How do kids with GDD do in MS?

[mummysaurus]

have your kids with gdd got on in school and has having other SN like ASD compounded any difficulties? Was there an age when you gave up on MS? Or did they [hopeful emoticon] start to close the gap between themselves and their peers

Ds has a dx of GDD from Paed but other professionals - teacher, OT, SALT say it may not be gdd but rather be combination of other stuff - SPD, dyspraxia asd. Not sure why they are so keen to make this difference?

Ds will go to local primary in Sept. We're applying for a SA but LA prefer the Action plus package approach so may have a struggle in this regard

To me my gorgeous ds seems generally behind (more like 2 than 4) but with partic problems with motor planning skills, attention and sensory issues so the gdd dx plus ASD/ dyspraxia might make sense.

Starting to panic about Sept...

My dd2 has SLD plus physical disabilities, she has split schooling, 3 days SN, 2 days the local primary where she stays in the reception/yr 1 class.

She loves it, we have found it great, with the support of both schools.

GDD can be the catch-all phrase until the specialists can differentiate different needs and target them individually?

I don't know what to suggest to help!

DS2 is in yr2 at ms primary, he had dx of GDD& CP , this has since been changed to ASC, CP & learning difficulties.
His school is wonderful, he loves his teacher & his TA & he has made some progress, his progress is never going to be at the same rate as his peers & he is never going to catch up.
For me the most important thing is that he is in a happy, nurturing warm environment (as all primarys should be) & the school want him there & are happy & welcome the involvement of all the various agencies.
Without this attitude MS would not work.

I do not believe that MS will always be the best place for ds2, I cannot imagine him coping at a big MS comp, so I am sure that at some point we will be looking to transfer to sn school.
But for the moment it works well for us.

It is a worrying time but in general if the school feels right for your ds then it may well be OK.

thanks for those replies. Good to hear that they enjoy their schools. It seems such a big step and ds is so much more like [a very clumsy flappy] two year old than a 4 year old.

He also gets very tired. Would he be allowed to do a four day week (say take Wednesdays off) so he can recharge his batteries?

You might be surprised how much he develops in the next few months.

Talk to the school nearer the time about tiredness - many children starting school are only just 4 and the reception school day is geared up to down-time as well as high-octane stuff. My guess is they'd rather have him in all week and adapt his timetable, rather than send him home half a day?

Seems I don't know my alphabet, ds2 has ASD not ASC!

I did wonder if it was some new terminology I hadn't caught up with (I can't keep up with TLA's)

knew what you meant anon!

Just too much wine

meltedmarsbars - if only!

he does learn lots it's just that those pesky nt kids keep learning so much faster damn them

i think a lot depends on the school and more so on the lsa experiance and the schools ablity to cope but demand a statement

For ds it did not work that was obvious after 1 term in reception were currently looking at sn or speech unit with extra support

he has expressive and verbal disorders , gdd but it is now more mld in notes and hypermoblity and hypertonia the last 2 are expecting a differnt dx anytime soon .

Ds 4.9 is progressing but at his own rate but found watching his peers accerlate away so the gap has become more obvious and ds was beginning to be left out of playtime games etc

4 year old boys are on teh whole pretty physical but go talk to the school now see how willing they are to accomindate ds and what experiance they have ie will they use one of there own lsa or bring in someone with experiance this can make all the differnace

Thanks Roundthebend4 - i know my ds will be left out of games but on the plus side he will be happy if he finds a stick to play with.

Why didn't it work out at his school - was the statement not implemented or was he upset that nobody played with him?

Was it the school or yourselves that decided to try elsewhere?

Depends entirely on what they mean by GDD. Agree with the others it is often (in the early days) a catch-all for "we don't know what is wrong, let's wait a bit and take another look in a couple of years". I think the fact they are fingering other diagnoses sounds positive to me.

DD1 had a GDD diagnosis at one point and is now in a specialist school for SLD/PLMD. There is no way that mainstream could ever be appropriate for her. But she's got a developmental age of about 8 months and I knew from the off that there were going to be serious problems.

DD aged 5.5 has ASD and is in her 3rd year in mainstream but we are considering putting her in a smaller unit next year as she is completely overstimulated by having 28 other kids in the class and incapable of knuckling down to some work! She enjoys school but spends her time dancing round the desks

I think it's best to see how it goes but also be aware of what else there is in your area aand visit the special schools etc. GDD is such a catch all phrase that children vary so much.

My daughter with GDD went to MS for 1 year then moved to a MS school with a resource unit. The resorced school operated on basis of 50% MS and 50% in a small group. As she got older the MS time was useless and her inclusion was locational only in these lessons. She is now at a MLD special school and we are all very happy with it. If I could go back in time I would send her to a MLD special school from the start.

thanks guys so useful to hear your stories. He would do so well in a small class but the schools round here all have 30 kids to a class and the noise alone will overwelm him.

Briochedoree - don't the school have any strategies to keep your dd from dancing round the tables or is it beyond ordinary mortals to stop her

I swing from just wanting my ds to enjoy himself to wanting him to learn to read and write by the end of reception!

just trying to draft the parental statement for the statement. Want to ask for lots of small group work and lots of OT and SALT. Well i can only ask...

