I have three autistic boys in my year 1 class this year all with different 
needs. I think I am going to have a very tiring and surreal year!

Just felt the need to share!

Jennie

Jennie wrote:
> I have three autistic boys in my year 1 class this year all with 
> different needs. I think I am going to have a very tiring and surreal year!
> 
> Just felt the need to share!

You are welcome to share, Jennie.  We occasionally get a student who is 
on the milder end of the autistic spectrum - currently one in my tutor 
group with Asperger's.  Some are trouble.  Some are delightful.  And 
yes, they all do seem to have different needs - so much so that you 
sometimes wonder whether it is right to give them all the same label!  I 
wish you the best of luck with your little bunch.

-- 
RatBag

    ()_().----.
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      ` ^^   ^^

"RatBag"  wrote
> You are welcome to share, Jennie.  We occasionally get a student who is on 
> the milder end of the autistic spectrum - currently one in my tutor group 
> with Asperger's.  Some are trouble.  Some are delightful.  And yes, they 
> all do seem to have different needs - so much so that you sometimes wonder 
> whether it is right to give them all the same label!  I wish you the best 
> of luck with your little bunch.

My three are lovely boys they are never deliberately naughty they are just 
so needy. One cries if he is not chosen for our weekly certificate assembly 
or if others get a sticker and he doesn't. One has ADHD which will not be 
officially dianosed till he is seven. He cannot sit still at all, makes 
noises and cannot form letters or numbers correctly. The third has limited 
vocab and understanding of words. When I asked him if he was cross he said 
no because the light was not green!

They also all echo what I say so it almost feels too quiet here at home!

We have a school policy of not moving children but I do feel 3 in one class 
and none in the rest in unfair on them and the class teacher.
Jennie

Jennie wrote:
> 
> We have a school policy of not moving children but I do feel 3 in one 
> class and none in the rest in unfair on them and the class teacher.
> Jennie

Yes.  However delightful autistic children are, they are hard work and 
it does mean that you have less time/energy/attention for the other 
children.  And moving children to another class this late in the term is 
not kind.  Even at 16/17 we do our best to avoid it.  They will have 
"bonded", even if it is not always obvious.

Do you have a good assistant?  Perhaps you could justify some extra 
classroom assistance on the basis of your extra "needs"?  Or perhaps the 
HT could spend a regular hour or two in your classroom, to do the 
top-end "differentiation" that you might not have the opportunity to do 
this year?

-- 
RatBag

    ()_().----.
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      ` ^^   ^^

RatBag warbled...
> Or perhaps the 
> HT could spend a regular hour or two in your classroom, to do the 
> top-end "differentiation" that you might not have the opportunity to do 
> this year?
> 

:( In my class of 28 (two pupils moved out of the area last half term - 
it's amazing what lengths they'll go to to escape me!), I have 22 pupils 
with an IEP (for various needs) - 4 are non readers and another 8 are 
'beginner/emergent' readers.

When I ordered blank pre-cut flashcards at the end of last year, I 
envisaged using them to create sentences, not for Stage 1 keyword 
recognition activities!

I suggested to my HT that she might like to come in and do some work 
with the children in the best group, who I'm afraid are missing out 
being extended. She just told me to speak to the previous class teacher, 
who raised no such concerns - and to make sure that extension activities 
planned for the more able children are clearly identified in my 
planning!  :(

-- 
Heglog.
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c'/|\/
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  "  " 
Please take time to read the Charter & FAQs for uk.education.staffroom:
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Heglog wrote:

> I suggested to my HT that she might like to come in and do some work 
> with the children in the best group, who I'm afraid are missing out 
> being extended. She just told me to speak to the previous class teacher, 
> who raised no such concerns - and to make sure that extension activities 
> planned for the more able children are clearly identified in my 
> planning!  :(

Ugh!  A bit of a slap in the face there :-(    I do hope Jenny gets 
better support than that!  I know that my experience of primary was a 
long time ago, but I did find HTs more positive about helping out.  In 
fact mine seemed to enjoy a chance to do a bit of classroom work again 
(as did the HT at the school my children attended).  Perhaps HTs are 
more overloaded with admin now.

