asd nephew yr 4 wont go into school on wednesdays

[heraldgerald]

My dsis is at her wits end. He absolutely refuses to go into school, just on that day, every week and won't say why. I'm trying to help but know little. Any ideas what she can do? school say they have no idea either. Any suggestions gratefully received.

I'll ask her- see if we can pin point something. Any thing else I can ask or suggest? Desperate to help her : (

It may be PE day or some other activity he does not like. Class teacher should be able to confirm what the usual timetable is for that day.
Perhaps then the day can be represented on a visual timetable and your nephew can indicate what he is not wanting to do.
Then work on coping stratagies, it may be that he does not like getting changed, could he arrive in PE clothes? Until you know what the problem is it is hard to create something that works for everyone.

moving classrooms for specific lessons?

Could be the teachers PPA time, they school may well employ someone who covers all the PPA time, that person may not be very good at supporting him

Hope you manage to help sort it out, good luck

Thanks all very helpful. I've suggested these and she's going to ask school.

Could it be down to different seating arrangements? Either in classroom dining hall?
Can your sister speak to the Senco, does the school have an autism outreach team involved?
It's so hard to work these things out my DD who has ASD wrote in her planner for the year ahead that she would be off sick every Friday.

Another thought, could Wednesday be less structured, is it choosing time or free play?
What happens when he has bank holiday Monday off, is Wednesday still a problem then?

DS1 started to be reluctant to go in on Mondays, in year 3. I thought it was just start of week blues, until he completely refused. Then it clicked - it was all about one of the teachers on playground duty, that day. I had a hunch, after thinking through some of the reports I'd had of the way Mondays had gone when he was in, found a little hook, asked why he thinks he has so many meltdowns after break on a Monday, and it all came pouring out.

If I do anything different on the way to school, or if someone speaks to me who does not usually speak to me on the way to school, my ds then refuses to go in. He needs things to be exactly the same every morning.

Did something happen on a Wednesday that upset him?
Can you try going for last lesson, then from lunch etc and working back to a full day (it's easier to work backwards)