I feel that ds1 has essentially been punished for having special needs

[coldtits]

He has been kept in at lunch time for not finishing his writing in time.

he has a recognised Gross motor skill delay, ADHD and ASD. He is expected to sit on a top set table and work without supervision beyond that given to any other 'red group' child.

He has not managed this.

He didn't finish his writing (which he hates and really isn't good at) and was kept in for lunch time break to do it.

So either he is struggling so much to write that he's not physically doing it in time OR he's messing about and losing concentration. So they punish him by taking away physical activity.

I can see why they have done this. I am LOATH to go screaming into the school and demand that they single him out for special treatment as he already7 feels differnet

What would you do?

I am no expert, but I'd have thought that if he has a specific special need that makes him write slower then they need to accommodate that with work that's adjusted to his abilities - for example, a shorter writing assignment which I'd hope they could be subtle about so that he didn't feel publicly singled out.

And I'd imagine that physical activity is important to him as he has ADHD.

What's this teacher usually like? To start with you could ask what the problem was - i.e. either he is struggling physically with the writing or he is struggling with concentration. Maybe this could lead into you talking to the teacher about different, more appropriate sanctions.

She's usually very good with the reality of dealing with him day to day, although has been slightly dismissive over his diagnosis.

Saying that, if he was messing about more than is usual for him, I want him to be clamped down on, as I want him to do his best. He's a capable child and could do very well but requires very clear, firm bounderies - howver, he's been upset this evening.

I'll have a word, maybe

Is there a SENCO at school?Does he have a statement or IEP?

you obviously need to be sure you have
the facts

on the whole, to give him a punishment/withhold a privilege for reasons connected with his disability is in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act

to put it another way: if the other children were able to work faster and he wasn't because of his disability, then that means they cannot treat him in any way differently from the other children without breaking the law

doesn't matter if he has a statement or is registered disabled or whatever- as long as he has a diagnosis and the school has been told (which is defined as 'somebody at the school has been told').

the ADHD is more difficult: if he was genuinely messing about/misbehaving, then it might be difficult to prove that this was connected with his diagnosis and not just a child misbehaving (schools clearly are allowed to discipline children with ADHD too)

but even so, their legal obligation is to work with him so that he is able to cope with concentrating on his work within the limitations of his condition

in other words, a level playing field

Pfft! I had this with my DD a few years ago, and kicked up a massive stink, and rather enjoyed telling the old battleaxe SenCo that what they were doing was in breach of the DDA. They need to differentiate the work for your DS to enable him to work at an ability appropriate level NOT a NC appropriate level (if that's not suitable for him). This makes me so . Taking away his breaktimes is just plain wrong. You need to speak to the class teacher, and if they can't suggest ways to improve the situation for your DS, you need to insist on an appointment with the SenCo. Good Luck.

has he just the one playtime so far? If so it suggest this was out of the ordinary and that he is normally set work that he can complete yes?

Go in and get the full story before you kick up a fuss. It may be that your son actually was messing about and that the task was realistic.

If she is being unreasonable with expectaitons of your son then do kick up but it seems a bit strange that this has only (accoridng to your post) happened the once and I assume he has had this teacher since september?

The other thing that becomes difficult ( as parents) is to seperate the disability based behaviour and identify and support that, and to identify the 'kid being a bit of a bugger' behaviour and deal with that.

DS2 has very severe needs, they impact every area of his life. That does not mean he cannot be a little shit on occasion. I enjoy that tbh because it is average and typical and what he should be doing.

And even when he is struggling to conform with what is expect because of his difficulties sometimes, just sometimes he NEEDS a consequence to help him focus and concentrate and do what is required.

I would be verytempted to let this go and wait and see.
You have to trsut that his teacher is allowing for his special needs unless you get some real sense that she is not.

Our tendency tends to be over protective I think and it may just be that notwithstanding his issues he was also misbehaving a little and will need to see a consequence of that behaviour if he is to start to develop some focus and self control.

I am surprised that he is sitting on the top table with no supervision. Your ds would benefit with TA support. With ADHD he needs to be outside at lunchtime to run around.

I would go and have a word with SENCO and check that the IEP is up to date. If this isn't happening request a visit for the school educational psychologist to assess your ds.

My ds has a statement of SEN, speaking from experience if you do not get the support in primary the problem will get worse in Secondary school. Your ds does need special treatment - you need to go in asap and fight his corner.