Ds struggling at new school....talked about exclusion today

[LilTreacle]

Ds, recently dx as and adhd, started new school in September . Got statement for 20 hours in october and school providing 5 more. School are excellent trying many startegies and doing everything they can.

Ds becoming more and more agressive as the weeks go on. Just started stimulant medication and upping dose tomorrow. No great improvement yet on very low dose for one week and may be causing aggression?

ds had some terrible days with melt downs, hitting, kicking, turning tables over , throwing books and materials, destroying the classroom. Obviously anxious and getting in astate where he cannot cope, but the triggers are so subtl its difficult to predict.

Ds not able to vocalise when he is stressed and upset, obsesses and then explodes. Without knowing what has upsett him, school not able to address the problem.

so....its early days but school are struggling to keep him in class for his and others safety. Today they tried just keeping him outside the class to reduce sensory overload and distraction, and he kicked off at not being in class , which we predicted, but they wanted to try it. Being in class causes issues, being out of class causes issues.....
Extraordinary review being requested for statement to get more hours. Autism outreach going in on monday.
The agressive behaviour is isolated to school...we dont see it at home or when out and about or at pak, parties etc. He gets stressed and spins and jumps and loses consentration but not violent.

How long have mners waited before they conclude the school environment is just not going to work? Ds is in y2.

He does sound very affected and distressed. If he isn't coping on the amount of intervention, which is a lot, then a special school would be better placed to cope with his needs. The school have to safeguard all the children in their care including your son and it sounds like they are going to struggle to do this. Perhaps the meds will see an improvement?

Poor you and him.

Sending you vibes as it's a horrible situation.

This is an awful situation for both you and your son.

IPSEA's link on exclusions detailed below is well worth reading. You need to keep informed as to what school can and cannot do if they do decide to exclude him:-

www.ipsea.org.uk/what-you-need-to-know/exclusion/school-exclusion-in-england-from-september-2012-onwards.aspx.aspx

Thanks for the responses.
Perfectly happy for him to go to a special school if that is most appropriate.
we needed to try a new school as previous were seriously useless and we could not be sure if ds issues were being made worse by lack of appropriate support and he'd settle in a more experienced environment.

placing a lot of hope that medication will go some way to help.

Thanks again

"ds had some terrible days with melt downs, hitting, kicking, turning tables over , throwing books and materials, destroying the classroom. Obviously anxious and getting in astate where he cannot cope, but the triggers are so subtl its difficult to predict."

Are they tracking the incidents and looking at them all together to look for similarities?

I was at a (special school) Governing body meeting yesterday and we had a presentation from our (in house) Behaviour Team. They meet regularly to look at all incidents that take place. They track them to see if patterns emerge identify possible triggers that may not be apparent within an isolated incident. It was quite fascinating. They said that they view behaviour as communication, not 'naughtiness'.

It does sound like the school he's in now is a positive one, but if they can't cope even with specialist advice, they may be able to arrange a setting where he can learn safely.

We had a very similar situation when ds started on meds. Although there were times of the day when he was very much more focussed and calm, there were random explosions without any discernible trigger.
The meds started at the end of sept, he was on medikinet immediate release at first but after a number of aggressive episodes in the playground that was soon switched to concerta XL 18mg, then up to 27mg. School were talking about part time attendance and special schools and have got the LEA specialist support team involved. After a week or so more the violent outbursts seemed to dwindle away.
We have recently switched to Equasym as he had been staying awake very late, despite melatonin and dr thinks this might help, but again we have seen him have a couple of 'roller coaster' weeks. Unfortunately, his class teacher has been off all week so we will not get any feedback on how he has got on this week but we think he has settled a bit although he is no where near as calm as he was on the 27mg dose of concerts. We will start equasym 30mg tomorrow and hope that's a success.
I suspect that there is a settling in period for some dc on the meds. I spoke to a support worker at a local adhd group and he told me that this is common for many dc but to sit tight and it will settle. I hope it does for you.

School are being very supportive and know the behaviour is not naughtiness, are keeping an incident book. There are some triggers or flashpoints....coming in from play overstimulated.
ds obsesses quietly to himself about what seem like minor things and then explodes 'for no reason at all'. Hours later ds will say what was bothering him, when he is not under pressure to explain himself. Other children not doing as they are supposed to (the irony is not lost on me here) seems to be a big thing for him.......but as he does not explain at the time, school are stuck for changing things to help at the time.

fingers crossed that things will get better.....just want him to not be anxious , confused and angry all the time, its heartbreaking......and knowing he is not like this outside the school environment just makes us want to take him out.....but he is gregarious and wants to be with his peers, he just doesnt quite know how to cope with them.

My ds is also very bothered by other children not doing the 'right thing' but has no concept of the fact that he has a complete disregard for the exact same rules!

Well, its good to know its not just ds that is the policeman of rules whilst disregarding them himself!

Frustrating for those around him.....clearly he knows the rules, but is not thinking about those when a great idea comes into his head.....he also does not understand why he has to comply anyway, why he cant make his own decisons and has to be dictated to by adults....its unfair and makes no sense to him.