Help Please? Anyone's D got into Haberdashers or NLCS at 4+?

[funkychic]

My D is will be going for the 4+ 'play group' asesssment at Habs and NLCS. I'm desparate to know what they ask them to do. Really need advise from all mums whose child are already in these schools. Pleeeeeeaaaassse help!!!

sorry which people? not cross

candypandy- most of baron cohens stuff only really relates to HFA- or more to the point AS (all his assortative mating stuff, male brain etc). I don't think he's ever been near a severely autistic child- he's certainly never done any research involving them (you can't do false belief tasks with the very severely affected). In Ds1's school autism is no respector of class boundaries. Families from across the social spectrum are equally represented.

people who have family members with asd/adhd/autism

Can you link to the studies in America that you are referring to please, candypandy?

oh hang on I misread what you said.

Yes I've heard the testosterone stuff with relation to mercury etc. Mercury is out of standard paediatric jabs now though (watch those flu jabs though!) although of courseonly recently- perhaps there'll be a drop in numbers.

TBH I suspect a leaky gut is somehow behind a lot of the rise in conditions- although it might be a whole host of different things leaking through that are causing the problems.

Yurt I take that on board and I think you're better informed than I am. Where the class issues are concerned I think the debate is skewed by vast amounts of prejudice, but I wanted to put the theory in the mix. I hate reading about children who are suffering real disorders having it put down to their social class or parenting especially when (I am absolutely sure) many of these disorders have been triggered or exacerbated by mercury. (that is, their parents trying to do the right thing). But y'know. Everyone has something to say on that one.
2shoes: actually, a few, and it's closer to me than you might imagine. If I knew hundreds or none at all it doesn't really make that much difference if there is a physiological connection. But some people might be interested enough to read a bit more.
I must go -- I'm being a bad parent myself and should be downstairs with the bairns!

humphreycushion i will dig out that link but not now as it'll take ages and my children will be in bed soon and i'll do it after that

candypandy- I have heard the things you said (Sorry I totally misread the first time and thought you were talking about SBC and his IT bods meeting and baby making). It would fit with leaky gut anyway- IIRC the middle classes are more likely to breastfeed- which will provide some protection.

I'll remind Lady Astor when I next see her that her DD can't possibly have ASD, she's the wrong class

And I think that was part of the thing with the California figures where there is supposedly a drop in numbers of various conditions when mercury was removed from the paediatric jabs, but i think there are also lots of problems with the accuracy of the California figures.

well quite
now really gtg
hope i'm not thread killer as this is getting interesting and will be back later

Didn't Olivia regress following MMR? (that's only half remembered so I may be wrong). Some of the recent MMR stuff includes the role of mercury before receiving the MMR.

I am sure I read somewhere recently that only around 20% of cases of ASD would/could be related to vaccinations, so that would somewhat go against that theory.

However like you, I don't actually believe in a class discrepancy in regards to autism.

As although my friends and family would indeed represent a limited demograhic, since joining the world of special needs (DS1 is severly autistic, DS2 has Downs Syndrome), I can talk from experience that ASD does not favour any class in particular (I have met people through DS1's school, various support groups, etc, that I would never had the pleasure of meeting without said places and they indeed represent a wide section of society).

I heard someone say something that I found really eye opening once and that was 'Autism, coming to a family near you soon'.

As alarmist as that sounds, unfortunately it seems to be reality and no one should feel immune to the possibility of having their life or the life of someone close to them being affected by ASD, there is no magic shield, especially not class.

nortynamechanger,
I'm sorry I don't know much about getting a statment for a child to attend a private school.

IPSEA might be able to help you.

www.ipsea.org.uk/

It is extremely rare for a child to get a statement to attend non LEA school.

This article says that there 12000 children at private school at the taxpayer's expense. The LEA will fight tooth and nail.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2137981.ece

news.bbc .co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6240165.stm

Sorry that was in reference to the original post by Candypandy about the theory of asd being connected to low incomes and mercury.

I must remember to check if my post is still relevant to the discussion, after having to leave the pc for 10 minutes in the middle of typing a response.

This thread went really abd since I last looked!