-- 
RatBag

    ()_().----.
     \"/` ___  )~~~~~~~
      ` ^^   ^^

Heglog burbled:

>I suggested to my HT that she might like to come in and do some work 
>with the children in the best group, who I'm afraid are missing out 
>being extended. She just told me to speak to the previous class teacher, 
>who raised no such concerns - and to make sure that extension activities 
>planned for the more able children are clearly identified in my 
>planning!  :(

Some HTs need a good slap.
-- 
Sheel          (Change me to me2 to email.)

Shin bone: A device for finding furniture.

Sheel wrote:
> Heglog burbled:
> 
>> I suggested to my HT that she might like to come in and do some work 
>> with the children in the best group, who I'm afraid are missing out 
>> being extended. She just told me to speak to the previous class teacher, 
>> who raised no such concerns - and to make sure that extension activities 
>> planned for the more able children are clearly identified in my 
>> planning!  :(
> 
> Some HTs need a good slap.

Yours has got a good slapper.
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meerkat.chaplin burbled:

>Sheel wrote:

>> Some HTs need a good slap.
>
>Yours has got a good slapper.

I do my best.
-- 
Sheel          (Change me to me2 to email.)

No matter how hard you try, you can't baptise a cat.

"Jennie"  wrote in message 
news:4af56004$0$2539$da0feed9@news.zen.co.uk...
>
> "RatBag"  wrote
>> You are welcome to share, Jennie.  We occasionally get a student who is 
>> on the milder end of the autistic spectrum - currently one in my tutor 
>> group with Asperger's.  Some are trouble.  Some are delightful.  And yes, 
>> they all do seem to have different needs - so much so that you sometimes 
>> wonder whether it is right to give them all the same label!  I wish you 
>> the best of luck with your little bunch.
>
> My three are lovely boys they are never deliberately naughty they are just 
> so needy. One cries if he is not chosen for our weekly certificate 
> assembly or if others get a sticker and he doesn't. One has ADHD which 
> will not be officially dianosed till he is seven. He cannot sit still at 
> all, makes noises and cannot form letters or numbers correctly. The third 
> has limited vocab and understanding of words. When I asked him if he was 
> cross he said no because the light was not green!
>
> They also all echo what I say so it almost feels too quiet here at home!
>
> We have a school policy of not moving children but I do feel 3 in one 
> class and none in the rest in unfair on them and the class teacher.


I had one who would not use the school toilet.  Or any toilet other than the 
one at home and, bizarrely, the family's portapotty that they took camping! 
We managed to persuade him to wee at school, and he was quite happy to put 
incontinence pants on for the journey home [in a taxi, but not to the boring 
county].  In the same class I had a part-time Autistic boy who would use the 
school loo, but wouldn't ask.  You had to keep an eye on his facial 
expressions, and when you saw a certain one, tell him to go.  This little 
lad also caught me out when I had put something on the board and asked them 
to copy it into their books.  He copied everything, including the daily task 
list, a reminder about a child having to leave early and the behaviour tick 
list for another child.  Solved that one by using a different pen and 
telling him to only copy the blue writing.

-- 
Kathy

Kathy McIntosh burbled:


>I had one who would not use the school toilet.  

We had one who used to do whoopsies in his grundies and would refuse
to change them or clean himself.

His classroom stank, despite the air fresheners.

We used to have to leave him in the assembly area or send him home
(although he objected to that) - poor taxi driver.
-- 
Sheel          (Change me to me2 to email.)

The only substitute for good manners is fast reflexes.

Kathy McIntosh wrote:

> I had one who would not use the school toilet.  Or any toilet other than 
> the one at home 

Meerkats can sympathise with that. Meerkats don't like using strange 
toilets, especially public ones. Meerkats try hard to wait until they 
get home.

> and, bizarrely, the family's portapotty that they took 
> camping! We managed to persuade him to wee at school, and he was quite 
> happy to put incontinence pants on for the journey home [in a taxi, but 
> not to the boring county].  In the same class I had a part-time Autistic 
> boy who would use the school loo, but wouldn't ask.  

Meerkats are quite intrigued by this part-time autistic boy. What was he 
when he wasn't autistic? Was he just autistic when it suited him?

> You had to keep an 
> eye on his facial expressions, and when you saw a certain one, tell him 
> to go.  This little lad also caught me out when I had put something on 
> the board and asked them to copy it into their books.  He copied 
> everything, including the daily task list, a reminder about a child 
> having to leave early and the behaviour tick list for another child.  

Obedient child. Meerkats hope you gave him extra stars for his 
conscientiousness?

