Help child with asd

[PennyLaneIsInMyEars]

Hi,
I'm looking for help with child / my pupil with ASD. I have a new pupil in secondary school. He's struggling with the new school setting I think.
We are a small class for pupils with additional needs however... The strategies I have used with pupils previously are not always working. We've worked with this pupil for a couple of months now.
He was in my class for English, maths, geography, health and wellbeing, social skills, PSHE, swimming, life skills and those kind of lessons. Parents have now said they don't think he should go to mainstream teachers but having booked a room to be his safe space, mum's saying that he says no to this being an option. He's very rigid in his thinking and although he may find the experience overwhelming I think he'll continue to go to the mainstream teachers with the rest of the class. And I don't know what I can do apart from verbally or with a visual, offer the option of using his safe space. Upset episodes include scratching me to the point of drawing blood, kicking me usually in the legs, punching my face, throwing furniture, ripping up his visual timetable etc. I think he would have preferred to stay in his primary class where he had been for years. He doesn't really talk except for single words. He does rather well in English and maths so long as questions are simple, straight forward and not abstract. I've created a board game and social story to explain how we can use the safe space anytime he likes. Has anyone got any suggestions to help with making this successful?

Does the pupil have an EHCP (or equivalent if not in England)? If not, an EHCNA needs requesting. If he has an EHCP there needs to be an early review. What does it state? Does it include attending MS? Does it include SALT and OT? Is anything like Zones of Regulation being used? What about other provision and input from the specialist teaching service (if your area still has them)? Have you had training in deescalation? Where is the SENCO in all this? They should be advising you.

He has an equivalent plan. What does MS stand for? I do intend on getting speech and language involved. I do try to deescalate although some melt downs are happening first thing in the morning, introducing calming activities the pupil prefers sometimes helps or delays the melt down however the requests for fun activities are constant or being asked how long until end of lesson is continuous. Pupil only speaks in single words and has not understood strategies I've tried or been able to understand ideas such as really saying how he feels. In fact I have been trying to work on understanding emotions. He has not understood the coke bottle fizzy metaphor or been able to say what are his triggers. One strategy we were going to start using was showing green, amber or red as this was recommended by an old teacher.

MS = mainstream school. I meant does the plan include attending mainstream or does it state remaining in the small class.

It sounds like the pupil needs far more specialist input. As well as SALT he needs ed psych and OT assessments and ongoing SALT/OT input. If you are expecting the pupil to communicate his triggers or understand the coke bottle effect you are expecting way too much. Many DC (and adults for that matter) don’t know their triggers, let alone understand, be able to communicate them and understanding the coke bottle effect. Have a look at Zones of Regulation. It would help if you could explain what capacity you are working with the pupil.

I'm his teacher. Yes zones of regulation looks useful. Students in my class have a right to be taught by subject specialists (mainstream teachers).

Please be very careful if you introduce a traffic light system for communicating about wellbeing that you are using the same one everyone else is/that he has previously been taught, as there seem to be several and they are similar enough to be mistaken for each other but not actually quite the same in meaning or intent!

For example, Zones of Regulation has four colours describing emotions both 'good' and 'bad' at different states of arousal (blue-flat, sad, green - content, engaged, amber - agitated, excited red - overwhelmed, angry, out of control, hysterically joyful) whereas
Wellbeing Prisms/Cards tend to use green as "I'm fine" and red as "I'm not fine, help me", possibly also with amber as "Help me, I have a problem and I'm heading towards red'.
Consent systems such as used a forest schools can also be different again, so if there is a dispute between children the leader might ask what colour everyone is on about the situation - green is fine with it, amber is not very happy, needing resolution and red means that person needs a way to leave the situation right now/the situation needs to stop.

My queries in the situation in your OP would be, how exactly does the process of him getting to his safe space go, in reality?
If he is in mainstream, feeling increasingly uncomfortable, and he knows he could go to his safe space, could you create for yourself, possibly with his editorial input once created, a step by step social story of what happens next - as that might help you identify any barriers to using it that are going to cock up the system.

For example, how does he attract the attention of the teacher to leave, how do they react/not react to that in reality, do the rest of the class look at him as he stands up to go, is he actually able to communicate to the teacher when he is in the stressed state in which he needs access to the room, has he ever overheard comments to others about not leaving the classroom too much (maybe dawdling in the toilets) so he has internalised that leaving is bad/not allowed, is the corridor between the classroom and the safe space threatening in some way (sensory, vulnerability), etc etc.

Also - if you all think he is finding the mainstream lessons overwhelming right now, then while everyone decides if he will be attending them long-term or not, does he already have: ear defenders or Loops, a plain cardboard screen with sides that he can put up around his work area to block out distractions, a seat suitably placed in the classroom with his specific needs in mind (e.g.: by the door for quick escape, or facing a wall to reduce distractions, or facing into the room if he is distracted by fear of people being behind him that he can't see, or as far away from the draughty ceiling fan vent as possible as it makes his skin itch, etc). Can he move (even on a wobble cushion)? Can he have access to a small, non-distracting comfort item (picture of special interest inside his screen, silent fidget etc). Do the teachers actually follow the lesson plan given in his visual timetable/stated at the start of the lesson, or do they make it up on the fly? Are behavioural rules applied inconsistently, in his view (e.g.: do people 'break rules' in a minor way constantly and 'get away with it')? Is group work an issue? Is he ostracised, mimicked or shoved? Is the teacher understanding about any reasonable adjustments to the task to reach the same learning outcomes (e.g.: doesn't want to cut and paste a worksheet because of the feeling of glue, but would write the answers in the boxes if explicitly allowed to). Etc.

BestZebbie’s posts are excellent.

What does the room booked to be the pupil’s safe space look like? Does it meet his sensory needs? Or is it like in some school where it is a tiny isolation room that only heightens the situation? Can it be made more appealing?

If you are the teacher, do you have a SENCO? They should be advising you. As well as you teaching the pupil, do they have a 1:1? Does the 1:1 go to mainstream with the pupil?

For some DC, additionally resourced provisions/units like you describe don’t work. They may have the right to attend mainstream, but if that doesn’t meet their needs, it needs to be relooked at.