Ok, I need help.

[shimmerysilverglitter]

I have posted before about my DS (7) who is HFA and I wish to home educate him but at the moment I wish begin with flexi schooling so that he remains in the social situation at school until I able to build up some outside contact with other groups and kids in the same situation etc.

In short he is not thriving in the mainstream environment, he has 1:1 for the full school week but at present only has someone in the mornings as they have been unable to find a suitable person. For almost two years now he has been having meltdowns at school at least 4 times a week often many more and I am regularly called in to deal with him. It is just NOT working.

Last term in the last two weeks of school I brought him home in the afternoons and he really seemed to do well, his morning 1:1 said she could see a difference in him, he was more relaxed and not nearly so stressed about going to school as he knew he did not have to be there all day. I am able to get him interested in things in a way that they do not seem able to in the MS environment. Not their fault, I just think it is just too challenging for him in that environment. Anyway I came back to school this term and after thinking long and hard decided to pull him out in the afternoons as a permanent thing (flexi schooling). I have been told today that I have the next two days to come up with a statement supporting why I want to do this and how I intend to ensure his educational needs will be met at home. The reason for this is his statement is being reviewed this week and for them to consider flexi schooling as part of his statement and for the headteacher to agree to this new arrangement, they need this information as apparently no-one at all in this borough Flexi schools.

So I need help on what kind of things I need to put in this statement, how I need to word it any resources or links I can use to back up how I will meet his needs at home.

Any advice or help would be great. Many thanks.

hi,
I think I would just chat in the meeting with them and say exactly why school full time isnt working and why part time is. If his needs arent being met in the afternoons legally they arent doing their bit in fulfilling his statement anyway.
Are you hoping to try flexischool now rather then opting for a straight swop over to home ed as you want to see what home ed could be like? as it still wont be exactly the same has having him home full time.
I say this because my youngest and eldest have asd and are home ed, and when my youngest attended school part time, he was so stressed out by the time he got home that it just wasnt him at all. It took me 3 weeks to get him in a relaxed enough state to all be able to sit in the same room as him!and now he is so happy!
You will find plenty of support and groups as you discover the freedom home ed gives, and with asd changes need to be slow, so I would give him time to adapt to being at home and pursuing his own interests, giving him time to relax and know that no one is going to force him to do anything that he doesnt feel comfortable with, and then introduce new groups etc when you feel he is ready.

Yes, definitely moving forward to full time Home ed but we are planning to move in a couple of months so will do it at that time, when we leave the area. I have talked to ds about this and for now he is happy with going to school in the mornings and I have noticed a huge difference in him when I pick him up and just in general as he knows he does not have to get through the whole day iyswim? He is so much more relaxed and co-operative. I know his teachers at school think this could be a good thing but it is just something they have no experience of and so are trying to find out what their responsibilities would be in this situation. I am writing a proposal over the next few days and just need to really sell it to them iyswim? I know I can do it legally but just would like to all be on the same page with it.

Thank you for replying, I would love to be able to let him be in the kind of situation you describe with you own children.

I think your first port of call should be Education Otherwise - you can get all their details from web - and ask for some info re; flexi schooling to be sent to you when you have yor meeting. They may even be able to put you in touch wth someone who has flexi-schooled. As far as I know it is down to the individual headteacher as to whether the school will do it.

HTH x

So, you only need the flexi-schooling for a few months? Rather than go via the statement, could you just point out that as indicated in his current statement, your son must have full-time one-to-one at school and he isn't getting it, and that is why you aren't sending him in the afternoons?

I mean, rather than doing the flexischooling officially, just refuse to send him in the afternoons as a "temporary measure" as the statement isn't being adhered to and the current provision is not satisfactory?

Then you wouldn't be jumping through anyone's hoops, it would be the LA which is on the back foot as it is their fault that this situation has arisen. In effect, if your son is flexi-schooled because the LA cannot find the right staff, they are getting you to do part of their job for them. Why should it be you who has to put in a request for this arrangement which has been forced upon you?

Well, that's what I think from the formal point of view. I can't imagine you'd get into trouble over truancy when it is the LA's failings which are forcing you to take your son out of school in the afternoons. (I don't know for sure; it isn't a situation I've been in.) They'll look a lot better if they agree to authorised absence.

Of course, it sounds like you want to flexi-school and then home educate anyway, irrespective of whether they manage to get the right staff in place. But under the circumstances, I don't see why you should have to put your energy into making this request.

Are you on the HE-Special email list? There are a lot of knowledgeable people there who could advise on this. www.he-special.org.uk

Do you know what? I am on that list and never thought of posting on there because I joined a couple of months ago but didn't want to introduce until I was in a proper position to HE. I will post on there now.

You are right I do want to HE anyway whatever they manage to get sorted. I was hoping to do it in a gentle sort of way, ie get him onto mornings only and then drift off into the sunset with him .

Your post is spot on though really. I am too nice thats the problem with my scared little whisper "is it ok with you if I flexi school ds?" He has been sitting on a computer with headphones clamped to his ears almost every afternoon I picked him up, utterly pointless him being there quite frankly.

Hi, i have just started home ed with my 8yr asperger son. After trying 3 different school's in 6 months, fighting for a statement etc, we made the jump to home ed......wish i had done it years ago. I have joined a fab online group ASD-home-Ed-Medway-Kent, members will give you any info you need to know, from flexi school to statements for home ed. The group has been a life saver for me.
Some books that would be helpful to you are:
Homeschooling the child with Asperger Syndrome by Lise Pyles, Teach yourself home education by Deborah Durbin. School's are made for children, but not all children are made for school :)