> Solved that one by using a different pen and telling him to only copy 
> the blue writing.

Trouble is that it sounds as if he didn't understand what he was copying 
  anyway.
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"RatBag"  wrote
> Ugh!  A bit of a slap in the face there :-(    I do hope Jenny gets better 
> support than that!

Unfortunately it is our lovely DH who is the senco at my school. She really 
dislikes the mum of my most needy child so deliberately filled in his DLA 
renewal form so he wouldn't get it! She actually boasted about doing this in 
the staffroom in front of lots of shocked witnesses!

She also took this child out of the the support group saying he did not have 
any behavioural needs that need support. I went to the Head and now he is 
back in the group. Why should the child suffer because the adults around him 
have issues!

Jennie

On 8 Nov, 11:23, "Jennie"  wrote:
> "RatBag"  wrote
>
> > Ugh!  A bit of a slap in the face there :-(    I do hope Jenny gets better
> > support than that!
>
> Unfortunately it is our lovely DH who is the senco at my school. She really
> dislikes the mum of my most needy child so deliberately filled in his DLA
> renewal form so he wouldn't get it! She actually boasted about doing this in
> the staffroom in front of lots of shocked witnesses!
>
> She also took this child out of the the support group saying he did not have
> any behavioural needs that need support. I went to the Head and now he is
> back in the group. Why should the child suffer because the adults around him
> have issues!
>
> Jennie

I used to spend ages filling in DLA (Disabled Living Allowance) forms
and was often very tempted to sabotage them, but never did. Parents
seemed to get the allowance on an almost random basis.

"meerkat.chaplin"  wrote in message 
news:7lmh6cF3ep7npU3@mid.individual.net...
> Kathy McIntosh wrote:
>
>> I had one who would not use the school toilet.  Or any toilet other than 
>> the one at home
>
> Meerkats can sympathise with that. Meerkats don't like using strange 
> toilets, especially public ones. Meerkats try hard to wait until they get 
> home.
>
>> and, bizarrely, the family's portapotty that they took camping! We 
>> managed to persuade him to wee at school, and he was quite happy to put 
>> incontinence pants on for the journey home [in a taxi, but not to the 
>> boring county].  In the same class I had a part-time Autistic boy who 
>> would use the school loo, but wouldn't ask.
>
> Meerkats are quite intrigued by this part-time autistic boy. What was he 
> when he wasn't autistic? Was he just autistic when it suited him?

Silly Meerkat!  He spent two and a half days with us, half a day at some 
sort of thereapy group and two days in his mainstream school.

>
>> You had to keep an eye on his facial expressions, and when you saw a 
>> certain one, tell him to go.  This little lad also caught me out when I 
>> had put something on the board and asked them to copy it into their 
>> books.  He copied everything, including the daily task list, a reminder 
>> about a child having to leave early and the behaviour tick list for 
>> another child.
>
> Obedient child. Meerkats hope you gave him extra stars for his 
> conscientiousness?
>
>> Solved that one by using a different pen and telling him to only copy the 
>> blue writing.
>
> Trouble is that it sounds as if he didn't understand what he was copying 
> anyway.

Yes and no.  He had frequently made very good and interesting contributions 
to the work on the board [I had some very low achievers, so a lot of work 
was done communally on the board, then the put it in their books - well, 
most did], but he also took things very literally, as Autistic people are 
prone to do.  My mistake was to say "Write this into your books now" and 
wave at the board at the same time.

-- 
Kathy

Kathy McIntosh wrote:
> "meerkat.chaplin"  wrote in message 

>> Trouble is that it sounds as if he didn't understand what he was 
>> copying anyway.
> 
> Yes and no.  He had frequently made very good and interesting 
> contributions to the work on the board [I had some very low achievers, 
> so a lot of work was done communally on the board, then the put it in 
> their books - well, most did], but he also took things very literally, 
> as Autistic people are prone to do.  My mistake was to say "Write this 
> into your books now" and wave at the board at the same time.
> 
Meerkats are surprised that he didn't just present you with a page that 
was blank apart from the word "this".
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meerkat.chaplin burbled:

>Kathy McIntosh wrote:
>My mistake was to say "Write this 
>> into your books now" and wave at the board at the same time.
>> 
>Meerkats are surprised that he didn't just present you with a page that 
>was blank apart from the word "this".

Or "this into your books now".
-- 
Sheel          (Change me to me2 to email.)

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol. 

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