School threatening to ban DS from computers because he has been fiddling

[alison222]

I started this under Education but it was suggested it might be better here.

original thread

~What do I say at a meeting to discuss this and other stuff?

We have had the prliminary dx of Aspergers from the hospital but have to go back at end of July to duscus the details - ie where on the scale, what help is needed etc, so neither I nor the school have much to go on at the moment

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Alison,

Your son didn't even have an IEP until today!.

It's all very well the school trying to implement some strategies but these will probably not be long term ones. You have to look long term and throughout his school life. A statement is more long term help and could also give him real help in school.

[alison222]

Oh must preview before posting. I'd never make a secretary. My typing is awful.

Definite and chunks of course!!!

[alison222]

Attila until today he didn't have an IEP. Until 2 wks ago when we got the DX he wasn't specially identified (except for food allergies) but the teacher was just using good strategies in class.

I don't think the AS is too severe from what I have read - but there are difinate areas where he needs help.

They are going to try strategies to break up literacy work into small chinks for him to help him plan, as if he didn't have to actually write he could tell you a long involved story, his spelling and punctuation are fab etc.

They are going to do extra handwriting with him, and social skills teaching which apparently they do elsewhere in school during some lunchtimes - sounds very lowkey - playing card games (which he enjoys ) etc to help with other associated social skill not the turn taking. If it works it will be very helpful, but they don't seem to think extra help is necessary.

As I know virtually nothing about statemnts and what help they provide , I am not in a position at the moment know whether he would get anything and what help it would be IFSWIM

Deepbreath I did what your name says and took one when I read some of the other comments and decided to completely ignore them rather than getting into an argument

[deepbreath]

I just wanted to say hi, and I hope that the school has come up with something more helpful than to ban your ds from using computers.

I have very limited knowledge of aspergers, as my dd's issues are mainly physical. But even I was shocked to see some of the ignorant comments you received from your original post elsewhere on the site.

I don't understand how the teacher had been so lax as to trust even children aged 6 to not be able to get into her files. My son is computer mad too, and I found him doing things like that on our PC at home when he was 4, after a "lucky click" ! Maybe if the teacher's documents were so important, she should not have put them on that PC...

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Hi alison

You are being fobbed off!!.

There is nothing to stop you as the parent applying for the statement now. Its the LEA's decision, not schools to make. You as the parent can appeal if the LEA say no to assessment.

Think the school have given you the usual old flannel designed to put parents off applying for such documents. Also their comments about having to go through the IEP and SA plus is frankly a load of old baloney!!. He's on SA plus at the moment and it's not meeting his needs with regards to his organisational skills.

[alison222]

There were some interesting ideas on the other thread of ways to strech DS on the computer which I will investigate.

Just been to a rather truncated meeting at the school - as I had to go to work, where they drew up a preliminary IEP for the last few weeks of term. I feel it is lacking in many areas and will be trying to get them to alter it when I have the details from the hospital in July.

They have him on School action plus.

When I discussed the possibiliyt of a statement I was told because intellectually he is very bright he is not falling behind expected levels (although as far as I am concerned he isn't living up to his potential) and that the way statments are limited here we wouldn't get one. Ie his maths and reading are well above average, literacy is "normal" for his age despite his lack of organisational skills and handwriting difficulties. They also said you have to go through the IPE and Scool action plus and prove it isn't working before the LEA will consider a statement.
Is this true or am I being fobbed off as a pushy parent?

[Aloha]

I agree that he sounds as if he has a gift for this that could be productively channelled. Much better to channel his talents than go down the banning route IMO.

He is only six!

[KarenThirl]

Don't know if this might help, but ds (age 8, with AS) used to fiddle with the computer at home all the time and it was a pain. I started offering him computer jobs as rewards for other positive behaviour, eg running the virus scan, helping with backups, burning cds etc, and it stopped him needing to tamper with settings so much. He knows that if he fiddles he won't be allowed to do the 'grown-up' computer jobs he likes so much, and it's been an incentive to rein himself in when he feels inclined to mess about with controls.

Maybe the teacher could consider something similar, channel his ICT skills in a functional way by letting him help rather than keeping him away from the computer altogether without supervision.

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Alison

I know of children who have statements without any diagnosis at all. You already have a preliminary dx of AS so actually you are in a better position than you think.

It can also take six months for such a document to be set up (and that is if there are no undue delays from the LEA) so time is of the essense here also.

[Saturn74]

I would apply for the statement now, alison.
The outcome is not/should not be dependant on a diagnosis.
If your child needs extra support then he should get it, irrespective of any diagnosis.
IME it is best to put the wheels in motion as soon as possible, as it is often a hard fight to try and get funding.
Good luck.

[alison222]

Thanks for all your suggestions.
Atilla I need to wait - I hate waiting this is hard for me until we go back to the hospital to get the detailed results of the inital assessment and see where we go from there.
I don't think we can look at getting a statement until we have this can we?

Greenie - I had already wondered about a laptop for DS at home as I work partially from home and have had to restrict access to the computer - both in security and timewise too.

He is very very bright but concentration and sttention in class need help and his organisational skills for anything that needs him to write are not great. But he is only 6 after all and I'm sure some of this can be tackled and improved. I just don't know where we go from here until I have seen the consultant again

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

alison

I would also now start looking to get a Statement of Special Needs for your son from your LEA. I do not think the school will be able to offer much if any more support than they are doing now without one of these documents.

