School named in EHCP are saying they cannot meet my son's needs. - advice please

[Havannah]

My 5 year old has a diagnosis of ASD and an EHCP naming the school which he has attended since September, but I learned at a meeting today that they say they cannot meet his needs because of lack of funding to continue pay for a 1 to 1 which they consider he needs. They also say that whilst there has been a TA with him at all times, and that has been funded till Xmas, that he really needs someone who is trained to manage his behaviour, and the TA they've got till Xmas isn't. I got the feeling in the meeting that if the funding was there there wouldn't be a problem. They are saying he should go to a special school, but I want him to stay where he is because he is so happy there. The behaviour they complain of at school (throwing chairs etc) comes as a shock to me because when he is with me he is quite well behaved. They say they need someone with him who is trained to deal with such behaviour. He is a bright boy, but he does need fairly constant bringing back to task.

The local authority might point out that it would be impossible to bring his behaviour into line to be school-ready, when he is at home with just you there.

Unless you are prepared or allowed to accompany him into school in order to reintegrate him, how will this take place? Even then, he needs to be able to generalise the desirable behaviour and level of concentration, so that he can do it with other adults. Do you have a plan for this? (Not having a go, just imagining what arguments might be thrown at you.)

I personally think that you need well trained one to ones that will be allowed to work with him both at home and at school - although the school integration may happen a little later and gradually. Obviously you can work with him at home as well, but they will want a plan for him to get back into school (they seem obsessed with this) ime.

Depending on the ethics of the local authority, they can use this as a tactic to either push him into a special school not of your choosing (you should visit special schools though as there might be a brilliant one). Or push you into HE to avoid setting up a personal budget.

Have you thought about asking the advice of a behaviourist? Have a look at bacb.com. There is a find/contact certificants section.

I would recommend this - we have been doing ABA with our son for over 3 years and would be lost without it.

A behaviourist will also have a range of motivation strategies that do not involve confiscating toys or preferred activities. These punishments are effective as you have found, but positive reinforcement techniques are ethically preferred and more effective in the long term.

Some schools know they shouldn't be over-using punishments, yet sometimes lack the time, resources or knowledge to implement positive reinforcement schedules effectively. It seems you are experiencing this with your DS' school.

Thank you Brucietheshark - my idea is to have him learn within the home environment, taught partly by me and partly by external tutors. Because he will be in the home I will be around to reinforce discipline if needed. Hopefully, when he grows up a bit emotionally (he does seem to be maturing, just more slowly than a neurotypical child) and when he has a habit of good behaviour with a teacher other than me (albeit in the home environment) that habit will stay when the same teacher gradually reintroduces him to school. I know that the schools are unlikely to accept my intervention at school because I have already seen his present school's reluctance. I do think he will eventually be able to reintegrate to mainstream, and that is my aim, but at the moment his contrary and at times defiant behaviour means that in a school day he is not working apace his peer group despite his ability to do so. In one morning, at the school, he sometimes refuses to read all morning, yet on the same day & despite initial reluctance I can get him to read pages and pages - so, at the moment, to avoid him falling a long way behind I need to spend a reasonable time teaching him.
I realise that I will need to demonstrate that I am not simply wanting him to be at home - and in any event that is not the case as I would like him to be at a school, as long as it is the right school. The Ed Psych he has seen has said that he does not need a special school, so I do not think the LA could offer a special school or nothing - at least I hope not! If they did then we would just be back to him being at home, but without the assistance of the LA.

I forgot to say - whilst positive reinforcement works to some extent with my son, it works better coming from me than from others, and I think that is because he knows that I have a whole armoury of discipline tactics up my sleeve. The same positive reinforcement delivered by the school is not as successful. I think he needs to get to a point where he wants to do the right thing most of the time before he will be ready for a school environment. At the moment he becomes easily distracted by his desire to gain a reaction by being naughty. Reaching a fair level of attainment academically will give him something else to occupy his mind, and I think that will be the time he then chooses to behave because he will want to know more. This is why (against the advice of the school) I am pushing him to read, write and do maths every day. The school seem to think that the first thing to do is make him behave, without realising that the key to him behaving is to engage his brain.

Agree with you re making him use his brain - and that he responds to you because you have the ultimate sanctions at your disposal!

But there is positive reinforcement and positive reinforcement. Having someone who is qualified to the hilt and who has spent weeks/months/years collecting data and setting up and modifying a detailed schedule of reinforcement specifically tailored for your child, is a world away from the lame half-hearted ideas or sticker charts some so-called professionals wheel out time after time. Not trying to cause offence to brilliant practitioners in schools of course

Thank you - I am going to contact someone from bacb to see if they can advise how best to persuade the LA to fund them. At the moment my argument would be that, broadly speaking TEACCH methods have been tried. Now that I am in Norfolk they use something called Norfolk Steps, which is derived from the principles of TEACCH. Those methods have been tried with my son yet still they cannot manage his behaviour. Furthermore, the teacher overseeing the TA & my son is a STEPS trainer, so they can't very well argue that it has not been properly carried out. Any state school within the county (mainstream or otherwise) will be using the same methods, which clearly do not work for my son. Since seeing the paperwork relating to his EHCP review I am more convinced than ever that my son should not be at one of the special schools his current teachers suggested - it reveals that upon the recommendation of someone from one of the special schools my son is not permitted to go outside at all, and he is kept isolated from the other children. (And this despite the fact his EHCP presently states that he needs ample opportunity to exert himself physically so he can use up excess energy). My son's teacher has even admitted that the main thing that a special school would offer would be a larger number of staff who have her qualification - but if she has applied her learned strategies to little or no avail then why would having 5 teachers applying those same principles have any better effect?! Clearly a different & individualised approach is needed, but the only way we will know what works for my son is by having his behaviour professionally analysed. At the moment, at home, I am getting better results than the school by using my knowledge of my child and my instinct as to what is right. I am sure that I use methods that, because I am so close to the situation, I could not begin to write down to enable those methods to be replicated by someone else.
I am only stopping myself from pulling the plug on the school because there are only 4 weeks left, and because I hope to be able to get LA assistance to give him the education he needs, initially at home, and then back at school. I'm literally counting the days!

Good for you. I'm sure he could have a couple of 'illnesses' as well before the end of term.

Honestly I would go and visit the special schools. You may change your view but if not you can say you don't want them for your DS from a position of knowledge. Otherwise they will argue that you don't know what you're turning down. Go and ask lots of difficult questions!

If you do hire a behaviourist, look into caudwellchildren.com for a possible funding grant. You need evidence that an approach works for your son before you're at all likely to get local authority funding sadly.