A pass to get out of class

[Paleblue]

Hello, does anyone have any experience of their child having a pass/card they show to the teacher to get out of class for 5 minutes.

How does it work. Does the child get up and give it to the teacher on the way out? Do they just wave it at the teacher and go?

I would like this for my ds but haven't asked the school yet. He puts his hand up and teacher is ignoring him for 5 minutes (so ds says and he is usually very accurate with measuring time).

He suffers from anxiety, alot of the time due to noise, and needs to go to the toilet. It's what his body does when he is anxious, he needs to pee.

I think it would be so much easier if he had a pass. He would not abuse it. I heard teaching assistants discussing then on an autism awareness course I was on.

DS (7) has one. It's called a "sensory room pass" at his school (mainstream) and he wears it on a lanyard and is encouraged by his 1:1 to show it when he starts to show signs of being stressed/agitated. He does use it unprompted on occasion which I'm seeing as a positive thing as a few months ago he wouldn't have recognised his stress levels rising in time. He just has to show it and leave, he goes to an agreed place and his 1:1 follows him and stays with him til he's ready to go back to class.

I'd ask them about it. It's something this school have really encouraged and suggested to us and has definitely been helpful for DS.

It's very individual. Is it primary or secondary?

At primary the teachers should know who's allowed out. Schools are a melting pot and there will be Alice and Ben who are allowed out to the loo whenever they need, Charlie who has to take his asthma meds, David leaves for his SALT session or whatever through the day. My DD has always been one of these and there have been various techniques over the years including a password, but it comes down to the teacher knowing the child. The crux is the plan is agreed, no physical pass is needed. It can fall down when we have supply teachers in though.

At secondary our system will be a toilet/medical need pass. The child will first ask to be excused like anyone else, and will just flash the pass if that doesn't work.

Where your son goes and how he is kept safe when outside the classroom also needs to be discussed - again this will depend on his needs, his age and the school.

My autistic son would also benefit from this but he doesn't have a 1 to 1 and doesn't seem to be able to use these prompts when distressed - I think he just doesn't have the executive function under pressure. So it's an unsolved problem for us at the moment.

I've seen it done several ways. I visit schools for various purposes as part of my work and the options I have seen are:
Something you stick on your desk - you just have to blu-tak your "Taking 5" pass to your desk and leave
You must report to a specific place - they don't need permission to leave, but having left the classroom must go directly to the library, an empty office, learning support base, somewhere they can be sure of quiet
A card you hand to the teacher - you just get up and put it in their hand and go
A corridor pass so that once you are out of the classroom staff know you have permission to be there (usually more of a secondary thing)
A corridor pass which is up on the wall somewhere, so the class teacher knows you have taken it, and you have it with you when you are out of class and put it back on your return
An object - in one SEN school I go to you are allowed out of class if you are carrying the class "pet" (cuddly toy) and each teacher has a different one.

The main functions are that the teacher knows you have gone and where to find you, so in the event of a fire someone quickly knows where to find every child, and to verify that the child is permitted to be out of class. Any method which fulfils at least the safety requirement is fine. Feel free to be creative!

My daughter is allowed to get up and go to the toilet whenever she needs to, most of the other children in her class have to ask but as she has toileting issues and can be trusted to not mess about she just leaves as and when needed, probably around 5-7 times through the school day