Help! ASD Flight response and school placement breakdown

[ASDandus]

Where to start, our DS is currently in year 5 has ASD and we've recently hard fought for him to have an EHCP (issued Sept 21). He suffers with high levels of anxiety and will have a fight or flight response to a situation, currently happening approx 3 times per term with 2 occasions since Christmas where the Police have had to be called as he couldn't be found.

It doesn't appear to us that the small local village School are coping with the situation very well. When we ask about what support he's actually receiving we just get "we're doing all we can" no evidence or data seems to be being accumulated. It is clear that the head is becoming more and more frustrated by the situation and the undertones of aggression are despite us trying really hard to work together for 4 years are beginning to show so we are wondering how tenable his placement is as they are looking for reasons to exclude him.

The local pupil referral unit has been in to observe DS and believes that a specialist provision is going to traumatise him. We agree with this as DS appears to be very social and loves all things sport.

We are worried about moving him away from his friends especially as he moves into year 6, if we do move him we want to be sure it's the right options.

The other challenge is that we need to name his secondary school, we have a local school with a unit but it appears to be a lunchtime and break club rather than having educational element. There is another unit where the students spend approx 70% of their time in which is about 45 mins away but we're about the impact of the long days.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation with their DC school??? Help!!

Sounds like not enough support in place if he’s a) reaching the point of running (they should be spotting triggers and de escalating) and b) is able to run so far that police are involved (he should not be able to leave the premises). I’d be calling an emergency review of EHCP and taking a long hard look at what is in place, what should be in place and what school are going to do to meet the gap.

There are many different types of specialist provision so I’m rather surprised that the local pupil referral unit can give a blanket view that specialist will traumatise him. What do they mean by that? What aspects specifically are they concerned about?

Ive been in a similar situation with primary school - they weren’t meeting need and we had a tough couple of terms in year 5 in particular. However year 6 has been much better thanks to more hours of excellent 1:1 TA. My son (autistic, highly anxious, OCD, but academically capable and very sociable) was adamant he wanted to finish primary with his friends which is why we stayed for year 6 (I’d have moved him based on our yr 5 experience but as I say, the TA turned it around for us - as did anti anxiety meds but that’s a different topic)

As for secondary, start looking at all the different options including independent mainstream and independent specialist. Often the LA maintained specialist can be quite narrow - either targeting pupils who are academically significantly behind age related expectations, or those who have significant behavioural difficulties, with nothing in between. But independents often fill that gap - my son is going to an independent specialist that caters for academically capable kids who aren’t able to cope with mainstream due to anxiety and mental health difficulties. I’d stay open minded at this point and just visit lots of different schools, talk to the SENCOS and get a feel for what’s out there. Also ask on local SEN FB groups etc - often they can point you to schools which are less well known (ie. not pushed by the LA because they are more expensive but if they’re the only one which can meet need, the LA will name them).

You need to ask for an emergency review as the current EHCP isn’t meeting DS’s needs.

When we ask about what support he's actually receiving we just get "we're doing all we can" no evidence or data seems to be being accumulated.

What provision is in the EHCP? The provision specified and quantified in section F must be provided. If it isn’t you can enforce it, complain to the HT and email the LA’s Director of Children’s Services threatening Judicial Review as it is the LA who are ultimately responsible.

I agree with suitcaseofdreams, there are many types of specialist provision so do look at them, including out of areas and independent setting, as well as independent MS and ARPs. At the right SS there’s nothing preventing being social and a range of sports.

At secondary, 1hr15 is considered reasonable travel time but many travel further, so 45 minutes would be well within a reasonable time.

Yes there may be other options. The PRU person was probably talking specifically about a PRU,. but there may be other settings that only take children with. profiles more like DS's. They may be specialist independents rather than Sec 41 because not becoming Sec 41 means they can control their intake and I imagine means they can charge more. You need to do your own research to find them, and visit.

I think a 45 min journey should be ok. Lots of children walk or bus for that time (including mine) and a taxi ride would be less demanding than either in many ways.