Where to get support for issues with (Catholic) school for an ASD Child?

[aspie*mum]

Hi! Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on where I can go to access some support.

Here is the story:

My daughter is 6 and in prep. She has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).  She has Asperger syndrome (AS).  She is high functioning and has been tested with a gifted IQ.  She started at a wonderful Catholic school this year, that was amazing.  They put lots of supports in place and she had a really positive start. Her teacher was amazing. 

After my marriage breakdown I moved back to Melbourne with my daughter (for my family and specialist support), and enrolled her in our local Catholic school. The school assured me they were happy to have a ASD / AS child and were happy to implement her supports for a successful integration. She came down every Friday for 4 weeks for transition then she started full time for the last 2 weeks of term 2.

It has been a disaster.

For a start, she has 2 teachers on job share. Not ideal for an ASD / AS child. One is the Assistant Principal (AP). Therein lies the problem.

The AP is very "old school" and seems to feel that it's a battle of will. "But she looks so normal" has been one of the comments. My daughter internalises her feelings at school,  but it's like a tidal wave of emotion when she get home. One incident at school left her in tears, as the AP insisted she do the writing task until it was finished and made her sit at the table alone whilst the other kids had a story to finish her writing. She then told my mother and I who picked her up that day that my daughter had a "tantrum" and was "naughty". I was horrified.

We had a meeting the next day with the Special Ed co-ordinator who was amazing and discussed with both teachers what would be implemented to help her (charts on her table, rewards, visual promps etc).

Her previous teacher had made heaps of notes, written reports of the things that worked and didn't work but her new school has ignored them. Unfortunately, nothing has been implemented my daughter is now refusing to go to school (I don't blame her) and the special ed co-ordinator has gone on indefinite leave due to breast cancer (not her fault of course) but has been replaced but the Assistant Principal - the very woman who believes that ASD / AS kids are normal and don't need special consideration!

I have spoken to the Catholic Education office who appear to agree that the teacher is disadvantaging my child.  (In fact, the word 'discrimination' was mentioned') and that the minimum expectations such as a visual daily diary on her desk, a "I start, I do, I finish my work" chart with an incentive for completing work were not unreasonable at all.

The other teacher (the AP and the other one job share) is lovely, but unfortunately, as it's job share and the senior teacher is the assistant principal, she doesn't have much say as her position is not a leadership one.

- I am hesitant to talk to  the principal as I don't want to be labeled as a "troublesome parent" and I don't want to cause more trouble with the teacher.  But I honestly believe that the AP has labeled me as this anyway.  The CED has encouraged me to talk to the Principal (Who is lovely) and is speaking to him on my behalf today.

- I am waiting for a call back from an advocacy group for children with disabilities.

- I have talked to my Autism advisor who suggested the advocacy groups - basically I need someone to come into the school and back me up.

- Apart from the AP, the school has been great.  The parents have been welcoming, the children lovely, my daughter has already been to 3 birthday parties - basically lovely people.  The other staff are also lovely.

Does anyone know where else I can go for assistance?  I feel I need a professional at the meetings to back me up.

Basically looking for some ideas on where to call to get some support or help?

[krazy.kiwi]

Aspie Mum,

I am in Melbourne's outer west and have a 14 yr old boy with Aperger's.

We have also been to hell and back with education. We were in the publc school side of things though.

The one thing I have discovered is that a lot of teachers think they know about ASD, but they don't. (and AP's are amongst the worst offenders!) They would smile and nod and ignore all the advice gieven to them.

And it is nigh on impossible to get funding for an ASD child here in Vic as well.

In the end, I pulled my son right out of the mainsteam environment and he is at home doing distance education now.

If you ever need to chat or need a hand, feel free to contact me.

[aspie*mum]

Thank you for all the advice and personal stories.

They are much appreciated.

Whilst I know my daughter would love to be home schooled, I need to work (as since my marriage breakdown we are a single income family), as many of her therapies are not covered by her funding.  Also, life is expensive!  But it is something I am considering at this stage, for the time the AP is in the classroom as I don't feel forcing her to go, when she is getting so hysterical is of benefit to her at all.  It's not teaching her resilience - it's teaching her to have a bad attitude towards teachers and more importantly, a negative image of herself as a learner.

Fingers crossed our meeting will go well tomorrow.  I truly believe the AP will have to give in and concede on at least some of the issues because they are not unreasonable.  Hopefully I can work with the principal to get her a suitable teacher for next year, and hopefully work with next years teacher to implement some positive incentives for her so she has success with her learning (like at her previous school).

Thanks again.

[bella_again]

- It's also very late in the year to be changing her AND her funding forms have been put in - her funding will stay at the school she is currently at.  So if she changes now, she will have no aide at a new schools.

It takes about a month to transfer the funding, the old school do not keep it so don't let them tell you this. If you decide to transfer schools next year the funding will be made available to the next school. If they are slow its their problem they still have to provide an aide and adequate support. But it does take time, so you would need if you are transferring her to start putting things in place now.

Because schools use a pool of funding they will quite often put an aide in place because they know the funding is part of their funding pool as a whole for the year.  Been through this many times with my two and even more recently DD was assessed at a completely different school then funding went to the school she actually attended.

You can also contact your regions welfare officer and discuss the issues at hand.  Basically the school has a responsibility to meet your child's needs, if they fail to do so they can be held to account.

Good luck with everything 🙂

[*crikey*mate*]

The way I figure it is you can spend all of your time and money fighting the system, with no real positive results for the child, or you can just accept that they don't want to spend too many of their limited resources on a member of a minority group.

If you accept the latter, you get to spend your time and money on the child.

These recommendations are going to sound extreme, but - they work.

 Accept, that for an Aspie, school is merely for socialization purposes. They often find it hard to deal with all the social issues AND access the curriculum. 

1) Find a school (any school regardless of the denomination) that will cater for the emotional needs for your child. Somewhere where they are safe and feel accepted.

2) Some schools even cater for the high functioning aspect as well, but that's a seperate issue.

3) Organize some method to ensure that your child is receiving their academic education. Some options are:

  3a) obtain the curriculum and teach this to your child.

   3b) tuition company

                Have a look at KUMON's Math and English programs.

   3c) distance education

In the early years, it has been shown to be beneficial for a full time teacher's aide be provided for the child (and not share with anyone else - devoted just for them) whilst they are at school.

Try to find a pediatrician and a child psychologist who have a special interest in ASD's - they will be invaluable resources for you over the next 12 years,

Other professional supports are Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists (even if he can talk, there is more to speech therapy than learning how to talk) and several of the streams in the Trinity of London Speech and Drama Program - particularly commication, speech and drama and musical theatre.

Research "Structure of the Intellect" testing as well.

Good Luck, but managed well, the outcome can be phenomenal.

[catsnknots]

You should have moved her at the end of the year... seems this is an ongoing issue and the school is not right for her... 

You can't change an institution... sometimes you need to find the institution that suits your needs.