Senco & Aspergers

kjmtidea

My 4 year old son has been referred to senco, he is in reception at school. The school got their own senco involved with him but they have decided that he needs to be referred to the senco people outside of the school.

They don't seem to be able to give me much info though, they have no idea how long it will take to get an appointment, all they know is that they will send me an appointment and it will go from there.
Apparently he is showing a lot of signs of aspergers, which I also know nothing about :rotfl: - I have googled though! At first they thought he may have selective mutism but they quickly changed their mind.

So has anyone been through this? Are there any good forums for info? Google obviously brings up loads of stuff but would prefer a recommendation.
Thanks.

Nicki

I haven't read this forum for ages, but it used to be good when we were going through the diagnosis process and in the aftermath, though my child has profound autism rather than aspergers

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/

The SENCO is a school appointment and stands for Special Educational Needs Coordinator. His or her job is to ensure that your child gets the help they need at school, and if he has a statement that this is complied with. AFAIK there is no such thing as an external SENCO, and it wouldn't be a SENCO's role in any case to make a diagnosis of any kind, and would be unlikely to be sufficiently qualified to assess complex needs. I suspect your child has been referred to an Educational Psychologist, who will look at your child's needs and if necessary help you apply for a statement for him (though statements are being phased out, so maybe not?) If Aspergers is suspected, I would also expect you to be put in touch with some medical professionals, either CAMHS (which is the Child and Adoloescent Mental Health Service) or a developmental community paediatrician.

Hope this at least gives you a start in the right direction.

iwilldebtfree

If the school have referred your son to a SENCo outside the school then it is probably to a member of a local authority advisory team who they will work closely with or as Nicki says could be to an Ed Psych. They are probably looking for an initial assessment of school needs and should keep you informed of all their processes.

If you are unsure of what is going on then don't be afraid to ask the school. It's your son they are talking about and it's vital you are part of the process.

Have a look at www.autism.org.uk there is some valuable information and advice on the site.

Are you in contact with your GP about your son's needs? Your GP should be able to refer your son to a specialist paediatrician for further assessments. Sounds like a Speech and Language Therapist should also be involved.

mumpig

You need to see your GP asap and tell them what the senco has said. You will only get a referral to a consultant pediatrician through them; also ask for Speech & Language Therapist appointment too. Diagnosis is a long process and really needs specialist input if your school senco thinks there is a problem.
Do you think your son needs assessment? I'm a bit concerned that the senco is making suggestions of Asperger’s at this stage (a term no longer in use by the way) without giving you any information and advice.
Have a look for the Parent Partnership in your area and I would also suggest the National Autistic Society website or their Early Bird program (google it) if it looks likely that you are heading towards an Autism Spectrum diagnosis for advice and support.

kjmtidea

Thank you both, I will look at the links. Our gp isn't involved, the school just asked if I was happy for him to be referred and I agreed so it has all been done through them.

Nicki

mumpig wrote: »

I'm a bit concerned that the senco is making suggestions of Asperger’s at this stage (a term no longer in use by the way)

Isn't it? What is Asperger's syndrome now referred to as then? I have never heard of any alternative name for it, and am quite closely involved with a number of autism charities and our local ASD school, and attend a number of lectures by professionals having a child with autism myself. I'd hate to think I've been using an outdated and now offensive term, but have genuinely never heard of it being called any different and the first few pages of a google search doesn't throw up any different terms. High functioning autism is not the same thing as Asperger's though it has similarities.

kjmtidea

mumpig wrote: »

You need to see your GP asap and tell them what the senco has said. You will only get a referral to a consultant pediatrician through them; also ask for Speech & Language Therapist appointment too. Diagnosis is a long process and really needs specialist input if your school senco thinks there is a problem.
Do you think your son needs assessment? I'm a bit concerned that the senco is making suggestions of Asperger’s at this stage (a term no longer in use by the way) without giving you any information and advice.
Have a look for the Parent Partnership in your area and I would also suggest the National Autistic Society website or their Early Bird program (google it) if it looks likely that you are heading towards an Autism Spectrum diagnosis for advice and support.

I am not sure to be honest. It all started because he wouldn't talk at school, even though his speech at home is fine. He started school in September so now we are a few months down the line they are getting a little worried. They got their own senco involved and she advised for him to be referred. I had to sit down with his teacher and write a statement for his referral, it was then that we realised that he may have other problems.

He has always had these 'ways' but it wasn't until I sat there having a discussion about it all that I thought perhaps there may be an issue. So the school senco got involved again and said about aspergers.
So the referral and statement have been posted and i've just got to wait for the appointment now.

doodoot

I'm a little concerned that you haven't raised any concerns over his personality/development UNTIL a teacher has pulled you to one and started spouting off a couple of SEN terms.

What exactly do YOU feel is the problem with your son?

What sort of problems does he face day-today, are their specific things that you feel he struggles with?

How does he act when you are out and about, like shopping, visiting relatives, when he's playing outside?

I'm mum to a 14 year old who is a high functioning gifted child, and an 11 year Selective Mute so I can offer you lots of advice about virtually everything where dealing with school, CAMHS and SENCO's are concerned.

Although it's great that your son's school seems to be on the ball where SEN is concerned, it's a little worrying that they have said SM then changed to Aspergers and pushed you into getting a statement made before anyone has actually diagnosed him.

kjmtidea

doodoot wrote: »

I'm a little concerned that you haven't raised any concerns over his personality/development UNTIL a teacher has pulled you to one and started spouting off a couple of SEN terms.

What exactly do YOU feel is the problem with your son?

What sort of problems does he face day-today, are their specific things that you feel he struggles with?

How does he act when you are out and about, like shopping, visiting relatives, when he's playing outside?

I'm mum to a 14 year old who is a high functioning gifted child, and an 11 year Selective Mute so I can offer you lots of advice about virtually everything where dealing with school, CAMHS and SENCO's are concerned.

Although it's great that your son's school seems to be on the ball where SEN is concerned, it's a little worrying that they have said SM then changed to Aspergers and pushed you into getting a statement made before anyone has actually diagnosed him.

If he suddenly had all of these 'symptoms' one day then maybe I would have noticed that there was a problem but he has always been like this so we just put it down to personality traits. He is the youngest of our 4
children and some of his behaviours, like late talking, is exactly the same as our other children so it didn't seem unusual.

I am not going to type out a list of his behaviours/my concerns because I don't need a load of people saying "I'm a little concerned that you haven't raised any concerns over his personality/development UNTIL a teacher has pulled you to one and started spouting off a couple of SEN terms" That isn't what I came here for.

Bitsy_Beans

Since when isn't Aspergers are term that's used???

Good luck OP with your referral, I hope they can help your son whatever his diagnosis turns out to be xxx

iwilldebtfree

You've mentioned a statement of needs, that goes back to what I said in a previous post about the reasons that concerns have been raised in school. It does sound like the school are being pro-active in that they are looking for further support from the authority to support your son in school and they have involved you in discussions. i would again suggest that you go to see your GP, tell him/her what the school have said and request an assessment. If you have any written information about your sons school needs take this with you to the GP and any observations of your own.

There may be numerous reasons for your son's delay and being pro-active is the way forward to get him all the support and you all the advice to support him early.

Let us know how you get on, take care x