Parents with kids with dyspraxia and aspergers in school - what helps and what doesn't?

[Aloha]

Ds is starting school nursery on Monday, and school proper in September. The school is v good with special needs, I have heard, and an initial conversation with the Senco over the phone seemed promising. Also the nursery nurse I was speaking to yesterday morning seemed sympathetic. But obviously I am concerned that ds will be OK, not bullied, given appropriate help with dressing/PE etc and given good social and practical support. What do your children's schools do that really helps, and are there any areas where I will need to push? Thanks!

That's very interesting Perfumelady, thanks for posting that. My Mum saw it on This Morning and was talking about it and I've got a feeling that's the place someone I know whose DS has dyspraxia has been going. He's 9 and apparently had a real spurt recently but she's being hesitant in what she's attributing it to. We tried having a Brain Gym lady in to do something similar with DD but she wouldn't co-operate. School are now doing Brain Gym as part of PE and she does a bit in her time with the SENCO.
Aloha, I'm glad to hear the first day went OK I can relate to what you are all saying about language, DD was exactly the same. She is a lot more fluent now and I rarely need to correct her. The physio got her going on her speech and showed me how her tongue didn't move properly from side to side or up and down, which was an eye opener at the time. And with the fantasy thing, DD is convinced that she is half human and half cat!

I contacted the Dore lot once. Be very careful what contact info you give them they have PLAGUED us with phone calls, Emails and letters. I initially enquired to get information together as to which route to take with DS. For various reasons we decided not to go down the Dore path but my gosh they are like a dog with a bone - never stop calling (and I always tick the please no junk mail/emails etc).

Sorry - I forgot to ask about the Jump Ahead programme. Can anyone tell me more - what age / is it just for dyspraxia etc. Thanks.

Aloha - you can have our mini-trampoline...

You can find info on Jump Ahead at (take a deep breath now)
www.wsgfl.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/
navigation/curriculum/special-educational-needs/jump ahead

I hope that's right - it hasn't gone blue and underlined like it's supposed to! If all else fails, just type 'Jump Ahead Sussex'into Google and you'll get to the same site.

Aloha, glad to hear his first day went well.

Well he absolutely loves it so far. And I have a meeting with his teachers and the Senco (who is absolutely and completely lovely) on Thursday.
But he is acting as if he's been there all his life and complains that the session are '(sob, gulp) too short!"
And he has managed to show them that he can read, which his old nursery teachers, for some bizarre reason, never really believed. They thought he was memorising.

Aloha, that is absolutely brilliant I think a positive first experience goes a really really long way and it's great they've realised what he can do already. It sounds like they are very clued up and you can now take a deep breath and relax for a bit over this for the moment.

That's great Aloha. My son loves school as well and they've also recognised his brightness.In fact it's the gap between the things he's good at (reading, general knowledge, vocab) and the things he's not that has got him the extra help. He's much more keen on school than nursery - too much emphasis on art and craft there for him! And they described him there as 'daydreamy and drifty' and were always really surprised when he came out with an intelligent remark (which used to annoy me!!)

Thanks for posting Cat, that's really helpful.It's always a worry to me that if I go in armed with lists etc. and lots of ideas about what to do to help my son, I'll get seen as a pushy parent and therefore one to be avoided/fobbed off rather than welcomed. I haven't ANY evidence of this so far at my son's school and your post confirms that it's probably just my paranoia!
Interesting what you say about Ed Psychs. Had a long phone conversation yesterday with our local one about whether we (as parents) should request a statement for my younger son (3 and probably ASD)now rather than waiting for the Early Years Service to do it at the end of the year.(He doesn't go to school until Sept 2007.) While leaving it up to us to decide I got the distinct impression he was trying to put me off doing it now. Wonder if there's a hidden agenda there? Sorry - this is off the point of this thread - may start another to see what people think, but not now as I must get some SLEEP!!!

