Something funny going on here. Not only is the same article listed twice with slightly different headlines, but virtually the same article was in the Scotsman on 1st November, 2006.

And why no mention of the Scottish Society for Autism and their specialist school - New Struan House, in Alloa? Not only do the provide direct services to autistic children (and their parents) but they also provide training for teachers in mainstream schools, who may have autistic children in their classes.

"It might appear that these children are badly behaved and deliberately disruptive, but that's not the case."
The best description of this malady I have heard is from a U.S. doctor who called it, "a blindness of the mind."
Is it becoming more prevalent in our society or is it simply our diagnostic tools have become better at spotting it?

It seems to be the same in the United States. I have worked in the Special Education Field for 21 years. Most of the time with Autistic students. Our public school systems has had the phrase "least restrictive enviorment " which really means that the schools were not set up to handle special need students. There can be many triggers that will either calm down or intensify a behavior .. we all have the ability to really understand that.. it is putting it to use in a teaching setting. But not having all of the proper tools and understanding of how wonderful autistic students can be in the class room.

#4 - or is it industrial pollutants, vaccines loaded with mercury preservative, or all of the above?

1. "Education, Education, Education": You remember, Mr. Bliar?

2. At Furry Mouse Institute, Edinburgh, we were told that 'mixed ability' teaching was THE only way, the right way. What I found was that it was simply a method of cutting the costs of special education. Children with any specified 'disorders' need specialised care. Those with ADD, Autism etc. need to be trained in coping skills and mainstream teachers simply do not have the time (or other resources) to train these children. We should think of every child as having special needs, each need being different. The standard classroom teacher is trained for 80% and others are trained for the other20%.

The other fallacy from Furry Mouse was that "It is good that children from all walks of life will be in the same room socialising." Rubbish, children flock together as birds, in the playground. Also, one of the most depressing aspects of the autistic spectrum is the (untrained) victims' inability to create friendship. So sad to watch.

Let the specially trained teachers teach those with special needs and let the other teachers get on with teaching mainstream. Alternatively: cut the class size down to 10, provide classroom assistants in each class plus regular training in ALL areas of 'special needs' to ALL teachers. This is possible if we stop spending tax payers' money on illegal wars.

3. Malky/6: Yes, the causes should be explored.

Not just Autistic children that are affected. Any child with learning disabilities and their families face a major battle every step of the way with Education and NHS.

sheena #3 I agree ,there are some positive development including Struan and their excellent training programmes which serve to increase knowledge about the mangement of children on the autistic spectrum.I also have concerns about the extent to which adult persons on the spectrum receive appropriate treatment from authorities re housiing,health and other needs.-there is still a lot of gaps in knowledge out there I am also aware that the developments at Struan owe a great deal to community and voluntary fund raising efforts together with the dedication of the staff

there is a large body of evidence developed by medical doctors & researchers to document that the huge increase in autism rates is due to vaccines. Since 1990 the vaccine regimen has been changed dramatically. and since then also the rate of autism expected in children has jumped very dramatically.

In Pennsylvania they have the Amish community that does not take vaccines as part of their religion. they also don't have autism in thier children, not one case.

#2 Sheena. You have just witnessed an old newspaper trick. To fill up your however many pages and still look like you are producing a solid newspaper, on the stands or online, the hack journos don't go looking for a new story, but instead dig out a story that was in the paper ages ago, written by another reporter and re-word or re-dress it up where applicable and BINGO - it's a new article! It's simply lazy journalism, but it wastes an hour or two and fills uip the pages as requested by a lazy editor.

Well spotted! Give yourself 10 points!

Finnking above hits the nail on the head - our mainstream schools and teachers are ill-equipped to deal with autistic kids and others with special needs. The government's policy of integrating kids with special needs and those with behavioural difficulties into mainstream schools is a complete con and is driven only by a desire to cut costs. It doea a great disservice to kids and teachers alike; what we need is a network of resource-intensive schools for those with special needs, enabling teachers to get on with the job of teaching mainstream education.

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/vaccine-pro...

http://www.rense.com/general71/toxx.htm

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/06/16/thimer...

http://www.universityofhealth.net/NAS/NAS%20Roster.htm

http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/vaccines/...

http://www.evidenceofharm.com/

Like I said - a large body of evidence has been gathered linking autism to vaccines. On top of that there's a lot of very solid evidence that the vaccines are super over-kill. The old regime of vaccines prior to 1990 did just as good a job and did not do the harm to the children. and there are other health problems too caused by the vaccines it seems.

and there is a large campaign on to force the children to take these vaccines.

