Annoyed that most professionals think all children with autism are the same.

[adrianna22]

Has anyone experience this?

DS school want to provide DS with a visual time table. Though I guess they need to discuss this with me first.

I do not have an issue with DS using a visual timetable, but he doesn't need it. The teacher told me that "All kids with autism love routine...". I bluntly corrected her and told her "...well DS doesn't like routine and not all children with autism are the same..".

I'm sick of all these common one-size therapies fits all .

DS is not visual at all, his more auditory but likes things that do actions and copies them.

I've got so many suggestions for the school to use for DS, but worried that they may feel threatened by this.

I have to say it's turned out with dd2 that she needs visuals much more than we thought . She has had a bumpy return to school as we thought she had understood a lot that she hadn't and a visual timetable has really helped

By the wAy op I'm not saying this is the case with your son , it's just been my experience. Polter dd2s school have been amazing and she has a timetable to wear round her neck , she carries it in an ID card holder . She has also been put back in her old teachers class

I've got the only Aspie on the planet that's crap with computers. The world just isn't ready for that sort of individual.

This is why i think it would be better if they didn't diagnoses "autism", but rather have something in the way of a diagnoses Additional needs tailored to the individual.

Hi everyone thanks for the replies.

Autumnsmum- I understand and I'm glad it worked for your DD. But we tried the visual time table when DS was at nursery and at home for four years and it didn't do anything. This could be because he loves changes and does not get anxious about routines. I felt like the nursery thought by doing a visual timetable, it gave them some kind of credit. I wished they did the other stuff with him rather than focusing on the timetable.

To the last post- EXACTLY! I feel like if I defend myself against methods used mainly by children with autism. That professionals think that I'm in denial. They need to focus on my DS needs and work out what would be best for him.

In that case speak to the school , worst case they will do nothing , but they may listen

Oh yes. Dis had visuals for snack time. He asked 'biscuit please' and they told him 'use your cards'. They had accidentally given him 2 crisps cards so he handed over one and said 'biscuit please'. They gave him a crisp and gave him a target to work on differentiation.

StarlightMckenzie- Your post made me laugh, but that's a really bad practise of how they used the method.

Starlight that's absolutely mad... the fact that he asked for a biscuit first too. Makes you wonder how these people get the job as they clearly don't "get" the children.

It wasn't school it was a preschool disability class where parents were invited to attend to learn about how to manage their kids and be supported.

Shortly after we declined to attend further sessions. I self-funded a PECS course where I learned all about motivation and reinforcement and got a good sound introduction to ABA (as well as learning the bloody obvious thing that ds did not need visuals to communicate).

It's really bad, honestly sometimes the make kids worse, what if he started relying on cards instead of words?

It did make things worse. He was verbal but his communications skills were very shaky at that point. I was scared he'd lose the motivation for trying to initiate as he had tried so hard to ask for what he wanted and then do what he was promoted to do instead. He'd done it all right despite his struggles and was rewarded for his efforts with ...... A crisp.

were you there, how did you find this out??

That smacks of low expectation zzzzz. 'Ah, poor love, he's never gonna amount to much. Let's give him a nice childhood'

I can't imagine how stuff like this makes you guys feel, because it makes me pretty angry.

One of the worst I've come across was my fruend's DD.

She was struggling in the playground, she wanted to join in but couldn't quite manage to initiate play or join in and was coming home upset about not having anyone to play with, so my friend brought it up at a meeting with the SFL teacher (SENCO equivalent) asking if playground assistants could make sure and ask her DD specifically if she wanted to join in the games they organise in the playground anyway rather than leaving her to join in under her own steam.

No. Children with autism don't want to play with other children and forcing then to upsets them.

So she reiterated that her DD was upset now because she wanted to join in.

Still no, they'd worked with many autistic children and they don't want to play with other children.

It took about a year of arguing to get the school to do anything, a year of the poor DD being unhappy every day because she so desperately wanted to play with other children and just needed a tiny bit of help initiating it.

'I've taught a child with autism and your ds isn't like him'....and your point is?