Workstation at the back of he room - is it wrong?

[Corrimony]

It would be great to have some opinions on this. DS (Aspergers) has been happy, mostly (despite lots of difficulties), to go into his MS school for the last year. Likes his LSA. He had a workstation at the back of the room facing the side wall. About a month ago his workstation has been moved to join the rest of the class and it is now in the middle of the room, front facing.

Now he hates school and cries and screams about going in. Says he's not in charge of his work station any more; it is too busy and too loud. He wants it moved back. He behaviour has deteriorated. He has regressed in many ways. I've been pleading with them to move it back, that I think it's the only way he can be in class, but they don't want him to 'go backwards'. His last IEP had phasing out the separate work station as a goal.

Eventually, after I gave them stuff about sensory needs, they agreed to move it to the side facing the wall, but not further back and still next to the other children. They say I need to support them in insisting that it is for the best even though he is very upset and angry about it. Are they right? Is it wrong for a child to be kept at the back of the room? I understand why they want to include him, but on the other hand I know how much he needs his space and how overwhelmed he gets by busy environments. I don't know if he will get used to this. Since he was progressing before it seems so sad to throw it all away over this.

Ds used to be at the back. We had a report from Ot saying that's where he needed to be due to his sensory processing difficulties. Can you speak to ot and see if they can write a letter or speak to school about where he would be best placed in the class?

I agree with fairgame an OT would say he needs to sit in the best place for him!! The teachers need a kick up the arse a child who is clearly expressing a preference is being ignored!!

It is typical of schools who see progress as forcing children to fit their ideal of what normal is!!

Go in and tell them to move it back, assertively!!

Good luck

I'd probably go in and refuse to leave until they have seated him in an appropriate place. Is there a SENCO there at all?

I teach SEN and often sit my AS students away from the hustle and bustle.

Its partly because many teachers actually dont have a clear idea of what inclusion is!!

They think it means every child doing everything!!

We know it means every child making progress at their own level and own speed and every child being valued for who they are.

I know loads of schools and teachers who get this completely wrong!!

In most offices you will find people who like open plan and people who hate it and can only work in a quiet space. As long as he is joining in it at approrpriate times eg group or pair work and paying attention when he needs to then what's the problem. Removing a workstation is only a goal if it achieves a purpose, what was the academic or social purpose of removing the workstation? Is there one, if so can this be met another way?
Inclusion doesn't mean everyone being the same.

Would the teacher suggest that a child with hearing difficulties should learn to sit further from the teacher or a child with limited mobility try walking a bit more?

It shows a massive lack of understanding on the part of the teacher.

DS2's teachers are horrified at even the idea of a workstation. I would like him to be at a workstation at the back of the class, working on a PC and wearing headphones - i.e. replicating what he does by choice at home. He can watch and listen to 'teaching' much better this way and is in control of the pace of learning. This is considered to be almost heretical.

They would rather seat him with other DC as this is more 'inclusive'. Except these DC police his behaviour. He is not allowed fiddle toys as they distract other DC and so fiddles with whatever is on the desk. To prevent this, the other DC remove all objects from within his reach. They also tell him to shut up, hurry up, keep still, keep quiet etc etc on a daily basis but even the NHS OT thinks this is OK and is a normal part of the class - 'especially when table points are on offer'.

'Inclusion' is in danger of becoming used in discriminatory ways or to justify discriminatory practice.

Corri you are right.
It will be the usual diary and photo/video evidence to get them to see.

The logic of moving the work station would be to see if he is either more tolerant of noise/distraction or more tolerant of change. (Or just because they have inclusion wrong in their heads).

The trouble is they have done something which does 2 things at once, they have increased the distraction and done a change at the same time.

As anyone with a GCSE in science will tell you, two variables in an experiment does not give you an answer.

So either increase the distraction where he is for short periods, and see if his tolerance is improving, or pick some other way to stretch his tolerance to change which does not include changing the distraction levels.

The experiment fails on all counts.

Good Luck

Corri when I worked in a ms school, workstations were always against a wall as the whole point was to allow the dc to be "tucked away" from the bustle of the classroom.

But most teachers complained of having little training in SEN issues. During budget cuts there was practically no training for class TAs and very little for those working with individuals. Some of us went to twilight sessions in the area after school but this was in our own time and not all support staff could do this.

ouryve "would they suggest a child with limited mobility try walking a bit more?" - I've sort of had this. Ds with mobility problems was in a ground floor room for tutor period/registration in Yr7 but the whole group moved in Yr 8 to a room on the first floor not accessible by lift. So he never went to tutor period or registration again and just signed in at the office and sat there until tutor period ended. Yes I could have pushed for him to be assigned to another tutor with an accessible room but I was fighting for so much else I couldn't face this as well.

In some schools I think teachers take on/are given SENCO or Inclusion Manager roles because it is a promotion but it doesn't necessarily mean their heart is in it.

I agree with all who've said you have to push for what your son needs, provide written evidence and keep a record of everything. It's exhausting though.

keep you are right about inclusion being used in a discriminatory way!! It already is in the LA that I live and work. Where funding for support for disabled children in mainstream settings has been whittled away and settings are being told that "One to one support stifles children!!" Even the advisory staff have been brainwashed, but some children genuinely cannot access the curriculum without that high level of support!!

So much for treating children as individuals!!

In my LA working with children with SN's in mainstream settings is a fight not a job!!

I feel a lot more confident about my intuition now after reading all your replies. Thank you. I do agree with all of you and I'll gear-up to addressing it assertively with the school after half-term!

fairgame - our first long-awaited OT appointment is coming up in about a month. It will be great to have them put something in writing about this for the future.

Love that polter and zzzzz!! It is so right!!

Good luck corri

KeepOnKeepingOn1 - I do feel for you and you DS. Really sorry to hear those around him are giving him so little understanding. It is so wrong that he should be surrounded by negativity at school. That makes me wonder if part of the problem for my DS is that he is getting lots negative reactions and comments from others too. It is so hard for him to not fiddle, hum, spin his finger, tap etc, especially when he is nervous. Perhaps he has attracted a lot of criticism for this since he has been sitting with the others.

Success! After a politely worded but direct 7 page (!) letter to the Head (setting out all the ways in which ds's mental health had deteriorated over the last term and all the problems we believe to have contributed), a week off school for anxiety and then an hour long meeting at the end of the week, they have finally agreed to make quite a few changes, including moving the workstation back where it used to be. We have all agreed to a list of the signs of rising anxiety in ds, and that in the future home and school will report any rising anxiety and work together to determine the cause and come up with an action plan as soon as possible. Looking forward to a fresh start next week.