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Original poster

School threatening to ban DS from computers because he has been fiddling

100 replies

alison222 · 27/06/2007 10:30

Ds has Aspergers. Literally just received the diagnosis. He LOVES computers. they are his big thing at the moment.

He has been fiddling with the set up of the class computer - duplicated all the desck top items, resized the writing and screen etc.

He had also managed to rename some of the teachers documents so she can't find them.

NOw I am annoyed with hem- furious in fact - don't get me wrong as we have had the same issues with our home computer.

BUT surely they can't threaten this?
Actually I know they can't and I am more concerned about them making a threat they can't carry out and also that they have such lax security systems on their computers.

Where do I best go from here without making a huge issue of it?

OP posts:
FluffyMummy123 · 27/06/2007 19:19

Message withdrawn

Peachy · 27/06/2007 19:20

I didnt say i thought that was right did I? Just repeating back some of what I ahve learned in my masses of reading I have been doing about SN education law.

Don't shoot the messenger and all that.

Blandmum · 27/06/2007 19:21

I'm not sure that the school would be vulnerable to a lawsuit unless allison's ds needs the computer to help deal with his Aspergers linked SEN

I would hope that , given his dx the school would take it into account and be sensible and sensitive to his needs.

However you can remove computer access from children, even if they have SEN. I have seen it done, several times, with different children, for set periods of time.. And at least one of them had HFA

Aloha · 27/06/2007 19:21

Blimey, he's good! Do you let him use his own computer at home?

ProfessorGrammaticus · 27/06/2007 19:24

Minxy - your "If he was brilliant at maths.." comment SHOULD be true but IME isn't!

Peachy · 27/06/2007 19:24

you can remove it for SEN of course you can- buyt if its something to do with his AS thats making him do the changes (eg an OCD or repetitive thing)0 thats when the problems start.

iyswim.

frances5 · 27/06/2007 20:06

"you can remove it for SEN of course you can- buyt if its something to do with his AS thats making him do the changes (eg an OCD or repetitive thing)0 thats when the problems start. "

The school also has the right to protect their property. They can certainly limit ICT use very drastically. He has a right to an ICT education, but its easy to cut out use of the computers outside formal ICT lessons.

It does seem sad that he cannot put his skills to use and channel them positively.

Blandmum · 27/06/2007 20:17

Just to take the pressure off Alisons ds, he is only 6.

hotbot · 27/06/2007 20:18

All seems a bit over the top to me. A childs interest should be encouraged imo, and the school should have better security.

Blu · 27/06/2007 20:29

yes, a six-year-old with Aspergers Syndrome.

Hana - of course, this situation should be resolvable and I'm sure no-one wants to go to court, bt the DDA is ther to make sure, by law, that people are not offered a lesser service or opportunity because of thier disability. An interpretation of this could be that it is up to the school to create a situation in which this child can have the necessary access to IT to fulfill his education.

AS children understan / perceive instructions, boundaries, communication etc very differntly from other children.

It isn't their fault. They shouldn't be punished for it. Together the school and alison can hopefully find a way to enable him to understand boundaries and protocls.

coppertop · 27/06/2007 20:30

I think this is an area they will need to work on when he has an IEP drawn up next term. Perhaps they need to explain the rules to him in a precise way which he will understand. They could try something like a storyboard or social story which sets out exactly what is and isn't allowed. With AS it's not as easy as saying "Tell him not to mess about with the settings". I could tell my 2 something a hundred times and it wouldn't get through to them. Put the same instructions in a visual format and it just seems to 'click'. They may also need to provide supervision while he is on the computer, even if only while he is adapting to the 'new' rules.

It might be worth the school speaking to their ICT staff about ways of making the computer more secure. There may be a simple way of doing it but because they haven't needed to before they haven't implemented it.

Original poster
alison222 · 27/06/2007 22:06

Interesting to read this while I have been doing other things.

Copper how do you put soemthing like this into a visual format?

I keep hearing this stuff about social stories - but don't really get it. Where can I find out more?

The teacher has been using 10 mins at the ned of the day as a reward for good behaviour really sucessfully until now. If she bans the pc she will have to find an alternative "stick and carrot". I hope it doesn't come to that.

OP posts:
Judy1234 · 27/06/2007 22:21

You can imagine how the teacher feels works all the hours there are and then some pesky 6 year old changes all the settings and hides her documents - she should be not letting him leave the room until he's found every one of those documents and restored the computer oth ow it was and you should be standing over him forcing him to do that. Think of the time the poor teacher has lost. Imagine if any of us lost valuable work documents.

Busybean · 27/06/2007 22:25

ditto

AttilaTheMum · 27/06/2007 22:42

In our junior school ASD unit, a social story for this situation would be something like this:
"When I am doing work on the computer, I should not change anyone else?s work, or make the screen bigger.
If I do, other people will not be able find their work and they will get upset.
If I leave the computer screen looking the way I find it, everyone will be able to use the computer, and everyone will be happy, and able to do their work."
It would have pictures to illustrate it and usually it would be created by discussion with the child. For a younger child, it would be more picture based, perhaps with sad & happy faces.

