oh lordie, I don't think I am going to like the new autism advisory woman

[HecateGoddessOfTheNight]

she's really something!

Children with autism are...
Children with autism feel...
children with autism react...
children with autism do...

and then proceeded to tell me what my son thinks and how he feels - she's never even ruddy MET him!

I bloody HATE that. Children are individuals and don't have a single motivation or feeling that applies to them all just because they have autism.

I can tell we are not going to get on.

Do you get on with the 'professionals' involved with your child(ren) and if not, how do you deal with it?

Sorry Hectate. I'll withdraw my bad advice

I have never had any advice from any professionals. So it seems I'm the lucky one. :)

it's not bad advice. It is good and sage advice.

You just didn't meet this woman

Honestly. I can just tell I am going to have trouble with her. Knows everything about autism, her daughter IS autism and every child is measured against her daughter. Professional conversations tip into anecdotes about her daughter.

And the look she gave me when I said I did not agree with her analysis! Well. She went from nice smile and friendly posture to a flash of something very nasty. Just for a second. I saw it in her eyes. 'How DARE you not agree with me.' She looked - vicious. That is the only word for it.

Thing is, I've been here before. A TA who knew everything - and tried to make out I knew nothing! Even down to shouting me down in meetings "No. No....

I have a more positive experience! The autism advisor teacher in my area is fantastic!!! She would NEVER say the things the OP mentioned.

She is a wonderful lady and the most clued up person on autism I have met - she sees it as a vocation and keeps bang up to date. She has some strong opinions and is particularly good around sensory issues. Her husband has autism and her insights on life are fascinating.

She is currently co leading the Early Bird plus course as DS special school - the other leader is the SALT based at the school who is also fantastic.

There are some good professionals out there - but not nearly enough!!!

I'm glad to hear that.

The woman this numpty replaced was fantastic! If I'd known what I was going to get once she retired I would have camped outside her house, staging a protest, until she agreed to stay on

And the SENCO at my eldest son's school is bloody marvelous!

There are some great people out there who really know their stuff. And whenever I find one, I cling on until they start muttering about restraining orders

But this woman - oh gawd. I'm dreading dealing with her.

oh - and the TAs etc at my youngest's school! They're fab too.

And so was the old inclusion officer from the lea. I miss her. She was so fierce in her protection of 'her' kids and making sure they were treated right. One of the first things she ever said to me was when we were talking about a problem my eldest son had and she said "If it's a problem to him, then it's a problem."

I fell in love right there and then

Why do people keep insisting on bloody retiring? There's no need for it and it's damned inconsiderate if you ask me

Oh if there's one thing I an't hack it'ss a professional who claims to know mroe than you about your child when they enver even met them; we currently hs an ed psych telling us ds3 would be OK in MS comp even though he struggles in his Base and she has never met him.

She can do one.

Mind I wish some around here would retire in about a year as I shall be looking for a job

Oh bugger I should add I am Peachy to every posy shuldn't I/

Going to namechange back LOL

our autism teacher is very nice, but when I asked her about jolly phonics and signed fingerspelling, and whole word recognition she said, basically do what the SLT says as she is very knowledgable. (The SLT was recommending what I recommended she recommend, re signing LoL).

Our team is mainly poor sadly but therea re clar reasons for this- namely on EP covering the area as a locum and each school an only refer 2 kids a year max and hence system going under.

I just speak to university bods now, much better and most of them linked to dyscovery and specialist in their field (OT, SLT etc) anyway

Hecate isn't wrong in her initial assessment of the woman, my dd had the misfortune to have her too, she's a witch and an ignorant, unhelpful one to boot.

oh i know what you mean about autism advisory ladies .
my little fella has severe autism and just doesnt do toys or crafts at all loll.
asd advisory lady worked with him at school 1 anfternoon and told me they had had a fantastic time making a crocodile out of an eggbox,she was gushing that he suggested it and his imagination was through the roof with all these fantastic ideas(never in a million years)
anyway when i picked him up and was presented with this masterpiece i said to him wow whats that,he replied with an "eggbox," i said where we going to put it for people to see,he looked at me like i was from another planet and shouted" RECYCLE BIN."
oh the look on her face was priceless but i was so proud of him for using 2 news words lol

Oh my one said 'Your expectations are unrealistic. He has ASD and it isn't going to go away Mrs Starlight. The gap between him and his peers is going to get wider and wider.'

Not to mention the whole 'He's a visual learner. He needs a choice board. He needs to sit on a coloured spot on his own to learn about space.' and 'He is doing really well for a child with ASD' .