specialists teachers

[Phoenix4725]

Am going post here and education

Ds has a statement of 27 hrs and from what i have been informed there is scop to allow up to 18 visits from a specliast teacher to assist the school .But she informed me she will be soming every half term so thats only 6 visits reports are done at end of her visit so not liek shes doing loads.

She is also very new to the area of S&l with ds being her first ever , why oh why give her a child with complex S&l needs to pratice on.Especially when ds ,lsa is untrained and unexperianced same for his class teacher

Has anyone asked for a change of teachers?.

I think you should give her a chance ,she maybe great at the job.

Dd's 1:1 at nursery has never worked with SN or S&L but she has done a great job with dd2, i think she has found it really rewarding as its the first time she's worked with aa sn child.

Give it a go and then if she's no good look into changing.

Unfortunately it can be quite common for teachers to lack specific experience but I agree with Marne - DS1's first 1-1 at nursery was not an autism 'expert' was absolutely fantastic and taught him some of his first words - whereas his next 1-1 was supposed to be autism trained but in reality had chocolate teapot tendencies.

I would give her a go but monitor it, if you feel the school & your ds need greater input, you or the school could ask for her visits to be increased, also if you leave a little flexibilty in there, then there is always scope for them to bring in other specialist teachers in case anything else crops up.

the school and the class teacher have admitted they are not coping with how to teach ds.

Marne
he has been there for over a term now and not seen anything taht gives me confidence evewn to point ds was seen to do something and infront of him she said to another parent , no he does not really understand what he is doing

.Ds cognitave devlopment is normal his main problems are very little speech he uses makton well though and delayed receptive which has not improved in 6 months he still stuck at 2.7.he does have issues with his muscle tone and hypermoblity

the lsa still has no makton training other than 1 hr same for teachers etc .Just worried as i help in the school once a week and have noticed ds as he is passive is left much to own devices or for example carpet time he will sit there for the required 20 mins but he is not there he is in world of own .also it was found ds needs special scissors with these he can cut yet 6 weeks later nothing doing i supplied some and they got borrowed for another child

phoenix
if your chid has a statement you could also ask the caseworker at the local authority to review. Do you have your own copy of SEN code of practice and toolkit?

yes i do ds has a 27hr statement our case worker is useless i complained as ds not getting salt as per statement and she like and so .

School used own lsa rather than anyone with any knowledge

Has OT been in to school to assess his needs, I always find the school respond better to "expert" advice rather than us parents!
My ds2 sounds very similar to yours, I made sure his first yr targets were all about building confidece & integration.. nothing at at all academic.
He is in yr 2 now & will get involved but this is a very new thing.
I was very worried about him being the passive boy, overlooked sitting in the back of the class, the psych did have to point out to his teachers that just because he does not shout & scream it does not mean he isn't struggling, in fact the more anxious he is the more he retreats in to his own world.

Could you ask for a formal meeting with all involved, teacher, lsa, senco, Specialist teacher, just outline your 3 or 4 main areas of concern & let them tell you waht their joint plan of action is.

Phoenix

No advice but really interested as my son sounds very similar. He will start school in Sept but currently has no statement as we were assured that provision will be provided for him without one. I have now asked his nursery to request a statement as I feel the need for more security.

Starting to realise that even with a statement nothing is guaranteed.

Although I'm not rich i had wondered about getting a private tutor for my ds in a few years time- has anyone tried? (sorry for hijack?)

Phoenix
Requesting meeting with head is good idea especially if you write. If you don't have your own copy of SEN code of practice and toolkit you can get one by phoning 0845 60 222 60 Take it with you to meetings. School may take you more seriously. Also Disability discrimination act now in force and schools usually respond to it being mentioned.
Mummysaurus
If your child has SEN then private tuition should not be necessary but you will need to make sure school is following SEN code of practice. Children at school action should have IEP. Arrange to meet with Head/SENco before your child starts and ask what the exact provision will be.

the ot we have is crap and thats being polite we only saw her twice a year and as shes going on maternity leave we have none now ,shes never looked at scissor grip , hand strenth etc all shes done is looked at toilet and said yeah thats bit of a problem might need handrails. ds wets and soils least once a day at school , very rarely does at home
including long car jorneys .

We have teacher going in but she is struggling with ds needs to .Ep not seen him since he has started school last saw him in June last year to do statement assessments.

