Schooling for children with Autism

**FunKy~Mummy** · 21-01-2011 13:53

Oh please can I add one that Is desperate for our children, especially those with Autism on the Autism spectrum that do not have a voice and they are thrown into schools without teachers being trained to deal with their specific issues. We are paying a fortune for our little one to attend a school for children with Autism but at lunch time it gets too much he lashes out and he is going to lose his placement there and then have no school. He has trust issues and was in a behaviour unit (hate the word) but the TEACHERS omg they knew exactly what they were doing their were 10 kids in the whold school and my little boy thrived BUT it is only a 6 month placement, special schools cannot accept children without an intellectual disability so many of our children Australia wide are falling through the cracks and there are not enough people standing behind the advocates to be a force to be reckoned with!!!!.....there is one Idea from a mum who is scared her child will never have a future and have the best schooling possible that all children deserve!!!!!!!

**Atlantic Puffin** · 21-01-2011 14:18

Wow mumma, i didnt know that children with autism were not accepted into special schools!...

See, learning new things already!

**FunKy~Mummy** · 21-01-2011 14:46

if a child does not have an intellectual disability in QLD anyway they are not eligible for special school, Dan is on the lower end with his intellectual test BUT not low enough to be accepted into special schools,
Children with Autism who do have the Low IQ are elligible but my little boy is allowed at mainstream school for 1 hour a week on a friday morning and they ring me and say Dan is have a spack attack come get him IM LIKE HE IS HAVING A WHAT!!! how dare you. I feel for the teachers they are not equipt to teach children like my son with profound sensory and languange and speech difficulties!!! his OT said to me sometimes with Dan it is like Dan is deaf and blind and there are noises that annoy him, materials and hates being touched but throw him in a room with 27 kids 60 people if you count the fact his room has no wall for the next class and teachers and aides and he gets 2 hours a day of a teacher aide who also does not specialise in disabilities it devastated me my 5 year old girl is reading at grade 3 level, my little man can spell his name or copy text
He is a whizz with maths though OMG a true whizz a brilliant swimmer and I am coming to terms that I can love him with him not being able to reciprocate all the time and when he can......what a moment!!!!

**bheditor** · 21-01-2011 14:53

Firstly,

to Mumma Ky.

Secondly, what can we do? What needs to change? How will it change? Is anyone in the same position? Has anyone found a solution?

Let's brainstorm ...

Also, while this is a very serious and important issue it doesn't mean that all our issues have to be. If you want us to compile some practical advice on stain removal then we can do that too!! All problems, no matter how big or small!

**FunKy~Mummy** · 21-01-2011 14:55

thank you so much for putting this in as one of our bub hubs army and I am as proud as punch to help with anyone elses causes I am a huge advocate and I try to support and help where I can!!! I am actually in the process of doing a web site for my little man and I need to update his FB page I annoy constantly the premier, the Education and disability minister both federally and locally!!! and I will not stop til our children have a fair chance!!!!!!!
If any other people are happy to add their signature to the letter please let me know!!!
BUB HUB YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!

**FunKy~Mummy** · 21-01-2011 14:58

I would love to hear other parents stories good and bad!!! I would love to lobby the government with this letter and explain our children and the schools positions!!!
I would like to make it part of an issue that is in the limelight!! a current affar wanted to do a story on Dan but wanted to take advantage of his meltdowns and video them and I couldn't bring myself to do that!!
I would love teachers to come forward and let us know how they feel and what they need!!!

Thank you so much
and I will be behind anything Stain remover awesome you should see mah house lol!!!
xoxoxo

**Nowhere** · 21-01-2011 15:07

Hey
Massive hugs to all the mummas going through this right now, I know how hard it is to find a school for a more than typical child.

My DD isnt autistic she has CP and global developement delay and also exhibits querks that fit her on the spectrum but isnt actualy autistic, hope that makes sense. Anyway the choosing a school for a child with SN no matter what the need is a simalar process and one often faces the same chalanges.

When DD was 3 we started looking at schooling options for her and I always said we would put her in main stream school, and always had the attitute that ALL kids have a place in main stream school etc etc.

Then I went through the stage of realising how difernt my DD is to all other kids and thought mmm maybe have to re think the special ed thing, Pluss DDs Dr and therapist had said she will need special ed.

I visited the local special, I visited the special ed school and I visited the semi local ed suport unit, I found that DD was to advanged for the special ed school and that she wouldnt get stimulation but i found that they had the best facilities to address DDs medical needs, i visitied the main stream and thought yer this is great if we can get a decent aide, then I visited the Ed suport unit and thought WOW this is awesome just what I think DD needs, But there was one small problem they ONLy took kids in kindy there that was Autistic no other SN got a look in.

