ASD and schools South Side

[Clarabumps]

We are moving to the south side in the summer. We haven't really decided on where yet but we seem to be drawn towards Shawlands. I have 2ds (5,4) and dd(5mo) We currently live on the west coast but due to a relationship breakdown, we have to move back to Glasgow nearer my family.
Ds2 has suspected Asd and we have his assessment at the end of this month. He already sees the Home Education Teacher once a week and we have a referral to a communications clinic for Speech. Does anyone else know what kind of provision Glasgow offers for things like this. I have spoken with the professionals and they obviously say that this will continue however I'd like to hear some real mums opinions.

I'm dreading moving him as he has just got settled in nursery and it took a few months to get to this point but its best to move him now before he starts school.

Hi Clarabumps, I have just read your above post and would be interested to know how you are getting on. Did you move back to Glasgow? Have you got support in place for your ds2 starting school? My ds also has suspected asd and is starting school in August.

There is an autism unit at Toryglen primary school, which a friend's ds goes to and she is very happy with it. He was placed there without a formal diagnosis as the previous school really wasn't coping.

He is ASD and very intelligent and will be going to a mainstream secondary, albeit one with an ASD unit for additional support (her preference is for Hillpark (or is Hillview? - I always get the two mixed up) rather than Govan, which (in her view) doesn't seem to seem to stretch its ASD pupils.

I can't remember her Mumsnet name (she came on here when he got referred, as she wasn't sure what to think, so I had started a thread on her behalf) otherwise I would suggest PMing her.

The other thing to think about is that CarthaQP runs an ASD rugby group (from P1 upwards) on Sunday mornings which the kids seems to enjoy (there is something about the discipline yet the phyicality of rugby which is helpful). Many of them go on to play with the mainstream kids rugby at Cartha.

In fact, my friend's ds started the other way round: he started with the mainstream rugby (and the coaches coped with him very well - one of the techniques was when he had a meltdown, to go and sit down beside one of the floodlights until he had calmed down) and then started also going to the ASD rugby (which is on before the Carthakids training).

Hi Prettybird, it is good to hear that your friends ds has got on so well at Toryglen Primary that he is going to mainstream secondary. I will just have to wait and see how my ds gets on at primary but it is good to know he could get moved before he has the formal diagnosis if things dont go well.

Once he is settled at school I would be interested in the ASD rugby group. He is doing football lesson at the moment but I am not sure how much progress he is making.

Tacal - do you know you can get referral to Southbank via your GP for autism assessment, you don't need to go through education establishment anymore? We were referred in November and assessed in April, waiting periods are MUCH better than they used to be.

Worth speaking to Enquire - they're an info service which will spell out exactly what your rights are in regards to a child with additional support needs, they were invaluable with us.

Prettybird - ha! How - after a year of Cartha - did I not know there was an ASD-specific rugby practice? Ah well, N copes well with the others in any case :)

Vonstance

Might be worth having a word with G and joining the ASD Rugby group on Facebook.

Hi Vonstance, thank you very for the info! Ds was referred to Southbank in February. Hopefully we will get an appointment soon. Who are Enquire? I will google to see if I can find info on them.

Is there anything you can tell me about the assessment process at Southbank? The longer we wait the more nervous I am becoming. Did everything happen quickly or is it a long time from first appointment to dx?

Enquire are the Scottish advice service for Additional Support in Learning. They basically advise you what your rights are in regard to securing extra support for your wee one - enquire.org.uk/

Once we got our initial appointment it all happened really quickly. We met the assessors (a psychologist and a speech therapist) at the school and went through a huge list of questions about N's behaviour. I found that quite difficult because it felt like I was listing everything that was "bad" about him so I was quite - not upset, but quiet & contemplative for the rest of the day.
After that, they went and observed N in his classroom then he went with them for his assessment which was actually really fun for him. Everything they do is structured around games and fun, it's designed to provoke social reactions.
Two weeks later we went over to Southbank and they gave us their diagnosis then went through the report with us which listed what N did well, where his areas of difficulty were and where N was being referred on to for further support. All in all, I actually found it quite a positive experience because it was the first time in 7 years where someone had said, "Actually I can see where you're coming from." N's specific difficulties are around sensory sensitivities and empathy - he can't read body language or facial expression, doesn't understand that something he says can be upsetting for someone else - and they gave us some amazing guidance on how we can 'teach' him.

Don't be nervous about it, we found it really empowering as a family to finally have an action plan and recognition that we weren't (entirely) mad ;)

Hi Vonstance, thank you so much for telling me about your experience with South Bank. I hope it goes as well for me as it has done for you. It is great that you now have an action plan in place and you sound very positive about things.

No worries - best of luck to you, too. x

My son is about to be assessed at South Bank, please to read about positive experiences.

It's good to get answers but make sure you're prepared for a bit of self-care, we found it generally positive but emotionally draining x