autism/education.

[jeanol]

Hi there. Not a mum but a grandmum. We need help and do not know how to get it. My grandson is autistic,9 year old, very intelligent but cannot read or write properly. He has funding for help at school but the money is shared between other children with needs in his school. To me this is not appropriate. He gets no one to one help with his reading and writing, and gets so frustrated and embarrassed that he cannot do what the other kids in his class do. This ends up with him not being able to handle it and then does "naughty things".. My daughter has had to fight for every bit of help she's had every since he started school. He has children picking on him and calling him stupid and a retard which breaks my heart. Many a time he will curl up in a ball and hide and wont come out and Mum has to go into school to help him.!!!!! He now is old enough to know that he is "different" and when things get really bad for him he has started saying he doesn't want to be here any more and talks about suicide.And he's only 9!!!!! Please can we have some advice or help.

Hi op,

Firstly does your grandson have an ehcp?

Hi there. No he doesn't have this plan. According to the school as he is making "slight progress" he will not get the plan. What we are worried about is by the time he is 11 and ready for secondary school he will be so far behind, he will be ridiculed and picked on and will definitely not cope. And he cannot attend a special school without
this plan. Ideally we would like an understanding tutor to help at home. awfull for the whole family. My grandson has two elder siblings who miss out on such a lot because it seems like Harry gets all the attention and they get left out. This is not true, but that is how it appears to them. x

By the way, he does get some help at school.There is a nurture room where he goes a couple of times a week and can stay in at dinnertime. But even the nurture time has been reduced. But it is mainly the academic side where he really needs help. He is not stupid at all..when he was six he could wire up a plug, set up a disco with loads of extension cable, prodeuce the music and give us a show. For some reason his brain just will not let him make sense of reading and writing. He loves science but again cant participate because stuff has to be read and written. Sorry to go on but I am so proud of what he can do and know he could achieve so much with the right help.

You can apply for an ehcp yourself. The bar is very low for an assessment, the school already accepts your grandson has sen.
Have you spoken to your local send iass? They would be able to help you this. Sossen and ipsea can also advise. Things i would think about is what needs aren't the school meeting, how far behind your grandson is, what interventions would he benefit from, how often your daughter is having to go into school to help etc.

Is he full time at school or a part time timetable (I'm thinking about illegal exclusions)?

The school has to pay the first £6000 for every pupil with sen requiring support. Doesn't sound this is happening here. The school if they applied for an ehcp would still have to pay the first £6000. It would be enforced, which it isn't currently.

The link below may help regarding applying for a plan yourself.

www.ipsea.org.uk/asking-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment

You might also find this model letter useful.

www.ipsea.org.uk/making-a-request-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment