I actually find this article sort of stunning. I don’t understand how these people expect things to operate, or how people in general expect to constantly fit this ever growing problem into society.
I am aware there are suggestions made in the article, of course. But to me, they range from impracticable to outright absurd.
There’s one child with 20% attendance. The mother says “”We know how important education is, we want Joe to get qualifications, [but] we’re going to make sure he’s happy and not stressed. Qualifications don’t sit that high on our agenda in a life-or-death situation” I mean, there’s definitely a bit of reading between the lines possible there.
Then another child who went to school, but eventually stopped because they seemed to find the whole thing too much. The parent says ” it meant she was “missing out on these social interactions and experiences that people have at school”. Well, yeah.
It’s all just absurd to me. I think this is a huge problem, but not in the way the article presents.
One individual Education Act, or something, called me ignorant and then immediately blocked me. That’s wild, and indicative of a lot in itself.
Schools aren’t set up to deal with neurodivergence. ND kids are either forced to endure school or refuse to attend. Most, if not all, neurodivergent kids are being failed by the current school system.
Deep caverns of “meh, no money! 🤷♂️”
Mainstream schools aren’t set up for ND in Wales but they are also underfunded and understaffed. There are some schools that have improved their teaching and facilities around additional needs. My child attends a mainstream high school with that has specialist provisions which includes a separate class for students who do not have to change classes for each lesson, the teachers go to them.
It’s not just schooling, there is lack of support from any agencies once a diagnosis is given. Education starts at home with the parents, that’s a key area to help look after their neurodivergent child and to help manage getting them into school.
Sensory areas in all schools would be great but how will it be paid for because you will need staff to supervise said areas. If the issues have been recognised then I hope the Welsh government actually provides funding to improve it.
School’s simply do not have the means to support children with adl. I worked as a support worker in a school to assist an autistic child and it’s frustrating how their just isn’t the space or any kind of real struture or means to facilitate them. One school I worked with just felt like it was ticking boxes and that’s it. I had such little instruction and basically left alone to try and educate the child myself. (I have no teaching qualifications). It wasn’t outright said to me but I definitely got the feeling like my job was to keep the kid quiet and out of the way.
My son who has ASD is in a mainstream school, and this school has the highest proportion of ND kids in the borough. The school is fantastic for ND kids and if anything, they are too good with him, he manipulates the system because he’s clever. Few weeks ago at the end of the day his teacher had to go get him from the sensory room where he was having a nap! I had to have a word about teaching him resilience, because he does need to be challenged at times, otherwise he will spend his days in the wellbeing and sensory areas absolutely loving life but not getting the education he needs and is capable of achieving. There’s a balance to be struck for sure!
My son who has ASD is in a mainstream school, and this school has the highest proportion of ND kids in the borough. The school is fantastic for ND kids and if anything, they are too good with him, he manipulates the system because he’s clever. Few weeks ago at the end of the day his teacher had to go get him from the sensory room where he was having a nap! I had to have a word about teaching him resilience, because he does need to be challenged at times, otherwise he will spend his days in the wellbeing and sensory areas absolutely loving life but not getting the education he needs and is capable of achieving. There’s a balance to be struck for sure!
As a parent of a ND child with a diagnosis I can tell you that there are way deeper sides than this. From my perceptions, a very high number of students that are disruptive to the learning environment have some sort of underlying (and undiagnosed) ND condition. 9 times out of 10 that I actively took steps to take my child out of school due to their mental health was because of bullying/violence episodes. School is tied to Welsh government policy, and are underfunded to provide what is necessary to an adequate standard, and disciplinary measures to address poor student behaviour focus on exclusion from education for a set period, which is not effective.
Education in general is in a sorry state of affairs, and it will get worse if reform forms a majority in the next elections.
I have to say, bar one teacher out of the whole high school, out local secondary has been fantastic with our Son, who is recently diagnosed with ASD. While awaiting diagnosis they treated him as if he had been diagnosed and have made any reasonable adjustments. This is largely down to the ALN co ord, who is also neurodivergent but really does bat for the kids she represents at every level. The main issue is other kids.
Yeh no shit, i fell through the cracks, 90’s education was never the best though.
