ASD AND CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR

[louisereecejones]

My son has been diagnosed with asd and he has extremly bad challenginging behaviour he has been put in a special school for behaviour but they can not deal with asd. his behaviour comes from all the classic asd reasons but the school dont know anything about autism so have got him down as a naughty boy and restrain him on a daily basis. Ben self harms and begs me not to send him to school, Wirral education say there is no where else.
Does any one have any ideas what i should do next? x louise x

[cyberpedz]

I would suggest trying to give your school a nudge in the direction of this site <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.positive-response.co.uk/">http://www.positive-response.co.uk/</a><!-- m --> i have been prt trained for my job it is a none invasive way of managing physical aggression etc this may help but there can also be many many other reason why this is happening. It may be that the school is not managing his behaviors well, it may be that he likes affection and needs to feel close. This may sound silly but in my job as most are residents and due to laws these days most of them do not get the affection they need as in the eyes of the law we would be in the wrong to be offering hugs etc. Now i am not saying he does not get this from you or anything but if he is looking for that in school then one way he knows how to get it is to be aggressive then get restrained. It could be due to frustration in the class lack of understanding etc. it could also be the begging of a big circle of the result is he gets sent home or excluded from the class room as this is what he wants so be aggressive get restrained results in him getting what he wants. It is hard to give any individual advise as i do not really know the situation etc but these are just a few of my experiences. Also i would just like to state that although every effort should be made not to get to the point of restraint if it is a case of safety for the individual (your son) or staff involved then obviously that is probably the rout that would have to be taken. I know you may think that sounds hash and trust me it is not meant to be but i have worked with some guys that e.g self harm, headbut doors/windows, bite chunks out of there hands or try to cause major injury to staff and in these cases for there safety it is the better option rather than leave them to cause excessive injury to them selfs or others.

I hope this helps in some way, feel free to ask anything else.

[louisereecejones]

hi I understand restraint sometimes has to be used however on the two occasions i have witnessed what they have done the first time he was held in mid air by two teachers holding both his arms he was there for 40 mins, when i got there he was in a total melt down sobbing. The second time I seen it was on wednesday last week when my little one just shouted because he was not happy with something and two teachers jumped straight in to restrain him, this made him go crazy and it was simply resolved by me stopping it and giving him some space. I then took him home and he has not been back.
Everyone who meets my little boy says what a dream he is even a support worker who takes him out can not see what school are saying, They have got him down as this monster who attacks staff for no reason.
I really dont know what to do next my local education wont even respond to my phone calls.

[cyberpedz]

Hmm thats sound very over the top to me i think they need to take a long look at there behavioral plans.

[DSM]

Restraint should only be used when it becomes apparent that there is a potential health and safety risk to both the child and those working with and around them.

From your description I find it unlikely that any restraint training has been delivered to the staff working with your son.

FYI: http://www.calmtraining.co.uk

Furthermore, you say the School have little understanding of Autism, have they no SENCO? If I were you, I would seek a referral to an educational Psychologist. Also, ensure that the teaching staff have full records of restraints so you see potential trigger points and build a behaviour development plan around this.

[shilowarden]

hi my name is shilo warden and i am from coventry in the uk, i have 3 children but my eldest (Shyann) whi is 12 years old as Autism it took me from birth up until she was 10 before she was dionoised with Autism i fought the medical professtion and the education, please dont give up on your child as it is worth while in the end , my daughter used to be in a special needs school and then got took out and put in a main streame with the education saying she would cope and by joe she never coped , she changed completly became violent towards me and refused school and self harmed as well , i eneded up with her not going to school for about 6 mths while i fought for special needs again as like u said her school couldnt handle her behaviour ,

she is now back in a special needs school she is blooming and come so far in the last 6 mths its unreal she no longer self haems either so please for your son try any think u can to keep him in special needs

thinking of u both if u ever needs us for a chat i am here shilo x

[cyberpedz]

Thank you for that post shilowarden well said helpful. It is my understanding that most should be in spacial need schools as mainstream just do not have the support or time even if they say they do it is usually not true.

[shilowarden]

i totally agree with you there there is alot of children that need special needs school but the education say they can not afford for them to go into it how can you put a price on a childs education? they say that it will decreses bullying ect by intergrating into main streame school i soooo disagree with that if anythink i think it increses the possability . i found half of my daughters behaviour was her trying to tell me she couldnt cope please for your son or daughter try to listen to what they r saying as it could save u alot of heart ache.

[louisereecejones]

thank you for all your usefull info I have got ben off school he has not been in for three months now and the education are looking for a place in knowsley called lakeside it only has 26 pupils. we are going to have a look at it next week so fingers crossed he will go somewhere that he is going to be cared for x

[shilowarden]

i am glad that the school is now taking notice that is all our kids won is to be noticed for the fantasic people that they r .