ASD Year 9 starting GCSE’s

[mrsconradfisher]

My 14 year old DS was diagnosed with ASD at the end of Y6. He is very high functioning and masks all day long so to most people he doesn’t appear to need any support. His High School obviously know of his diagnosis but I’ve had absolutely no contact with the SENCO at all and apart from moving one of his classes as he was struggling to cope with the noise in there, he hasn’t needed any adaptations. He is fairly bright but struggles to read between the lines and actually do exactly what is being asked of him especially in tests. He said he spends so long trying to work out what the questions are asking, that he runs out of time.

Im going to see if I can arrange a chat with the SENCo but tbh Im not sure what I should be asking for in preparation for his GCSE’s. I think with a bit more time, he could do really well but I’m worried as he is doing ok now that they’ll just think he will be ok if that makes sense?

Any help or advice greatly appreciated…

You need to ask about access arrangements and reasonable adjustments. The school need to apply for these for official exams.
He is already articulating that he needs time to work out and fully understand what is required. Fine manipulative difficulties may mean that he takes longer with handwriting or needs breaks due to tiring. Some pupils with autism might be distracted or even distressed by a ticking clock or an invigilator pacing around the room.
Often extra time can be given e.g.25%extra and a quieter/ smaller room to sit exams. This may be with other pupils requiring adjustments.

Has DS had an assessment by an educational psychologist? How are his organisational skills? The school may not have the resources to do so, but ask if they can provide some study skill sessions to help DS with comprehension and understanding what the questions want. Reading mark schemes can help with knowing what the examiner wants.

Not all access arrangements need applying for. Some do. As well as things like extra time, rest breaks, separate invigilation, think about other things that would help. Does DS do better when he has a reader/computer reader/reading pen so he doesn’t have to focus on physically reading the question? Similarly, does DS do better when he has a laptop or scribe so he doesn’t have to focus on the act of writing?

Thank you for your replies. No he’s never seen an Ed Psych. He describes it as the questions being hidden almost and he has to really look to find out what it’s asking. He often does things in the opposite way to you’d expect. For example a question might ask to list a natural disaster that might occur to stop people going on holiday…so you could say floods, volcanoes, forest fires etc. He said tornadoes. It’s like he sees natural disasters and doesn’t entirely read what it’s asking. The answer although isn’t exactly wrong, it’s also not what they are looking for.
Reading/writing skills absolutely fine and he definitely wouldn’t need a scribe or anything like that. I think what he probably needs is just more time to actually reread the questions but I’m assuming they can’t just grant him extra time in exams just like that.
We paid privately for his ASD diagnosis as it was just after Covid and waiting lists where we are were nearly 5 years on the NHS but it was an NHS pead that saw him privately. So up to this point I haven’t had to really speak to anyone about what support he needs.

You can see JCQ’s rules for exam access arrangements here.

Some find it helpful to highlight the key words in the question.