School meeting (UK)
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School will absolutely appreciate everything you have to say. They will notice these things themselves and I would show them what was written down. Be honest and say you don’t have diagnosis yet but are waiting for one A good teacher would not dismiss anything you have to say! Chances are majority of children don’t have an official diagnosis when first starting school and typically takes a long time! Let them know everything it will be so helpful xx
Why do you think nursery will squash it? You can start the ball rolling for an EHCP yourself - your doctor or Health Visitor can also help if you rely on them too x
@Natasha because they have repeatedly said they don't see it so when his teachers visit the nursery they will likely contradict what I say. However, when I first mentioned it to nursery their response was but he's sociable and makes eye contact 🙄 so they have dismissed everything else and said they only see those behaviours at pick up and drop off. His referral is in process via the health visitors but I'm taking the paper work to the gp next week. I've tried a EHCP but didn't have enough evidence so will have to try again x
The school will listen to you but will likely just observe and do their own assessments.
Wow don’t they realise how big the spectrum is. If it helps put you at ease, the school are the ones who pushed for my eldest on the pathway. My youngest is completely opposite to her, she’s 3, autistic, non verbal, sensory processing delays, hypermobile etc. My eldest is clearly on the spectrum but can handle most of day to day activities. She can’t handle changes in routine though, loud noise and will have massive emotional meltdowns. Her primary school have been amazing, they flagged it to us and set up some actions to help. Hopefully it will be the same for you 🤞 x
@Natasha I know, I spoke to an agency that supports neurodivergency and explained and the first thing she said to me was - has that nursery even got any experience in autism, it sounds like they need more training! This is the problem though, his sensory issues or vestibular and proprioception. So they don't see that he can only tolerate the slightest nudge on a playground swing or that he gets car sick etc... I honestly don't know how they don't see him tiptoe walking because it's the first thing he does when I walk in to collect and they keep telling me he hurts himself falling over but seemed like thin air and I said yes... Because he tiptoe walks or drags his toes and trips himself over, like I keep telling you! So they clearly just don't link it together. He's also been there since a baby so it's like a safe place for him and there is no structure, he just free plays so if they actually got him school ready I'm sure they'd see a different side! He has actually just had a hypermobile diagnosis too!
I've tried to move his nursery but there are no spaces locally and it would just be too much for him now to move nursery then school so I just have to deal with it and hoping that school will see him with a fresh set of eyes or at least take on board what I'm saying. He is basically like Sheldon from the big bang theory but has sensory issues and struggles to regulate his emotions. My nephew was late to milestones, very little speech at 3 and stims quite a lot but he is still very sociable, playful and loving. So yeah I don't understand why nursery don't understand the variations, it's frustrating! 🤦🏼♀️ x
Good to give them the heads up, but school will need to observe this for themselves too and they’ll speak to you about any necessary referrals
@Emma that's ok, I don't need them to refer because that's already in process via HV and GP, just don't know if it's worth showing all the evidence I have
Not sure where your based, but we did a sensory processing course for my little one and after you are done, you have dedicated support through the hospital ASD pathway as you are considered trained. You can sign yourselves up for it (well you can where I am) and it’s helped with my youngest EHCP as it tells them we are committed to support her (so social care said anyway) x
@Natasha thank you, the health visitor did sign me up to a parent training course but I've not heard anything back about it yet... x
I’d approach it as giving them his needs/ways he’s successful. Without a diagnosis it’s hard to do anything else. Also here in the US, they say a diagnosis or disability does not mean you qualify. I’d look into the local laws. For us here, the disability has to interfere with their learning and they have to have good proof. I’d also look into age appropriate expectations so you can show the areas where he’s needing more support than his peers. I’m fighting that now with my son who is 5 soon. It’s so hard