Ds1. High functioning asd, adhd, dyspraxia, hypermobile, hypersensitive hearing.

[Madcatgirl]

Hi all, I've just found this board and posted on another thread, but wanted to start my own.

Ds1 is diagnosed asd, adhd, dyspraxic, hypermobile and hypersensitive. I also suspect he has SPD. We are awaiting our referral for OT and PT. I've not heard anything from school since we went back, should I have? School in my meeting just before summer said they will not refer d's to the ed. psych as he is "too clever", they did say ds is working two years ahead of where he would be expected to be and the community paediatrician said he was genius level intelligence. What the hell do I do next? Where do we go? What do I look to provide for ds in the next years of school.

He has just gone into year 4 and his senco suggested that the local comps would not be right for him, but that is as far as it went.

Help me please to help him.

"Too clever" my arse.

Yes, his academic progress is ahead of average, but how is it for him?

Is he excelling in all areas of the curriculum, or does he have marked weakneses? DS1 has a similar profile and just soaks up maths and "facts" loves word play etc, but falls down on anything involving complex language skills. He detests literacy and becomes very demand avoidant when it's timetabled.

He has poor frustration tolerance and a volatile temper and is now in a specialist school, in year 6. He barely coped with MS primary, so, for us and others, it was obvious that he needed to be out by secondary. His mental health was suffering, so LA eventually agreed to an early transition.

On what basis does the SENCO believe that he won't cope with local MS secondary schools? Does the SENCO have anything else in mind, or are they going off a hunch? How is he doing in primary school, now?

He is excelling in all areas except writing, because of dreadful pen grip so last term he began typing lessons, if that's still going on I do not know.

Senco thinks his academic demands will not be met in comps around here, quite what the alternative is except paying for private is not known.

He is somewhat isolated at school because he is what is always described as an old head on young shoulders. He is very verbally dexterous and absorbs facts and actively seeks out current affairs and enjoys reading encyclopaedias for fun. He had the basis of currency exchange worked out at five for heavens sake!

Is a private EP out of your budget?

I suspect that, more than not being stretched academically at the local secondaries (though there's few that wouldn't genuinely try) it would be a difficult experience for him socially. He might be quite vulnerable. LAs are always keen on kids with SN having an appropriate peer group.

Does he have a strong group of friends at his current primary?

In literally have no idea what a private ed. psych would cost, but would be interested to know.

He has a couple of good friends at school, but his special friends are not actually at the school he is at.

Anything from about £500 to £2000 depending on where you are, who you see and what assessments they do.

No we are not in grammar school area. Ds is very pragmatic with his interaction with others, but can be incredibly verbally dexterous as well and trip adults up. He can come across as very rude, but he doesn't have the "filter" I would describe it as. He says things as they are, but at the same time has incredible word play.

School have now said they'll see about an ed. psych at parents evening this term if they see no progress in his maturity level. That will only be a a few weeks so I'm hanging on for that before I investigate private options properly.

We're in the greater manchester area.

In my experience you need to keep on at the school. DS was referred to the OT and while we did have to wait they acknowledged the referral within a matter of weeks.

I've found at my son's school the handover from one teacher to the next has been awful so I would check the typing lessons are carrying on. Our OT recommended a typing programme called nessy fingers which might be worth getting for home.

She had home do some basic stuff, but I think it was more that he sat down with the paediatrician and discussed some of the medical stuff in the room and could relate it to himself and incorporate information he had read on them before.

Academic hobbies? Not really, like I said he loves to read and absorb factual information, so currently that's aircraft and world war 2. He just needs to know facts constantly. He does play cello and cornet and all his teachers expressed how good he was after only a couple of lessons.

I shall chase school tomorrow about the typing lessons and try and chase up his referral to the OT.
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Yep - as with MENSA, Potential Plus do more than just acknowledge twice exceptional children and they do have Ed Psych services you can make use of if you join, though I was only a member for a year because, as with so many of these organisations, they're very South East centric.

He loves Lego and will play chess sometimes, he struggles with things like models because of the dyspraxia so ends up more frustrated.

He has done some summer schools with robotics, but his favourite thing is an outdoor summer school he did which involved things such as wearing making, camouflage, raft building and other activities along those lines. He's going again in half term. The leaders expressed their amazement at his abilities there too and how he would enjoy being part of a team, but that he found it very frustrating not relating to his peers. Back to the use of language and social interaction/behaviour again. I felt that ds got more out of his time here and more understanding from the staff than he does at school. I wish he could do this sort of learning more.

He also really enjoys Cubs and gets very involved in the activities and is keen to be a leader and enjoys working towards his badges. He can focus more on definite rewards, be it badges or outcomes.

I have considered HE, but I have my own businesses and am also studying for a degree.

Sorry, meant to add he loves to visit museums and read all the details and then talk to the staff about what he has seen. He can be very, very intense.

My dd2 is also in year 4, she has a diagnosis of ASD and hypermobile joints, she is in ms and we have asked about sn schools several times, she was refused a place in reception because she is too academic, we went to visit a school 2 years ago, again we were told she was too academic , she is doing well in MS but has barely any social skills, has no friends and often ignores people, she is working above average for reading and maths and average for everything else, we have been told she will probably go to ms high school with full support but I'm not sure if she would cope. The only sn school near by will only take children with moderate to severe LD's and dd2 isn't classed as having any LD's. I am dreading her going to high school .

Update.

Ds has been accepted onto the waiting list for the ot and pt, they think he'll be seen in December.

School have reinstated his typing lessons, thanks to whoever suggested it might have stopped. They have also agreed he can use the laptop for all lessons and SATS.

School still saying not worth seeing ed. psych, but we're going to keep on them for a referral. They have agreed to do the paperwork for an individual educational healthcare (is that the correct term now for a statement) ready applying to secondary school.

So we have some progress.

private ed psych cost £400 for administering wisc IV have to ask for raw scores and can therefore work out GAI which may be helpful depending on the profile of the test.

I've found one locally who is alumni of my university so I'll be calling him tomorrow.