Autism and Education
Yes, I know the theme of this week’s blogging about autism seems to be education.
But I can defend this on the grounds that John, our eight-year-old son, is still in education, so it is of great interest. But I really need your help and advice with a problem that has just arisen.
So firstly, a bit of background!
As we have mentioned before, our son attends ResourceBase, which is a halfway house between a specialist ASD school and a mainstream one. I’ve blogged about it in some detail here if you are interested.
As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, my wife and I are very pleased with John’s development at the Resourcebase. The numerous staff members are committed and caring. Above all, they are properly trained to do their jobs, and that training is ongoing.
Indeed, John has progressed rapidly in the nearly two years he has been at ResourseBase.
That being said, he still has some way to go before he reaches parity with his peers. There are a number of reasons for this, but most especially, there are his problems with handwriting, which in turn are caused by his many issues with fine motor skills. He does need some intensive work, in particular, in occupational therapy, to help him move forward.
So, his mother and I have suggested to the school that they keep him down a year next year so that he can cement the skills he has already learned and develop those he needs before it is time to move on to new challenges. He also needs to make up for lost therapy during his time in mainstream education.
The school’s reaction has not been positive so far. This is not really from the school but from the local government body that deals with education. For those of you who do not know, my family and I live in London, England.
There are a number of reasons stated, but mainly, it comes down to transitioning our son to other schools when he has finished his current stage. In the UK, this transition normally takes place at the age of 11. But we know from our own experience that it has been shared for autistic children to be “kept down a year,” in fact, with much success.
So why would we like your help?
Very simple.
Please share your thoughts on this problem in the comments section below.
In particular, we are interested in your views on the following questions.
a) Do you think keeping an autistic child “down a year” is a good or bad idea in principle?
b) Have you had any experience with this yourself? Please tell your story in the comments section below.
c) What happened when you child transitioned out of education or to a new level such as high school or university?
d) In general, when you disagreed with the proposals of your child’s education providers, how did that work out?
My wife and I would love to read your comments to help prepare a case to give our son the best education possible.
I really appreciate any help you can provide.
PS If you know of anyone who might be able to help with any of these questions please can you share this blog post with them. Thx.
If your son can answer the question himself, I would ask him and see what he thinks?! We discussed it a few years ago with my son(we’re in Western Australia), while he was still in primary school, but felt that as he had a couple of friends in the same situation(having ASD) and year group, we felt that it would be more detrimental than beneficial as we did not have the option of moving Schools, he was in a mainstream School, but had an EA(Education Assistant) and now in High School still has a couple of those same friends and shares an EA in some classes, his handwriting’s not perfect, nor are his grades, but he’s Year 9 now and wants to go all the way to year 12(which is a first in my little family)!!! Up to you all though and if you feel that’s the best thing, fight for it!!!!
My 6 yo asd son was supposed to start kindergarten last fall, but I decided to hold him back a year because he needed to mature a little more before starting school. Now this coming fall, he will start school.
patienttalk sorry for the delay, I’ve been busy with work. I did not receive much occupational therapy at school for a few reasons: mainly, being a military brat my family moved a lot, there was usually too many students needing services and too few professionals to provide them for everyone and/or I did not qualify in that district. Most of my support came from outside the schools. However, I did get some in school support. At the elementary level I received “speech therapy” at two schools, minor OT with a school psychologist at another. At one school I received one on one time with the Vice principal after the reading aid learned that I read very well alone but wasn’t able to do so out loud in front of the class (social phobia and my brain reads faster than I can speak); so she would have me read with her in her office, once a week that year and the next year instead of taking my spelling test (I had to do extra spelling homework to compensate which was better for me as I have spelling issues) and read aloud time in my class (I read independently and was usually ahead of my peers anyway) would be in a kindergarten class during that period reading to the kindergarteners. At the middle school level I was allowed a spell check and one of the schools took me out a few times for life skills navigation (both for vision and spatial issues). I had a 504 plan but not an IEP in school and no special ed. My motor issues were noted and tested at times but there wasn’t much the schools could do about that, esp. with me not being a special education student. When I was little I did get some unofficial support for OT and teaching techniques by college student specializing in special education, because they were my mom’s classmates so I was a volunteer guinea pig for practice (I was well rewarded for my cooperation and liked helping out). I was fortunate to have some teachers, even before I was properly diagnosed or didn’t have any special ed supports who genuinely cared for there students and tried to help us with what we needed even if it wasn’t mapped out in a plan or required.In third grade my teachers, realizing I sometimes needed to be alone to work best set up a cubby in the back of the classroom I could take my work to whenever I needed, no questions asked, to work. Most of my reading teachers realized I read much faster than my peers and wasn’t comfortable reading out loud so I was allowed to read on my own and answer packet questions and write reports instead and then finding other books of similar genres and topics with accompanying activities to work on after I finished the class book, so long as I read out loud at least a few times, even if I had to come back to a book I already finished to read a paragraph with the class on some days we read out loud. Many of my history teachers also let me work faster if I needed to and if group work