Mainstream school support ASD

[CyrstalStar]

I woulld be really interested to hear about what amount of support children are getting within their mainstream schools. My Ds has HFA and school have agreed to put him on an IEP for areas he struggles with most and get together a social group to assist him at play times. They say they cannot offer any one to one support as they do not have the funding. He is on SEN register and already getting group learning within the classroom. Apparently the class has a lot of boys who struggle academically and are below expected levels so this is why they have the group work of which my ds is part of. His intellectual ability overall is average. Our psychologists say that ds will only cope in ms school if he gets correct one to one support. Im pleased that the school on taking most things on board but I'm worried that without the more specific help my ds may fall by the wayside in years to come.
Is love to know what support other children with a diagnosis of ASD get at mainstream school and any
other related views.

My Ds has HFA and is mainstream school, he has a statement and gets 1 to 1 15 hours a week. He is very challenging though and has also recently been placed in a small social com group 2 afternoons a week aswell as 2 lunchtimes. As he struggles hugely with transitions he is spending most play times inside with a friend and a teacher or his support worker hoping to break the habit of meltdowns every time he hears the bell and then slowly re introducing him back into play time. He has a chatter club once a week also.
Ds has average intelligence (Ed psych reports back that up) but his anxiety, lack of concentration and his speech and language delay all hold him back and his behaviour is worsening.
Recently had a meeting and it was decided to get an early review of his statement to either up his support or get him a placement at a resource unit.

Sorry to hear your ds behaviour is getting worse, I hope you manage to get the support level raised for him. My ds has no challenging behaviour at school and tries to conform to what he knows is expected of him .At home he is very challenging. It must be very hard for your ds I hope he gets all the help he needs and deserves.

Thankyou, his school is trying hard and his support worker is lovely, thankfully when he is in his comfort zones he is a right little charmer so they all like him :)
It's nice that your school is putting support for your Ds at playtimes as thats the time that (in my experience) is the hardest to get support in place yet is the time that children with ASD/Aspergers etc find the most difficult to cope with and having a school on your side with good communication between you is half the battle won I think.
If every one involved with your ds is in agreement that he needs 1 to 1 then talk to your achools SENCO about starting the process for a statement if it is funding that they need. Get the ball rolling quick though because it is all changing soon and any delay might make the wait longer to get the right support in place.
Hope it all works out well for you both :)

I will try with the statement but have lost count with the amount of times I have been told he won't get one. Hope it works out for you and your ds too.
Will take a look at the thread poltergoose - thank you

I'm thinking that if a child is looking to be coping in the classroom academically and is not presenting any challenging behaviour a statement will be virtually impossible.

My daughter has NO challenging behaviour - she loves rules, follows rules and causes zero issue to other children within the classroom or in the playground. We were told she wouldn't get a statement as academically she was only just a bit behind her age. We applied for a statement and cutting a very long story short (and several appeals to tribunal though only one of those resulted in a hearing which we won) she recently started in an independent specialist school with small classes and totally set up for children like her. She is SO much happier there (despite never seeming unhappy to the staff in her old school) and at home her meltdowns only seem to happen when she is tired now which is a big improvement.

Do not allow people to tell you there are children with worse issues and therefore your child will not get a statement. At this point your concern is your child, not how he compares to others. If the school can not meet his needs without a statement then you must apply for one. Be prepared to fight but it can be done. Gather the evidence you need and present it and fight on.

Thanks beautifulgirls that's a lovely thing to read..perseverance pays! Congratulations on winning your battles.

Can u name any school u feel suitable for your child on a statement? There's a school that looks suitable for my ds not far from me it's private but specific for my ds needs. Could I apply through LEA for a place, is that done through a statement? Thanks anyone who can help

My dd has a twenty hour statement, she is academically very able (top of top groups) and she has no behavioural difficulties. Her support gives her the emotional support to cope with anxiety and any social difficulties that she might experience. In truth she is in a very inclusive mainstream needing very little support but I'm keeping her statement and the school support me in this not least because in our LA statements are fully funded.

Thanks insanityscratching..so it would seem that would be a possibility for my ds too. The fact that his current sch can't give him any 1:1 at all is a real shame. If I can get my ds a statement that states he should have some 1:1 support does that then mean the school need to do this, I assume this will be funded by the LA and not the school. I will go read up more on statements I think. What do you mean by a very inclusive mainstream, sorry to sound thick. There is a school near me that is fee paying but is for children with specific needs such as hfa, dyslexia, dyspraxia. It takes children who are able to attend ms schools but struggle to flourish to their fullest due to the differences/difficulties they have. I don't understand how my ds can be the best he can be at his current ms school with no specialist help or 1:1. I may be completely missing the point and don't want to sound arrogant but if a child thinks and learns differently to the rest of the children in his class a different approach would be needed to assist him fully in his learning, which as far as I can see his ms school cannot do. I may be worrying too much, lots of children similar to my ds cope and cope well its just that I don't want to look back and regret leaving him in ms school. I'm off to read more about what statements can and can't do. Thanks for your help

It's not our local school but a mainstream school in a deprived area, as a result they have a lot of children with additional needs, they also have children with profound and multiple disabilities.
There are lots of staff so in dd's class there are 3 full time TAs as well as other TA's part time who run programmes with small groups and then there are TA's such as the ones who do physical literacy programmes and the nurture/SEAL programmes.
Every child on school action or school action plus gets 20 minutes 1 to 1 every day with a keyworker as well as all the small groups that run daily as well.
The school prides itself on being open to all children regardless of their needs and as a result they are very flexible, very supportive and very experienced in meeting additional needs.
It's a lovely school that has grown by getting on for fifty percent in the four years it has been open so much so it's being extended to meet demand.

Ok that sounds very good thanks for your info/help/knowledge :-)

If you got a statement that specifically states 1 to 1 then the school would have to ensure that it is provided as the LA would be providing them with extra funding for them to do that. I know a few children with statements who have no challenging behaviour but struggle socially etc so hopefully you should be bale to get one with backing of school. Unfortunately my ds gets so overwhelmed he acts without thinking, he becomes more himself in direct relation to the amount of noise and activity around him and the predictability of what will happen and when, he is very rigid, literal and routine based but easily distracted.

Insanity that sounds like a brilliant school, the resource unit that I'm hoping to get for ds is actually a mainstream class that the head teacher has put together herself for children who struggle to cope with the large classes and have sensory issues, concentration problems etc and has a good staff to child ratio aswell. He would never get a place in a special needs unit as he is academically able (though he has fallen behind because he just can't cope without his TA there) but this school has a very good reputation for meeting the needs of all children, they have a class for gifted children aswell which I thought really shows that they want ALL the children to meet thier full potentail :)