Nice people thread part 6 - thrice by twice as nice :)

vivatifosi

SingleSue wrote: »

That is certainly my experience since the school became an academy.

I am doing one of those little quick study self-teach courses on autism at the moment, the reason being that we get a lot of autistic kids in the library and I want to make sure that I am communicating with them as effectively as possible.

As part of my study, last night I came across this website, with some statistics on how mainstream schools are achieving their support of autistic children and it isn't very good:
http://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-for-change/our-campaigns/great-expectations/the-facts.aspx

What's also interesting is that they seem to be holding up Suffolk as a county that's got good practice in place:
http://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-for-change/our-campaigns/great-expectations/good-practice-examples/supporting-children-with-autism-in-mainstream-school.aspx

lostinrates

vivatifosi wrote: »

I am doing one of those little quick study self-teach courses on autism at the moment, the reason being that we get a lot of autistic kids in the library and I want to make sure that I am communicating with them as effectively as possible.

And this is why if i ever rule the worl i will be putting viva in charge of public services and servants.

lostinrates

Does anyone think doozer would mind all that much if i keep her husband and his colleagues here? Dog dog is going to be profoundly depressed when her crush leaves (its embarrassing how she simpers) .

Davesnave

silvercar wrote: »

I have 3 friends with special needs children and they all complain that they have hassle with getting statements and then getting them complied with. Seems it is standard practice to use the extra staff to act as TA for the whole class rather than just the statemented pupil.

Whole class is wrong, but when I had an autistic child last, I grouped kids who needed extra input around the child/TA and that was effective.

Clearly, it depends upon the exact nature of the child's needs, but integrating them with peers is an important part of the learning process, on both sides.

We were lucky in having a nearby room (former toilet!!) where the TA and child could go, as and when necessary. There were times when being in the class would be too much of a distraction, but whole lessons were not spent there.

Just dropping by.:wave: I peek now & again.;) At this time of the year I have to limit my MSE time. Maybe in the winter....:o:o

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

Does anyone think doozer would mind all that much if i keep her husband and his colleagues here? Dog dog is going to be profoundly depressed when her crush leaves (its embarrassing how she simpers) .

I didn't realise from the DD thread that you had Mr Doozer there!:o

It all makes sense now.

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

I didn't realise from the DD thread that you had Mr Doozer there!:o

It all makes sense now.

Little relevance on the dd thread! But yes, we have a Nice Builder.

Its not him, but one of his colleagues with whom dog dog has fallen so desperately in love. Today she learned to say his name, she was bleating it at the window when he arrived.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

today she learned to say his name, she was bleating it at the window when he arrived.

awwwwww!!!!!!!!!

LydiaJ

Generali wrote: »

I feel terrible for you and your sons SingleSue however, without wishing to sound insensitive, is a mainstream school the best place for your kids to be?

I would find it very difficult to manage someone with the range of health problems your eldest has for example let alone deal with them as a teacher who sees perhaps 150 different kids each week.

I ask this as a genuine question rather than trying to make a point either way.

From a teacher's POV:

I think I could deal with James's needs without much more than an email or something to let me know what his situation is and what considerations are necessary. I wouldn't feel confident about meeting middle son's needs unless I had had some kind of meeting or training session or a long conversation with somebody who taught him last year or some other kind of discussion about how he can best be supported, but if that was provided, I think I'd be fine. I would want a TA if I had youngest in my class.

I have previously taught kids with visual and hearing impairments, and at least one Aspie, integrated into mainstream classes without a TA. Fortunately all the ones I've taught have had the kind of needs that don't lead them to disrupt the class. Integrating even quite severe SEN is more viable than one might imagine as long as the kid isn't agitated and the teacher has adequate information and preparation. However, even with training and support, the teacher will usually take a little while to adapt to doing things a bit differently, if it's the first time they've taught somebody with that particular type of SEN.

Young people who get upset or angry do need TA support, though, so the teacher can keep the show on the road for the rest of the class, while the TA gives the SEN student the attention they need.

Sue - Hang in there and keep pushing for your boys to get the support their statements say they're entitled to.
Westy dog - Happy Birthday!:bdaycake:

Dog dog - Disappointments in love are part of life. It is better to have loved and lost...

lostinrates

Lydia, would you find it hard to cope with james leaving early to get to next class?

Fwiw, i think back to times when i had to leg it acroos school or campus arriving panting and frustrated and late...and i was fit and healthy back then. But i know our teachers or lecturers felt that they had planned the slot and arriving late or leaving early because of timetabling was a big problem. (it was a daily issue in one place where we as a collective group had half a mile to leg it, get changed and then move on even further)

LydiaJ

lostinrates wrote: »

Lydia, would you find it hard to cope with james leaving early to get to next class?

Fwiw, i think back to times when i had to leg it acroos school or campus arriving panting and frustrated and late...and i was fit and healthy back then. But i know our teachers or lecturers felt that they had planned the slot and arriving late or leaving early because of timetabling was a big problem. (it was a daily issue in one place where we as a collective group had half a mile to leg it, get changed and then move on even further)

It would be irritating, but I'd adapt to it. It's not unfamiliar; I'm always having a student or two leave early for a sports match or dentist appointment or whatever. I'd rather somebody was leaving early than arriving late - it's less of a disruption to the class as a whole.

Iin situations like that, I make it clear to the student that it is their responsibility to catch up with whatever they missed in those last few minutes - by talking to the other students or downloading the smartboard material from the intranet - and to contact me if they need help to understand what they've missed, in which case I'm happy to sort out whatever isn't clear. If there are sheets to give out I either give them to the student as they are leaving the class early, or give it to one of their friends to pass on to them at lunch or another lesson. If they find they need a sheet they haven't got, they email me and I make sure they get one.

As I say, it's a bit irritating - for the teachers and I imagine for James more than anyone - but it's nowhere near a big enough deal to suggest that mainstream school isn't the right place for him. In James's particular case, it would be even less of a big deal because he has such a responsible attitude and I'm sure he does his bit to compensate for missing those few minutes each time.

OTOH, a whole class persistently arriving late or leaving early is a major headache. You feel you are trying to teach the whole syllabus in less time than it requires, which is always frustrating. Which is probably how it feels to the student, who keeps missing bits from lots of lessons all the time. So in summary, I could cope just fine as a teacher with a student who kept leaving early. Whether the student would cope just fine with the endless demand on personal catching up with stuff missed - that's a much tougher question.