How do you get the school to take the condition seriously?

[Alambil]

DS is dyspraxic - he has displayed more signs of this since growing up (he's 8) and it is affecting his school work immensely.

School are not listening. At all. They say he's easily distracted (a symptom) and can't focus (no extended concentration is a symptom). He keeps getting sent out of class for not focussing and not producing enough work (handwriting issues are the main sign) - we have been told if he doesn't complete his homework on his own in the specified 30 minutes, the teacher is going to send him to homework club so he can "concentrate properly". His lack of understanding social cues is also going against him (yet another sign).

How the fuck do I get the school to see beyond the "disruptive little shit" label to the "actually, it's special needs" label?

Yes, he's been diagnosed and treated by OT but that was for his handwriting legibility, which when he really tries, is improving, but really, I'm getting desperate.

I've ordered £30 worth of books about the condition and am going to learn the details in order to call a meeting with the deputy, his teacher, the SENCo and the head but that will have to be next half term to give me the time to gain the knowledge I need.

Unfortunatly it doesn't seem to matter how knowledgable we make ourselves as parents, some schools just don't want to listen.

We have a similar issue except that Dd3 keeps her head down at school and tries to be invisible, she never asks for help [so obviouly she is not struggling].

What I find incredible is that even with a DX your Ds is still been treated in this way.
My Dd3 has no Dx but it seems likely that she is borderline AS/Dyspraxia.

Is there anyway you coud try another school?

schools can often listen to professionals when they haven't listened to parents, has the ot been in and spoken to them? You could try sending some literature in that explains, followed up by a meeting. Ask the ot to have some input on his iep specifically relating to these difficulties. Speak to parent partnership in your area if they are any good. Ask for him to be assessed by the ed psych. Tell the school you will request a statutory assessment as you feel the school aren't meeting his needs. Change schools. Just a few ideas to try if you want to

have you read the SEN code of practice very useful!

Lewis... What intervention has ds had put in place... Is he on SA+ ? and what progress reports do you have?

School should be making reasonable adjustment for him... You need to look up the equality act.

I would however have a call around the local schools and have a chat with the SENCo's to see how they would be able to help ds.

Even professionals have a hard time getting schools to listen and understand, it's a case of persistence or finding a school that is better at it.

He's on SA+ but there have only been IEP renewals - no progress reports, as such.

His IEP is confusing me too; she says on it things such as "can not focus on a one to one basis" and then in the next column says "is focussing well one to one ...." ffs

She's written in his literacy homework to "write more detail" - he has 10 sentences to write a week and it is difficult enough getting him to do 10 whole sentences, let alone two together. For example, DS wrote "We go to church" (which took 10 minutes to write and it isn't particularly legible) and she's written "...where?" and asked for more detail.

She's told us to not concentrate on his presentation at all, but the content which is ridiculous because at school, he's marked down in his spelling test when his presentation is not up to scratch.

I'm going to call a meeting with the deputy and head teacher. This has been going on since year 1 (he's in yr3 now) and it needs to change before ds gets entirely disaffected in education.

He's intelligent - beyond his years, some say, but because he can't articulate it on paper, he's struggling a lot.

His teacher has said in their "optional" SATs coming up, he has to write a page full in the 30 minutes allotted or whatever - no extra time, no support - nothing.

Frankly, I find that ridiculous. They wouldn't expect someone with a broken leg to play football, so why do they expect a child with a broken brain/hand co-ordination to do that with NO support? ESPECIALLY in the OPTIONAL SATs?

Okay.. IEPs are supposed to be SMART... However unless you jump up and down a bit you'll generally get one only worth wiping your bum on.
But you do get to put your input into these.. I'd suggest querying anything that your not happy about.

Your ds is on SA+ .. What this means to you/ds is that the school should be looking at reasonable adjustment and alternative ways of recording or completing his work... ie a laptop.. Etc etc or TA time or small group sessions or some 1:1 time... Basically lots and lots can be put in for him via being on SA+.. but you may need to push ( seriouslyget a hard copy of the sen code of practice.. It's free and well worth a phone call... In the mean time you can see it online.... It's just easier to throw sticky notes over a hard copy!)

Ask school for ds's school files including his SEN files .. You need to see what progress he has actually made and if his needs are being met... And you want written evidence of this rather than verbal say so.

Also you should have been involved with the application for SA+... and there should be yearly reviews about it...

Ask for your IEP to be reviewed termly and expect written progress evidence ( you may need to push for this).

Optional SATS.. Now I totally understand why your worried.. But let me put another slant on this.. If ds does these.. Unsupported... it will highlight his needs...

Just another add.. Parent partnership can be very useful to accompany you into meetings to minute take.
Some PPs are good some not so.. But if the meeting you call this time goes not so well.. It's handy to know that pp can and will sit in with you.. And school tend not to try and bombard you so much... As can sometimes happen.

This is just what I am hoping to avoid. My ds is in year 1 and he is being labelled just as your DC is. I did call our parent partnership and they said that they would attend at a meetingwith the school. All of the advice I have from here is to keep trying. We have seen the ot and I an going to see a behavioural orthoptist to see if his visual perception is part of the problem. keep fighting.......

Optometrist sorry not orthoptist

Lewisfan - some schools are just not good for SN/SEN children. Strategies can easily be put into place - if the school has a willingness too. For example, Mental maths - teacher says the question twice, then goes on to the next question. My DS cannot keep up. He has to try, but at a different quiet time, she goes over the same questions and lets him answer verbally. His overall mark is the verbal one. It doesn't let him off what the rest of the class are doing - or set him apart, but his results are the 'real' ones, so doesn't lead to disaffection. Not difficult - if you have the schools/teachers support.
As with Bigcar - try professionals advice to see if they will come on board with the dx. If you want to stay at the school, ask for a SA, but imho, if they are unwilling to accept a professional dx, you are likely for an uphill struggle to get the appropriate interventions anyway. Look for other schools that might have a positive approach.

And you know what? That school might be a LOT better in a couple of years if you fought to educate them and show them the way. But why should you? Argh!