autism spectrum disorder but not sure if he will get statment

[shutupaboutstarwars]

my ds1 has just been diagnosed with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (he is 8). the senco at school has told us that she not sure if he will get a statement as he is too high functioning. academically he is doing very well, it is everything else at school that he has problems with.
what support will he get if he doesn't get a statement?
and what can we do to give him another option than hiding under the desk when everything gets too much for him as school don't have anyone to supervise him out of the classroom (happening more than weekly) . school are being very supportive but they don't have extra members of staff able to supervise and at when there are things going on that will mean extra noise , non-typical routine etc they have asked us to either keep him out for the day or for one of us to be in as extra support so he doesn't go into meltdown and start kicking people.
also is anyone else getting freaked out by the adverse publicity surrounding the shooting in america where some people are blaming Adam Lanza's aspergers for the shooting?

SENCO is talking out of her behind I am sorry to say. It has nothing to do with being "too high functioning", the criteria for a statement is need of one.

Is he on anything like School Action Plus currently?. He should be on this at the very least. If there is no statement in place and he is not on any plan
then there is basically no support offered.

I would be applying for a statement for your son asap from the LEA and do not let any naysayers like the SENCO put you off. His needs are clearly not being fully met currently. For them to be asking you to go in to offer extra support means that something is clearly wrong here and you should not tolerate this at all. Also informally excluding him for the day is completely unacceptable either and could be seen as disability discrimination on their part. They are certainly treading on dangerous ground here if they are doing this.

You also need to consider longer term i.e secondary school too. www.ipsea.org.uk is a helpful website re the statementing process and has model letters on it you can use.

Would not get too het up re Adam Lanza as the root causes of the shooting are still being investigated. I have personally not seen any news reports citing AS but instead of he having a personality disorder.

NO NO A thousand times NO!!!!!

She is not correct by any means!!!

DS2 is academically very high and had a statement with FT 1:1 support, and now is in a local SS, doing very well.

Honestly, there is NO WAY that they can legally have you just keep him home on days they can't provide support for him or tell you to come in and be his 1:1!!!

Tell you what... ask them to put THAT in writing. I guarantee you they won't. Because they KNOW they are in the wrong!

Go through the IPSEA website as suggested and request the statement yourself.

Hi thanks for that. senco is leaving at the end of the week anyway.....
plan is start the process in the new year with the new senco. we have only had the diagnosis this week. the one day the school suggested that we keep him out was before the diagnosis and it was a day that my DH had raised as having lots of trigger factors for him.
he does have SULP group at the moment (I can never get it into my head what this actually stands for) but they do do things on social use of language and discussing situations.
we have had a lot of discussions with another parent at the school with a child with asd and what secondary schools are suitable in the area as her child is a couple of years older and she has done a lot of reasearch already.

the reports about Adam Lanza and AS are there, I 1st saw a link from Anna Kennedy's twitter account, but what I have seen so far seems to be blaming some other personalilty disorder/mental health issue rather than AS

Just remember, you do not need a diagnosis to get a statement. They are needs-based. The sooner you apply for it, the sooner it will go through. It takes a good 6 months minimum.

Just as an example, DS2 was in school for his entire reception year before he got a diagnosis. By day 3 of his reception year, the senco had identified that he had additional needs, within the week they had FT 1:1 support with him (funded by the school who then got additional funding through an outside agency), and the senco assisted us in applying for a statement. We got the statement about a month before we got a diagnosis from the paediatrician.

The school should be organising support NOW (should've already done so as soon as a need was noticed tbh!). They should be pushing for a statement NOW!

If he is getting outside agency help (OT, PT, SALT, etc), then he should be on SA+. He should have an IEP, which should be agreed upon by you as parents, and it should be reviewed regularly (at a meeting which again includes you as parent). If he is not getting this, insist in writing on a meeting with HT and senco to organise this ASAP. Take notes in the meeting and follow it up with a letter summarising what was discussed and agreed upon in the meeting.

Not having enough staff to support him is simply not an option. DS2's school had staffing issues occasionally, and we NEVER were told this. He required 1:1 support, they made sure it was there. That's what they are legally obliged to do - provide the support necessary for the child to access the curriculum.

Start a paper trail - get everything in writing. Any phone conversations or in person discussions, make sure you write up a follow up letter summarising and send it. It makes it very clear to them that you're making a paper trail and keeps them on their toes.

Sounds a bit militant, but you're the only one that is going to look out for what is best for your child.

I do find it very confusing going through all the different things about statements etc and what help is available. it has taken us 3 goes to get an appt with ocupation therapy since we moved areas. (he couldn't use knife and fork or scissors until previous occupational therapist recommended some that would help him when he was in reception)
we do have an IEP but it doesn't always seem to get discussed as often as it should. one main failing that was picked up in the latest ofstead was that the school doesn't always seem to do enough to help the brightest pupils. it is difficult at times discussing that he should put down how he worked out the answer in maths even though he can do it in his head. and as he is performing a couple of years ahead in many aspects where he has been assessed I think that is why the senco thought he might not get a statement. as I said it is not the academic side of things that he has a problem with, it is everything else.

Feeling very cross about the way the American shooting has been reported, as I heard mention of aspergers AND a personality disorder in the same interview, as though the two terms are interchangeable, rather than two entirely different things....

shutupaboutstarwars DS2 is academically quite far ahead as well, but it didn't seem to be an issue at all regarding his statement - it was pretty straight forward that he needed the 1:1 FT to cope in class. He is now in a local specialised school - now that did have the academic side brought up, but the LA finally agreed after the SS stated they would keep him challenged.

DS1 is identified as being gifted as well as having ASD. He too used to sit under desks. Like you, we were told he was too able to get any support.

He's had full time support throughout secondary. That's 1-to1 support, 32.5 hours a week. They are bullshitting you, sorry.

the senco is talking crap, as the others have said. If you want further comment on how to angle it from the ASD pov, talk to the NAS education helpline people (0808 800 4102 in UK). It's all about the sensory, organisational, emotional, social needs ohhh I could go on... that's why any child who has asd needs support in school, nothing at all to do with their educational levels, or otherwise.

thanks for the advice, now got yet more internet sites to look at. looks a though we need to focus on everything other than the academic side of things. to be fair on the school they waited for my DH to suggest keeping him out of school for the afternoon when we knew that ther would be a lot of trigger factors and then agreed with him, and also agreed that my DH could go in to help on the day in question.