Also a Statement, unlike other plans like School action plus, is legally binding.

The issue with the computers is only a small part of his difficulties; if his needs are not being met then he will have further problems in school particularly as he gets older.

[GorgeousGroovyGreenie]

I have a Aspie son (learns at home). As Sarah mentioned we did something similar in giving him an old pc that he can re programme etc as much as he likes. With the proviso that he never does anything like that on the family pc (which is now set up so that important stuff can only be done from my windows). Of course he is older than your ds

Could you and/or the school provide him with a laptop to use in class?
Not only would he not likely be interested in doing things on the school computer but he'd still be getting IT use and possibly help him stay on task for work given to him in other areas (don't know if he has those sort of problems but mine did and working on pc helped enormously).
The laptop could be configured to ensure he can't access into areas he shouldn't
What written work he does could be printed out at the end of each class or day or whatever.

I don't live in UK so wouldn't know names of any organisations that would do this but maybe there are some charities etc that provide free/cheap reconditioned laptops? Would somewhere like the NAS (or similar) know of such a thing maybe?

I agree that SN kids need to learn to control what they can where that is possible however something like this is not necessarily within his control. Sometimes it's easier and kinder for them to have an alternative rather than feel negative about how they (naturally) are, hence my suggesting a laptop in class. Just don't see the need for you, him and the teacher to be banging your heads against the proverbial wall when it might not be necessary

Also given his young age maybe you could try some re enforcement techniques (e.g. small reward for every five minutes he leaves the pc alone, time span gradually increased). However in a busy classroom I can't see how a teacher would have time to do that.

Something I used with good success with my dd was to make up little books/stories that she would either have with her for a particular event or be hung up in a place where that activity would be done. Mine were just made from folded bits of paper glued together with pictures as well as a few words on each page describing each step

• You have a particular goal you want your child to work towards so you make a book of each step the child needs to take to achieve that aim (keep it short and simple). You ensure the child constantly reads that book when appropriate, following one step at a time re enforcing how to achieve said goal. Again don't know how successful this would be with your son - don't know how high or low on the scale he is or whether the teacher would have time to re enforce this with him, which leads me back to him using a laptop to draw his attention away from the school pc.
  Even though Aspies have to deal with similar things, each child/adult has them at varying levels so what works for one doesn't necessarily work for the next.
  
  Of course as you say if the school had a password on the pc it could only be accessed when allowed
  
  Wish I could be of more help.
  Be interested to hear about what does or doesn't work, am constantly re evaluating how I do things with my three.
  
  Good Luck

[alison222]

Christie - reading in a hurry before I dashed off.

I misread your post.
In any case i do agree with you I think that it is something he needs to learn to control. I just need some ideas as to how to get there.

Sarah, I'm glad I'm not alone. I need to perhaps get the teacher to think of ways to stop DS gravitating to the computer in the corner as he did tonight when I went to collect him.

Passworded screen saver as I have done at home - or unplugging the mouse perhaps?

[sarah573]

My DS (also AS) is EXACTLY the same. The amount of times I have had to undo settings on my computer because the little monkey has changed them!

When we reviewed his IBP his teacher moaned about her constantly changing screen saver, desktop, icons etc. FORTUNATELY they were pretty understanding, and have now changed the password, which seems to have done the trick.

He also had great fun fiddling with the smartboard at one point!!

I have recently upgraded my Laptop, and my old one (now being so old its worth practically nothing) got donated to DS, who now has lots of fun (harmlessly) reprogramming his own PC.

Sarah

[Blandmum]

Not to bad, had his chemo yesterday and as I type he is mowing the lawn! Modern medicine can be miraculous!

I had to big you up, you posted the same thing that I did!

[Blandmum]

Christie has lots of experience in this sort of thing,alison, she works in a special needs school.

As I posted on the other thread, getting this on the IEP will be a good start.

Assuming that the teacher was cross because of her computer inability was silly Minxey, we'd all be cross at lots of extra work being generated for us!

[alison222]

Christie I don't want special favours just help at getting through to him.

I aslo wanted advice at what the school can/can't do around this issue, and if it is normal for them to access stuff like this.
I have never worked in a school just varous offices and the level of security varied widely

[SoupDragon]

Isn't it a case of constantly reinforcing the rule somehow until it sinks in?

I'm sure someone more qualified than me will be along in a mo

[SoupDragon]

"not wanting to encourage a very obvious talent " No, she wants to punish him because he has destroyed the settings and stuff on a school computer.

[SoupDragon]

I think the school can indeed ban him from computers - they aren't essential to his learning at 6. As others have said on the pother thread, a better solution is to stop him using them without supervision and teach him that "fiddling" is not acceptable. As he's only just got the dx and neither you or the school have anything to go on right now I don't think it's surprising that they've taken this course.I guess you need to explain how computers are his Big Thing and that it would be better to supervise him when he's using them rather than stopping completely.

[MinxyChicken]

SoupDragon - well, I was actually being charitable.
Because it is the least insulting reason I could think of for a teacher not wanting to encourage a very obvious talent in one of her pupils.