Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Evilest Kitty on June 17, 2010 at 0:56

Hi Darryl,
My son has Aspergers which wasn't diagnosed until grade 2. He entered school through a public school and when he wouldn't write class work he was sent to the office building and for 2 weeks was made to sit facing a brick wall in a hallway and was forced to eat his lunch and recess at his seat facing the wall. I pulled him out of the school and sent him to a catholic school which pikced up that he had aspergers and arranged for him to be assessed. I found that the catholic school had a lot of resources available to them. They were very supportive and arranged regular meetings to discuss any problems that had arised. They were very flexible when it came to my sons needs and organised for me to attend talks on Aspergers which the school staff also attended. In regard to bullying im not saying my son was never made fun of but children seemed more acceptable of my son and the teachers nurtured his socialising and put so many ideas in place to ensure he was happy and included. The school community also seemed tight knit. He had a transition period into high school and the school is pro active towards the bullying policy. The only bump in the road is now as he is doing his VCE and the education board refuses to adjust exams to cater for children with aspergers but im working to change that.
I hope you find the same nurturing support that my son has experienced.
Best wishes
Lenora

Permalink Reply by Greg Oakley on May 24, 2011 at 16:08

Hi,

My son is 7 (in year 1) with fully diagnosed Asperger's. We currently have him in a Mainstream Public Primary School in the eastern suburbs (Melb).

He is in the classic "no-mans-land" in that he is too high-functioning to be in a "special" school, but at the same time he needs constant supervision to aid his learning (gets distracted easily etc)...

Our frustration with the system is that he has been denied school funding 3 times, despite there being an absolute necessity for him to have it.

The school has made an attempt of sorts to cater for him - with a (very) part-time aide who is there to help another asperger kid. Its just not enough. He is already struggling with reading, writing and maths, and is falling behind despite lots of work from my wife and I at home....

The school just doesn't seem to have an education plan for our son, and my fear is that he will just disappear down the cracks.

Despite much research over the past 2 years, we still seem to be drawing blanks with where to educate our son. No-one seems to have any definitive answer...

I'm sure there must be other families in the same predicament and I look forward to any help and suggestions,

Kind Regards to all,

Greg

Permalink Reply by Jean on March 4, 2012 at 12:06

Asperger's is a recognised disability so I don't see how they can not take that into account.

I hope you get to change that mindset because I agree with you that is not right.

Permalink Reply by tb on August 18, 2010 at 1:47

Our son is in year 3 and since kindergarten has been diagnosed with ADHD, ODD and Asperger's syndrome this year. We have had constant trouble in mainstream classes. Our son displays bad behaviour to get out of the classroom. He is anxious and does not feel safe and cared for. he is yelled at constantly which brings out the ODD.

He has access to teachers aides but this is not being utilised to provide any assistance to our son and his learning. Yes he is highly intelligent but not engaged in learning at all, has social issues and these are misinterpreted by his peers as bullying and we are called up the school nearly every day because of one incident or another. I have witnessed our son being being bullied verbally and physically and his mindset is tit for tat. He does not have the ability to to think before he retaliates therefore he is in the principals office regularly! We go through strategies everyday with him, to just walk away, ignore or say stop.

I am in teacher education finishing my degree this year and have started casual teaching in secondary education this week. I love it!. I have learned about social and emotional wellbeing and differentiated classrooms but in reality this is not happening in primary education.

We have changed schools to be in a school that has a special education unit thinking that all the teachers and aides would have more understanding about these above issues. Sadly this is not the case and this has led to much frustration on ours, our sons and the schools part.

It has become very clear that the teachers role is to make our child conform to the system which goes against what I have been learning the last 3 years as a new scheme teacher.

We now have the Autism outreach team observing our son and working with him and hopefully the class teacher, however if there is no change in the classroom environment, the teacher's strategies and ability to differentiate in the classroom, and the understanding of his peers, then sadly nothing will change.

We are in a very frustrating situation and are at a loss as what to do. There is hope now with the observations but unless something changes, nothing will change.

We enquired at the Montessori school and had observations. This style of learning would suit our son but because of his diagnosis however their concern is about the social issues and how he would integrate.

We believe that if our child was in a safe, caring and challenging learning environment then learning would take place. All our son ever judges a teacher on is if they are kind and do not yell at him.

We too would like to hear from anyone who is having success in primary education. Any suggestions, ideas would be most appreciated.

