What can you tell me about Autism?

new* DLA

ATOS = satanic corporation with gov contract for Disability Assessments.

I'd give a more comprehensive explanation, but rushing out the door r/n for a bus ..

This PIP form is a lot of fun. I'm probably better off not adding "a lifelong developmental condition's Approximate start date is birth, you low-down disabled killing creeps".

they need the education

An updated EHC plan arrived yesterday which has the NAS run Robert Ogden School in Rotherham named on it as his 16-19 destination. I don't think the Local Authority will be able to stop this because they don't have anything in their area offering the same, and the next closest college is in Oldham. Way to go Kirklees, you're doing a stunning job of providing education to young adults with autism.

I'm also going to have to fire off an angry email today re: the local swimming baths timetable. Now the only window of opportunity for disabled people to access the pool is 5.30 7.30 on a Sunday while this noisy "Wipeout" nonsense with floating bouncy castles is now 6 days a week. It's fucking infuriating is the contempt they have for disabled people, and local services aren't supposed to be dictated by the bottom line.

Is the Rotherham plan good news or bad news, Calz? Sounds like a good place but far away from home? How would the travel work?

He'd get transport to and from school directly from home and it's roughly an hour's journey on a good day, which isn't totally ideal, but the best available option. It is an excellent school and some of the teachers are quite highfalutin figures in autism studies. The school in Oldham is also excellent but the transport would take about an hour and 20 mins which is even less ideal. It is good news because the last time we tried to get him into that school, it went to an educational tribunal and we lost. His current school has improved a lot since then but sadly doesn't cater for 16-19's who are on the non-verbal area of the autism spectrum. Which is something that will cost the LA a fortune in transport and fees (Robert Odgen is a private school) until they get their act together.

His current school was transitioning from a non-specific special school to a whole-autism one, so as improved as it is now - it was abysmal about 4-5 years ago.

Once the school is named on the completed EHCP they're legally obliged to comply so well done.

Overall I will allow myself to be pleased about this development in that case! Hope he likes it there.

Thanks Tim. I think that makes it practically a done deal, but in the current funding crisis, I sometimes worry they might be fixing to wriggle out of it, but I don't think they can really.

Not saying they mightn't try, I've seen that happen plenty, but it sounds like they can't meet his needs in county and therefore ultimately they'll have no choice if challenged.

You may have to make a contribution to the transport costs?

I don't think so. The transport is also covered by his EHCP, which came in very handy when they tried to ban him from it. I heard it suggested at a meeting if people could make voluntary contributions to help them out, but nothing more than that has been suggested to me.

it varies from authority to authority. at the moment in Hull and in the East Riding families have to pay £300 a year last i checked. i'm not sure how the EHCP would factor into that but if they haven't said anything then you're probably right.

Is it that charge a recent development? It sounds fucked up to me, but obv in my Communist fantasia nothing gets paid for!

since my memory of recent history is terrible i can't be accurate but i think it goes back 2 or 3 years.

i'm trying to think and i have to say the majority of EHCPs i come across don't specify transport as a requirement, even when the student is in fact using local authority transport. that's contracted out round here tho, the councils pay local taxi companies, some of which are great, others not so much. i definitely advise every parent/carer to try and get anything they even think they might need down in writing in the EHCP - they are binding, even when authorities do everything they can to bend or ignore them.

It's written in his EHCP - not directly quoted here - that if he lives more than 2.3 miles from his school, then transport has to be provided from the doorstep to the school. Perhaps it is different for (I hate using this expression + being presumptuous here) the more high-functioning students that you deal with. Where Alex is on the autism spectrum, he can't travel anywhere unaccompanied, left to his own devices he would become one of the missing explorers you often read about in no time, and quite likely end up a road casualty.