So we went with main stream school at the start of last year, I wanted to give it a good go, a realy good go and the school was willing, ON day one DD started and I went with her and the TA they had orgnised was hopeless and half way through the day went home and said she couldnt work with my child, So that was a night mare. Had a meeting the next day and met a new aide that was lovely, I had to go to school with DD as they wasnt confident but I would sit at the back while she worked and while her poor TA tried to get her to work which was a epic fail, Her TA was AWESOME and lovely but mik just wasnt into it. We perserveered for 5 months and then DD ended up having a few months of cause she was in hospital in that time it was decicded that no main stream was not going to work for her.

At that point I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place a main stream school where she couldnt learn and ws always going to be behind or a school for serverly disabled children, where I found DD would lack the verbal interaction as the class she would of gone into because of her physical needs and her medical needs they was all non verbal and in wheelchairs ( DD uses a chair also ). So i called the prinicple of the semi local ed suport unit had a long chat with her and she deciced that she was going to jump through what ever hoops she had to to gether into the appropriate program as she had done with some other kids.

So DD started in a EI class with a little boy with down syndrome, a little boy with Cp and two little girls with server austism her class has the 5 lovely kids and 5 lovely teachers, one being the main teacher the other 4 being made up of EAs and ABA therapists, It has been the best thing for DD to go there, they realy know how to handle her and I am at ease when i drop her off, They deal with anything that is thrown at them ( literaly on occasion ) and if there is a problem they just call me. I cant wait for DD to start back again this year.

So my point after all this rembling, Is all you can do is try what you think will work but at the same time know that at ANY time you think its not working its ok to say you know what this isnt working i want to try someting else, Dont feel like you have to start one and stay there no matter how much work they have put in if it isnt working for your child then its ok to say so.

You will get people telling you that ALL SN kids should be intergrated and you will get others saying none of them should but as you would know all to well having a SN child there is no should or shouldn't its a case of just try it and see what works for you little one.

My advice would be to visit the Ed suport centre, and visit the main stream school, and visit the Special school and see wher you think your child will work the best, and if you still dont know try them all.

Good luck

**bheditor** · 21-01-2011 15:09

Originally Posted by Mumma Ky

I will be behind anything Stain remover awesome you should see mah house lol!!!
xoxoxo

Thanks!

Do you have a link to the letter? Is it a petition on government website?

SuperTrooperVagiDuper - so I take it the situation varies from state to state. How do things work in Tassie?

**Nowhere** · 21-01-2011 15:12

Originally Posted by Mumma Ky

Oh please can I add one that Is desperate for our children, especially those with Autism on the Autism spectrum that do not have a voice and they are thrown into schools without teachers being trained to deal with their specific issues. We are paying a fortune for our little one to attend a school for children with Autism but at lunch time it gets too much he lashes out and he is going to lose his placement there and then have no school. He has trust issues and was in a behaviour unit (hate the word) but the TEACHERS omg they knew exactly what they were doing their were 10 kids in the whold school and my little boy thrived BUT it is only a 6 month placement, special schools cannot accept children without an intellectual disability so many of our children Australia wide are falling through the cracks and there are not enough people standing behind the advocates to be a force to be reckoned with!!!!.....there is one Idea from a mum who is scared her child will never have a future and have the best schooling possible that all children deserve!!!!!!!

HUGS my long repply was to what BH had written so ignore what is not releivent, Contact the education department, I STRONGLY advice you to we had to for DD and once they actualy realised her issues we was able to get her into a SN class suitable for her.

Contact the Austism boards and DSQ and get your peads to do a full dev assement you may find that GDD scores will come up with being on the spectrum as he may be down in certain areas.

**southcoastmum** · 21-01-2011 17:56

Hi there,
I am a special Ed teacher, with a child with special needs so I feel for you.
I'm on my phone so I can't see where you live.
Google Aspect. They are fantastic! They have schools for children on the spectrum and their aim is to transition the child into mainstream schooling when the child is ready. They then provide ongoing support to the family, child and the new teacher.

Support classes are not always the best option anyway. The last class I had had 19 children with one aide. If any of those kids had been in a mainstream class they would have had their own aide. With such a mix of special needs in one class it is very difficult to meet all their needs.

Out of all the disabilities and disorders, autism seems to have the most support thanks to Aspect. They are very affordable too with fees based on a percentage of FTB.

Good luck!