The mistake many parents makes is believing, (a) that teachers are as comitted as they are to quality education for their child with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder,(b) all teachers act professionally and (c) are not constrained by senior mangement in the education departments they work for to limit if not deny resources by not informing parents about the child`s needs. The emotional blackmail and unprofessionlism of many(not all where there are some Saints working in the system who are prepared to tell you) in senior posts witnin the education system from my personal and bitter experience, including the Scottish Executive beggars belief, where they collectively operate a system of "not what they can do for the child to foster their specific individual learnings needs", but "what is the least they can tell you and get away with" or " what administrative hurdles they can put in the way of the principle of early and effective intervention".
Parents should be warned that challenging an education department as to their actions comes with a health warning, so use the freedom of information act, write letters and get answers on paper, seek independent advice and if necessary take legal advice or contact "Enquire" or other similar agencies, like the Govan Law Centre.
Don`t expect the Scottish Executive or HMI to do anything as they are in my opinion part of the problem and malaise.

Parents/guardians/carers do not despair. It is a hard long slog if your child is autistic. Our experience is with our foster daughter (now 19) that the school refused to Statement and failed to turn up to Care Planning meetings.
ADHD and dyspraxia accompanied her being on the Asperger's Spectrum all diagnosed by her GP.
Her secondary school marked her down as a failure and disruptive and just couldn't wait until she was 16. No room at 6th form for her.
Now the good news! She was one of the highest achievers in the year group at school, went on to a local college to study for and pass a Childcare Diploma, this gave her the option of higher education or employment. She chose the HE route (although she can command a good hourly pay rate to work in nurseries between terms - she's qualified many other workers are not) and is now studying for an Honours Degree in Psychology at East London University and loving it to death.
Socially she is hard work, she dominates the home, techniically outside our care now but how can s=we abandon her when she need a home between uni terms?
Yes, the Education Department of the Local Authority failed her not least her school. But we stuck by her (as did Social Services). The sooner the whole of children's services is brought under a single supremo in each local authority the better or is it just wishful thinking that it well ever happen?

Wally - I have an autistic friend born in 1958. You can't link this to vaccines. Doing so just makes the parent - usually the mother - feel even more guilt for something that isn't their fault. And can others please remember this is a spectrum disorder. My son has Asperger's and has never been disruptive in his life. Nor is he brilliant at maths. On the other hand he has no friends. Please don't just describe them all as "special needs".

TCM

You are lucky your GP was happy to make a diagnosis.

We have been battling for 2 years to have our 9 year old diagnosed with Asperger's. The school have been spectacularly unhelpful and refuse to believe there is a problem because she is extremely bright and not disruptive in class. They have only ever referred her for Speech and Language Therapy, even although she has no problems with language developement (although she does have social communicaion problems) and she has not yet seen anyone (such as an educational psychologist) who can help her with any of her other problems or make a diagnosis.

My husband has Asperger's and there is a strong history of it on his side of the family, so you would think they would be more forthcoming.

Incidentally, she is the only one of my five children to have had the MMR (I was bullied into it by my Health Visitor) and she had an immediate reaction. We decided not to continue with vaccination after our eldest daughter had a reaction to the DTP and we realised that my husband had only started having problems after getting the measles jab at age 13. We now have a strict policy of no vaccination for any of our children.

17 Agatha - No one is saying that vaccines are solely responsible for cases of autism. Lung cancer existed before cigarettes, but no one would deny that cigarettes were responsible for the sharp increase in lung cancer rates during the 20th century. So it is with autism and vaccines, it is argued.

I do think that our ability to label/diagnose has increased hugely. My own son is autistic and I wonder if 20 years ago he would have been thought of as a bit strange rather than having a medical disorder. Looking back to when I was at achool, I also wonder if some of my classmates/friends were somewhere on the autism spectrum.

However, I do believe that something that children are being exposed to in modern life is creating or triggering the condition in many. My own son was normal, raching all the appropriate milestones in behaviour and communication until he was two, and then something kicked in that fundamentally affected him. We have no idea what happened.

Parents have long been acutely aware of these problems. It is really good that someone else is highlighting them.

My son was not diagnosed till he was 18 and our suffering and difficulties were immense.

This has made us very angry about all these years of horror, no money and no support and has resulted in complete lack of trust in any of the statutory bodies who are supposed to be 'experts'.

The children with Aspergers are particularly at risk in these situations. They know only too well that they are 'different' and, as we all know, those who are perceived as 'different' are treated extremely badly by other children as well as teachers who think they are just 'bad kids'.

They are not. They are funny and very smart and if they were taught in the right way the potential is frightening. We are failing potential genius'.

The authorities should do what all the documents say they will do and give THE RIGHT KIND OF SUPPORT that is 'needs-led' not 'lack of finance driven'.

