Extra academic help at school

[Tiggles]

Whilst chatting with DS's (AS age 9) teacher in school she admitted that DS is not achieving academically to his potential as he does get distracted from tasks. This was picked up on during his ADOS and he is now being investigated for a dual AS/ADD dx.
However, he is still achieving (other than spelling where he is a year behind) at either the expected level to slightly above average, 2years ahead (maths) or 4years ahead (reading). So although I knew in my heart that he wasn't achieving what he is capable of, I never thought the school would do anything about it s he is obviously doing very well compared to other children. But now they have said he could do better, can I ask them for extra provision for him academically? I am going to go and see them in the near future to talk about provision in general - I have been waiting to receive his AS dx report to see what it says they observed in school. So I guess it would be sensible to talk about everything in one go.

You can always ask.

School will not only be concerned about whether he is at the expected level, but also if he has made the expected progress.

If he is on track to make 2 levels of progress between Y2 and Y6, then it'll be harder to get extra help for him. However if he isn't on track for that there is money for some 1:1 tuition and you need to ask for it.

So if he left Y2 with levels 3 he needs to be on target to be leaving Y6 with levels 5. If he is on target for that, I don't think you'd get any extra help. If he isn't on target for that you should be able to. But at 9 you are nowhere near Y6 so they may prefer to 'wait and see' :)

Well they only have to provide an adequate education. Being gifted in an area is not considered a special educational need. But most schools should look to meet the needs of the individual child and to ensure they fulfil their potential. Have to say my NT son has always been 2+ years ahead of his peers and had been on the T&G register since reception and they have done little for him, he often gets bored. However within the last month he has been selected for a maths group to run at lunchtimes for children with a particular aptitude in maths across the year groups and my other NT son has just been asked to join a writing group on the same basis; so it looks as though the school are starting to make efforts to challenge the children at the top end of ability.

My argument for children with AS/ASD is the Temple Grandin one which is that if they excel at something you have to run with it and turn it into something usable and which makes them employable. In my view a strength should be considered a SEN for AS/ASD as given their challenges in other areas in a way they need to exploit their strengths to make up for their weaknesses. To get the job with AS, chances are he will have to outperform others without AS, so in my view taking the strength as far as you can is crucial. The school need to take the long view and look at what will make your DS employable and able to live and work independently - ie give him the best outcome and if that means giving extra time to an area where he is ahead, but which provides him with the best chance of a 'normal' life then they should be putting as much effort into that as they can. If however they are saying his distractability is the problem and that is related to his AS then that is a SEN and they should be looking for ways to improve that because otherwise he won't be able to sustain his advantage when he moves into secondary school or college if he can't concentrate for longer periods. In which case they should be addressing that.

I think of DS3 (ASD) entirely differently than DS1 and DS2. He is never going to achieve across the board so my priorities for him are to be as independent as he can be and if he can to be able to earn a wage. If that means ditching lots of other subjects and concentrating on just a few as he goes through school, then I will push for that. I would rather he excelled in one thing and could get a job doing that one thing than have him fail trying to hit the markers in a dozen different things.

Thanks, both very helpful answers :)
DS left year 2 with level 3s in all his SATs, but now at the end of Yr4 is still level 3 in quite a few areas, so probably not moving at the expected rate. A specialist ASD teacher is hopefully going into school soon apparently to see what useful things can be put in place for him.

Yes, he should have made 1 level of progress between end of Y2 and end of Y4.

So he has not made 'adequate progress'. And you are quite right (SEN or no SEN) to make a fuss about that.