talk to the teacher- she will often say the 'event' was trivial- but to DS2 who likes perfection -anything less than perfect is wrong- and i therefore spend alot of my time along the lines of explaining'it's not fair/or life's a b**ch!'

I really do feel that teachers have their work cut out with just teaching- but this is MY SON and i have to do as much as i can!

I'd really appreciate it if you can reassure me that i am NOT overloading the teacher....or maybe suggest a better idea ?

thanx!

Or me, for that matter. I'd try to get a loan of one to see if it will help his problems, before you spend lots of time and/or cash sorting it out. As I have posted, many of the children that I teach don't find them that helpful. If it doesn't help him then possible the SENCO needs to have a word with his teachers to make sure that they differentiate properly for his needs. I find that giving some of my pupils structured work sheets, that limit the amount of writing helps them more than their computers. So try before you buy/borrow would be my advice.

i agree with hmb
ley us know how you go on

i have mentioned this on another thread
but i teach a few pupils with AS in mainstream ( I know your ds doesn't have AS) but at the start of the year, one of the boys' mums gave each teacher a n info leaflet on it and a list of his strengths and weaknesses
although teachers do know about these types of difficulties it helps if we are gently reminded!
hope it helps!

CUSTARDO!!!!! Guess what !?! YEP got my 'p' today....so it WAS pmt!!!! (and to cap it all fri night my dh drilled through a live electrical wire- got shock and we were without electric for 3 hrs- he was fine but took me 1 hour to calm ds1 and 2 as they were in middle of playstation games..!!!)
Couldn't understand why i had got so low the past week....now i know!

thanks for all the positie constructive comments - i will hve a word about the laptops but i am too reserved about how much use it will do. son isnt statemented - and i dont know if i should push for this or not - i dont know what it means or implies. i dont know if the school dont want me to do it becuase it affects their scores as a school? help mee!!!he will be going into yr 10 next year.

basically he has trouble reading quickly enough to keep up - and he cant possible write quickly enough to catch up. he has extra eng/maths lessons and a helper in enlgish and maths.

now
the idea of writing something down on a piece of paper i dont think applies to my son - but i am soo worried i cant tell you - about my daughter who is partially deaf going into senior school next year. i like the idea of this piece of paper but wouldnt know how to go about giving it to the teachers in big school

i could do the tell the head of year, senco, form tutor....leave it a couple of weeks, get a list of DD's teachers from the secretary - is this possible?? then send each a personal leter in an envelope? whaddya think teachies?

gosh i cant tell you how helpfull you have all been - sometimes i think i am a paranoid and rubbish mum, os organisation doesnt come into my vocab. so nice to hear some constructive comments.

kinda reminds me what mumsnet is for

thanks

LOL mrsF. glad things are better now! OMG! life without playstation - nightmare!!

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I think talking to the HOY and the SENCO would be most helpful. As a teacher I would have no problems if I was sent a letter from a parent, however it is the HOYs job to co-ordinate a responce from the team of teachers who work with your son. So you could save yourself valuable time if you talk to him/her.

Since your son obviously has problems with reading and writing ( and good on the school for sorting him help, without a statement, for Eng and maths.....wouldn't happen where I teach), ask the SENCO if he/she feel it is worth getting your son put on School Action. This is the first 'level' of statementing, and your son will then get an Individual Education Plan. This will be given to all his teachers and will outline targets set for him, and staratagies they should use when the are teaching him. I don't think the school would have any 'Problems' with this, ours doesn't. And I realise that it is a big step for parents to get their child statemented, but it means that your son is more likely to get the help he needs. Jimjams is the person to talk to here. I think she has said something in the past that stamenting isan't a label, but a signpost to the help your child needs (sorry if that was a misquote) Geting and IEP, may also get your son more time in exams or is extreme cases a reader/scribe. If it helps you to put this in pespective I teach sixth form students, who are doing A level Biology who have IEPs.

I hope that things get better soon for you all.

think it might be worth him seeing an ed psych- just to check whether there are any problems such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. If your son did have something like dyspraxia then having a diagnosis can make a world of difference (providing people react appropriately to it- by which I mean provde the necessary help). Lots of people come out of the woodwork though. I have been oushing for a seperate dyspraxia diagnosis for my son (on top of his autism) for the past year or so and now we have it we have people like the LEA IT dept appearing to see whether they can provide any equipment for him, abd the OT has said she will provide a sloping desk when he starts writing. hmb almost had my signpost bit right (actually not mine I borrowed it from someone on an autism list) but it's actually diagnosis that isn't a label but a signpost.

As for statementing - someone like kyliebump would have more idea- although I haven't seen her for ages on here- I doubt very much whether you would get a statement for your son at the moment. You may be able to get a statement with a dyspraxia dx but I think it would have to be pretty severe. More money is now delegated to schools directly -so your son would maybe be out on action plus or something. As a parent you can request that an assessment is carried out to see whether a statement assessment will be caried out (an assessment for an assessment!) but I doubt you'd get very far without any dx, and even with a dyspraxia diagnosis I think you may have a fight on your hands. The people to ask for advice though are IPSEA

Re laptops, does anyone know if 16yo dd would be eligible for one, as she is left-handed and some times mirror-writes so her teachers can't read her work? Dd has diagnosed herself as being dyslexic, too, though I haven't as yet followed this up.

Would her results of four 1's, four 2's and an A at Standard Grade (Scots GCSE) count against her getting extra help? I guess they were good marks, but there is room for improvement and this year's exams will be harder, of course. Is there a level of achievement at which SN help won't be given or is it available right the way across the spectrum of ability ?