Most people simply have no idea of the institutionalised antipathy, wilfull incompetence and deceit that is employed against parents of children with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who try to achieve any kind of decent education for their child. Many parents fight years and get absolutely nowhere. Any parent who can get any co-operation out of a rotten system, usually because of committed, caring and highly competent individuals in the teaching profession, will settle for what they can get. The problem is that this is totally reliant on individuals.This is NOT about inclusion versus `special` schools - the real problem is that, in the 21st century there is still NO MANDATORY QUALIFICATION for a teacher of Special Educational Needs (SEN), and there is no teaching qualification at all for the severe and complex disability that is ASD - the most training that teachers get is a few days on a course run by an autism charity. Quality indicators do not exist for the education of children with an ASD, who NEED an education that is qualitatively different from their non-autistic, neurotypical peers - that includes children with other SEN. Children with ASD need a differentiated specialist curriculum, and parents will find that there is an almost universal adherance to the 5-14 curriculum, in spite of its irrelevance to the needs of children with ASD.

See this article for a critique of the (whitewash) HMIe report mentioned in the article and a suggested alternative to the current abusive system:-
http://sundayheraldsalon.com/salon/2006/11/pupils_with_au...

Autism Rights ( www.autismrights.org.uk ) is calling for the adoption of the European Charter for the Rights of Persons with Autism to be adopted by the Scottish Executive and the Parliament. This would form a solid framework for all

My 10 year old son has recently been diagnosed as having Asberger’s Syndrome.
We have never sought assistance from the state machine in the past. The pace at which society has assisted us has been breathtaking.
We live in the greater Glasgow area.
The school told us to seek help.
We asked the school for an appointment with the educational psychologist.
The educational psychologist would not take an appointment without a referral from the GP.
The GP told us it was nothing to do with them.
The school phoned the GP.
We managed to get an appointment with the speech therapist.
They were unable to produce a report.
The state enrolled him at a speech therapists summer club for children with communication skill difficulties.
The above all lasted over three years.
Last September, he was finally assessed by the child psychologist. We are still awaiting a formal, written report. Perhaps I’m being ungracious and they need more time.
I wish I could work at that speed when I go into my work.
In the area where we live, if you are a black, asylum seeker, single parent, living off the state, dysfunctional family with disruptive children, with criminal convictions, homosexual, then society falls over itself to assist you – no expense spared.
However, we don’t come into any of the above categories – so we get nothing!

Crank Parent, Livingstone

Sorry that your GP is not supportive. We have had a foster son who was diagnosed as having Semantic Pragmatic Language Disorder (SPLD) i.e. does not understanding what he is saying. This often, but not always, one of the first stages on the Asperger's Spectrum. In our experience he was clearly on the spectrum but we could not get his GP to diagnose it. This meant that all sorts of particular support for him was not forthcoming. He will need support for the rest of his life, how sad and desperate is that?
And I agree "special needs" is a completely inappropriate term. Everyone has their own learning requirements - we all learn differently and all of us have "particular" learning needs, although we are all special

Crank parent #18.
We have a similar experience. Our son is extremely bright, but has communication skill difficulties and does not make friends easily. He is not disruptive in class but has difficulty being motivated.
On the plus side – you watch him at karate, play golf, play the piano, sing and learn his words off my heart for his poems at last week's Burn’s Supper. His best trick is to complete a 200 piece jigsaw upside down without looking at the picture and starting from the centre out - a child prodigy!
THESE CHILDREN NEED ASSISTANCE – CAN ANYONE IN AUTHORITY HELP PLEASE?

Border Comment has it pretty well right.

First of all to get a diagnosis that allows the authority to put a label on the child takes a long time. So be prepared if you are a parent, to push push push.

Mainstream teachers do NOT have the skills, experience or resources to deal with a child with special needs. It is not just one skill you need, but many to deal with the various forms.

Beware the 'experts' especially the Ed Psychs, but you need them more than they need you. But you have to be able to challenge them professionally, no easy task. Go to support groups early, get other experiences and learn from them.

At least Edinburgh still has special needs schools, which is becoming the exception compared with other parts of Scotland.

There is a battle going on between the doctrine of the politicians for integration, and the resistance of the schools who say they need more specialist staff and resources. A VERY valid point.

However the politicians are painting a picture of it being preferable to have a child with special needs to be in mainstream. Unfortunately this appeals to a number of parents who do not want their child to be 'branded' by the school they go to, and want to believe what they are told about support and resources for their child in mainstream. The reality for the child is TOTALLY different.

So, do what Ruth Kelly did. get independent advice and diagnosis. Present it to the council demanding what you want! Get full resources behind you of autism soc and other parents in support groups. Go legal if you have to, but do it quickly. If in doubt demand a place in a special needs school whose staff you trust.

Strict Ivan Jellicoe

Keep battling don't ever give up. Sounds like the school is supporting you at least.

The behaviour patterns your child and Crank Parent, Livingstone's child display are very familiar. Compulsive behaviour, brilliant performance as some at, usually not very useful. skill. Our daughter's problem was not lack of friends but compulsive with them (any everyone else) tending to drive them away.

