TAC meeting tomorrow

[NatalieJane]

Well at least a mini one.

SENCo and Area SENCo, HV, Ed Psyche and us.

One side saying ASD, one saying not ASD but something, and one saying nothing wrong but speech and language delay.

Gonna be a good'en!!

(BTW feel very free to ignore, I'm not really asking anything, just wasting a few minutes away before the next part of the day begins!)

Good luck for tomorrow :)

Good Luck! Had my sons TAC meeting yesterday and it was a pretty good outcome this time, compared to the other ones and it was only because the Ed pysche attended for the first time

Thanks :)

It went OK-ish.

Got a bit of an action plan in place, not sure how DS2 will react to it, but we will see. And we have booked another TAC meeting for when we find out which school he will be starting in September, hoping we can do a very long and relaxed transistion from nursery to school.

Head is swimming though, still no clearer either way as to what is the actual problem/s with him. Ed Psyche gave us her results of the tests she put him through, he is on the 97th percentile for spatical awareness, which would be odd for ASD, but well behind with language and comprehension, and he proved how literal he takes things. She had a wooden jigsaw with things on like some trees, a couple of houses, two children, a bridge etc. she was asking him to put the car under the bridge which he did fine, but then asked him to put a child on the bridge, so he put his two fingers on the bridge, rather than the puzzle piece which screams ASD. She is ssaying it could be just a language disorder, but I don't see how LD can lead to all of the difficulties he has

Ah well onwards we march...!

Only a paediatrician can dx ASD. EPs and SENCOs have their opinions but they are educationalists not doctors. Has your DS been refered to a specialist paed? Not everyone wants a label but it can open a lot of doors to support.

BTW my DS2 with ASD at age 5 got 98th centile for spatial awareness also and in the teens for comprehension of language. Had a good concrete naming vocabulary. I'd say it was quite common. Just shows that he's actually high IQ but autistic!

NatalieJane,

Ellen is right, only a developmental paediatrician can diagnose. A "label" as well should be seen as a signpost to getting more help.

You be careful re these TAC meetings; they are all find in theory but they can be a lot of hot air because nothing is ultimately done.

I guess no-one has mentioned the word "Statement" to you either. How do they propose he will manage in school?.

Yes, sorry, I wasn't expecting any of them to give a formal DX, more just trying to get an idea of what is going on. I do want a 'label' (if he has to have one), I want to know how, what ever it is, is going to effect his life. When we were told ASD, we were asking will he live his life? Will he ever get married, have kids, drive a car, cook his own tea etc. and we had just started coming to terms with the fact the fact that he might not do these things, when it's now all up in the air again.

And it's great that it's not quite as clear cut as 'Yes, he's on the spectrum', because that means if it does turn out to be ASD, then perhaps he's not as severely effected as above, but I can't lie and say we're happy about it, if it's not ASD, then what the hell is it? And is it going to be worse? DYKWIM?

Re. school. This is my major panic at the moment. If he was due to start school tomorrow... well, he just wouldn't be starting tomorrow, there is absolutely no way on this Earth he would be able to cope with school now. Though we have already been told that there are other children possibly needing more support than DS2, so if he got a SA, and if that led to a statement, it would be the bare minimum. It took all I had not to stand up and leave right then. As selfish as it sounds, I am not really interested in the other children's needs (that's up to their parent's to fight for), or how the nursery/school/LA is to fund it, all I care about is that my son gets the support he needs, and if it turns out that he needs only an hour's support, I won't stop until he gets it.

He can stay in nursery until he's 5 (December) after that, we'll be HE'ing until he's ready, or until they are. Not something I am looking forward to!