Schooling for borderline autistic son

[mylifeafter50]

DS was diagnosed with borderline autism from early age of 2/3 years, now 13, always attended mainstream school until he went to secondary couple of years ago. He's been in special needs school now for 2 years and we feel he's gone backwards in terms of education, struggles with maths (4 years behind) although english is good in terms of reading and writing (meets age 12), comprehension is still a challenge (again quite behind by a few years).

The school he's in does not challenge him, there's no homework, and he's treated like a 6 yr old sometimes. They even made the class watch cbeebies for one of the lessons and he got a teddy bear for an achievement. Being borderline autistic, we know he can flourish in a more intellectually stimulating environment but don't know how we can move him to another school as the local authority will go by the advice of the school. The school says they are meeting his needs and he's doing well. He does have an EHCP. The school also does not think he will be able to sit for SAT's or GCSE's which is crazy because we know very well he can if given the opportunity and support.

We're looking at private school but that again would be a huge jump for him to start year 9 whilst being so far behind and getting loads of homework, currently he gets one piece of homework for the entire term!

Anyone any ideas of what we can do to convince the LA that he should be moved?

If you can afford private then I'd get some tutoring first to see how he goes. That would be a quicker way to catch him up, a secondary school private or not won't be able to catch him up from 4 years behind in maths. One to one if you can afford or tutoring him yourself would be what I'd try first. Why did he transfer to special school? What exactly do you mean by borderline Autistic as in he doesn't have a diagnosis? The diagnosis categories are fairly broad.

Are the LA funding his place at a special needs school? If so there must be more going on than "borderline autism" as it's hard to get them to fund a place without significant need. What does his EHCP say? Understanding if there is something that has contributed to him being behind might help pinpoint a solution. I agree with PP - one to one tuition sounds like a good way to go initially.

I'm wondering what the 'borderline autism' is. We had a child in preschool last year who needed constant 1:1, would try to run off at all times, take off his poo nappy and smear it, was completely non verbal with no understanding - and he went to a mainstream primary school. I have no idea how the school would cope as he was only funded for limited 1:1 help, not constant as we gave him (and was required to stop him running away, hurting himself or destroying the classroom).

On the other hand my friend's son is high functioning but really struggling at secondary, only goes mornings and that's only about half the time - so he misses a lot of school as it makes him so anxious. It's loud and it's stressful for him. Only you know what is best for your child, you must know him pretty well. Will he cope with a class of 20 at private or 30 in mainstream? Historically private schools are terrible at accommodating SEN and he's unlikely to get much or any 1:1.

Have you requested an early review of the EHCP? It is possible to get another school named even when the current school state they can meet DC’s. You can appeal if the LA won’t, getting independent assessments if necessary. When was the last time DS had EP, SALT, OT assessments?

Have you looked at other SS?

Independent schools aren’t always supportive of SEN, especially needs at the level of requiring an EHCP and attending a SS. In order for a wholly independent school to be named in the EHCP you will need an offer of a place and to prove the LA’s proposed school(s) can’t meet need &/or it isn’t unreasonable public expenditure.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes we've signed him for kip mcgrath two sessions a week now for maths and english. His diagnosis was set to borderline autistic because he has learning difficulties but other functional in all areas i.e. motor skills and communication, although when he was younger, he struggled with communication.

He was transferred to SS because he really struggled in primary and was very behind in all subjects, the school did have SEN support and that's what they advised for him so that's what we chose and thought that might help him catch up but seems to have made things worse.

I'm not sure what EP, SALT or OT assessments are, are you able to expand on this please?

There is an independent school with onsite SEN support teacher, but the expectation is the child would have to do at least 6 GCSE's so that in itself will be a huge challenge for DS

There's no such thing as borderline autistic. You either are or you are not.

Yes the LA are funding it. He has a low attention span and finds it difficult to focus on something and really struggles due to learning difficulties. If he's taught something, he'll understand it, but then forget next day. Otherwise he's just a normal kid with no issues physically and mentally. He's very well behaved also and confident around people

Most useless comment on thread. 🙄

OP
EP - educational psychology
OT - occupational therapy
SALT - speech and language therapy

I must say though how on earth has he gotten into a SEN school without you having to know all the rules, regulations and lingo inside out and without having had appointments with any/all of the above? Most parents have to fight tooth and nail.

EP = educational psychologist
SALT = speech and language therapy
OT = occupational therapy

From your posts I think it is unlikely DS would cope in a mainstream secondary even if the independent school offered a place.

X post

What is borderline autism? My son is autistic and he is on course to get a 1st class degree from a top uni. Autism doesn't necessarily equate with educational learning difficulties. Might he be misdiagnosed or just in a really rubbish school?

