Son with Recent ASD diagnosis.

[JoeSamJack]

My son is in year 5 and recently had an ASD diagnosis following referral from the school 2 years ago. The DR wrote that it isn't a straight forward diagnosis as he doesnt have a lot of the traits, however with the diagnosis the school can apply for extra support. He does get fixated with certain things such as movies and certain dates (Xmas, Easter etc) and loses focus on school tasks, but when the subject interests him he does very well. He stims when bored but does it in private as he says he doesn't want to embarass himself, I bought him one of those fidget stimmer things so he felt more relaxed. He did very poorly in his SATs but the school say that his comprehension and reading ability is above his age. He gets some party and tea invites from mainly girls and one boy. We enrolled him in cubs a few years back which he loves. He has always been a lovely quirky boy but now we have this diagnosis I'm really worried about his future and wonder if anyone has advice? I want to keep his confidence up now he is approaching secondary school.

danny - with an ASD diagnosis your DC should be on the SEN register. Google the 4 Areas of Need and list out the specific issues which your child faces. It was only when I began to make requests in writing that the school paid attention

tartan thanks so much I literally followed some links and printed it out this afternoon. I have a highlighter at the ready and plan to take it into school in Sept and insist on a written plan x

I've not heard of hyper mobility. MY DS has really poor handwriting and holds the pen oddly, yet is excellent at spelling and reading. When he runs he does look a bit rubbery in his arms. He loves doing high wires in the tree tops and whilst he can climb and balance he has problems clipping and unclipping the safety harness.

Glad to help Danny. You probably want to ask for him to be on "SEN Support" as that is the legal term (in England). Hoepfully they will say yes, but some schools can be slightly funny about it. If you haven't had an OT assessment and your DS is struggling with handwriting it might be worth getting that done. Then whatever the OT suggests can go into his plan. Whatever your DS gets in usual classes he can also usually get as exam accommodations in the future so it is worth looking into.

I'm not sure what the formal definition of Hypermobility is but the old term is "double jointedness". It is caused by "loose" connective tissue. DS only seems to have it in his fingers, but his core isn't too strong and he has flat feet. It means that he has to apply extra pressure to hold his pencil rather badly. When I hold a pen it sits between my finger tips of thumb and forefinger making an arch shape above the pen. When DS holds it, his bendy fingers flatten and make a sort of ski slope shape. It takes him a lot more effort and his hand tires. One of the reasons he got such a hard time from teachers in previous years was that his reading, spelling and talking are above average - but his written output is way down below average, so it initially looked like he had a bad attitude - if you can say it why don't you just write it?! etc etc. It sounds like your DS doesn't have gross motor/balance issues but his fine motor skills might be worth getting checked. Does he do OK with buttons, zips, cutlery, laces etc? If not ask for a referral to your local OT service. They probably will not help with therapy unless he is badly affected but they might help ease through the idea of a keyboard with secondary school by writing you a report, which can then feed into his provision map?

Thanks tartan I will use that terminology! Yes he has had an OT assessment which I have shared with school so it's just that final 'so what does that mean' part that I don't think they have put in place despite lots of suggestions from me. Think it's time to say goodbye Mr Nice Guy x

Thanks tartan I will use that terminology! Yes he has had an OT assessment which I have shared with school so it's just that final 'so what does that mean' part that I don't think they have put in place despite lots of suggestions from me. Think it's time to say goodbye Mr Nice Guy x

Hi Danny if it were me I would write a letter or email. State when the diagnosis was made and ask for formal confirmation that he is on SEN Support/the school's SEN Register. Include a copy of the OT report and ask how the items listed there will be included in his Individual Plan? Refer to the 4 Areas of Need and list out other issues you know of and/or other supports he already has in place. Ask for a meeting with the SENCO And teacher to review his Support Plan early in the term. Send it now - you don't have to wait. Staff will pick it up after holidays but before start of term and hopefully get things lined up. Good luck

Thanks a lot tartan for your reply, your replies are always very helpful ! smile]