Another foster daughter (sorry stating to sound like a compulsive ASD collector) also undiagnosed but clearly ASD was totally isolated but preferred to be on her own.

Most ASD do recognise that they do not see the world the same way as the majority of people and learn strategies to cope with it E.G. they tend to be egocentric and thanks and please do not figure as a part of their lives - they are not being rude just do not see the need for it.

Sadly many ASD will display some outstanding skills, F. daughter's was pen and ink drawing but never go on to capitialise on it - she did her last one at 15 and show no interest in picking up a piece of drawing paper

I have a 17 year old son who was diagnosed last year as having Asperger's Syndrome. I'd known for years that there was something "different" about him but the differences were so subtle that most people, professional and otherwise, to whom I expressed my concerns , felt I was over-reacting to "normal" behaviour. The school commented that he "caused no trouble in class and is one of our brightest students" despite his underachievement and failure to complete work.
Whilst he had friends within the school milieu this rarely extended to after school and never to holidays and weekends. When askedwhy he didn't keep contact his comment was that he was "all peopled out" His preference was to spend time with his cat or on the playstation/computer which he could quite literally do for hours on end oblivious to the need for food, bodily functions.
He would sit in peculiar positions (often with one leg around the back of his neck)and rock when he was watching tv, chew the fronts of his T shirts when deep in concentration, talk to himself and often laugh out loud over apparently nothing. I one time asked him if when he was laughing and talking whether he thought he was having a conversation with someone. He gave me "a look" and said that he wasn't schizophrenic. He also ate a very limited diet and often particular foods at unusual times
It wasn't until he went private boarding for his education with the parents of a schoolfriend who had been diagnosed with Asperger's age 9 that I managed to get support. His foster mum and I became very close and I confided in her my concerns. She agreed with me and said she'd seen many behaviours in my son that were present in hers. Particularly the difficulty in reading and showing body language, lack of judgement concerning security and personal safety and an apparent inability to learn from previous situations.
I returned to NZ late last year as things had

how long have they let you out for today wee berty.? instructive that no-one bothers paying any attention to your paranoia anymore. Keep taking the medecine.

18

I am AS

Our son (10) is AS and we believe our middle daughter (5) may be as well.

We live in Livingston like yourself

West Lothian Council Education Dept has a fundamentalist approach to inclusion, blinkered and unbending. Inclusion as practiced in WL and many other areas is totally inappropriate for those with ASD.

We decided based on both my own school experiences and an understanding of how our son 'works', that school would be totally inappropriate. We therefore decided to home educate and have not regretted that decision for one minute. Nothing can possibly be better at developing a child's understanding of the real world than living in it which is what HE offers. All the evidence from research also shows that HE, which is not about school at home in any way but child driven learning, beats school on every measure whether academic, social or building a confident and free thinking adult.

It is worth considering. Try www.schoolhouse.org.uk for details. I know that HE is not for all but it is better to have made a positive decision to school than feel you have no choice and are trapped in the system.

Does it ever change? I am the mother of a 35 year old autistic son and had the same problem when Steven was young. It took until Steven was 13 before I was able to obtain the appropriate education for him at the Helen Allison School for Autistic Children in Kent, where I lived at the time. Also resulting in the parents of the school forming the Kent Autistic Trust to provide the appropriate homes and daycare for when our children reached adulthood. If it was not for us parents banding together and providing parent power, nothing would have been done, and lo and behold, other than the excellent Struan House in Alloa, what provision is there for children with ASD in Scotland. Well we all know the answer, nothing, simply because the poor teacher is not educated to deal with children with ASD, and I thought things would get better for the next generation of children with autistic spectrum disorder and their parents. Apparently I was wrong!

From what I can gather teachers are ill-trained in spotting and dealing with the following :

Aspergers
Dyspraxia
Dyslexia
Autistic Spectrum Disorders

It may not be their fault that they find it difficult to deal with these children. I absolutely agree that the correct staffing is essential and that means correctly trained staff.

Our student teachers need much more of their course to be about understanding and recognising these disorders and how to deal with them and manage a class which will perhaps include a couple of children with these problems. We allow people to teach after a 10 month PGCE course. How can someone who has gone into Primary teaching down this route possibly have enough training in dealing with an Autistic child in their class?

I have worked in a school in the past and found teachers whom I respected for their dedication and ability to teach a class, extremely intolerant of these children with many not fully getting to grips with the fact that these children cannot always help their behaviour and that they are not trying to be deliberately difficult. Their brains do not work in the same way as a child without one of these problems and this then affects their behaviour. We have teachers in our schools who were perhaps trained 30 years ago and they need to be brought up to date to understand the disorders which we recognise nowadays but, were not recognised when they were trained.

