School problems again!!

[Loobie]

Background-Ds1 is 8 years old he was diagnosed as autistic when he was 6,he had started school before the dx was given and school very much were of the opinion he was a pain in the ass child.After dx it was very hard to change the schools opinion of him.He is now half way though primary 3 in a mainstream school,they tried last year to get him into an aautistic unit but there werent enough places,they are trying again for next year.This time last year they were coping so badly with him they told me he had to be taken home at lunch time and not brought back for afternoon school,this was an indefinate arrangement and no other educational provision was being made for the afternoons.I phoned my social worker who hit the roof apparently it is illegal to not provide the set amount of hours education a week.she contacted the education board who promptly kicked ass at school so school retaliated in the only way they could by expelling him for 3 days.After all this hulabaloo they have been great with him though they still have no proper funding for support for him.
Problem-He coped very badly with the xmas holidays and is having great difficulty settling back into school,his support assistant whom he is very close to is also absent at the moment.I have been phoned at home twice this week to go and collect him from school as he has been uncontrollable and violent to members of staff,which is very unusual for him.Yesterday i was called and went to the school to find him being held by the wrist by the head teacher waiting for me.He now has bruising down his wrist where he was being held from monday and yesterday,i fully understand that he was being held down for his own safety as i have to do it myself on occasion but i have never bruised or marked him in any way.I spoke to ds and both times he kicked off after being hit in the playground by another child though he wasnt able to communicate this to staff.I spoke to the ht this morning about hios bruises and the fact that yesterday he was being dragged about by a p7 child which caused him to kick off,her response was well i have to hold him or he run away and if you are saying that i cant restrain him then he will be left to leave the school and io will be called to get him.Please help what else can i do i feel so powerless and feel that they are abusing a child who has very little control in what he is doing.

Get in contact with IPSEA asap. Also the NAS educational advisory line. I don't have their number but think its on their website.

This is absolutely not on.

The trouble with both of the helplines is that they are over-run and so may take days to get back to you. if I was you I would contact the social worker again - she sounds as if she is good and may be able to kick some ass for you.

Also think you need to put in a request for a record of need (can you do that in Scotland- IPSEA will be able to help you- they have a scottish helpline). He obviously needs proper support in school.

A child should not be left with brusiing from restraint. I think maybe you need to show the social worker this as well.

Do you have an number/contact in the LEA. IME a phone call from a parent creates waves and sometimes things happen quite quickly. They do not like being contacted by parents. They will be very polite with you though but will get stroppy with the school. I've contacted the LEA with issues many times. In all cases its been sorted very quickly after I've made contact (although the nursery may have been struggling for weeks to try and sort it), on only one occasion has the LEA rep been stroppy.

Do you have a parent partnership service- you could contact them first. They should be on your side and can be very helpful.

Loobie, I don't know anything about SN kids in school, but the bruising is definitely wrong. In addition to everything Jimjams suggested, I'd write someone (maybe the head) a letter about the situation (writing down everything that happened) and send it registered mail so you have proof they received it. CC it to your social worker, so she has the documentation also.

And take a photo of the bruises. Date stamp it, if you can or hold up a sheet of paper with the date. This isn't really for any legal reasons, but if you get into a discussion about the bruising with someone, it's easier to have a photo to show them rather than describe it.

As I said before, I don't have any experience with SN kids in school or even with UK schools. This is just the way I'd go about documenting the violence done to my son if it happened.

That's awful. I was also going to suggest a photo. There aren't LEAs in Scotland, but this page seems to give the contact information you might need (along with endless waffle- I think you're in Livingston, is that right?). I do hope you get this sorted out.

I know this is an m/s school but there are very clear rules on restraint. Certainly in special schools staff have to go on special training courses. I don't think a teacher, even at an m/s school, has carte blanche to restrain without any control. You should ask the LEA for their restraint policy.

Oh Loobie - this is dreadful.
If you get no joy from the school (and from what you have written it seems that you may not...) then write a letter to the chair of governors and copy it to the head and the LEA (ior whatever the equivalent is where you are)
This shouldn't have happened to your DS.

Loobie - What an awful situation!
I can only echo what the others have said - the bruising is totally unacceptable. It sounds as though the school doesn't have a clue about how to go about giving your ds the help and support he needs. Complain to anyone who will listen.