Just a few point

!) kids with as are quite often overly complinat in a school situation- quite a few like mine struggle when they get home as they feel 'safer' letting off steam that way

2. It varies, but ehre to get any form of Dh you have to see a paed, Ed Psych, SALT, OT and PT and the DX is absed on the collated reports- so imo a DX is set in stone (I do know of a DX of dyspraxia back home which turned out to be erroneous but Hallelujah for that little girl- was fab news).

3. Chatting to the SEN Prof at Uni a few weeks abck whilst at my MA interview, he mentioned they never get Nurses applying as ASD etc really isn't within their remit, as such I would say the views of your average Nure are fairly uninformed. Certainly by the time I left Nurse training (all Child and SN Nursing modules completed and passed), there wwas no real input on the subjects. Certainly no formal traning.

There is very posibly a class problem with ASD that I am aware of: it is this. ASD is genetic in my family (I agree with the leaky gut for our famillies trigger but I can see lots of things which may have ahd input). As a result, past generations of my family have been unable to hold down well paid jobs due to poor social skills, or have indeed been confined to mental health units with symptoms we would now class as ASD related. In turn thatseverely limits their earninga nd housing attainment, and therefpre reduces social class levels. For both ASd person and their carers- its the same with all disabilities in the effects it has on the immediate family.

Obv. ASD is my experience and I don't know so much about other SN, however I do believe the bad aprenting thing is implicit in only the smallest minority of cases. No doubt poor (exhausted? unsuported? isolated?) aprenting exaccerbates some issues and I know at times this has been a factor with DS1 and I, but that's not through anything alcking in me so much as the system- after X years of 2 hourly waking watches, everything suffers.

I ahve the e-mail somewhere of a lady who took her LEA to court to get privayte school ed for her AS son, she will pass on her info if asked (offered it on freecycle)- if anyone wants her addy just CAT me.

Must disabuse all of the idea that I introduced the possible connection between class and ASD! it wasn't me m'lud, I just threw into the debate the role of jabs. Gracie, I would love to know where you read the 20pc figure. If it was mainstream press I would cynically assume it to be a loss leader by those with a great deal at stake if people realised that a good deal of the burden imposed on parents, schools, the health service, the taxpayer and the criminal justice system by ASD could be put down to a simple non-essential medical procedure. If they admit 20pc it'll be nearer 80 pc! But then I'm a rotten cynic even at the beginning of the new year.

I love the way it's assumed that the private sector will NOT have any 'disruptive' kids in it. All 3 of my dses are at state school and every single one has had disruptive kids in the class. It's just too easy to get away with it. It's not SN, it's lack of discipline. The private sector will not be any different.

Sorry, I wasn't throwing around accusations, just trying to add my thoughts to the class issure debate, I was actually sort of agreeing with you, in a somewhat unclear manner.

Anyways, I suddenly remembered where I read the figure and it was onDonna Williams website which was linked to on a thread on the SN board recently. However I had the percentage wrong, she actually quotes 10%.

Not sure anyone would consider her mainstream press, but her page on MMR does make good reading.

Apologies again if I came across a bit brash and accusing

It's 7-10% for the MMR- these are figures that I have been quoted by the people working on the link between ASD and MMR. It'll be a bit more perhaps if you include other jabs. The DW article is good isn't it? She tends to talk a lot of sense about this sort of thing.....

You didn't sound accusing to me graciefer- I think I said the same about our school a few posts before

Leaving aside the special needs points there are fewer disruptive children in private schools. First they interview the child. They also get a report from the previous head and with 4 + children competing for each place no school would bother taking a disruptive one when they have 3 clever behaving ones to take in. Then parents complain we are paying fees and little johnny cannot concentrate as Clive is on his feet thumping us all day so the children are removed who are disruptive and ultimately would be suspended and then expelled if other methods didn't work. Why would that not be so? It's a free market and parents are in effect in charge. You pay so they aren't disrupted. My ex husband was a policeman in a comp and a proper teacher in an academic private school.

Of course teenagers in every school can play up but I think the private schools have better discipline for that, systems to ensure good behaviour, boys to stand up, calling teachers sir, etc etc It works well. It's why a lot of us pay. It's very good value for money.

no gracie nor to me
i'm just interested but sometimes become tub-thumping bore

Good good, excuse the paranoia, I am a novice to heated/contraversial threads

The article was great Yurt, I have added her site to my favourites, not sure when I will be able to make time to have a good look around though.