But we been to ican where he has had 2 fukll days of assments and now have plenty of evidence to back me up when start asking for things

school system very hard to break. Any meeting you go to you need to take someone from parent partnership or ican so you know you have correct version of meeting. caseworker may be useless but write to director of children's services and inclusion officer in local authority. Keep copies of all phone calls, meetings and letters you write.

Hi phoenix I think we're both in Essex LEA? DS1 has a Specialist Teacher and she has told me she will continue to visit him half-termly when he starts in reception (this Sept). SO I am guessing that is the Essex bog-standard approach rather than being based on your DS's needs. Maybe worth writing to the manager of the dept the Specialist Teacher works in with your concerns over your DS's progress and ask what they plan to do about it on their part.

yes im in north east ESsex , apparentlys its all to do with what band dc are in down to amlount of visits .Ds should have 18 though some are for paperwork .Think its more for me the fact she does not know whats shes doing hell she does not even know any makaton

That is really poor that she doesn't know any makaton. As that is how your DS mostly communicates they can't really argue with providing a Specialist Teacher who does.

I've just completed the parental views part for the statementing request for DS1 although I do wonder why the bother asking when they seem to just provide whatever they think..

yes ds is the first child with s&l shes ever worked with aand shes got almost as extreme as you can get .But rather she went learnt somewhere else not on my son especially as she feels shes the expert in him , funny how 2 hrs in 4 months qulaifys her in that

mentioning disability discrimination act is worth a try as your child communicates using makaton there should be someone at school able to communicate using makaton and if not local authority should provide.

there is the lsa who is currently waiting for a course to learn as much as ds knows already he has around 200 signs and puts 2 and 3 together .

picked ds up today and turned out they had to get my dd from y2 to tell them what ds was signing turns out he was talking about father christmas and his presents

Hi Phoenix4725 your last post really got to me. Your DS has around 200 signs, is able to put them together and there is nobody in his class to communicate these to? I think it is unacceptable to use the excuse of someone having to wait to attend a course first. No disrespect but learning Makaton is not exactly rocket science and any dedicated, motivated person can learn it independently. There are plenty of resources online and videos (admittedly the one I saw was a bit dated but hey it gives you the general idea). Perhaps if you make a note of this incident, you could use it to make a point. To Whom?... I would start with the headteacher and also the Early Years Teaching Advisory Service.

hi his lsa does some and the teacher a bit but not like he can , and there not encouraging other children to try either 9 ds is going from happy confident child to a sad/lonely and soiling himself

am considering a move to surrey and try for ican school

THE early years teacher has less than 30 signs and is new to speech and laungage

Have you considered a move nearer me? There IS a school here which is integrated but also uses makaton, and even the NT DC's are taught makaton, so all children in the class can communicate with each other. Add me on fb and I can tell you more.

If you move to surrey - make sure it is the leatherhead guilford side and not east surrey as east surrey LEA very very stingy and other side seem to give far more freely.

The teacher should should be making clear efforts to learn some maketon and also teach your child's peers so that they can communicate with him. I would have exprected a course for the TA to be booked if not already gone on. As it is this is NOT 'inclusion'. He's just going to get left doing his own thing as long as he is quiet and treated like the school's pet hamster if you are not careful. I would have expected a specialist autism teacher at infant/primary level to be trained in maketon and pecs - after all they are the most used. Can you suggest they get in touch with Linden Bridge School in Surrey - they do outreach work and are brilliant (could be a possibility for you as well if you move). They are near Chesington way I think.

hi his specialist teacher works with speeh and language whih is where most of ds problems lie but she has just moved into that area so total novice.and yep in my eyes she is more than useless , she talked about visual timetables lol this months after i had already talked to lsa about and set up for them ,,there seems be exscuse well there no spaces or courses , yet i funded and traveld over 90 mins for mine .

Will look at Linden bridge though ideally want ican if i make the move

nope the teacher she feels that others cant be forced to learn , be so easy have sign of the week .

Loudlass going to try looking for your email so can add you feeling i know is it school with the deaf unit or one with speech and language?

if not add me [email protected].

[email protected]. it's the school with the deaf unit, but they are very good with using makaton, and all the children there are taught makaton AFAIK. At least that's what I was told when I was looking at a school for DS2.