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I actually find this article sort of stunning. I don’t understand how these people expect things to operate, or how people in general expect to constantly fit this ever growing problem into society.
I am aware there are suggestions made in the article, of course. But to me, they range from impracticable to outright absurd.
There’s one child with 20% attendance. The mother says “”We know how important education is, we want Joe to get qualifications, [but] we’re going to make sure he’s happy and not stressed. Qualifications don’t sit that high on our agenda in a life-or-death situation” I mean, there’s definitely a bit of reading between the lines possible there.
Then another child who went to school, but eventually stopped because they seemed to find the whole thing too much. The parent says ” it meant she was “missing out on these social interactions and experiences that people have at school”. Well, yeah.
It’s all just absurd to me. I think this is a huge problem, but not in the way the article presents.
One individual Education Act, or something, called me ignorant and then immediately blocked me. That’s wild, and indicative of a lot in itself.
Schools aren’t set up to deal with neurodivergence. ND kids are either forced to endure school or refuse to attend. Most, if not all, neurodivergent kids are being failed by the current school system.
Deep caverns of “meh, no money! 🤷♂️”
Mainstream schools aren’t set up for ND in Wales but they are also underfunded and understaffed. There are some schools that have improved their teaching and facilities around additional needs. My child attends a mainstream high school with that has specialist provisions which includes a separate class for students who do not have to change classes for each lesson, the teachers go to them.
It’s not just schooling, there is lack of support from any agencies once a diagnosis is given. Education starts at home with the parents, that’s a key area to help look after their neurodivergent child and to help manage getting them into school.
Sensory areas in all schools would be great but how will it be paid for because you will need staff to supervise said areas. If the issues have been recognised then I hope the Welsh government actually provides funding to improve it.
School’s simply do not have the means to support children with adl. I worked as a support worker in a school to assist an autistic child and it’s frustrating how their just isn’t the space or any kind of real struture or means to facilitate them. One school I worked with just felt like it was ticking boxes and that’s it. I had such little instruction and basically left alone to try and educate the child myself. (I have no teaching qualifications). It wasn’t outright said to me but I definitely got the feeling like my job was to keep the kid quiet and out of the way.
My son who has ASD is in a mainstream school, and this school has the highest proportion of ND kids in the borough. The school is fantastic for ND kids and if anything, they are too good with him, he manipulates the system because he’s clever. Few weeks ago at the end of the day his teacher had to go get him from the sensory room where he was having a nap! I had to have a word about teaching him resilience, because he does need to be challenged at times, otherwise he will spend his days in the wellbeing and sensory areas absolutely loving life but not getting the education he needs and is capable of achieving. There’s a balance to be struck for sure!
My son who has ASD is in a mainstream school, and this school has the highest proportion of ND kids in the borough. The school is fantastic for ND kids and if anything, they are too good with him, he manipulates the system because he’s clever. Few weeks ago at the end of the day his teacher had to go get him from the sensory room where he was having a nap! I had to have a word about teaching him resilience, because he does need to be challenged at times, otherwise he will spend his days in the wellbeing and sensory areas absolutely loving life but not getting the education he needs and is capable of achieving. There’s a balance to be struck for sure!
As a parent of a ND child with a diagnosis I can tell you that there are way deeper sides than this. From my perceptions, a very high number of students that are disruptive to the learning environment have some sort of underlying (and undiagnosed) ND condition. 9 times out of 10 that I actively took steps to take my child out of school due to their mental health was because of bullying/violence episodes. School is tied to Welsh government policy, and are underfunded to provide what is necessary to an adequate standard, and disciplinary measures to address poor student behaviour focus on exclusion from education for a set period, which is not effective.
Education in general is in a sorry state of affairs, and it will get worse if reform forms a majority in the next elections.
I have to say, bar one teacher out of the whole high school, out local secondary has been fantastic with our Son, who is recently diagnosed with ASD. While awaiting diagnosis they treated him as if he had been diagnosed and have made any reasonable adjustments. This is largely down to the ALN co ord, who is also neurodivergent but really does bat for the kids she represents at every level. The main issue is other kids.
Yeh no shit, i fell through the cracks, 90’s education was never the best though.
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