Loobie, I'm a primary teacher in North Lanakshire. I agree that this bruising is totally unacceptable. Is someone stepping in in place of his support assistant or is he coping "on his own", as it were? Don't just accept the fact that there are no places for him in an autistic unit. If this is really what you want for him, you have to kick up a fuss. COMPLAIN!! Write to your LEA (don't know where you are, but I gather it's somewhere in Scotland.) Not North Lanarkshire, by any chance? Write to your MP. Most staff in mainstream schools (myself included) have very little training or experience of autism. IMO most mainstream schools are just not geared up to some kinds of special needs. The government bangs on about social inclusion, but fails to provide adequate funding for staff training or additional support staff. You should keep a record of everything that happens and ask the school to do the same. Record when his support assistant was absent and what other means of support was available.

The other thing you could ask is whether there is an autism outreach team that could go into his school. Ours have beein in the classroom with my son 3 mornings a week (he only goes for 4 mornings) for a term now. They are still visiting. The school say it has made a huge difference to them.

Loobie, you need to contact the Educational Advisor for your area.
I have a boy of 8 in my class who is diagnosed autistic, and his parents had results (pre me!) by doing this.
He has had a hard week , specially on Mon & Tues.
He was offered a place at a unit which was refused, so has always been in mainstream. I had him last year in p3, and asked to be his teacher again this year to lessen any transitional issues.
Sorry to ramble, but I hope this helps.
I keep getting cut off, this is my 3rd posting!
Dmum is right in that few teachers have had any training - I've had to do it myself, so only know a teeny bit- but it's more than some. Laugh is, my ht refers to me as the' expert' haha- only cos i've bothered to get off my bahookie to do it!
Jimjams asked about Record of Needs / IEP. These should lay down some specifics and you should be actively involved in them.

Thank you all for your responses.I have taken a picture of his arm next to todays news paper and have also filmed a shot on the camcorder which has the date on it too.I am intending to contact ss first thing monday morning and i took him to the h.v this afternoon to show her so she can vouch for the bruising being there.Tamum yes i am in livingston( he goes to Letham primary in craigshill)the link was very useful i will be contacting them on monday morning too.Dmum yes he is left on his own when his SA is absent,also as the school havent been given funding directly for him,so they say,his SA can be taken away and used elswhere if needed so not ideal at all.Thanks all.

That's a point too, don't they have an accident book? Surely this would qualify. We also get an accident report form whch we read, sign and return one copy. We get these for the slightest scratch, graze etc. Not that it was strictly an accident...

Loobie - I don't have much to add, just to say we were in a similar position with ds1 last year, until he got more support in the classroom. I didn't have much luck with IPSEA scotland, I'm afraid, but did get lots of support form the Ed Psych and the Visiting Teachers Support Service.
If your ds's support is liable to be offered elsewhere in the school, surely that works both ways, and if his assistant is absent then could he not 'borrow' someone else's for some of the time? Our ds1 only officially has 5 hours per week, but has been getting nearer 20 since August, with dramatic results.
Bruising quite unaccepatable, I agree with all the others.
Hope things improve.

Well far frm getting better,things got dreadfully worse.I phoned the education board on monday morning to report the incident to them,they phoned the school and spoke to the head teacher,they then phoned me back on tuesday.ds had a good week last week seemed to be settling down,but low and behold he was excluded from school on monoday,because he was refusing to co-operate in class and disrupting the class and he refused to come back in after playtime.Well im sorry but he does these things every other day but it seems that because the head teacher has had her knuckles rapped for her handling of ds she has rebelled in her usual childish way and expelled him as soon as the opportunity arose,witch of a women and worse.
Anyway on a good note this incident will help strenghten his case for a place in the autism unit which we are currently fighting for,i have been told there are to be 3 places so it looks very likely ds will get one in august,and if he does you will hear me party from wherever you are it will be so loud.

Excellent Loobie though its crap to have to get the appropriate outcome via this experience. Fingers crossed!

Loobie I really hope you get the place on the autisn unit you want after all this horribleness

Fingers and toes crossed that ds gets the place at the autism unit, Loobie.
What happens in the meantime? Will you be home-ed'ing?

If you get a place we'll join you in a cyber-champagne in ds's honour.

He is back in school at the moment,the PAG sits on 4th march and we will find out in april if he has got a place.I am just plodding along with school waiting for the next episode,they have stopped handling him at all because of me reporting the bruising to the education board so suppose thats a good thing,but then again it means they are going to be calling on me every time he isnt co-operating.Any way will keep you all posted and if he gets in to the unit,the champagne will well and truly be on me.