Asperger's Syndrome extenuating circumstances?

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wailea
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 7:56 pm

Asperger's Syndrome extenuating circumstances?

Post by wailea »

Our son failed his eleven+ with 118 -111. He was recommended 1-1, ranked amongst top 5 in cohort for intellectual ability. He has always been in the top set for literacy and numeracy in a high achieving school in Bucks.
He has been diagnosed with mild to moderate ASD at the beginning of the year (by a private child psychiatrist) – His school is strongly recommending that we appeal (the school has the reputation for accurate prediction and only supports cases they feel should be in gs). His cats were 113 and vr scores were 125 in year 5. His sats have always been above the national average for reading and writing or national average for maths.

We are going to appeal but we are unsure about using his condition as an extenuating circumstance. We have an appointment with an educational psychologist to have his cognitive ability tested. He does suffer from low self-esteem and lack of confidence.

Any ideas please?
Wailea
Sally-Anne
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi wailea

I feel that you probably have enough here to make a case at an appeal in terms of academic evidence. The 118 is well within the range, the SATs are good, and the 1:1 recommendation is very good. For the CATs it would be useful to have the breakdown by VR, QR and NVR.

What we need, if we are to help you from here, is some idea of how the Aspergers affects him at school - academically, socially and behaviourally.

Low self-esteem and self-confidence, but is there anything else?

Sally-Anne
chad
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Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:49 pm
Location: berkshire

Post by chad »

Children with aspergers usually work well within a structured environment and the break with routine of the actual taking of the exam could be enough to throw them off their stride.......
davieh
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:13 pm

Aspergers Syndrome

Post by davieh »

Hi wailea
My son is in a very similar situation. He is Special Needs (Asperger's) and his 11+ scores for Bucks were 116 and 120. (His headteacher gave him a 1,1 recommendation) For the Bucks VR tests he was allowed to sit the exams seperately in the library and was allowed a 5 minute break (which he didn't take ... I think because he didn't want anything extra to other children) We are going to appeal and have the backing of my son's headteacher. I'd recommend you to make an appointment to see your child's head as soon as you can. Good luck.
wailea
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 7:56 pm

Post by wailea »

Thank you for your reply, Sally-Anne

cats are
verbal: 116;
quantitative: 117
non-verbal: 107 in year 5
They were pretty similar in year 4

academically, I am not sure but he is weaker at mental arithmetic (but still average). He enjoys writing (has written episode 7 for Star Wars), loves history. He is a good chess player.
behaviour: this is why we went to see a child psychiatrist - from year 2, there were issues with silly behaviour in class, calling out, making inappropriate comments (boring lesson...), getting in trouble at break time
socially: has a group of friends - he is very clear about people he likes/dislikes. He does get in trouble at school for not knowing when to keep quiet and not answering back (even though he does not mean to be rude)
He is very negative and does not think that he is good at anything.

His behaviour in class has greatly improved in year 6 and all his teachers comment on "what a pleasure it is to teach him".

Reading other posts, I feel that our academic evidence is on the weak side. But our school is very positive about his ability.

Do you think that his condition could explain why his cats are average but his school has such high recommendation?

Should we use his condition as extenuating circumstance or do you think that the academic evidence is enough?

Sorry for the long message. I really appreciate your help. Many thanks
Wailea
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

At the moment my feeling is that you should certainly tell the panel about the Asperger's - but that you're not sure whether this affected the results. The panel will appreciate your honesty.
Children with asperger's usually work well within a structured environment and the break with routine of the actual taking of the exam could be enough to throw them off their stride.......
Chad makes a good point.

Some children with Asperger's also have problems with motor skills. Would your son have had any difficulty in transferring answers across to the answer sheet?

Did he finish both tests or did he run out of time?
Etienne
wailea
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 7:56 pm

Post by wailea »

He does lack hand eye coordination.

He finished the first test and had time to check half of it. He also finished the second test but he did not have time to check. From experience while doing papers at home, he would routinely miss 5 or 6 questions the first time round that he would then answer when checking his work.
Wailea
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

This could help your case.

The ed. psych may be able to provide evidence of motor skills.
Etienne
wailea
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 7:56 pm

Post by wailea »

what kind of tests will the ed psy run? what are they called and what do they consist of?

thank you
Wailea
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

We have an appointment with an educational psychologist to have his cognitive ability tested
Dear wailea

If you were going to see an EP anyway, then - time and money permitting - I would have thought it might be worth testing more than cognitive ability. I am just speculating that the results might throw up something of interest.

Most EPs use WISC-IV, which, in addition to verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning, test processing speed and working memory.

WISC IV Working Memory Subtests

Digit Span measures auditory short-term memory, sequencing skills, attention, and concentration. The Digit Span Forward task requires the child to repeat numbers in the same order as read aloud by the examiner. Digit Span Backward requires the child to repeat the numbers in the reverse order of that presented by the examiner.

Letter-Number Sequencing measures sequencing, mental manipulation, attention, short-term auditory memory, visuospatial imaging, and processing speed. It requires the child to read a sequence of letters and numbers and recall the numbers in ascending order and the letters in alphabetical order.

Arithmetic measures mental manipulation, concentration, attention, short- and long-term memory, numerical reasoning ability, and mental alertness. It requires the child to mentally solve a series of orally presented arithmetic problems within a specified time limit.

WISC IV Processing Speed Subtests

Coding measures the child’s short-term memory, learning ability, visual perception, visual-motor coordination, visual scanning ability, cognitive flexibility, attention, and motivation. It requires the child to copy symbols that are paired with simple geometric shapes or numbers.

Symbol Search measures processing speed, short-term visual memory, visual-motor coordination, cognitive flexibility, visual discrimination, and concentration. This test requires the child to scan a search group and indicate whether the target symbol(s) matches any of the symbols in the search group within a specified time limit.

Cancellation measures processing speed, visual selective attention, vigilance, and visual neglect. It requires the child to scan both a random and structured arrangement of pictures and mark target pictures within a specified time limit.
Etienne
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