Is Autism ever used a bit like ADHD i.e. as an excuse for bad behaviour ??

Scotswhahey #32

Of course it is. But it is a clinical condition (as is ADHD). Ritalin is pescribed to try to reduce the effects of ADHD, but there is no prescriptive drug that mitigates the effects of ASD.

What is distressing is that many parents (and ASD) know there is something not quite right but can not convince the authorities - schools, medical, social services that they need help. Many parents, after years of struggling with "difficult" children and unsympathetic authorities run out of energy and sadly can no longer manage their children. Some forward thinking Social Services will recognise this and offer respite to the parents (and the rest of the family). This is where we as foster carers have become involved and offered respite ranging from fulltime to one day a week.
Why us? We have no special training, maybe a few skills from working with young people (my wife is a retired primary teacher and I have worked with young people, apprentices manly, for most of my working life). But the Council has placed problem teenagers with us and gradually focussed in on ASD and so we have developed understanding management skills, mainly successfully, by experience.

I have no envy just sympathy and empathy for parents that are trying to understand and cope with and Aspergers (and/or ADHD) and the others in the family that deserve an equal measure of time and attention. So let's try to understand the terrific tensions and stresses in a family that has to live with someone who is Aspergers, but not only that glory in the pleasures and joy that they bring too.

Most of the parents that I meet are at the end of their tether with their children and the authorities - I think todays commentaries make the later point, don't they?

DSM-IV Criteria for ADHD
I. Either A or B:

Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months to a point that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:

Inattention

Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.

Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.

Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.

Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).

Often has trouble organizing activities.

Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).

Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).

Is often easily distracted.

Is often forgetful in daily activities.

Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:

Hyperactivity

Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.

Often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is expected.

Often runs about or climbs when and where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).

Often has trouble playing or enjoying leisure activities quietly.

Is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor".

Often talks excessively.

Impulsivity

Often blurts out answers before questions have been finished.

Often has trouble waiting one's turn.

Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).

Some symptoms that cause impairment were p

There is a distinction between a 'real' speial need and general disruptive behaviour. While there is no absolute 'fix', a good start would be to re-introduce set school dinners and remove all the crap from thier diet. Remove the sweet and juice vending machines.

Also, very few teachers can effectively teach ALL pupils in class that has 30 pupils; some are always left out. It it too easy to say that mainstream teachers should be trained for special ed. Which branch? Surely not all aspects of special ed? Should all teachers learn effective sign language? train in giving injections? No. So why do we expect mainstream teachers to be able to cope with 30 individual needs in one class? It's crazy. Mixed ability and mixed needs stress the teachers (destined to fail) and fail the kids.

Thanks no 33 - is it possible that a lot of what is classed as anti social behaviour stems from undiagnosed illnesses such as this ?

Just thinking from a different perspective in light of all the coments above from genuine people who seem very frustrated.

Maybe we need to look at different solutions for anti social issues ?

I can only hope that Scotswahey, was genuinely asking a question honestly for information purposes and not making some sort of oblique ill informed comment. Children with Special Educational Needs including those with ADHD, need and if you follow the rhetoric of the Scottish Executive etc., should have individual learning plans tailored to their needs and requirements. The fact that they are so often sidelined badly assesed or not assesed at all, made to occupy inappropriate learning environments for their diffculty, by so-called professionals, who have not had any training in the discipline of Special Educational needs, no wonder a difficulty relating to SEN is misunderstood. ( To use the treand of a popular home improvement analogy at the moment, would you ask a joiner who isn`t trained to fit a gas fire). Children with ASD are children and get up to the same sorts of things as do other children, but sometimes don`t understand the consequences of what the say and do. Where you and I appreciate that the world is not seen in the absolutes of black and white but shades of grey, many of those with ASD see the world in a completely different way. Their behaviour is often a clue to how they view the world. Without that understanding the simplistic view that their behaviour is " just an excuse" is failing to understand the difficulty and distress at times that the child is experiencing, as they may also know that they are somehow different. All children with SEN, need , yes need, good quality professional teachers with an understanding of their difficulity. That is not what is happeneing. Far from considering that its the chlid who is at fault, the system needs to be radically overhauled and those operating it made accountable for failing to meet the needs of the children in their care.

Very cynical no 37. I am not ashamed to admit that I am ill informed here and am seeking some further information to allow me to evaluate whether anti social issues could be linked to mental illness - end of story.

Being recognised and put into the school that is rigt for them is good for children with special educational needs. In mainstream schooling they are disruptive and then bullied leaving them psychologically scarred for life.
But worse, they leave school after 11 or 13 years of state funded education feeling like the lowest of the low and barred from getting into paid employment by the stigma of an SEN label on their school record. This is worse than having a criminal record and means they spend most of their lives spongeing off the state or their parents.
SEN kids are hugely talented in their own ways more often than not - like Richard Branson and many others. They cannot find anyone willing to employ them that they are willing to be employed by so must employ themselves and they do not have the grounding or the confidence to be able to embark on that.