not sure really where this fits into the thread but, ds we think has dyspraxia, his special teacher was surprised to find out it hadnt actually been diagnosed as she is convinced he has it. he get a lot of support in school and is improving with his schoolwork a great deal. he is eight now and in the last year has learned to write, can read a bit too. (more, i suspect than he makes out ive seen him silently reading ). i do worry about him being picked on though. he exhibits some very strange behaviour sometimes. when faced with any kind of decision for instance..he will go quiet, start wringing his hands, licking his hands and pulling at his lip in an exaggerated fashion. if he's distressed (and it doesnt take much, even a very minor telling off for being too rough with his baby sister for instance), he will start walking awkwardly, hunched up. he will stand at stare at me with his mouth hanging open. i dont know why he does this but he sometimes gives the impression that he is absolutely terrified of me. is this the norm with dyspraxic children? he has acted like this before in front of new children when he feels shy and they have called him names and told him he is "thick" etc.

Haven't any experience of similar behaviour Nightowl, but my DS jumps and does some odd movements (sort of twitchy dancing with some hand flapping) when excited or under pressure. What do you do when he does it? I've found the best thing is distraction and the worst is getting irritated (which I'm afraid I do at times). He doesn't really realise he's doing it. His teacher says he does it at school a bit too, but so far other kids haven't commented. Don't think it'll take long before someone does though and I worry a lot about him looking odd.

Hi Aloha
I have worked with children with dyspraxia.
Often children with dyspraxia need a little help with their co-ordination this can be done through fun games like throwing and catching a ball. balencing building bricks. Also copycat writing activities where you have to copy each other doing simple drawings I.e small circles turning into spiders. I did this with a group of children and they loved it because It wasn't concentrating on the issue of being able to write thier name it was about having fun.

There is a new govenment policy called every child matters. which states that schools should provide an inclusive environment. However I am aware not all schools are not inclusive . but if you are having problems you should take it further and make a complaint.
Hope this is of some help.

The things that have helped Sam so far are a visual timetable in the classroom (we bought ours from Visikids who sell on ebay, they're great, so much so that the disabilities social worker took the address) and having a timeout space he can use. Unfortunately we are having toa ddress the space, as it is outside in this weather.

When he's older, this is something that really helps Sam: he has a little etch a sketch thing (early learning)that fits in his coat pocket. As he goes thru the day he makes lists of what he sees on there, it really seems to comfort him.

Does anyone have probs with DS/DD trying to POLICE other children????

DS is 10.5 and has dyspraxia and does this all the time

He just thinks it is his responsibility to make sure they don't get into trouble

so he tells complete strangers what to do or not to do

RTKM - My dd doesn't police other children but a friend of mine whose son has Aspergers does it all the time.
It is quite funny as if he goes to the Saturday group with my dd he will tell me straight away any mischief dd gets into!

Oh, Sam does that so much!

He's worst with his brothers, but his classmates get it oo, and if DH or I dare have a drink of an evening (he says wine is worst, but he prefers we avoid WATER too!) we never hear rhe end of it.

he can be really funny to watch actually, but it must be so annoying to be a kid in his class

DS does it to strangers adults and/or children

but especially to children even older ones

He is about to go to senior sch and just know that he will do it there and get bullied

If people are playing football where they are not allowed to he goes up to them and tells them the rules

Well if he does it to older boys they will not tolerate him

IMHO he has signs of aspergers but no one believes us

RTKM - I hope you don't mind me asking but when was ds last assessed?

Things like dyspraxia, AS, language disorders, Adhd, Autism etc do overlap so much. Remember the olympic symbol?

I think my dd has AS too but no one will believe me so we are together on that one!

Yes remember olympic symbol

He had full cog assessment july 2005

A private one that found that he was Gifted and Talented in english with very high IQ

but no one believes us about police thingy

he just says he wants to help and doesn't want them to be told off by the teacher etc.

He justr can't see that it is not his job to do it or say anything

Is ds quite literal in his thinking rtkm?

sorry I am being dim could you explain

You are not dim rtkm

I was just wondering if ds was literal. Thinks black and white, hence the policing thing. do you know what I mean ? (sorry if i am not being clear)