7 year son struggling in school.

[Homey0293]

Hi, I’m hoping someone has been in the same position and can offer some advice.

My son (7yearsold) is clearly struggling in school. We have just moved from Cornwall up to scotland. He started his new school in august and everything was going okay. Until recently. Now every setting he has been in has suggested he has autism. Everytime we got to a referral we moved ( Miltary).
Hes been having some serious issues going on. We made it very clear that he needs adult support pretty much all the time. They didn’t listen and now they are ringing me on pretty much a daily basis. Issues include being overly friendly and overstepping some boundaries with class members, him spending half his day in the corner of the classroom or behind the door crying. School work refusal, not listening to tasks and doing his own thing. Disrupting the class with his daily meltdowns.

In his old school he had a senco who knew exactly how to deal with him and made it through school with little to no issues. We’ve moved to scotland and I believe they don’t have sencos here and are called something else?
They have set up a child planning meeting with different professionals, there was suggestion of 1-1 funding, maybe needs to be out of his class and in an early learning centre full time.
I don’t know quite know how to even approach this. I’ve never had any of these issues else where and suddenly my child just isn’t coping in mainstream school.

He does have both adhd and autistic traits. He likes to run in a circle as it keeps him calm (his words). He is quite literally bouncing off the walls at home. He can’t sit still, has to be rocking, jumping off the sofa, doing something that involves him moving. He cannot regulate his emotions. He can go from 0-100 in seconds, doesn’t like answers that could have two or more meanings. The words maybe or at some point is a huge trigger as it could mean yes or no. His social skills are awful. Will talk over you or interrupt a conversation. It’s mentioned a few times that he looks completely blank when talking to him. It’s like he’s zoned out completely.

its probably going to take like 2 years to even get a diagnosis. Which would help or back up what we’ve been saying for years.

Have a look at Enquire. They provide a similar service for Scotland that IPSEA do in England. The school will have a principal teacher of support for learning/ASN.

What support is the school providing? Do they offer anything like Zones of Regulation? Are they making adjustments for DS’s sensory needs? Do you have any sensory equipment at home? Trampoline? Has DS ever had an OT assessment &/or play therapy?

Currently nothing. His old school sent tons paperwork that detailed all the support they put in place. What worked what didn’t work. The attitude of the new school is “we don’t know him so we need to wait”. Which obviously has backfired.
He has an OT but for a different issue. He is small. Like really small for his age so he has equipment in school ie a chair that allows him to reach the height of the table. He also attends a club designed to help with social skills and to help with muscle tone. OT noticed that he has poor core strength. So he finds it hard to use a pencil, jump up and down, stuff like that.
We don’t have any type of sensory output at home. It’s not something that has ever been suggested to us. But the more I look into it the more he probably does need something.

The school should be providing support now. As they get to know DS it might need amending, but that isn’t a reason not to provide support now.

Look at sensory integration OT. Sensory equipment at home and school will help.

Thank you! I’ll take a look at the stuff you suggested

I agree. Something needs to be put into place. They did mention that support can go into place without a diagnosis. It’s just them actually doing it.