One of the reasons my ds2's MS primary works is becuase there are only 17 kids in his class - a village primary with only 5 classes, all of similar size.

If the only option was a big primary with 30 per class I think we would look at the sn option sooner.

Dd 7 started mainstream nursery with a statement she had GDD and autism.By the end of reception she had closed the gap on her peers and now she isn't delayed anywhere and is academically able and expecting 3's in her SATs She still has autism of course.
I put her success down to being in the right school with a specified and quantified statement and an ASD experienced LSA able to provide the support she needs.
As to the LA preferring Action plus, of course they do, it negates their responsibility to provide specific support' 1 to 1 if necessary, because it isn't legally enforceable.
I would make IPSEA and SOSSEN your friends would be my advice

Hi mummysaurus, DD1 is in a MS preschool with 1:1 support right now. She will start school in September.

Her dx is GDD, although a recent referral letter said MLD, I noticed, and we know that her brain is malformed. I would say she operates at around a 2-2.6 level (she is 4.4), although her profile is 'spikey'.

She got her statement in January. We were undecided between MS/SS. LEA suggested SS. They made it clear that DD1 would not be given full 1:1 at MS, which was essential for her safety.

So, she will start at a fab SS, in a class of around 10 with (I believe) a teacher and 1-2 LSAs. So hopefully that will be intensive enough, given the specialist environment.

hi the school wanted to carry in with ds since he was enjoying himself not that he was actually learning anything in school
I jumped the gun by moving nut had already called review where was agreed they struggled to meet his needs

paticulary thosecentered around his lack of language expresive and receptive

ds is caperable of learning i proved that by in one term he learnt 19 letters of the alphabet in finger spelling taught by me not lsa as she did not know them

A lot depends on the lsa and experiance and willingness to learn .ds 1-1 got 4 hrs of makton this was meant to cover ds who already had over 150 signs on entrnace to school.

his statement was not fully implented basically since ds was passive and would sit on carpet/chair without any fuss or would play nicely on his own
the lsa got used for other dc in class that was obvious that had some yet undx issues

Now we moved lea im refusing to name a ms on statement and have made it clear i will go all way to tribunal for what i feel is best placement for my ds

We shall soon see as goes to panel on the 22nd this month

Think lot will depend on where your ds delays are and how they affect him does he have problems with receptive delay for example , or making sounds as this was big problem on how to teach a child to read phonics when incaperable of making them

"anonandilikeit" - can i move to your village? - i'd go a long way for a school with small classes.

"asdx2" - wow good for your DD to make such amazing progress. Of course this is my most secret wish for ds but I try not to think too far ahead.

"lou" - my ds operates at about 2 to 2.5 as well. From other posts I've read of yours I've thought your dd sounded like my ds (tho perhaps a bit more lively . We'll see how he copes.

"roundthebend4" - thanks for coming back. I worry about the quality of the lsa - it seems like the luck of the draw. Yes he does have problems with receptive lanaguage. he can form sounds well but struggles to gather his ideas together.

Mummysarus

I moved for better schools and social choices for ds.my first choice for ds is the ms school that dd is on but in the speech unit but not sure if his pd are going to stop placement

.same as anon very small school and even ms side there very language aware .dd started there and they picked up straight away handwriting was a problem was holding her back .within one term they did referal to it and are now teaching her to type on laptop

Sadly though ds does need language help more than ms can provide and yes hid profile is spikey to , puzzles computers etc he is age approiate Reading etc no az for writing he still struggles to hold a pencil and can barely draw s wobbly circle physically he's more like 18 months/ 2 so the every day pracaltied gor him was a issue and he was becoming more aware that he was differmt to other kids they was noticing it to

Have they given any indication on how bad:/good the receptive delay Is?think this is one of the biggest issues in ms is how they use language in the day

It's the lsa that can make the place anyway could find out if one be employed with right experiance or if they have one who was able and experianced and what gurantee of getting

ATM ds due to fact he'd not 5 till July and while me lea tussle it out I found him place at sn nursery run by mencap and the quality of support and the differnace on his 1-1 being more experianced he is flying and feel for thr first time that ds is learning something plus having a lot of fun to 1-1 not funded by lea they self fund so they don't bow to lea

Second the LSA being experienced being a key to success too.
It is written in dd's statement that support will be provided by an LSA trained and experienced in ASD.
The other thing to bear in mind is that the best school may not be the local one, the OFSTED rated outstanding one or the one that their siblings attended.
Neither of my SEN dc attend a local school.
Having a statement does give you the luxury of choice.

It also helps that ds2 is not the first child in the school with sn, so they are already familiar with OT, physio, SALT, ASD outreach, sn school outreach & if the lsa is struggling for ideas her or his teacher are not afraid to call in help.

MummysaurusYou are welcome to join us!!
There are loads of small ms primaries locally to chose from BUT we only have 1 secondary school as we are so rural so I think secondary will be sn school & it is an hours drive away - There is always a trade off!