ASD Dd struggling with A level intensity.

[ArseInTheCoOpWindow]

She’s bright and clever.

Chose A levels because she wanted to stay somewhere familiar. However, one of her main areas is sensory overload. She’s struggling with homework load and intensity of it all. She hates it all but doesn’t want to go anywhere else. We’ve had another day where she refused to go in because she was overwhelmed.

Im not sure what to ask school. Less subjects? Less homework? Any advice? She’s doing 3 A levels.

think you need to apply for an EHCNA.

Without an EHCP the school are unlikely to agree to dropping a subject because of the funding implications, DD would no longer be classed as full time. In case it is relevant, this would also mean you would lose child benefit and CTC/UC for DD.

Less homework is possible, but the problem with that at A level would be falling behind with the course, which may make DD’s anxiety worse.

Is DD using any assistive technology and if not have you/she considered it? Does DD need support with organisation? Would having prior warning of the lesson content help? A copy of notes/presentations used?

Ds is very able academically but could not cope with A Levels or the mainstream environment.
His sixth form even offered to let him drop down to one A Level ( he had an EHCP). They also never expected him to do homework. But In the end, the pressure of everything was too much for him.
Mycar is right, it's really easy to fall behind with A Level study and that will probably cause more anxiety.

You should apply for an EHCNA. This could help. Especially if it gets to the point Dd can no longer manage sixth form.

Thank you this is very helpful. I phoned Cerebrexa, they advised an ECHP

Yes, she needs support with organisation.
What’s assistive technology?
And yes l think prior notes would be a huge help.

l honestly think one of the issues is she’s getting unecessary amounts of homework from one subject. I think less homework all round is maybe best.

Its so hard.

@Punxsutawney What is your Ds doing now?

She needs the social contact of school.

Ds is 18 and now attends a specialist independent Futher education college. Funded by our LA.
He's doing a BTEC and one GCSE.
DS has 10 GCSES including five grade 9's. But the level of study he's doing at the moment is right for him. He could have sat A Levels there and they were keen for him to do that as he's 'bright'. But we were concerned about his ability to cope and the LA Educational psychologist agreed with that. Ds masks his emotional difficulties and it can seem that things are fine when they are anything but. So he needs educational input that is manageable and not too pressured, even if he has the potential to do more. No point him having A Levels if he can't function in the rest of his life.

We chose this placement not for the academics, as much as for the therapeutic input.
It's taking Ds a long time to settle and there is still some way to go. He needs this extra time in futher education to progress in many ways. He was nowhere close to the same emotional maturity as his mainstream peers. And also has significant MH difficulties and needs help with independent living.
I'm hopeful his EHCP will support him with all of this, until he no longer needs it and he's ready for the next stage of his life.

Assistive technology is things like text to speech software, speech to text software, mindmapping software that can help with organisation, enhanced spell checkers, brain in hand which can help with organisation and anxiety.

An EHCNA will help you/others/DD understand her needs better. There are often hidden needs that are exposed. For example, we/others always assumed DS3 had a good memory, and he does have a superb long term memory that masked a poor working memory. The EHCNA highlighted this and it explains some of his difficulties.

An EHCP will also give DD access to therapies she wouldn’t otherwise get such as SALT, OT, MH therapies.

If DD can’t cope with mainstream school/college there are other options that would still give the social contact.

I don’t know where the “I” went at the beginning of my pp .

No point him having A Levels if he can't function in the rest of his life.

I agree, Punx, academics can always come later. There’s no rush to get A levels now the EHCP can continue until DS is 25 or 26.

Is she using her free periods to get on with some of the homework? At ds's school there seems to be a lot of 'study period' time to get homework done at school. Is she struggling to organise herself during those times or maybe struggling to filter out distractions in those periods? If so maybe there is somewhere quieter she could work like the library? Mine has ASD and I tell him what needs doing each day during his study periods otherwise he'd spend his whole time designing computer games!

Also could she (or you) talk to the teacher who is setting a lot of homework and say she is struggling. Is she a perfectionist at all? Maybe she needs to do the homework to the level that she can in the time that she has (even if it's not her very, very best work). She might need help with time boundaries and when to stop perhaps. For example she does an hour after school each day and an hour or two each day of the weekend at set times and anything she doesn't get done she doesn't have to worry about.

Does she have the CPG books for her subjects and board? I've always found them really helpful for ds, giving a clear concise overview of what he is doing without being too complicated or wordy.

The priority has to be her going to school if she is going to continue with A-levels. I would tell her that even if she doesn't do any homework because she's too overwhelmed that that's ok - but if she misses lessons she'll fall behind and that just makes everything difficult for her as she's missing the input. I would also speak to the pastoral team and get more support from them for her perhaps. Talk to all her teachers/SENCO or her head of year (ask her who's nicest and most helpful!) and tell them that due to her ASD she's struggling with feeling overwhelmed by homework and get them in on it to help.

I would help her as much as you can with the organisational stuff - it sounds like she really struggles with executive function - you just have to be a real helicopter parent I find with kids with ASD just to help them cope, get the stuff done that they need to and get through the day.

The more days she has off the harder it will be to go back so do all you can to get her support at school and do everything you can to (gently) persuade her in. Also consider getting her help for anxiety, speak to your GP perhaps. Goodluck!

That’s really helpful. Thank you.

l think some of her study periods she uses to decompress tbh.

I just want to come back and say thank you for your help.

The school agreed to drop one A level this year, and pick another up next year. So 3 A levels in 3 years. They were great about it