what helps you?

[sen11]

I'm an ex-teacher who is going to work as a 1:1 support next month.
As parents of SEN children, what has really helped you as a parent that a 1:1 support has done?

What a great question. My ds is 6 with ASD, currently in yr1. He has ft 1:1 support in a mainstream school, one TA in the morning and another in the afternoon. This is what I have or would find useful:

• being told how his day (or at least half day) has been without being asked as I’m always going to want to know. Not in lots of detail but a general he’s had a good day and we’ve done x, y and z. If you don’t see the parent directly use a comms book to write a quick note.

• be enthusiastic about the positive and professional about the challenges. It’s tough when children are going through a tricky patch and you don’t know what to expect when you pick them up.

• letting us know when there are changes planned for the day, in advance if possible.

• keep a log of any behaviour issues using an ABC approach. Try to identify why behaviour is happening so steps can be taken to reduce the trigger and share this information with the parent.

I may think of more... I hope you enjoy your new position.

Agree with what open says.

I would also add ask questions about likes/dislikes and things that do/don't work. It makes me feel more confident about a 1:1 if they seem to be actively interested in ds and involving me if they are finding a particular behaviour challenging.

It's also great to hear if something is working particularly well or if he's really interested in something at school. Then we can try the same technique at home and look into particular things to support his learning.

I am speaking as a parent of children with ASC:

Communication, Communication, Communication.

You have to remember that children with an ASC will find it difficult, if not impossible, to say what difficulties they are having at school (or home for that matter) and the parent / TA has to do it for them. But remember to communicate the successes as well as the bad - at one stage ds1 had a home-school behaviour book that worked really well for him because it was done in a very positive manner and was less obvious than the walk of doom at pick-up every day.