Responsibility of school in identifying ASD

[Rosesareredvi]

Does anyone know what the responsibility of the school is if a child shows signs of ASD, but is not diagnosed?

A young relative shows strong signs (anxiety, stims, problems with peers, ahead in subjects that interest them but struggling with others). They were moved from a State primary that did flag issues to a public school. The public school seems to drop hints, but not actually make a recommendation. Trying to raise it with the parents is v difficult. It feels like there is a dereliction of duty from the school.

It's not the duty of the school to do anything more than suggest that there might be something going on that warrants further investigation. They certainly shouldn't be suggesting a diagnosis (not qualified). A state school would possibly have a duty to apply for someone like an educational psychologist to observe the child (depending on issues in school), a private school does not have to do this. Likewise a state school would have a duty to provide support according to educationzl need even without a diagnosis, again this doesn't apply to private schools.

Thank you @Untitledsquatboulder that is really helpful. It is also surprising that private schools have a far lower burden of duty in the provisions they have to make/provide. There is often a perception that everything is superior in a private school, but it sounds as though this is an area where some are lacking.

There was a shocking account in the Guardian Secret Teacher series:
"...from the outset I was sure she had autism. I also realised that an independent school, which couldn't afford special educational teachers but did have newly varnished floors, was not the right place for her. I spent weeks writing everything down: her classroom behaviour and incidents she was involved in that I couldn't ignore. After two months, I armed myself with several pages of information and brought it to the head's office. "No, no. Sara can't leave. The numbers are too low," was the response I was met with. "But what about her future?" I asked. Was that the sound of me imploring her? The head's response was dismissive: "She'll be fine. Just give her a bit of one-on-one time in class and we'll explain to her parents that she's a bit behind the others". www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/aug/02/secret-teacher-autism-fees-private-school-teaching

Rosesareredvi in this respect the parents have already been notified of concerns by the first school and, I presume, they didn’t wish to take it further? Did they move to private school because they thought a smaller class would help improve matters? Sometimes parents don’t see it, or don’t want to ‘label’ their child, or they are just in denial.

DDs school offered to refer her but I had already raised it a couple of times ( until this year she masked really well at school) so wasn't a surprise.
Support should be based on needs not diagnosis but I don't know if that applies in a private school.

There is often a perception that everything is superior in a private school

Not where SEN is concerned there isn’t. Many independent schools are often not supportive of SEN.

It sounds like the school have raised concerns the DC has SEN.

Thanks for the reply @Thatsnotmycar The local State school did raise concerns, the private school has not. Within the family there seems to be an assumption that the private school is 'better' and therefore the State school was mistaken. Nobody in the family seems to realise how weak private schools can be in this area.

Thanks for the reply @openupmyeagereyes Denial runs through the family, with the grandparents particularly strong in this area. They were moved to get away from the bustle of a busy school and to have support if needed. With the move to the private sector there seems to be an assumption that the school would handle this side of things. As they get older they are getting more anxious and social and learning issues are getting more obvious, to the point it seems very unfair to the child. There are other ASD cases within the family. Unfortunately, the school not responding is taken by the parents and grandparents as confirmation ASD is not an issue. Surely children should be entitled to a diagnosis and support, and it seems appalling this safety net may not be there at a private school.

If the private school has dropped hints I think they probably have raised concerns about SEN that the parents are choosing to ignore. They may not have explicitly said ASD, but then many state schools wouldn’t feel comfortable stating a specific diagnosis.

Thank you for the replies. I have colleagues from other European countries and it seems as though there is much more screening (looking for problems in general, not giving a specific diagnosis) when starting/leaving nursery and the same for primary school. With the private system in the UK it seems as though this safety net is missing.

Routine screening doesn’t routinely happen across the board in state schools in England either, especially primary schools. Some secondary schools screen all pupils for potential signs of dyslexia, but by no means all.

Very little in the state sector IME, either in terms of flagging issues. I think we assumed for years that because they didn't raise it, they didn't see an issue, when in practise I think they probably saw a lot of signs and either didn't think it was their place, or didn't have the resources to add to the numbers of children on the SEN register. There is also an assumption (which is probably fair) that they are still very little and some kids they might wonder about will develop fine in the end. Parents can get very offended and angry when outsiders suggest their child may have additional needs, so people tend to avoid raising it if they possibly can.

Unfortunately there is very little help for a child who doesn't have their parents leading the charge for them, unless they disrupt the class or are very behind academically.

I would still want my child with SEN in state school over (mainstream) private. We've seen the loveliest private schools that were utterly wrong for our well behaved, autistic, anxious child. But the question really is not private or state, but is the current school meeting the child's needs, and if not, can it put provisions in place so that it will? In practice it is difficult to achieve the latter without some parental pressure.