I think we could be doing more although it certainly isn't all doom and gloom. I recently watched Rainman with Dustin Hoffman and was surprise to discover that people with autism liked cards and were very good at them as well.

Very poorly written article - would appear that the journalist did not venture out of the office and used readily available internet material. Then proceeded to wrap it up with a sensation headline and a one dimensional approach.

Shame on you for writing it!

Shame on the Editor for printing it.

Shame on many of the comments above for jumping on a very simplistic bandwagon.

With these , frankly unbelievable increases in autistic
children, why have the LABOUR party closed so many special needs schools ? . Where have all the teachers who used to work in these schools gone ?

Being in the business of teaching and actually loving what I do (as far as being in the classroom is concerned) I was concerned when autistic children were put into the system. We were assured that plenty of assistance and adequate training would be given. This so called support has been one day events and book reading and thrown in at the deep end on the job. I have seen the isolation that these students are put through. I have pupils of very mixed abilities as it is and attempt to gear my lessons to each child. Virtually impossible as it stands and I split myself off to try to explain my subject to my support teacher but never really get help in how to gear it all to the child needing me in this special way and I have to assess at the same time. I could go on for ever. Its criminal that education is letting them down but honestly I know that we teachers are as frustrated with it too. Teachers want to feel successful with all pupils showing them how to participate in their subject at their own level. I do blame the government ministers etc having their 'cracking ideas Gromit.' We never know where the goalposts are going to be next. God help us all.

My Grandson is Autistic and is a very bright young man and looks like an angel These children are special and need all the help they can get at school to go forward to a good life He is 10 yrs old and was diagnosed at 4 yrs old
So please as I,m an old scottish lass Help all the Scottish teachers to believe this
Joan

last year jack mcconnell said "we're failing our brightest pupils"
now it looks like we're failing hundreds of the country's most vulnerable youngsters
who are we succeeding???

We have a 15 year old son who is autistic and here in the USA, things are no better in the education system. The education system is a horrible failure when it comes to these children. The problem is that nobody is held accountable.

Tut tut...
The schooling system lets us down again...
No suprise there really
http://BL4CKMAMBA.bebo.com

Agatha in 17. my sympathies for you & your son. it is a cold world today in that the hearts of the people are growing cold.

Prior to 1990 here in the US we were having one child in 3000 born would become autistic. and now it is one in 166. The vaccine regimen began to be greatly increased in 1990. They have many more vaccines, required at younger ages.

in California a couple years ago they reduced the mercury content in vaccines. and the autism rate went down after this. but they still have a very high autism rate compared to pre-1990 rates.

I'm not the one linking autism to vaccines. If you'll read those links I put up it is all medical professionals doing that and people who read what the medical professionals say.

The most prominent among those articles is the one written by Robert F. Kennedy in the Salon magazine. Read that one. he's not a medical professional, but he relies on their work in his article. he's a fellow in the famous kennedy family & is also a congressman.

It is very sad that there are many things in our food and our environment that we are exposed to that do in fact harm us. despite much evidence gathered by medical professionals nothing is done about it, and there's no publicity on it. the vaccine situation is only one of several such situations.

#13 Right you are Wally--the same points I was going to make...The embarrassing lack of autism among the horse-and-buggy, non-vaccinated Amish is the clincher.

The fearmongering government swine screech about the flu every year, yet just tut-tut the horrors inflicted on children and families from the mercury in the jabs. If the child lacks the proper genetics to clear the mercury from his system, the repeated jabs WILL CAUSE AUTISM AND OTHER HORRIBLE PROBLEMS!!

Now, combine the heavy metal attack on the central nervous system with that of Fluoride, excitotoxins, lead and aluminum and you get a whole host of health problems running the gamut from behaviour and learning disabilities all the way to diabetes, carcinoma and alzheimers. Just because these children don't run around in circles like poisoned roaches, doesn't mean there isn't serious damage being done.

As usual, the cry is for more money to deal with the self-inflicted casualties--not to stop inflicting them.

And to #46 Dave, while I am sorry about your child, the education system in the United States is a failure to begin with...School systems cannot fix what is essentially a health care issie--and shouldn't have to. The problem is that the American electorate continue to believe that injecting mercury into their children is promotive of health...As the comedian on Comedy Central said,..."You can't fix stipid."