Original poster
alison222 · 27/06/2007 22:45

Thank you Atilla

OP posts:
coppertop · 28/06/2007 10:43

The official social stories website is here

You can also buy books with pre-written ones in and adapt them to fit your own circumstances. Google "Carol Gray" and they should come up.

The social stories my 2 boys have used are a similar format to the example Atilla gave. Some have been made into a little book using photographs we've taken and the story text. Others use picture symbols and the story text.

ColdComfort · 28/06/2007 10:50

6

this child is 6

SIX

probably spent more of his life in nappies than out

SIX

Come on guys, most kids still believe in santa aged six, you seriously going to start talking to hm about people who go to jail?

I can see ds1 going the same way with this, he just can't not fiddle. He just CAN'T. And he is four.

It is good that they have not punished him, but I can't see how they can punish him for being very clever anyway - I am making a massive assuption here, but am assuming his impulse control for stuff like this isn't great?

frances5 · 28/06/2007 11:23

If a six year old with aspergers stole money from a teacher would you punish them? No one is suggesting that a six year old goes to jail.

How do you find the balance between making allowances and never disciplining a child because they have a special need. All kids need boundaries, otherwise the kid turns into a complete and utter spoilt brat. Admitally with aspergers you may need professional help to with how best to manage behaviour.

Changing filenames or settings is not difficult. It doesn't mean that he is an IT whizzkid. A lot of kids who are far younger can do that.

katelyle · 28/06/2007 11:34

I'm struggling to understand here. If my child took his teacher's note book and files, and other children's work and hid some of it and destroyed the rest, I would expect him to be reprimanded for it, I would expect there to be some sort of meaningful sanction, and I would expect him to be required to do what he could to repair the damage. He's 6. I wouldn't expect him to go to jail (!), but I would expect there to be consequences. I would not be happy if someone said "Well done, you're really good at hiding things - Miss X can't find her reports anywhere!" And I wouldn't say it was the school's fault because Miss X didn't keep her reports in a locked cupboard!

In my ds's class, they are often allowed to use the computer for playing on as a reward for good work - and they are banned from doing this as a punishment if they've been "bad" They really mind this punishment, so it is effective. They still use the computer when it has to be used in lessons - they are just not allowed to play. Can't see a problem - but I' probably missing the point.

Ali5 · 28/06/2007 11:58

Have you received a home/school agreement or a safe computer use contract? We have these and I presumed most other schools do too. All children should use the computer responsibly and, yes, the school can limit your son's use of it and as it's only 3 weeks until the end of term, it's not a permanent ban. Of course his needs have to be taken into consideration when setting boundaries and explaining consequences and ideally, yes 1-2-1 supervision would be perfect. I taught a boy with Aspergers whose previous teacher had given him free reign on the computer and it really pissed the other kids off because they didn't get as much time on the pc as he did and he often changed settings and layouts.
I think it's pointless to make a big issue of this, an informal chat with the teacher should suffice and accept that she has to use consequences with him. The teacher will not want to shoot herself in the foot by banning him for the last few weeks of term (and who said it was because the teacher was jealous of his skills and was probably more proficient - jeez ffs!) and will appreciate your support in this.

frances5 · 28/06/2007 12:45

if you want to stop you kid messing with the display and you have windows XP

1)logon with an account with admin rights.
2)select start| run
3) type gpedit.msc

The group policy editor will appear. To stop your child messing around you need to stop him having access to the control panel.

There is a massive list of options

Click on user configuration| Administrative templates | control Panel

There is an option that allows you to prohibit access to the control panel. If this is enabled then your kid won't be able to mess about with it. However if you want access to the control panel then you will have to run gpedit.msc to re enable access to the control panel.

You need to make sure that your child's account has limited rights. Other wise the above is totally pointless. If you click on users in the control panel you can see if you have accidently given your child an administrative account.

This would be too complicated for the average primary school teacher and not all schools have an ICT technician. A lot of schools just trust their children.

Original poster
alison222 · 28/06/2007 13:44

Farnces I thought I'd try that on my computer at home and I got an error message that the file didn't exist. We do have XP.
Any ideas why that may happen?

OP posts:
frances5 · 28/06/2007 13:53

Are you using XP home or XP professional? I have never used XP home and I am not sure if it support group policy. I'm afraid I don't own a copy of XP home.

To find out which operating system you are using go to control panel | system and it will tell you

www.theeldergeek.com/group_policy_editor.htm

This link seems to suggest that XP home doesn't support group policy. Thats a pity.

Original poster
alison222 · 28/06/2007 13:57

Yes its the home edition - pity.

OP posts:
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