Auties transition to Year 1 - thread 3

[LightTripper]

This is the continuation of the thread for parents and carers of autistic children in reception year at school, going into Year 1 in the autumn. All welcome (also parents with older or younger children who want to ask questions or share their wisdom!)

Welcome!

Apologies about typos meant to say 'do you work OR can you have a nap' and DD is not short this morning but shouty...

Hi everyone, sorry I've been a bit quiet. Had a really tricky few days with ds, loads of sensory seeking behaviour and non-stop anxiety questions. He has finally gone back to school today! Bit tricky to get him dressed and out the house but DH said he was ok once in (albeit a bit confused about moving classrooms).
They have made him a really lovely space in the classroom, which is a bit like an office cubicle, so he has his own area and can block out the rest of the room if it gets too much. The teachers seem really on it this term so hopefully it will all go ok.

Light your post made me laugh. I played the violin in primary school, not sure my parents have ever forgiven me!

Open I totally feel your pain on taking back threats. It happens here much more often than I would like. It's so tricky to get right when you are frustrated.

Hi littleswede hope your dd has a good day today. We never did half days with my ds as he needs things to be consistent from the start and we thought half days would confuse him. He's better when he hits the ground running. Having said that he was one of the oldest when he started so that was an advantage in relation to tiredness.

Hope everything is going well danni. Ds also has red as his favourite colour.

Harley I hope things are getting better for you. Just building on what open said the ONLY legal criteria for an EHCP assessment is that your child may have SEN and he may need the support of an EHCP. The whole thing about spending over £6000 is nonsense. There is nothing about financial support in the law at all.
So you wanting to be looking at what extra support he is getting in school and whether it is sustainable.
Another good thing to look for in trying to get an assessment is whether he needs support from professionals that he cannot get access to without an EHCP.
The other thing is that he will only get an EHCP if things are framed as training or education. So all the toileting stuff needs to be looked at in terms of training and whether it affects his access to education/learning, which it clearly does.

I just realised i missed alot of post sorry everyone.

I think todays update will answer most of the questions.
Hes been up all night saying his bed is full of bad dreams because he's had a bad day at school. He told me he soiled alot at school yesterday as he couldnt go to sunshine group.
The school has no plans to reintergrate but school honestly tell me nothing and i wasn't even aware he was going to sunshine group. I email most nights with updates moods things hes telling me on how hes struggling. I don't get anything back. They refuse to talk at drop off and pick up.

I am really worried about regression in behaviour and the baby like things creeping in. He also had a panic attack at the childrens group at church on monday which hes never done before because they didn't warn him of the transition from playing games to snack time. Laat night he screamed and when i asked why he said teddy bite me and wouldn't have the fact teddy can't.

I have done a ehcp request my self last year. It was refused so i took it tribunal and the judge said it is obvious ds has sen but not obvious ds needed support and the fact ep said he was ok even though his pediatrician and salt both said he could need support that he sided with la and we lost. The ep report is a he said she said report she wrote 1 goal on it and spent grand total of 40 minutes with ds.

Harley what's ds' development like? On his end of reception year what where his scores? Emerging or expected etc.

End of reception year report that was supposed to have said.

They have down as expected for everything even for health and self care which isnt true as you can tell with the toileting. They reckon ds is exactly where he should be but spent all year running intervention after intervention. I believe this to he a big part of his issues as now year 1's expexctation of him is really high. School say hes very clever which he is but the understanding health and self care and commincation and social aren't where they should be.
I have just found out also that hes not getting home work where as everyone else is.

This is terrible communication from the school.

I would definitely want to be involving governors etc. if you are not getting any proper engagement from the Head and Senco (and possibly Councilors and MP too... after all they've just closed parliament so they should all be ROLLING in free time for constituency case work!)

Harley sorry to hear your DS is not being supported. Can school set up a communication book when can be handed over at beginning and end of the day? It is awful that they aren't responding to emails.

Livpotter the little office cube set up sounds lovely!

A quick question from me re support at break lunch time. I've been worrying about this wooden climbing thing the have in the playground, I've spoken to DD about being very careful when climbing on it as it us all she wants to do at lunch, apparently. As she had no awareness of dangers and easily looses concentration (let's go of things, has fallen down stairs a few times at home even though we supervise her up and down all the time) I was concerned she'd fall off it.

Sure enough, today I found a head injury slip in her book bag as she had fallen off and bumped her head. Ice pack applied. No one mentioned this when I collected her and I am really quite upset as she had to go to A and E last year after buying after a head injury she sustained at nursery. Can I request a 1:1 or to I need an EHCP to justify this? Am about to email Senco about it.

Buying??? I meant vomiting.

Littleswede at ds's school they have extra staff at lunchtime to support children with additional needs (not all with EHCPs). They also do a special lunch club in the library for kids that can't cope with the noise and bustle of the playground. Definitely worth talking to the SENCO to see if there are any things like that in the school.

