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It's all going wrong

10 replies

Bonkerz · 17/06/2014 08:25

This probably should be posted in SN teens etc but I need some support so apologies for duplicate postings.

Ds is 13 and was dx age 8 with asd and odd, he was dx in 2012 with ADHD too and is on medication to help control this and his anxiety.

He has been at a private priory school since he was 8 and it's been brilliant. They have always been amazing and supportive and after the 2 failed mainstream schools it was a releif that he was in placement in a specialist school.
Once ds hit puberty we have had issues with aggression. He's always been aggressive but with the increased testosterone it has become worse.
Even more recently (the last year) things have reached crisis point a few times and school have been ringing the police when ds is in crisis.

Last Monday I received a phone call to say ds had punched his teacher in the face and they had rang the police and were pressing charges. Dh collected ds and we waited for the police who didn't turn up till Tuesday. Ds was on formal exclusion on this day. Police advised that ds wouldn't be formally interviewed till Thursday evening and that ds should not have contact with his teacher. School said they couldn't accommodate this and the decision was made to keep ds home on authorised absence until Monday 16th.
Ds was interviewed at a police station with a solicitor and the result was he was not charged with assault and that the police had some concerns over the procedures used during the incident. They spoke to the school about these concerns on Friday and we didn't hear anything back
Yesterday (16th) dh took ds back to school for a re integration meeting but when they sat down the head started showing ds pictures of bite marks on staff etc that had happened over 2 years ago. This caused ds to go into crisis again and school refused to accept him back. We don't know if he is excluded or if it's unauthorised absence or not.
Schools policy has always been that they draw a line under events once punishment has been completed but this hasn't happened and I can only assume it's because they were not happy with the police investigation.

With regards the incident basically school are saying ds was calm and targeted his teacher and punched her. Ds says he had been in crisis all
Morning (this was confirmed by school to police after initial questioning) and that ds felt threatened as he had told staff to leave him alone lots of times. He was in am open courtyard that poses no risk to him and is alarm gated so ds was safe. Apparently ds was in crisis asking to be left alone and 3 staff tried to restrain him and he hit out and in the confusion the teacher got hurt.

I don't know 100% what the truth is but the massive grey area and knowing ds as I do would lean to his side being more believable.

School have closed ranks. 4 teachers are now saying it was a calculated and controlled attack on the teacher. 2 of these teachers were seen by dh literally sitting on ds before police arrived and heard telling ds that everything was going to be ok. So their story has changed since last week.

I'm struggling with all of this.
If I believed for one second that ds attacked someone in cold blood I would march him to the police myself but I don't think this was the case and police agree. I don't understand why school are now dragging up events from over two years ago either!
We have been working hard with cahms to get ds meds sorted and are have if monthly meets with his psych for this and psych has also been into school to talk to teachers about how to support ds more during this tricky period. He is confident that once puberty slows down (huge growth spurts at moment making meds ineffective) that it will all calm down.

So sorry this is so long and I don't think I've typed everything but just wondered if anyone had been through this etc?

OP posts:
stillstandingatthebusstop · 17/06/2014 08:44

Oh no! Your poor DS and poor you. My DS3 (autism and LD's) is 12 and I worry about the affect that teenage hormones will have on him.

I haven't got any advice but, do you need a lawyer?

It does sound like school bear some responsibility for the situation. Our children are so vulnerable aren't they, when things happen and carers close ranks?!?Sad

Bonkerz · 17/06/2014 08:52

That's what scares me the most. They have never reacted like this before. Each time a teacher has been harmed they have always stated that ds was in crisis and not responsible for his actions. The problem I have is that what they described this time is so different and completely out of character for ds in every way.

Ds has been full of self loathing since the incident and has self harmed. He is insistent that he didn't even know who he had hurt until he was in full front hold and had calmed a little and was able to process the environment.

He has been punished at home for the incident and I believe the school has punished him enough too with the police involvement and sending us a bill for damage to property and the one day exclusion. Obviously school are upset that police refused to press charges but is this a reason to continue to punish ds?

OP posts:
stillstandingatthebusstop · 17/06/2014 09:24

School should definitely not be taking things out on your DS. Are you happy for him to be there? Could you ask for a meeting with school to define the way you are all going to move on from this?

troutsprout · 17/06/2014 09:32

No experience but just wanted to give you a honk. Sounds tough.
From your description it sounds odd that the school has suddenly changed its tune. Am wondering if they were not happy when the police questioned it's proceedures and this is them covering all angles in response to that
Hope it works out

OneInEight · 17/06/2014 09:32

And this is a specialist school ?!?! We have had problems with restraint leading on to violence but at mainstream and I would have foolishly hoped a specialist school would have better de-escalation techniques. I have no advice only great fear we may end up in your situation too. Sending lots of positive vibes your way.

Bonkerz · 17/06/2014 10:13

We have a meeting tomorrow morning and have parent partnership coming to mediate. It's a horrible situation to be in as I've always been very happy with the school until now. I can't help thinking it's more than a coincidence that problems started after this new teacher started!

OP posts:
ouryve · 17/06/2014 12:01

What a nightmare.

Did they tell you about the bites when they happened? It is very odd that they should suddenly bring that up and, for a supposedly specialist school, costing the taxpayer a small fortune with the promise of having expertise in these things, their knowledge of restraint and de-escalation techniques appears to be shocking.

I'm glad that PP will be at the meeting to support you. I think you need legal advice, though as it appears to me that they are trying to find excuses to get rid of your DS.

PolterGoose · 17/06/2014 17:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

coppertop · 17/06/2014 20:18

Good luck with the meeting tomorrow.

It sounds as though the outside scrutiny from the police has got them on the defensive and they're trying to justify the tactics they used by bringing up your ds' previous history.

AgnesDiPesto · 17/06/2014 20:47

'school have been ringing the police when ds is in crisis'

Which is an acceptance they cannot meet his needs. If they can't deal with the behaviour then they need to recommend a change of placement / more support / better staff training etc.

Is there any CCTV in school?

You might want to look at info on restraint here

I think it was Anna Kennedy that said if you can't manage challenging behaviour don't advertise yourself as an autism service, because challenging behaviour is part and parcel of autism at times, if you can't deal with CB you can't deal with autism.

I would go and listen and not feel pushed to agree to anything then and there. Would need to be emergency review if change placement is proposed.

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