I've 2 sons both on the spectrum. Both were diagnosed fairly young and touch wood i've not had many problems regarding education for them. We live in the north east of scotland. Both mine were given a weeks assessment at the Raeden centre in aberdeen. From there my eldest stayed in the SN nursery they have and moved to a special lanuage unit just before his 5th birthday. They got him talking within a few months of being there. From there he was integrated into mainstream primary when he was in P2. I did remove him from that school in P5 due to bullying and the 2nd primary he attended were fantastic. From primary he moved to a specialist base for pupils with aspergers/high functioning autism within mainstream secondary school. He is now in 5th year there and about to sit his Higher prelims. The MICAS base has been so successful that our council opened another 2 within the city and are looking at opening a 4th (so rumour says). There have been pupils excluded from the base who's parents are finding it difficult to get replacement provision. On the whole though the base has been a massive success. The pupils go to the mainstream classes they can cope with accompanied by a support worker when and if needed. They also have time in the base where they follow a base curriculum on teaching them life skills and how to deal with their condition in order to cope out in the big wide world. Homework and class work they are struggling with is also dealt with in the base. I have had some issues with the base but on the whole the place has been excellent. My son who was non verbal until 5 has now come on so much that university is being considered. My other son although he went to same SN nursery was diagnosed at age 6 at the end of P1. He was assessed and went to same SN nursery because he had epilepsy and his medication slowed him down. He went to SEN school from nursery. I did have major issues with his SEN school and had him moved to another SEN school 4 years ago. I must sa

My son has Aspergers

Our experience of the education has been positive in the main. he was lucky enough to be able to attend a small mainstream country primary. When it came time to attend secondary, we were persuaded to send him to a special needs secondary. His first two years were positive, however a change of head brought in a change of ethos, and our son quickly found himself excluded for exhibiting the very behaviour that prompted his attdence at a special school. He then had a year of almost no education at all. Then a very brave head of an excellent mainstream school agreed to take a chance. A year later he was sitting standard graded and went on to get several highers.

Don't take no for an answer, don't assume the "professionals" know any more than you do. Do be bloody minded!

I just want to add that the base my eldest son attends was UNIQUE in scotland when it first opened. Obviously it isn't now as there are 3 where we live. I don't know if there are any in other areas of scotland though

i say educate the educaters

Strict Ivan Jellicoe #24

Our daughter's going to be a world famous ballerina :-P

fluffmeister #29
Although we live in Livingston, our kids are at school in Edinburgh. This is partly because we discovered (as you did) that West Lothian is useless when it comes to dealing with any special needs (we have 3 school age children, all Gifted and Talented, 1 of which has Asperger's and 1 has Ketotic Hypoglycaemia) and partly for other reasons. Ironically, the school they are at was recently given the best HMIe report ever given to a primary school in Edinburgh and we are very happy with the education they receive. Our problem is with particular teachers whose refusal to accept that our daughter has problems has resulted in her not getting the help she needs. Also, remarks made by the teacher have led to her being upset on a number of occasions.

Incidentally, we have home educated in the past and are considering it for child 4 and it always amazes me how ignorant West Lothain Education Department are of the law regarding home education in Scotland!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&a...

Why aren't we trying to stop the epidemic by reading the literature on the risk factors for autism?

Why are there more autistic children now than years ago? Many people have not been starting their families until late in life, and many people who are on the spectrum themselves, are having children. When a couple has one autistic spectrum child they should consider adoption if they want more children.

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/35320/63153...

The is a Male Biological Clock and genes controlling the formation of the brain are very susceptable to muations in sperm. In a 1980 study of autism the fathers mean average age was 34. much older than the mean average age of fathers in the general populaton.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&a...

Yes, read the literature and realize that the idustries that profit from chronic illnesses will not point to the paternal age issue.http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/60/10/851

DoricQuine is lucky by Aberdeen standards. NHS Grampian has failed and continues to fail an awful lot of kids by their therapy service provision. Speech and language services have been 'redesigned' for the additional support act, by which it means they have redefined what is meant by 'need'. Nice move if you can get away with it. Meanwhile the occupational therapy service continues to abdicate responsibility rather than advocate support for children. Shameful.

No 14 - BorderComment and no 8 Humerus have got it about right. It's not just ASD and don't expect the coalition partners to do anything about it, or for the additional support bureaucrats in the executive's education department to do anything other than gloss over the realities so many of us are faced with for our kids. If the additional support act is as wonderful as the Executive says it is, why has HMIE found such a disgraceful state of affairs? Robert Brown (deputy minister) says the HMIE report found examples of good practice but there is more to do. Just what doesn't he understand about "FREQUENTLY DEFICIENT"?

#10, Wally:

Vaccines have saved tens of millions more children than the very few who have reacted adversely to these prophylactic medications.

The Amish may not have autistic children (frankly I find your assertion very hard to believe) but there are other genetic problems in their inbred community; one of the most spectacular is dwarfism.

I find it very easy to correlate autism with some other social pathology; for example, drug use by fertile teenagers. It is well known that some illegal drugs affect human organisms at the cellular level, and some particular affect the sex cells that ultimately become new human beings. It is nearly impossible to know how many autistic children are born to adults who took illegal drugs as teenagers, because this is a subject that is notorious for false answers on questionnaires.

