Tac review for son with autism moving to yr5

jb24
jb24 Community member Posts: 1 Listener
edited August 28 in Families and carers

hi- would appreciate any help on what to do. My son has pda autism which can manifest in stress situations in him disregulating and lashing out. The mainstream school he is in, had a change of leadership in yr 3 , and since then it’s been a struggle as they don’t understand him in the way the previous leadership did. He was doing well into year 4 after a hard year 3 and many failures in support. However at the end of the term in July he hit his 1-1 and they then threatened permanent exclusion and a week later (he was post vira after covid ) he then hit a child during competitive play , which we had asked he not be exposed to. The school then have said that technically it’s a permanent exclusion but have excluded him into September for 10.5 days and say they can no longer meet his needs . We have an emergency review meeting with the LA , school in September but worried that he will be without a school for an extended period of time. He has an ehcp and we are open to either another mainstream school or specialist provision but we would like to have some time to explore options so he doesn’t just end up at the first alternative provision which may not be the best and so would want him to stay at the current school in the interim, although given the lack of understanding and regime at the school would like to move him. Does anyone have any experience of this ?

Comments

  • Lola_Scope
    Lola_Scope Scope Family Services Posts: 46 Family Services

    Hi @jb24 and welcome to the community. I’m sorry to hear that your son is struggling. You are not alone, a change of leadership at school can have a huge impact on consistency, regarding Special Educational Needs provision, as well as understanding of a specific child’s needs. Have you been in touch with your local SENDIASS to get support with the current situation? They can offer help and advice and, in some cases, can attend meetings to help support parents. If he has an EHCP legally the LA have to provide education that meets his needs and, if the named school in an EHCP is being changed, you should be consulted before it’s finalised. IPSEA also provide support, advice and resources for families.

    If you would like some information and advice regarding PDA and parenting the PDA society is great but there are other useful sources of information if you think that would be helpful.

  • Doris_Scope
    Doris_Scope Scope Family Services Posts: 177 Family Services

    Hi @jb24

    This sounds like an incredibly difficult situation for you and your son. Children with additional needs can often be excluded or suspended. Usually it is due their needs not being met. This can happen even when a child has an EHCP.

    As @Lola_Scope said, it is important that you get some advice from an educational service such as your local SENDIASS. Just type the name of your local authority followed by SENDIASS into the search bar on your browser to find yours.

    What should I do if my child is excluded might help on the IPSEA website and I would not hesitate to contact them.

    It can be extremely difficult to get an appointment with IPSEA, but they run an open book diary. You can access it here. I would definitely suggest going on at different times of the day and keep refreshing your page. You never know when they are going to release appointments, but one might pop up. If it does, grab it.

    Their phone helpline is also open every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30am – 2:30pm. You can call them on 0300 222 5899.

    Good luck. I hope that you get the support that your son need.

    @Doris_Scope

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