General Chat

well to be honest I thought that but his developmental doctor has said they are no longer giving statements to children unless they are very severe learning difficulties and need to go to special schools. The problem being we only have one school for children with A.S.D and they need to be at the very high end of the spectrum. Julia

I had a good annual review for Paul my son 25 with autism. He is taking fish oil suplements and complan which seem to be having a beneficial effect. His speech has improved a lot during the last year and so has his concentration. He has begun writing letters home again only a sentence or two before he gets bored but better than nothing.

Hi Julia, that doesn't make much sense to me - it is the school who should be applying for the statement, not the doctor. It is a bit like a cheque to the school to pay for the extra help that the child needs in the classroom. You should be speaking to the SENCO (special educational needs co-ordinator at your son's school) it is his/her responsibility to get your son the help he needs. It is a long process, but if your son has a diagnosis of autism then in my opinion too he should have a statement. It is really important that you get moving on this because the statement will also be used to recommend the most suitable secondary school for him. Have a look at the adders site and definitely make an appointment to see the SENCO and the Head Teacher. Please come back or pm if you need any help or advice - lots of us on here have had to fight for statements - I had to go to a Tribunal in London because my LEA turned me down 4 times - got it in the end though! At the end of the day it is unfortunately down to the parents to push for their own child - sadly no-one else will do it for you. Wishing you the very best of luck Maz. XX

Well done Pat, what a rewarding job and what a huge help you are to the families! Maz. XX

Maz I'm going to have a word with his Senco today Julia

good luck Julia, please let us know how you get on - we will be rooting for you! Maz. XX

bumping for Nicola.

nudge

I take my hat off to the families of Autistic Spectrum, Asperger syndrome. For the last 3 1/2 years, I have been working with firstley adult that are on that spectrum and now I with young people with all sort of behavoural problems in a secondary school, this includs ASD and more.

Nice to see this back up again :-)) Had Jamie's statement review meeting yesterday. Still waiting for the rewrite from last September hahahaha. Anyway, it went really well, they are pleased with him academically, but they are also worried about how he is coping with his dad being overseas and only seeing him every 3/4 weeks. They are going to refer us to Child and Family Therapy for some help - particularly with him admitting and managing his feelings about this. He has been having a lot of frustration and anger - mostly self-directed - recently and I am so pleased that we will be getting some help with this. Maz. XX

Had james open eve yesterday and had to pick options for year 10. Got a very good report and marks, the head even came over to tell us what a lovely boy we have :-)) And he has he's visit to the stagecoach school in the morning so fingers crossedxx SO PLEASED with him. Karen.

Maz, James has therapy at thorpe coombe, they are very good and he enjoys the visits. Karenx

Hi Karen, how did it go at Stagecoach???? Maz. XX

Hi-ya Maz, He starts proper next week and he's looking forward to it , when we got there they were in dance and i thought it would put him off , no! he must think he'll look cool jumping around like Billy elliot!! lol . And i can't wait to see him in a pair of jazz shoes ;-) . Karenxx

oh that is fantastic, I bet it does him the world of good! tell him congratulations from me and wish him luck! Maz. XX

hi hope no minds me bringing this back to the front but I have had the worst day ever with my 4 year old son. Although his language was progressing fairly well ( he is hard to understand sometimes) just lately say the last 3 -4 months he seems to be going backwards he now 'roars' at me with sound but no words it is as if he is losing all spoken language (hope that makes sense) but expects us all to understand him. I have spoken to my health visitor and she is referring him to a language unit, but in the mean time this is really wearing me down:-(( Julia

Hi Julia, that's what this thread was intended for! I must admit I've been tempted to add to it myself recently too. It certainly sounds as if he needs some speech therapy urgently. Is he at playgroup or nursery? If so how does he manage with communication there? If he IS at nursery, then they should also be able to help with a referral - especially if it is a nursery attached to a school - have a word with the head and ask them to help. I think you need a break - is there anyone who can have him for a few hours while you go out - even during the day - and unwind with some mates? It's amazing what just a few hours 'off' can do for your patience levels! Jamie is also struggling at the moment (but only at home for some reason) and is having a lot of trouble with his anger and frustration. I know how hard it is being shouted at, so am sending you some ((((hugs)))) and positive thoughts. Maz. XX

See this back on to first page and I am glad the thread is here to help people who are having problems and I see you are needing a hug, Julia and Maz so here is one for you and all the people on here who are having problems (((((HUGS)))))

Maz he is in a school nursery and after a long talk with them they are keeping a eye on him. I think he may be going down the same road as his older brother Andrew who is asd thanks Val Julia

No problem Julia I have been there for 19yrs so any time I am here