Feel supported by your school?

Post Reply New Topic

Do the parents on this board generally feel good about the level of services and supports from your school?

We are only at the beginning of our journey with Asperger's (one son newly diagnosed, one son still being assessed), but I have already been impressed with the level of caring and support from our school and have great hopes of it being a very good environment for my sons for many years to come (the school goes from K-8 ). My sons were signed up for a social skills play group with the guidance counsellor, and several strategies for increasing their comfort levels, and social and academic success were implemented in their classrooms, before we had any official diagnosis. There is a great sense of teamwork and of putting the needs of the children first. So I have been greatly encouraged. We are just n00bs at this, mind you, so we shall see...but we have already been working closely with the school re: my sons severe allergies for awhile and they have been wonderful.

Some frustrations have been:
-waiting list for assessment by the school psychologist is very, very long. We ended up paying to have them assessed privately.
-they are currently on the waiting list for OT, and it is also very, very long. We may end up going the private route for this as well (but expensive, yikes!! !!)
-the school speech therapist also has way too many cases, and children get little individual attention

the school my son is in now is VERY supportive ! they really were able to turn him around & get him back to feeling good about himself

the middle school he was in ??????????? HA!
absolutely atrocious ! I mean, isn't rocking back and forth on your heels in the fetal postion outside a classroom considered defiant ??? ( he was sent to detention for that !)

We've moved quite a bit and have experience in several different school districts. We've been dealing with this for about six years, but only recently received a diagnosis of Aspergers. The first school was completely unsupportive. We had to pay for all testing ourselves and fight tooth and nail for accommodations. The second school was completely incapable of providing support and had no idea what a 504 was (legal accommodations other than an IEP).

The next two school systems were better, with the one we are in now being AWESOME. The last two districts were better funded and more developed than the previous two, so that may explain it. It also may be that schools are becoming more educated over time, which would be nice.

My son is only in kindy, but so far the school has been VERY supportive. I was so nervous at the start of the year because preschool was an absolute nightmare, but I am so pleased with his elementary school.

The school my son is at couldn't be a better place for him!! !
His teacher has things set up for when he gets overloaded, she has set up a buddy for him at breaks, he can sit on a beanbag instead of the floor so he has a kinda barrier between him and other kids, he has his own table to work at when he can't concentrate. He gets teacher aid help in class, the SENCO just needs to say the word and help is there for him.
Communication between me and the school is great.

Most importantly the school ACCEPTS his autism and the fact that he is different and has different needs/requirements!

Last year both my school aged sons were diagnosed. (second son in January 2007, first son in May, 2007)

My 2nd son had an excellent classroom teacher and excellent Special Ed teacher. Excellent support all through 2007.

My first son had an idiot classroom teacher. Strong Aspie traits had been picked up by the Learning Support teacher in 2004 but noone bothered to tell us.

They have a lawsuit against them by another family who got angry when the Learning Support teacher had told them about their child's strong Aspie traits. Therefore she was too scared to tell our family. Even so, I feel like launching a lawsuit for them not telling us. The years of hell that could have been minimised.

So 2007 getting our first son diagnosed was difficult. The idiot Guidance Officer told me that there is no way my first son has Asperger's. The idiot classroom teacher told me that I was obviously an anxious mother, and if I just calmed down my first son would be okay. He also told me there is no way my first son has Asperger's.

The Special Ed teacher met my first son when I was chatting about my already-diagnosed second son. It was a 15 second meeting. The Special Ed teacher said, 'You know your first son is an Aspie too.' He detected the tics, the foreign accent, the lack of eye contact (things that as a parent I didn't notice. ) So off we went and had our first son diagnosed.

Second half of 2007 got better for my first son. I complained to the Principal about the Guidance Officer and first son's classroom teacher. I paid my sons' psychologist to come in and spend a couple of hours providing Asperger's education to staff members involved with my sons (including the Guidance Officer and idiot classroom teacher). They actually listened to her - she has all the letters after her name. Cost me a fortune but well worth it.

By end of 2007, everything was great. I was happy with the school.

