When inclusion doesn’t work

My step-son has mild autism and is severely dyslexic he was diagnosed at 10 years of age. He is bright and kind hearted. Offered a place at a mainstream school he has now completed his first year.  How smooth a transition, what progress has he made?

Homework – no separate homework is set; it’s the same as the rest of the class. Research this research that, write the names of these chemicals out. A spelling test here a project there where’s your TA she’s not there.  Really –His TA went on a class trip without him.

What IEP the same as last year hardly amended no strategies clear, nothing new to add & barely a word from the TA’s mouth. 

It’s the school, it’s the TA, it’s the parents it’s a problem.   

End of year school reports nothing is clear what was his target not the whole years.

Communication you say can solve all your woes but when asked for daily emails nothing arose

I think we’ve had 4 emails so far all year.  

Hardly surprising he won’t be at that school next year

The end of the rainbow:  His Senco rep is on his side she wants him out, she wants what’s best, and she can see his needs aren’t met. We’ve had one offer from a Sen school 20 odd miles away but that’s cool … We love our SENCO rep.   

Hear my case...

In order for a child to be fully supported with their speech language and communication issues it may necessary to involve multi agency teams. For the team to have the best chance of success early detection and assessment is vital. These teams would have to co-ordinate with the school, parent and child. They need to give access to any specialist equipment and include regular monitoring for real development to take place.

These teams would include agencies such as Speech and language therapists, psychologists and SEN Co-ordinators.

An example of how effective intervention would work in practice can be seen in the case below:
A child aged 4 has a profound hearing loss. After the birth the child’s mother had concerns surrounding his hearing but the child was not screened until he was 9 months old. These tests were found to be inconclusive. The child wore digital hearing aids for a year and had cochlear implants fitted but still there were no big improvements. At 17 months he took an auditory brainstem response test which showed he was profoundly deaf.

During this time the family were in contact with a teacher from the deaf who was new and there was no support from the speech and language therapist as they were on maternity leave.
When the child was 2 years and 9 months the mother and grandmother joined a charitable organisation which took a parent centred approach to teaching children to talk through listening. They identified that the child could hear across frequencies meaning he was able to understand speech but hadn’t learned to make sense of the sounds.

The charitable organisation was able to close the language gap between the child and other children through regular therapy sessions. The child’s mother and grandmother received specialist training to help them teach the child at home so that the therapy could become part of everyday life. They built a relationship to improve parental engagement with the child’s mother which meant she was willing to take 4 hour round trips so that she could attend ongoing training sessions. Finally, they helped to liaised with the local team to share their goals and assessment results and rebuild a relationship with the family.

As this was a charitable programme they were able to provide the family with additional finance to help attend training sessions and have been able to meet the cost incurred by the Speech and Language Therapy Service when meeting with the family.

The main problem with this case is that there is a distinct lack of appropriate intervention. There needed to be earlier interventions with people like health visitors and social workers so that the family would know what their options were and where they would find support. The family could have benefitted from advice on finances, respite, or sign language.

For parents of children with developmental issues it can seem like a mine field. It can be intimidating for them and put them well outside their comfort zone. It can also feel to them like they are being passed from pillar to post as they often see different people depending on the educational status of the child. On top of the day to day parenting which comes with all children they may need to attend specialist training to support their child. This can mean that their time is swallowed up with searching for funding or bureaucracy and there is very little ‘me’ time for the parent or for the parent to enjoy being with their child. Some interventions do not cross over from one age group to another and can also be too short an intervention. This is why communication and liaison between the agencies is key. If everyone has access to the same information then the transition should be smooth.

As an educator one may not always have the right answers or training to help a child and will need to refer to a specialist. Often agencies will offer training tips to teaching staff to give them support or show how new equipment works. If working with a child on 1 to 1 basis then on occasions the agency may be able share some of the day to day demands.

The more general drawbacks of a multi agency approach means that there are a lot of demands on time for a lot of people due to the high number of people involved. There is also a financial burden as there needs to be money spent on specialist equipment and decisions have to be made as to where that money is coming from. In some cases additional funding needs to be applied for and people are needed to ensure that happens. Occasionally schools have to take on children they simply don’t have the funding to support.

AM Osmond

Two (or three...or four) heads are better than one

There are many ways in which the TA can give his/her pro-active support that will help both the child and their family. These are:
· Offering and giving advice
· Communicating and sharing ideas and methods with the families
· Keeping the families informed about progress or difficulties and talking about the next steps (effective communication)
· One to one support for the pupil
· Adapting lessons/environment and equipment for the pupil
· Encouraging involvement
· The TA being prepared, trained confident and willing to give their support
· Running activities
· Giving praise and encouragement

Offering pro-active support to the child and their family can be very beneficial for them both. Offering this type of support will help ensure that the child’s needs are met and that the family’s rights and entitlements are supported. It will help promote a healthy happy positive partnership and relationship that will open up opportunities.

However the TA must be willing, confident, committed, have the patience and be caring enough to give this support. The TA must also have either previous experience, the correct training or qualifications to ensure their support can be effective. If the TA is not willing, committed or does not have any type of experience or qualifications then their support will not be as effective and successful. The TA may not have any of these abilities or qualities and this will have an impact on the support they can provide for the child and the child`s family. They may find that their responsibilities are too strenuous and that their responsibilities or duties take up much of their time.

The pupil`s family must also be willing to accept support, advice and be willing to work in partnership with the TA, the school and other services to help ensure the correct support is offered to their child. It is vital that the TA is willing to help support the child and their family as this will have a knock on effect on the partnership. It will help encourage the child, the family, the school and other services to provide and maintain support needed for the child and their family.

Offering facilitation within the partnership can be very beneficial for the child and their family. It helps the family seek and gain further advice, support and knowledge for the child’s needs and also support the family can receive. This type of support can be very beneficial for both the child and their family but the TA must be willing and have the right qualities and experience to help. The child`s family must also be willing to work in partnership.

The TA may be very willing and have all the right qualities, qualifications and experience to help but the TA can only do so much. The TA must also be aware and have the correct knowledge on when, how and who to refer to for further support. The TA can work in partnership with the school and other services and try to do their best to follow up cases but other services or the school may not be willing or have the funding to help provide support to help suit the needs of the pupil or their family. There may not be enough staff to run activities or workshops to help. There may not be services or support groups within the area and travelling may be a barrier. There may be many barriers that may not be overcome and the TA can only do what they can and are capable of or qualified and permitted to do. Sometimes it may be beyond the TA`s control or capability.

I would like to conclude that as long as the TA and all members of the partnership are all willing to work in partnership to provide support for the pupil and their family, it will help to ensure correct, effective, relevant support that can be aimed to reach the child and their family’s needs. All members of the partnership should have or should have gained experience, qualifications and qualities needed to help seek, provide and maintain the correct support and also know where to find or how to refer for the support.

If there are barriers then members of the partnership should be willing and try to overcome these barriers. For example, if funding is a barrier then between the family and the school together they should find a way to be able to raise money themselves (e.g. bring and buy sales, cake sales) or try to raise awareness of the child`s special needs or disabilities in hope of finding a sponsor.

If a partnership is formed then the chances of the child and their family gaining the support that they need is much greater. If all members of the partnership work together and try their best then support will be more likely and successful rather than if a partnership did not exist.

K Burroughs