DS with DCD, behaviour at school..

[JammyK]

Hi all. My 7yr old ds is dyspraxic. He is currently in Yr2 and it's been a bad year for him to be honest. Academically he's managing to keep up ok but his behaviour has deteriorated and he has lost all of his confidence and a few friends. I feel like we've had no support whatsoever from his teacher and she just treats him like a naughty child. She called me into the classroom today to tell me that he is not listening, can't follow instructions without being told several times and that he is quite immature compared to the rest of the class, he does silly things that nobody else his age would do. So she is setting up a behaviour chart for him. I feel quite upset to be honest as all of the things that she's telling me are surely part of his dyspraxia??!! Surely behaviour charts are for naughty children who can change the way they act, I honestly don't think DS can help the way he is so don't think a behaviour chart will help in any way.

I got DS referred to PCAMHS last week as I was concerned about his lack of confidence and his lack of social skills with people he doesn't know. I've been told that it can take up to 8weeks for someone to be allocated to work with us. Will they go into school and assess how he behaves there? Any advice or info you can give me would be much appreciated. I feel so alone with all of this. Thank you.

Have you spoken to the SENCO about his needs in class? Does he have an IEP?

The SENCO would be the first port of call for this, IMO. They should be able to meet with you, discuss his needs (with input from teacher on things he is having difficulty with in class), and then help come up with ways to support him. Generally, that means an IEP written out with specific needs, goals, and what is going to be done to work on those goals.

Hi. He does have an IEP but there are only 3 targets on there. The first 2 are regarding his speech (he's needed intensive speech therapy for the last few years due to a cleft palate and verbal dyspraxia) and the other target is to keep eye contact when people are talking to him. I have asked for more involvement from the SENCO but she only works part-time and seems to only operate via phonecalls. The last time I spoke to her I got the impression that she was a bit annoyed with me for bothering her. But she did suggest putting in movement breaks to help DS's concentration. When I asked the teacher about this today she didn't know anything about it but said that she generally does that with the class anyway. Really hoping that PCAHMS will go into school and give them some more ideas or techniques as whatever they're doing with him now really isn't working.

I keep in contact with our SENCO by email. If nothing else, it means I have any suggestions she makes in writing. Too bloody tough if she doesn't like you bothering her. It's her job.

Obviously there are further needs that need to be discussed and supported. I'd discuss it with the SENCO again, or barring that, go to Head Teacher and tell them that this needs addressing now.

Triggles is spot on - class teacher clearly doesn't have much understanding of what impact dyspraxia has. We had similar "duh" moments with teachers who told us ds (diagnosed with ADHD, primarily inattentive) wasn't concentrating in class. Definitely a good idea to put concerns in writing. Also if you ask for a review meeting try to make sure you have someone independent with you to take minutes. Partnership with Parents offer this service.

HI Jammyk, i think you need some support here. You may have lots of these things in place already but there are people who may be able to help you. For example, you could get Parent Partnership involved, the OT could talk to the teacher, you could get advice from behaviour support and SALT. They may decide to have a TAC meeting. You have been called in by the CT who told you that she is having difficulties. The SENCO and HT should be helping the CT to help your DS.

Thank you so much for the replies. I have set up a meeting with the Headteacher for tomorrow morning to discuss my concerns. I am going to contact Parent Partnership and get them involved as well. Have never heard of them before but having looked up about them, they sound like the right people to help us at this moment in time.

Thanks for all your help. I feel like a weight has been lifted after hearing your views on it and knowing that I'm not being unreasonable expecting DS to be supported better than he has been.