DS was in the remedial set at our lousy local village primary. We found him a sweet and cuddly granny-ish tutor and he was top of the class within a year. She spent most of her time building his confidence not criticising him for being odd. We were much more discerning when it came to secondary school and he thrived.

Yes, he's been tested against those tests but only when he was in primary school. He's speech and language has come a long way and is fine although grammar is another issue.

There's no such thing as borderline autistic. You either are or you are not.

Most useless comment on thread. 🙄

I think it's a really valuable comment. People need to know this information.

It's hard enough for people to get places at a special needs school (op wording) with high needs and the 'borderline' really seems to contradict that.

https://www.autism360.com/borderline-autism/#:~:text=Borderline%20autistic%20children%20have%20delayed,of%20behavior%20and%20concentration%20therapies.

Sounds like you need updated assessments. This could be via you requesting a reassessment of needs or by seeking independent assessments whilst appealing BFI.

SALT is about far more than the physical ability to speak. With an ASD diagnosis SALT will help DS.

That article is dreadful. ‘High functioning’ does not equate to ‘borderline’. Not at all.

The tricky thing about having learning difficulties as well as autism is that the learning difficulties are going to make learning slower. More repetition and more time is going to be needed to get to grips with the curriculum whether they are in mainstream or secondary. That means the gap between a young person with learning difficulties and their peers is going to get bigger rather than smaller over time. Not only to they have a lower starting point but skills are built up more slowly.

For this reason moving from specialist to mainstream is very unusual. If a child needs a specialist school at a young age they are very unlikely to grow out of that need. a move to mainstream would also be very challenging in terms of social demands and increased independence.

It does sound like the particular special school your son is at doesn’t meet his needs though. Have you looked at other special schools or independent special schools who might have a peer group and therefore learning more suitable to his needs. Their are special schools out their that offer a wide range of qualifications including GCSEs if a student is able to access them. Your local sendiass or your EHCP coordinator might be able to point you in the right direction.

Sorry OP but that's not a link of fact, just opinion.

Does your child have a diagnosis of autism?

Unfortunately there's only two SS schools in the area and the other is just as bad based on other parent's reviews. The SS he's currently attending does have another campus which does support GCSE's but starts from year 10 onwards only and that's our current path as he will get a place there regardless.

Judging by the comments I think my best option is 1:1 tuition after school.

My Autistic DC are all doing well in mainstream. Two are very academic, my other DS has the fairly common spiky IQ profile, with slower processing. He actually couldn't count to 10 at 5 years old, when I finally got him to understand numbers he took off, went from 2 years behind to 2 ahead in less than 18 months. We've had a lot of similar confidence issues. First with the alphabet, then counting, then reading and now with spelling and writing. Each time I've had to find a way in and support him through it till he feels confident, he's so hard on himself and he shuts down when he feels he can't do something. Confidence can play such a big role in learning.

Are you sure there is only 2 SS within travelling distance (normally the maximum is considered 1hr15 for secondary)?

Personally, I think there are other options than paying for 1:1 tuition. Improving the situation at the current school (probably by improving the EHCP and if needed via a personal budget), a different SS, EOTAS if there’s no suitable school.

Have a look at independent special schools. There may be some in your area you aren’t aware of. Some are residential. They often cater more for those in between kids that can’t access mainstream but are not your typical special school children either.

What do you mean he "won't take SATS". Surely he did them back in primary school. SATS don't exist in secondary school (mainstream or sen).
Could he go back to mainstream with 1-1 support?
Or would he be able to cope with a college from age 14 (year 10)? Many colleges do special 14 -16 courses where they take GCSE English and Maths and usually something like a Btec course.
The school he is at doesn't sound right for him at all.

Borderline autistic children have delayed language development but not to the same extent as of autistic children WTF is this article? It uses American spellings, is it an American phrase because none of us have heard of Borderline Autism. It seems to think that all people with autism have delayed language, are disinterested in play and have severe sensory issues amongst other things. What have I just read? DS has none of these things and is diagnosed with ASD- the clue is in the name, spectrum.

I honestly have my head in my hands. Who gave you this diagnosis?

On top of that, your DS seems to have learning and processing issues, including memory. This will have a massive impact on development, including any qualifications. My DS has epilepsy which affects his memory hugely, similarly he can learn concepts, many of which are very high order, but then forget it. We are totally realistic about the fact that he'll struggle with qualifications due to this, although he's younger than your DS. You need to manage your expectations as it'll lead to huge disappointment for you and your DS.

Work with the school. You have a place in a SN school- like PP have said, they're like hen's teeth. I'm presently fighting the fight for DS to get such a place next year for secondary- it's a bloody uphill battle.

There are other schools further away which we're currently exploring as options also. Wasn't aware of EOTAS, does it complement SS or is that entire separate schooling?