Obviously I can say, as it will depend on the schools level of funding etc. All the children who have a lap top in our school are on the special needs reg for literacy problems. Typically they will be many years behind their chronological age. Poor writing alone doesn't cut it, at least not in our school. The children in the sixthform who are on the SN reg have problems with spelling and reading, but the imput at that level tends to be support for key word spelling/recognition. If you are worried, have a chat with her form tutor

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suedonim- an official dyslexia diagnosis would get 25% extra time in exams, although maybe not much else unless it was severe. That 25% can help though. I doubt poor handwriting itself would get a laptop. DS1 may be getting extra equipment but he is severely behind ( fine motor skills come out as being at an age 18 month level).

looked up dyspraxia - definately not. son is a bikeaholic, jump biking and skateboarding. with an excellent balance

been thinkinging about the laptop too - i think it would be more confusing - he cant type.

the shcool have mentioned help in exams and son isnt statemented - and when i mentioned this senco didnt think it necessary, you know guys and gals - maybe hes just not as academic as everyone else - maybe his writing is rubbish and he is just a lazy git!

howver i will speak to senco again to find out exactly how far behind son is and what help he can get in exams

i know for sats this year he is getting to go into a quiet room by himself but he doesnt know whether he is entitled to a reader or scribe -so i shall find this out.

thanks everyone xxxx

what would i need an educational psychologist for? is this needed for the statementing? if so i will prolly not bother. what other reasons are there for son to see an ed psych, how can it help him, how do i get hold of one?

ta much!

custardo
the school can arrange a visit from the ed psych - you dont pay any thing
i dont know about your area - hoever in ours there is a huge waiting list - they have loads of pupils that they need to deal with and there isn;t enough time in the day

custy- at GCSE and above - in order to get a scribe and reader and extra time in exams etc there would need to be a diagnosis of something. (drs reports etc) although may be different for Sats. For dyslexia at GCSE and above there just needs to be a diagnosis and someone will automatically get the extra time (25%)- the exam board don't need to be asked anymore, although for anything else a request has to be put in - and they need to see drs reports etc.

From everything you have said I think it would be extremely unlikely that your won would get a statement, however the school still have a budget that they can choose to spend stuff from iyswim- without the need for a statement. Hope meeting with senco goes well.

just read your other post about sats - i do all the arrangements for our key stage two sats in a 6 class entry school
those in the 'quiet room' sometimes have a scribe and sometimes don't
but all of the chldren there do get extra help and teachers are aware that these pupils have difficulties
you need to ask about individual education plans - i thikn if your son is getting this kind of special attention then he will have one....the senco is the person to see then she can alert other teachers

god - that sounds so sexist - senco could be a he......

custy an ed psych can dx things like dyslexia and dyspraxia- oir at leats assess and refer on. if you ask for statementing and the LEA agree to assess then an ed psych is involved automatically. However I think it is highly unlikely that the LEA would agree to assess for a statement- from the info you've given on here.

It would be worth seeing an ed psych if either you or the school felt there could be an underlying reason for his difficulties. otherwise - not worth it.

Just read the stuff about your dd. What sort of arrangements are made for her already? She could go on the SN register at her secondary school- and this would then detail her hearing problems- and hopefully mean that she got seats at the front of class etc.

I'm seeing the school head at 9.15 tomorrow and as she's also the SENCO (GRRRRRRRH!) i want to go in there with my 'nagging mum' hat on.... any tips? DS1 is yr5 and i'm thinking of statementing...but as he's 'not too bad' school don't agree- he's on stim.meds -methylphenidate- so wonder whether he'd still be 'not too bad' off the meds...and would we then get an assessment?? Or alternitively....flip the coin....if we 'leave him alone' and keep him on the tabs...what kind of 'help' is he likely to get as an 'unstatemented' Aspergers/ADHD....JIMJAMS refered to extra time and scribes...i'm even thinking simply about his own area to work in- he is easily distracted- and also we've had alot of probs with simple things such as 'sharing books'- how can i get what seem to me to be such simple things in place...without statementing to GUARANTEE that it isn't like everything else...a few weeks then it's forgotten. I was told he has to have 5 hours TA type support at SCHOOL ACTION PLUS.... they stated on his last IEP he gets 25 mins a day...for all i know this could be 5 mins an hour...totally different to 25 mins 1:1 or similar!

Just before I go to bed, mrsforgetful...
Good luck for tomorrow!
Statementing is the last thing on a whole line of support systems that a school can put in place for your ds. I am a bit crap as I am not totally up to date with the problems that your ds has...
if you are around now, just point me in the right direction about his difficulties and i will post you back,,,going to bed in 10 mins...

MrsF- does he have an IEP? That sort of thing can be written in there. I don't see why having his own work area would be a problem- ds1 has this, his own little desk with all his PECS stuff and a TEACHH type arrangement. If he has an official dx of AS then you may be able to get the autism outreach team involved- if there is one near you- worth asking. They're the ones who set up ds1's work station. The would be able to make a visit to help with that. At the moment they come in 3 times a week (our of 4 mornings at school). I know they make one off visits to students as well.

handwriting at age 6/7 comprehension (due to literal aspergers bit) age 7/8 every thing else 12+ -he's only 10 next week! One of these kids that will 'slip through the net' as he is bright
Also playgruond/lunchtime skills = social skills etc...TA!!