I know the news comes with some complications, but congrats on him getting into that school! That seems like a very big deal.

cheers Karl. I'm pretty lucky tbh. He is going to a respite stopover tonight where he has a fancy bedroom with loads of fun gadgets and a sensory room. I'm enjoying a day off, making Bombay potatoes and supping lager. The bastards that make "difficult decisions" haven't managed to ruin his life just yet!

yea that is good news about the school calzino. our son was just offered a spot this week to start kindergarten at a school that will be perfect for him, we are really excited. it's also a trek for us - probably about 45 minute drive, and we don't have transport provided but it is pretty much on my way to work so it's not a big deal.

we are getting our younger son evaluated next month. we're not sure but we suspect he might have autism too, he's definitely different from our older son and is more social at a younger age but we see some quirks and similar stuff

I'm glad you found a good school. I always imagine in the vast expanse of the USA that school travel time would average much higher than the UK, so 45 mins sounds reasonable.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/16/pupils-special-educational-needs-children-mainstream-schools

I'm not just saying this because of the writer, but this seems like some myopic shit from Harris. Some kids needs will never be met in a mainstream school and a whole autism environment is a very important part of the package. And also what works for his son at some very nice school in London isn't necessarily going to be the same at some shithole sink school deep in the provinces! He seems to have read NeuroTribes but doesn't seem to have grasped that autism is a spectrum condition. He's right about it being a disgrace that 4,152 have been disenfranchised, but he is talking halfsighted bollox imo.

yep. i have a ton of thoughts but my brain is v scattered at the moment so excuse the bittiness of this.

inclusion as an agenda for families, charities and disabled activists is about ending the enforced physical and social segregation of disabled people. when it started getting traction with government it was at least partly because government/local authorities realised they could make budget savings by shutting down special schools - even when the people that were using those schools didn't want this to happen. there are still plenty of families of disabled children who want or who access specialist provision because in their opinion it works best for their children.

the main reason inclusion in mainstream schools fails is because the schools are unequipped to deliver specialised differentiated education. APOLOGIES TO GOOD TEACHERS OR FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF GOOD TEACHERS NOW BUT THESE ARE MY OBSERVATIONS. there are probably multiple reasons for this rather than simply money, but i'm sure funding covers a lot of it. the failures in inclusion aren't dissimilar to general failures in comprehensive education so this isn't necessarily purely a disability issue.

teachers either don't have time, or resources, or space, or ability to deliver appropriately differentiated teaching. maybe a few, i dunno, maybe in private schools. the majority of learning disabled pupils need to be TAUGHT DIFFERENTLY. the standard method of sticking a one to one support worker alongside the kids is not an educational solution imo. i see lots and lots of young people with qualifications from school that they appear to be incapable of reproducing at college and the obvious reason is that they've been over-supported - not taught, but dragged thru qualifications by TAs doing work for them. it just drags them further into a cul-de-sac of non-achievement.

brb, pausing for thought

Ofsted have identified this for years. Yeah it's Ofsted and they have their own agenda and i wouldn't trust them as far as i could tickbox them but they're onto something here. Classroom support is excessively used as a bandage for inadequate teaching. (of course me and Ofsted would probably disagree on the causes behind inadequate teaching, and this is part of the hopeless bodged mess of our education system on the ground. Their job is to blame anything but inadequate resources.)

what we have is a one size fits all education system where support and other initiatives are used to try and shoehorn a whole range of students, disabled and otherwise, into learning thru the same methods as their peers who get it. it doesn't work. there needs to be fundamentally different kinds of teaching and classrooms, including v small groups of 3 or 4 kids to a teacher in some situations. yes put it in the same school and let the kids mingle outside of classes but you cannot teach an average random selection of 20-odd kids in the same way in the same environment and expect them all to gain the same kind of experience from it.

here's somebody else in the Graun making most of the same points:

https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2016/nov/12/secret-teaching-assistant-we-end-up-hindering-the-pupils-were-meant-to-help

TAs are often directed towards the weakest or most vulnerable students and expected to keep them focused and engaged. In some circumstances, we will work with one student for the entire lesson. This might reduce pressure on the teacher, but the resulting attachment to the TA does nothing to develop the students’ academic or social skills. All too often, TAs can fall into the trap of becoming surrogate friends for vulnerable young people, who then become ostracised from their peers as a result.

All Truth Bombs

i guess i am pro-inclusion but in the absence of inclusive education that's legitimately inclusive - which this country barely has, if at all - then it's natural for people to choose the service that best meets their (child's) needs and they must be able to continue to do that until mainstream is legitimately inclusive.

not even going to comment on Harris's implication that disabled people should be around to provide learning experiences for non-disabled people. apply that sentiment to your minority of choice and see how hard you can roll your eyes.