Permalink Reply by Bez on May 17, 2011 at 22:01

Hi tb as carers for multiple children with asd's we have had some experience advocating and supporting them through the school environment. First mistake we made was to assume the teachers (good intentions or no) understood what the implications and considerations of an ASD are. We have found the first thing we had to do was educate the educators, luckily this is now less required as the staff at the schools we deal with have become educated, accessed specialised training and been empowered to support our kids. However it is an ongoing process be under no illusions about that. Complications like ODD and other disorders make an already difficult job harder but not impossible. Our local state primary school has been outstanding in their efforts and tolerance of our children, and their patience gets tested regularly. they have to balance the well being of all their students, and lets face it children wtih ASD's are often challenging and can even hurt other children. Be involved with the school talk to them frankly and it is not helpful to be adversarial with them. We have endevoured to be patient and tolerant with the schools and they have reciprocated, albeit some quicker than others. our primary school has and is more intune than the local high school where multiple teachers and different ideologies have complicated things. there are no specialised ASD classes or schools localy so all of our charges have been main streamed.

Permalink Reply by Jean on March 4, 2012 at 11:31

I understand what you are talking about and that you are not supported in getting the best for your child. Clearly there is a lack of understanding of what the aspect of in relation to Autismn is to your child. Being an autistic student varies from child to child as they maybe a true autistic student, an aspergers or a PDD student. All have varying degrees of difference in how they appear to other and unless one has a good knowledge of what they entail they see the child as being naughty and unconforming. The facts are and teachers need to realise that students generally want to do the right thing but may have show mistaken behaviours. This goes for any student and for some there is a need for more time and patience.Please read what I wrote for another parent about the need for a guided strategy to be in place. I make another point though that when an aide is assigned to the child they need to be there for the student first and the class second. If the student is displaying aggressive behaviours it is because the environment needs to be altered because it is the reason for the eruption. The immediate solution for the student is for them to be given chill time or even being allowed accompanied by the aide to walk out side /do their work on a table outside if the noise is what is triggering the difficulties.

Permalink Reply by Jean on March 4, 2012 at 12:00

I am sorry to read about your dilema and hope the school situation improves for your child. I do not believe that changing schools is going to make a difference. What I feel is important is that there is shared realisation that home, the student and the school needs to work as a team. The school benefits from being educated about what autism is and they need to be trained on how to manage the learning environment.Your child needs to be fairly treated and guided. Being fair is NOT about being treated exactly the same as everyone else. It's about being given the support necessary for the student in question. For some students it is necessary to be given different support and the other students understand that. As in life students develop their skills from good role modelling so the aides/teachers need to show tolerance and understanding of the student needs. The teachers etc need to guide and nuture the skills of acceptance and understanding. They train the other students on being kind and understanding through how they handle the student in day to day routine. Like any student when a choice is not possible then they are given a choice to do one of two things.I am very pleased that you have taken the step to become a teacher because you will understand and be upskilled enough to be able to help many students be the best they can be.

Permalink Reply by Farah Cherie Wicks on August 27, 2011 at 20:19

Our 5yo autie boy started prep this year on the Gold Coast and I was sooooooooo anxious about him going into a mainstream school (albeit a small village school of only 320). But the EDCU ladies from last year assured me that he WAS ready for school, that he WOULD cope and that I just had to have faith. I was anxious about him getting bullied or worse, brutalised; about getting lost in the school grounds or worse, leaving the grounds as the gates are open (tho we're lucky, he's not a 'runner'!); and in the class room, either being penalised for not keeping up or just as bad, being left in a corner to rot. The teacher was a bit anxious to start with but she has come to love Pauly, so too do the other teachers and his class mates are very protective of him as well. They assured us that Pauly would have his own curriculum and not be judged by the other kids standards (he's apparently going to start outpace them in both math and english shortly so that's probably just as well for them!). Funding appears to fluctuate at times but the special needs teacher works hard at accessing this for us. The EDCU and OT have visited the school and meet with the teachers, the paediatrician (GC Hospital) said they would too if we thought it necessary. So far all good there. My fears are still there and still valid in my mind but I'm trying to be strong, he's brave so I must be too.

Permalink Reply by Jean on March 4, 2012 at 11:15

Hi sorry its 2012 now so i guess it may not seem relevant.

I personally subscribe to the idea of Autistic students being in the mainstream. From their first time at school etc they need to be part of the school community and their aides need to be full time ones. The aides have 2 roles ... one to help them achieve academics goals and the other to ensure their social acceptance by others.Ofcourse autistic students have a personal need to be included both socially and academically.Every year the aide needs to work with the childs peers to make sure the student is included and the other students on how to interact.It is really important that during recess and lunch the child is protected and given opportunities to be amongst others if they wish.As the student gets older the social aspect becomes easier so that aide just need to re-enforce previous years expectations and teach any new students how they need to treat the autistic student. The rest of the class will accept the student and the way they are because they understand the students is a person first but has challengers. They get that the student can't help it and that they accept the student for the great person they are. The MOSt important thing to remember is that the student mimics what they see so if you want the students to look like autistic students put them in a group of autistic students. If you don't then put them amongst ordinary every day students and they will mimic their behaviours to be more like an every day student. I refer you to the movie with Dustin Hoffman maybe its called "Rainmaker" with the autistic man who was brought up amongst old people in a care facility and copied all the fastidious behaviours of getting his underwear on in a certain way etc.