Below are observations in brief over a two year period of ds in school. School are saying ds "only has these difficulties on paper" and they consider these observations as a "snap shot" of ds. Apparently he doesnt have any of these difficulties on a day to day basis and his teachers have no concerns and are therefore not following any of the recommendations made by the experts below. What can i do if school are saying these problems do not exist? (sorry its long!)
Specialist SALT Sept 09
Ds seemed quite agitated and anxious and moved around a lot on his chair. On many occasions during the assessment he seemed quite confused. Ds is engaging in some repetitive behaviours ie rubbing his mouth with his jumper. There was also some eye twitching observed, rocking and repetitive hand movements within the assessment session. At times our informal conversation did not make sense to me.
Bibic Dec 09
Ds was observed to frequently pick at his face and lips as he worked, he also swung his feet back and forth. He needed extensive direction to begin tasks.
Specialist SALT June 10
Ds permitted his mum to leave him in the room with me. However he showed raised levels of anxiety and rubbed his skin constantly. I attempted to engage ds in conversation, his eye contact became reduced and became self absorbed in what he was doing. He made no attempt to interact with me.
EP September 10
It has been observed that ds is very anxious to get things right and has a tendency to say ?no I didn?t do it?. Ds was observed in the playground, which was a large, generally open area. Ds tended to walk along one edge of the grass. He appeared content to walk backwards and forwards on his own. He did not seek to engage in play with any other pupil. I asked him to tell me about the playground. Ds pointed outside of the school and said that his house was over there. We walked for a little and when we talked ds tended to come back to the subject of his house. When asked about worries he said he worried in school when places ?looked dark and scary?.
ASD Advisory teacher visit September 2010
She observed ds was unable to change his library book without adult assistance. ds became anxious and close to tears at fruit time and needed her to prompt him to tell the teacher that he did not want fruit. During a small group assessment ds struggled with language, communication, rigid thinking and separating fantasy from reality. She observed his avoidance technique of having his PE kit, but saying he had left it at home. Class teacher reported that ds was not able to read from the interactive white board.
SALT October 10
Ds's class teacher reported that he does not show social isolation, but has not got particular friendships within the class. At times, ds can get very anxious, particularly when speaking in front of the class. He will cough or clear his throat a lot when nervous. During the observation, some anxious behaviours were noted, for example the continuous movement of his hands and clearing of his throat.
Ind SALT March 11
I observed ds in the classroom during a literacy lesson. ds sat passively throughout the discussion. ds did not engage in the task until the TA came to his table and asked him directly, after a great deal of prompting ds engaged by copying the ideas of the girl next to him. ds appeared confused by the task and needed further individual prompting. My impression was that ds did not understand what his teacher was implying. TA had to stay with ds to talk through what to do next and what to write. At the end of the lesson the TA shook a tambourine to signal that the children should stop and put their hands on their heads to show they were listening. ds did not attend. At the end of the lesson, the children had worked independently and completed far more work than ds. ds called out to his teacher that he had only done two lines.
ind OT Feb 11
Ds was fidgeting with his hands and shoes. Ds seemed to get distracted at the table. ds had to be reminded to collect his items and sit back down. ds looked down and fiddled with his pen during the discussion. When asked to collect the milk from the office, ds struggled and was confused. During the break period it was raining and we had to remain indoors. The class were told to go to their tables and choose some pictures to colour in. ds was the last child to take a seat. He was fiddling with pencils, when reminded to sit down, he did. He playfully showed a picture to a girl sat next to him, she however was busy with her drawing and did not notice ds. As ds walked around the class room he talked to himself, he then pretended to swish a sword in the air by himself. When ds was seated he coloured in by himself, other children sat at the table were talking while drawing. ds tidied up slowly and again was the last to seated on the carpet.