Help needed please

[bear73]

Hi

I am posting this for a good friend and neighbour of mine with an autistic son. She currently is going through a terrible time regarding her son and his school and really needs some help. She is quite private about his autism and only discussed it with me when my daughter was diagnosed as having a Sensory prcessing disorder.

It would be too long to write the whole story so I will give a shortened version. Her son (in year 3 of a mainstream school) has had major problems since Sept. Change is not good and from starting his new class in Sept things have gone from bad to worse. He has been suspended and banned from the school premises a number of times. All strategies that his OT and others advised the school to put in place to help him were not done and basically he has been treated very poorly, particularly by his teacher and the headmaster.

Before Easter he was suspended again and hasn't been back since. I spoke to his mum this morning as I never seem to see her anymore, she is so stressed and never wants to talk. Today she confided in me that this has all affected him so much he was assessed by a psychiatrist and put on medication. He then had a terrible reaction and had fits because of this and is now on other meds and is signed off school long term sick.

My neighbour firmly believes the school treatment of him has been terrible and she has been documenting everything. She has a huge file on everything that has happened and has made complaints to the school and the LEA. This morning the manager of the LEA is coming to her home (unheard of apparantely) and she is going to spill all. She even mentioned something about court proceedings against the school but didn't go into much detail.

Now you have a bit of background, my main question really is about finding him a new school. She will now not send him back to that school and she wants to find a new school, preferably a mainstream school with a special autistic unit. She has a younger son in the current school which she feels she will have to take out too because of all the bad feeling. She also has a young 2yr old daughter.

Basically I offered to help her by joining some forums and asking for advice re: school recommendations or places I can direct her to to find out information.

We live in Hertfordshire and I think she would prefer to stay in the area but I get the impression that they are fine to move and get settled whereever is best for her son and other children.

If anyone can help with details on schools in this area that may help or even schools anywhere else that have a great reputation for dealing with autistic children.

He is a lovely boy and it's awful he has been treated this way. My daughter is in the same school (in reception) and although her problems are on a totally different scale the lack of understaning and the behaviour of the head really worries me.

Any help would be appreciated? Any links to other sites or forums I could post on? Any autistic groups locally or nationwide that could help her?

Many thanks
bear

your poor poor friend and that poor, poor boy. Organisations - www.ipsea.org.uk offers independent advice on legal aspects of SN in school, statementing etc. The local authority will also have a parent partnership advisory service - but obviously as it's funded by the LA may not be fully impartial. Barnardos in my area has a project offering advice about education etc to parents of kids with SN - not sure if this also happens in Herts but may be worth you checking out.

other boards:-

www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/lofiversion/index.php/

also if she can speak to local parents of kids to get a first hand account as to which schools are good with helping kids with SN. Sometimes the Ofsted reports provide a hint - e.g. if a school has a very "middle class" in take with few kids with SN, and few or no kids with statements, chances are it's not going to be the best place..

There is a parent support group in Herts called PHEAT, get in touch at [email protected] or look at www.hertsdirect.org/comdirectory/comvol/heal2y/sgheal3y/heaautism4y/11400131
The membership sec is a good friend of mine and REALLY helpful, knows Herts inside out. Also contact NAS Helpline. HTH

I am so sorry your friend and her ds are going through this. I think our county is very poor at coping with non physical additional needs - compounded by the change of funding a year ago. Does he have a statement (of SEN) because if not that needs to be started as soon as possible. If he has a statement it may need reviewing in the light of his illness.
The change from infants to more formal juniors is IMHO particularly difficult for children with sn/asd.
There are some local ASD support groups (with telephone helpline) and also a new 'drop in' centre for parents (for all sn) in Welwyn Garden City although I haven't used it.
Talking to other parents of asd children with similar needs is the best way to find out what is best locally. You can get a list of all the support groups from the local parent partnership. There is a new group called AS-Friends (also in WGC)for families of high functioning children.
PP can also supply a list of schools with asd units or you can look at www.hertsdirect.org/caresupport/childfam/specialneeds/learning. Access to a unit or special school is for statemented children only.
My son has learning disabilties (SLD) as well as autistic traits and ADHD, so my local knowledge may be of limited help to you. Ds moved from ms to special for Y3, in Sept. It was a long hard battle to get that - but well worth it!! You are lovely to support your friend.
Other organisations worth contacting are SOSSEN and the NAS advocacy in education service (0845-070-4002)helpline. HTH

Thank you for those messages. I have printed them out to give to her.

I am pretty sure he does have a statement, although I think she had to really fight for that.

Hopefully, she can find out some more info about local schools that could help him and put an end to this horrible time for them.

I know she would particularly like to hear from parents who already have children in schools that are doing a good job.

Thanks
bear
x

technically, your friend has to now request that the statement be reviewed (emergency or interim review) 9assuming procedure same as Wales) so that a differents chool can be named on the statement. A parewnt has the right to request this, and she needs to do so ASAP.

What she then needs to do is go and visit any potential schools and see if she likes them, then at the statement review she should request that the school she wants be named on the statement.... there are no guarantees, places etc can be an issue, and we were sidetracked into accepting a school we know won't take DS3 ad therfore not getting a SN place for the foreseeable future. However, you have to do iyt this way for procedure.

IPSEA are Fab, also we have had good advice from the NAS educational helpline ahnd the local SNAP branch. The parent partnership worker ahs been useful in arranging visits to schools also.

Peachy is right. She should request a review and make sure she does it in writing and send it by Recorded Delivery or take it to the LEA herself. In theory she should be able to talk this through with their EP and get info and support from them. But she should check with other parents if this is a good idea and be wary. Our EP was wonderful and really helped us but they can be buggers too!