Then 2008 ... wonderful Special Ed teacher retired and new idiot Special Ed teacher started.

Formal complaint to Principal .... again , various complaint e-mails and face to face meetings and we're finally getting somewhere. A new part-time Special Ed teacher started last week and she is excellent.

So do I feel supported by the school .... hmmmm???? Yes the boys are getting the support again, but I've had to fight and complain to get it.

I have I don't have to go through this cr@p every year. It's exhausting.

From an exhausted Mum,
Helen

Yes, yes, yes!! ! My son is so lucky. I love all the people around him! I know he is very happy!

My son sees all the relevant people at school - speech and OT. His classroom teacher is very responsive to any suggestions I might make, the aide isn't too bright but does try to write in our communication book something sensible. However the Assistant Principal and the Principal are ignorant of my son's needs and they are causing me much stress.

So, in some ways my son is supported, in other ways he's not.

Cheers,
Temma

It really does go to show that an individual teacher can make a HUGE difference either for positive or negative.

I think we've been very lucky with our school. When I bring up a concern, it is always treated seriously and dealt with to the best of everyone's ability. Things aren't perfect, simply because there are limits to what can be done in a public school environment, but my son is very happy with school and is doing really well and I don't feel I could ask for more than that. We FEEL supported, wanted, and validated. That is so amazing to have!

I'm a little worried about next year, when my son moves on to middle school. I've been told for years that special education there is excellent but when I went to orientation and got the frameworks they use, it didn't seem right for my child at all. I've now got the contact information for the resource director and will get more information, and will see what we can do. I really want him to stay with his friends, but it gets tough. That school faces huge challenges financially and demographically and even if they have the desire to give my son what is best for him as a unique individual, I don't know if they will have the resources to do it. I just have to keep the faith that the reputation is not undeserved. And maybe investigate what our other options are.

yup ME TOOOO!

Fantastic school. Great Special Needs Coordinator. She is the magic and the rest is cooperation from us at home.

COULD not wish for better and it is a mainstream secondary school in rural UK! If we can do it soooo can everyone!!

If you have the teachers on side, the journey is soooo much easier!!

So far, yes. But, I'm on the alert.

No.

My son was diagnosed with Asperger's while in Kindergarten.

His school has been totally unsupportive. During Kindergarten and 1st grade he was sent to the principal's office practically every other day and suspended more times than the rest of the school combined. When asking for details on incidents we were either ignored, or given pat answers such as "he just hit the teacher for no reason" when we know full well there are always trigger events leading up to his meltdowns. They couldn't even get him to write his name in upper/lower case without it leading to a full blown meltdown. The school's principal claimed most of his problems were due to our lack of faith in the school, which my son noticed. Finally, after a verbal confrontation between myself and the principal, the school called an IEP meeting and decided to have him finish 1st grade at another school. This school had a program for ED students. After 3 weeks there, they had all but given up on him (stopped making him complete work, etc.) and decided to move him again, this time to a school outside the district which has a county run Autism unit. We were initially very skeptical, but the program started having success from the first day (he brought home a paper with his name written properly at the top on day 1). He finished out the last couple months of the year there completing more work and having fewer outbursts than at any other time during the school year. We were finally happy.
Then we received a letter over the summer stating the district's intention to bring him back to his original school, to the same teacher that couldn't handle him before. Apparently she went to a training class during the summer. We fought this vehemently claiming that a third school move in such a short span of time would be bad for my son. They relented and allowed him to attend second grade in the same program. He is now finishing 2nd grade (doing wonderfully I might add, having even qualified for the gifted program next year) and the school district is once again trying to pull him back to his original school. Throughout, they have been using deceptive tactics and outright lying to attempt to manipulate us. After we requested during an IEP meeting that any word of changing schools to my son should only come from us, his parents, they placed a 'social story' about my son's 'new school and teacher' in his 1st grade sisters homework folder (she still attends his old school). Of course her first reaction was to tell my son and show him the paper.
We are attempting to fight the move back to his old school but have been informed by the school district that they have the legal right to bring him back. They don't care what's good for him, only what's good for themselves.