"not even going to comment on Harris's implication that disabled people should be around to provide learning experiences for non-disabled people. apply that sentiment to your minority of choice and see how hard you can roll your eyes."

this times a fucking million, thanks for framing that thought beautifully NV.

There is a Graun article today about colonial Belguim's Human Zoo of '58. maybe Harris should read that!

I did try the local mainstream school with the autism provision once and he was coming home with striped bruises on his arms, that were consistent with being rough handled by an adult.

that sort of thing is beyond appalling. the problem really is the gap between the noble idea of inclusion and the reality of how it works on the ground. equality without diversity, which as i say happens in so many other ways in education. it's hard enough explaining to kids why treating people equally doesn't necessarily mean treating them the same, what can you do when the adults don't get it??

this thread today providing a shambling summary of why i'm taking voluntary redundancy.

jesus, really? It seems quite obv from this thread that more like you are needed in education.

it's largely personal tbh but certainly partly because i am pretty much powerless except to watch the machine malfunction and try and make it a little less stressful for people going thru it, and i don't want to be complicit in the bad stuff any more

I'd be interested to know what ppl in this thread make of this podcast episode. I thought it was excellent but I don't have anyone close to me w/autism so I'm coming at it from a position of ignorance

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05nc1s9

It seems charming and good that they are talking about the important self-regulation aspect of stimming. Neurotypical people laughing out loud or shouting WTF! on a bus, is not a good response to someone stimming.

and she's a Miles Davis fan. It's a winner!

I do like listening to spectrum people talking about their obsessive tendencies, cos my boy is non-verbal, but is just the same as them really.

ah interesting! i didn't think of that

My 7 year old son seems to be somewhere on the spectrum, just from what I've read - he obsesses about things, is too literal in his communication, finds it hard to do social stuff, too much noise around makes him go into a mood, but obviously I'm no expert and no way to know for sure. He goes to a state primary school in the UK and does well, but really not sure he is suited to the way they teach, feel like he is just left alone to get on with stuff (it's a genuinely failing school which we're trying to leave but that's maybe another issue)

Anyway, point it, would it be useful to get him diagnosed? And how would I go about getting that done?

at his age - yes.

i'd advise you to discuss your concerns with your GP and ask for a referral to either Ed Psych or CAMHS depending who handles diagnosis in your area. iirc the school could also start the process by approaching Ed Psych but that doesn't sound the best option in your case.

if you can find contact details for an assessment and diagnostic team in your area you might be able to contact them directly, too.

not bothering to intervene or diagnose if the child isn't creating obvious problems seems pretty common in our schools and obv this isn't a good approach. a diagnosis would give you more options for support and help, including things like appropriate exam arrangements, further down the line.

fwiw I have a friend who asked me the same question a few years ago, and he decided against any action because his son's behaviour was only slightly problematic and it seemed an easier option to muddle on. Now he is terrified that he is too fragile for this meat grinder sink high school he is supposed to be starting in September and is concerned he might need some help.

and that's why i advise yes. i think diagnosis is considerably less important if you make it to adulthood but then it becomes a personal decision really.

OK, we have recently moved and are registering with a new doctor so seems like a good opportunity to do something.

xp

this is the aggravating thing about schools being reluctant to create EHCPs, it's like they're terrified they'll create a bunch of financial and legal responsibilities when a lot of the time it's just about kids having appropriate options for further ed and being able to sit in a quiet room to take their GCSEs if they need to

After going through a lot of worrying about having to take Alex for a PIP assessment at the dreaded ATOS assessment centre in Morley, I have just received a letter confirming he has been awarded PIP w/ enhanced rate for mobility and enhanced rate for living needs, without any need for further action. The medical evidence must have been enough, but the DWP are still vile for how they are treating people with MS and so called "invisible" conditions. But fuck, this has just taken a shitload of worry off my head.

that's great news!

I feel a bit guilty about being all happy and triumphant considering the amount of people who need the same support, but got the other DWP letter. But fuck, you have to be happy sometimes in this life!