Thanks livpotter, have phoned Senco but couldn't get through so typing up an email now.

@LittleSwede i have asked for a communication book they have refused saying that make him look different from other children.

Was called at 1 for more clothing i sent 3 sets of clothes in. Hes soiled and wet 5 times at school today. She said hes fine other than that we are trying out best to support him and doing our best. I told her hes soiling so much as hes stressed she said i know. That was end of conversation as she had a meeting to go to. That was ds teacher.

Ds came home sad saying he didn't get a sticker as hes not good enough. Also found out today that everyones else has been getting homework apart from ds.

Harley but they are singling him out by not supporting him meaning he is getting stressed and soiling himself. It's sounds like he is really upset by it.

@Littleswede i agree totally. They just won't comminicate properly. I was trying to get a reqson why all last week and thats the only one they can come up with i have emailed sendiass and now just awaiting them.

At ds' school he always has 1-1. Breaks / lunches etc, they don't leave him unsupported at any time.

Littleswede in ds' yr 1 playground there is some big climbing equipment, there is also a tree the children climb. I had to request ds wasn't allowed on it and to be fair they agreed with me! He would definitely break his neck if he went on it. I still have to walk holding onto him up and down the stairs and have stair gates to stop him going up freely as he's a toe walker and goes up and down on tips of his toes and quite often falls. He has no understanding of danger.

Talking of stairs. My brother came to take us to his new house for tea so we went in my brothers car and I took the spare car seat (not a high back booster just a booster seat) I sat in the back with ds to keep him sat, all was fine. Got home, took car seat in to put away once I'd got ds to bed, accidentally left stair gate open whilst i went into the kitchen, goes back into room ds had taken his spare car seat to the top of the stairs and sat on it and came absolutely flying down the stairs from the top sat on said booster seat it sort of missed loads of steps out and was up in the air! He is such a danger although I must admit it did make me laugh what I witnessed. He was seriously pissed off when I wouldn't let him back up to do it again. Crazy child.

Ds is doing his first full day tomorrow!

9.15-3pm. Those will be his hours permanently, he will start 30 minutes after the other children and finish 20 minutes before, it avoids all the playground noise with the parents and children at pick up / drop off . I don't mind that though means I can get my car parked close to school.

Harley if academically ds is expected levels, why does ds not get homework?

I also agree, he is not expected levels especially in health and self care, if still soiling / wetting. He would need to be reliably clean and dry and able to attend to his own toileting needs consistently.

What the hell are they playing at?!

No wonder your pissed off!

@danni0509 i don't know why he doesn't as i only just found out today the rest of the class have homework.

Thing is it makes no sense as it says for example
Liaten and attention
Ds has met the expected level of development in this aspect.
Elg are gives attention to what others say and responds appropriately , while engaged in another activity. He listens to stories, accurately anticipating key events and responds to what he hears with relevant comments questions or actions.
What ds needs to work on?
That ds joins in with repeated refrains and anticip3atez key events and phrases in rhymes and stories.

Only thing i have changed there is his name to ds to me that sounds like a contridiction which happens several times in his report. When i questioned them on it o got well its where he is he passed the goals are simple and its been approved by the education department and head teacher.

Joining in with with repeated refrains and anticipating key events in a story is 30-50 months.

Yes your ds' report sounds very contradictory!

Maybe when they say he needs to work on, they might mean, he can do it but they would like him to do it more.

You know ds' development best. Where do you think he is in his development?

I don't think he can do it. I think yes hes very clever in numbers and can do some of the phonics but i think hes delayed in other areas. School say thats true of at home but not at school. Ds is very good at mimicking others but not doing it for himself. According to school they say he can do it as he does it all the time. They have put that hes completely independent for toileting and is able to do it all for himself with no support.

Well they are clearly lying about the toileting being independent.

Do you have things like the requests for more clothes in writing or just by phone? I would be tempted to write an email about how many accidents he is having so you have a record of everything. It's always good to have a paper trail so that the school can't deny things at a later date.

Also they told us it was early learning goals ot the months. He started school in 22-36 months across the board. In February at parents evening his teacher said he would very unlikely meet his goals maybe maths if we lucky then all of a sudden it changed and he could do everything. But from january he had phonics intervention, reading intervention, number intervention, social intervention and also social and emotional group.

@livpotter i have emailed about accidents and requesting clothes and they won't put anything in paper they afford it at all cost and request ke to go see them or phone. I have emailed at least knce a day since him starting back last Tuesday.

@Harleyisme thing is they can't meet ELG's u

danni we also have stair gates for exactly the same reasons. Going down the stairs on a car seat sounds like something DD would do too! Good news about your DS's scheduled full days from next week. Hope it all goes well.

I think I'll request some support for DD at lunch break, if they will allow for that.