school are driving me mad.

[nuttyredhead]

Hi
newbie here in need of some advice and support.
Keeping it simple,7yr old dyspraxic son.having loads a problems at home with behaviour,frustration etc.I think its cause of extra workload and having to try so much harder at school.I cant make school understand this.
What should i be asking school to do to help this,they are reluctant to acknowledge my situation.
I,m not sure how this would be dealt with at a special needs school,but would be interested to hear from anyboby in this situation.
We are so desperate,my little boy has changed,and nobody listens.
Please help
Thankyou for reading.
Justine

I can't help I'm afraid, but welcome. Lots of other Mums will be able to help you so keep bumping till the evening (or after school run!). they will run you through things, but I'll ask some questions I can't help you with, but I'm sure they'll ask.

1. What support (1-1) is he getting?
2. Has he got a statement?
3. Have you met with the SENCO?
4. Is he in mainstream school?

I'm sure the very knowledgable ones will ak some more, but those are Q's I remember from other threads. Get your answers in quick!

HI Nutty and welcome!
Didn't want your post to go unanswered but dont have any real experience of dyspraxia but other sn including very poor coordination. My son had a very hard time at ms (he has LD and ASD) and is now in sn school. I do not know what difficulties your son is having, but my son got rather good at 'avoidant' and distracting behaviour (to avoid things he couldn't do or disliked) and would also get exhausted and -er- fragile (like unstable firework).
The sn school have lots of stratagies in place - like colouring letters to help focus and fine motor skills, noticing and rewarding effort and compliance, visual timetables, rigid patterns to the day. He is rewarded with things to fiddle with (because he has sensory issues). Many of the little instant rewards play into their needs or desires ( ds likes stickers).
Hopefully others will come on soon

Assuming your child has been dx? Is he on the SN register at the school or has an SEN? You should be talking directly with their SENCO and they should be putting learning strategies in place to help him.

Bottom line would be if no joy, consider another school that will suit him - not necessarily an SN school. I know that sounds a bit drastic, but sometimes certain schools are not accommodating SEN children even though it's their legal requirement to do so.

Has he got a 'good' form teacher? What about the head - are they supportive? It's down to you and as he is the most important person in this scenario, you will have to fight his corner.

If daddy is about, make sure he is there too at any meeting/discussions you have with the school. Good Luck!

is he yr 2 or 3? sometimes the transition to juniors can create a few difficulties. otherwise the workload in yr 2 often ramps up as they work towards sats. it sounds as though your problems are at thome though, not school - are school saying he is fine there? if so, i would be making appt with class teacher and senco and asking for the pressure to be 'off' for homework so he can have some down time (this will only work if they trust you not to let him swing the lead).
have OT been into school to advise? sometimes a simple checklist of things he may find more difficult and ways to make them easier make a big difference to teachers - it may not even have occurred to them that he finds certain things tricky. does he have any aids? writing slope etc? an up to date OT assessment would see if anything helped now that the workload is ramping up and more handwriting is required. don't feel too downhearted - it's just at this age that it takes a little while to get stuff organised with the change in education style - it will get sorted, but you do have to build up a relationship with school, and sometimes that takes time. a friendly letter from your community paed to the head/ senco can also help!

Hi al,
Thankyou for all your replies,i feel like i have just had a big"i understand hug".
He is yr 3,and i see a big difference between him this year at school compared to last yr.We have had OT assessment and they feel he needs no intervention.I am going as suggested to speak to the school senco.The school teacher is very nice but to my dismay when i approached this term,she did not know he had dyspraxia!!.He was diagnosed when he was 4yr old.Great communication between staff.
I would definately concider changing school if they wont help.My sons welfare are my main priority.The school seam to be very good at avoidance behaviour.
We have a brill speech therapist,she is caring,supportive and understanding.
Thanks again,it really means alot.
Take care