was needed tried to put me in smaller groups with more accepting peers if necessary. In my floriculture class in high school there were aids (assigned to the class or other students) and we got along well. Most of the resource aids knew me and let me eat lunch there 10th-12th grade if I couldn’t deal with the cafeteria even though I wasn’t one of there students. My 20th Century history teacher had his room set up in a way that was great for me (he didn’t use the fluorescent overhead lights and he had a strict everyone respects everyone or deals with him policy and if you needed to stay after to finish a test you could whether you got extra test time or not). I had enough good teachers that it helped protect me for the negative effects of the few not so good teachers and experiences I had to deal with. Plus, my mom was very good at helping me at home. She wanted to be a special education teacher but the moving kept disrupting her graduation, she had to start over almost every time and in some places couldn’t go back at all. She ended up becoming a special ed aid, initially for Autism and the Life Skills and has helped many kids. So I was in good care, she had more training then most parents. And both of my parents refused to let anything keep me from my potential. They were told to institutionalize me and forget I was born because “I’d never be anything” and did not take kindly to that suggestion (needless to say they refused) and when people didn’t want me included in things fought for me to have the same rights as everyone else. When I was finally diagnosed, over the summer, the school un-enrolled me and told them I wasn’t good enough to attend their school (a public school) because because they didn’t want autistic students and my dad had to get permission from his commanding officer to go into work late so he could handle the situation (force them to comply with the law requiring a free public education for all). There are ways of getting your child what they need with or without the school’s support. And things are getting better. Autism awareness is increasing, there is more understanding. There is hope that things for the this and the next generation may not be so hard. All it takes is believing that your child can make it, loving them, accepting them for who they are, and working hard to get them what they need to succeed.
Hi there,
I am an autistic individual who has written a book “Becoming Unique” about growing up with autism and struggling in the workplace. I was able to research many strengths regarding autism in the chapter “Autism can be wonderful”. I have noted there seems to be a difference between what the school and local government have to say regarding your sons educational needs. If your child is happy to stay back a year, I say “stay back” as transitions and changes are difficult for nearly all autistic individuals. From my own experience I struggled in school, but stuck it out by repeating years and eventually got into third level education as a mature student. While every individuals experience is different, looking at your child’s strengths and what your child can and cannot do are important. I hope this will be of some use to you. Take care
DarleneHolt Thanks Darleen this is very positive. Did you get much OT support in school? If so what did you receive?
MonicaSueDacusBall Thanks this is really useful
My 12 year old son is ADHD and PDD-NOS. When we were ready to move on to secondary school from 5th grade, I felt pressured to let him move up. The first part of 6th grade went better than I expected. About half way through the year he started regression in his studies. I plan to hold him back this next year. In the US. Hope this helps. Much luck to you all in this decision .
I am not a parent nor am I from England. I am Autistic but I am from the United States. I am still working on my education though I have earned my first Masters this past summer. I too have terrible handwriting and also do not cut things well both with a knife or scissors, though I am better with the later. I hope my advise is not out of place. For me, personally, I do not agree with the idea of holding back a child unless they need to be held back academically. If it is just a matter of penmenship and therapy not academic capability, I would suggest you keep him in his year but try and increase his needed therapy and training. Maybe even set aside time at home for writing practice (my mother had to work with me over the summer to learn to write cursive when it would be required because I had difficulty learning it in school due to motor skills and vision impairments). While still important to a point, with computers it is not as imperative as it once was so I’m not sure if that alone would be reason to hold him back. And therapy doesn’t need to go only with a certain grade level. We transitioned a lot. Not just the usual breaks between elementary, middle/jr. high and high school and then on to post secondary. As a military brat I moved a lot growing. As long as you prepare him for the transitions he should be ok. Work with your schools to get the supports he needs and as he gets older include him in the process. Let them know that you will either work with them in a partnership or fight them for what your son needs. If he needs to move to a new school see if you can have him meet his teachers and see the school, classrooms and such before hand to acclimate him to the environment before having to deal with the social and sensory bombardment of his peers while trying to both learn and at the same time adjust to a new environment. If he decides to go to university later on, most schools have a disability office who can help him if he still needs supports. Sometimes we don’t always get places in the same time frame or way as out NT peers but we can achieve our potential, as they can, all the same.
Hello ! a) I think it’s fine, parents know their children best and it’s all about what is best for your child, with special needs children being flexible is vital in my opinion b) Yes, at present ! The school say it can’t be done yet sons best friend in class was kept back a year this year ! No such thing as can’t … c) Ask me September 2016 ! d) I am finding I am having to fight for everything he is entitled to, I am not asking for anything more than that. LA and school only telling me what they want me to hear, luckily I am aware of the actual situation. Feels like it is all about costs and protecting their reputation rather than doing their best for my son. It is only a partnership when they want it to be ! My son is fine everywhere bar class, school refuse to accept this. Waiting to hear from SENAR, long process and have to stay patient, the law is on my sons side thus will keep persevering.
Do what you feel is right and what you are entitled to. Ride the wave and you will get there. Best Wishes @AutismDaddy2015