Limit no of TA's and insist they are not shared. Has anyone managed this?

[alison222]

This is what I want to get the LEA to agree to in the Statement. It is one of my sticking points. Has anyone actually managed to get their LEA to specify it in their statement?
I wanted it limited to 3 and that they are all ASD trained/experienced and that they do not have to share otherwise the 15 hours will never materialise if they put one TA in a class and she/he is meant to cover x no of children.

I would limit it to one or at least two.

One way round this is to specify tightly the training and qualification of the TA.

If the TA has to watch the SALT/OT sessions and then apply them in the classroom setting formally and incidentally, then it just ain't gonna work if you have many TAs.

You also need 21 hours of direct 1:1 time with DS, exclusively for him. During these 1:1 hours the TA can support DS in pairs/group work/whole class work etc. But the work of the TA at that time is exclusively for your ds' benefit and as such peers for group work and pair work should be chosen for their ability in the skills being taught to your DS and not of equal or lower ability.

DS2 has FT 1:1 and has 3 TA's that take care of it, although the bulk of it is one particular TA. Not a clue actually if they are all ASD trained, although I know the main TA is ASD experienced. They are there specifically for DS2, although they sometimes include other children in a small group with DS2 to encourage socialisation skills.

We (parents & school) agreed on 3 TAs, as this means if one TA is ill, generally one of the other ones can sub with minmal disruption for DS2. Although there are 2-3 other TAs in the school that have worked as class TAs in DS2's class that he is comfortable with enough (and they have been in class with him enough to know his needs fairly well) that can help out in a pinch as well. We didn't want him have just one TA - not that it's really possible considering he needs FT and they have to have breaks.

Perhaps I should also point out that DS moves to High school in September and so this is to iron it out at this point. If there will be a different TA in each lesson if they mix them up then it will be confusing for him and won't be productive.

I would liaise with the school directly.

I used to work as an LSA in a secondary school, and it was very usual for me to be supporting different children throughout the school day in a number of different subjects. Most of the TAs are pooled tbh. I was given a list of children in each class with sn, the statemented children were my priority (and this allowed for them to receive additional support above their allocated hours) but I also knew which children were sa+ and sa, so that I could support them if the statemented child was coping well.

Tbh the children knew that mrs x supported them in English, and mrs y supported them in maths etc. if a child can move independently around the school for lessons and does not have statemented support for breaks and transitions, then they should get used to it fairly quickly.

We actually asked for different TAs to support dd2, as she was depending on her 1-1 too much, and we felt that she was becoming less independent as a result, but I can see that it might be useful for the change of environment to a much bigger and confusing school, where he is expected to move around independently for different subjects.

Contact the learning support department and ask. I suspect that for a 15 hour child, they will be supported on a timetabled basis by a small number of TAs. A ft statement might get a ft 1-1, but the secondary environment is v different except for those with complex and undebateable needs.

I should add, it worked fine. As we were timetabled, the same student got the the same support in the same class. You could still build a rapport and trust. And the student knew which TA to expect when.

When I worked in mainstream secondary with statemented students each LSA had 3-4 students and pretty much each statemented student had 2 TAs (some had 1, I think 1 had 3 but she was very very.... challenging). No special requests, it was just how the SENCO ran things.

DS has 1 TA for 21 hours classroom time

a 2nd one covers his lunch hours, (the school has just started paying for her to also cover playtimes but this isn't in the statement).

Buzzwords I used to get it in order of priority

Consistency - DS's communication deficits means he needs consistency. (This word is littered through his statement like confetti btw)
ASD trained - y'all know the lea will want to limit expenditure here to as few peeps as poss!
Transitions - DS can't handle them
Anxiety - DS feels more comfy in the presence of familiar adults & his trust is hard won.

DS also needs someone who is familiar with the TEACCH approach and knows BSL.

The 2 TA's are both kept fully up to date with DS's social skills and SALT targets and can prompt and mentor as required. They are doing a great job of shadowing his social interactions and gently nudging his independence ABA style when needed - it's often a very subtle task.

Emotion skills training in particular requires the same person to be a constant for observations, picking up cues from DS's expression which are often very subtle in nature, and as swift as the wind.

DS needs a measurable approach so we can all see when to start fading things, backing off and introducing the next social skills nuance. DS's programme would just get too diluted spread among too many individuals involved.

More than this number and we'd be in danger of too many cooks spoiling the broth iykwim.

I'd be really disapointed as too many indviduals in the TA role would reduce it to a baby sitting duty instead of the constant learning opportunity DS currently experiences. It's all about helping him to access the curriculum & he just can't do that when he is confused.

This is something that will be even more important at secondary as everything becomes more complex and sophisticated. Only a total fool would try and assign wannabe bolter and prone to light switch melt down DS more than the 2 individuals he currently has.