Millions upon millions of children were vaccinated before the 1960s and no autism correlation was noted at that time.

I have no doubt that some learning disabilities are now being identified that were not in past generations-- but that does not explain true autism. Please note: a child who can't fit into a classroom is not necessarily autistic. Sometimes he's just an ungovernable brat who has had an electronic babysitter all his life, whose parents have never disciplined him, and who is accustomed to doing exactly as he chooses. One thing about autism strikes me as very interesting: it afflicts males far more than females. Is this because female children are naturally more tractable, or because better behavior is demanded from them than from males, or is there a real sex-linked cause? So far there are far more questions than answers-- but correlating autism to vaccines is simply not scientific, because almost all children are vaccinated and the huge majority of them are not autistic.

I'd like to have a dollar for every child in the USA who has been identified as "hyperactive" and on Ritalin or some other drug, when what is actually going on is parental failure to discipline the child and set limits in the home environment.

I'd be a millionnaire in short order.

We once lived beside one of these children-- his mother forbade his father to discipline the kid physically, and as a result, this big healthy boy caused a lot of damage, could not apply himself in school, and in short made everyone's life miserable who had to be anywhere near him. Reason: he knew there would be no consequences whatsoever.

Guess what? he was another child allegedly suffering from "ADHD" or some such yuppie child disease that never existed before yuppies started spawning such unmanageable brats. So here's a kid, now of reproductive age, who was on a mind-altering drug throughout his childhood. What effect might this drug have on his future offspring? What effect did his parents' lack of intestinal fortitude in raising him have on his behavior? My own opinion, admittedly unscientific, is that there is a 1:1 correlation between unmanageable kids at school, and failure to govern them at home.

Real autism, like real hyperactivity, is a dramatic disorder, and there is NO QUESTION that the child has mental illness. The real diseases, thankfully, are still very rare. Ungovernable children, onthe other hand, are not rare at all in these permissive times.

Wally and Prinzowhales: pop science is not real science. You have nothing to back up your statements except assertions about "mercury" and other such toxic materials in vaccines.

I presume you also believe in Area 51 and alien abductions.

#34 Finnking have you looked at Gillberg's criteria for Asperger's Syndrome. Far more specific. We found that we could refer our son's behaviours more clearly to that than DSM-IV criteria

My son has Aspergers syndrome. Was diagnosed last year. Has been in the system of 'special needs' education all of his school and nursery life. He is 12 years old. I am irate at the way parents get pushed around by the so called experts. My son was pushed to going into mainstream school around 12 wks ago. He doesn't play with anyone. He is bullied. His main problems are is his social skills but he also has problems reading other peoples reactions. He is nervous and unhappy. I go to all these assessment meetings that are arranged by the so called experts and I get told that I am being to overprotective. Is that not what parenthood is all about? Loving and protecting our children unconditionally!!!! I do not want any help from social services and find that I have most problems overcoming issues within the education system especially when I know what I want for my child. I also get the feeling that now that my son is in mainstream the experience I have had is that my sons condition has magically disappeared. No one seems to realise that he has Aspergers and he gets treated like a misfit. He is smart but not a genius. He does well academically, he is on par with his peers. But the social acceptance is a major problem. I am at a loss and feel that I am constantly fighting for the rights of my child. Does anyone else run into the same problems that I have faced?

The boy Winston Churchill would today probably be proclaimed as "autistic" by some overworked general practitioner or child psychologist who was looking for a clinical explanation of some behavioral issues that did not originate with any disease or organic malfunction.

Many male children have behavior problems. I put it down to testosterone poisoning, for which there is really no cure. They certainly do, in general, behave remarkably differently from female children in the classroom. I personally believe that far more exercise and "hands-on" manipulation instead of abstract learning would solve a lot of these problems for boys. Today more kids than ever-- especially boys-- don't get enough exercise. They aren't outside playing physical games; they're inside watching TV or playing some electronic game that is usually very violent, and consists of sharp noises and flashing lights on the screen.

This kind of stimulation is NOT good for children, but parents don't refuse when the kids beg for these toys, possibly because it keeps the boys out of the parents' way. Since they aren't given an outlet for their really amazing physical energy, it finds release in antisocial or other disruptive behavior in the home, church, and school. And, when the parents fly to the doctor to find a reason, the physician, being a clinician, gives them a clinical one. He certainly isn't going to tell them that a good stropping or several hours of outdoor play is what the child needs.

A very few children are indeed afflicted with autism and hyperactivity. But this does not pertain to the majority of "hyperactive" or "learning disabled" children.

No 22 Strict Ivan Jellicoe

You are not being ungracious - this seems to be about normal, in fact, identical to Perth & Kinross.
Keep at them as they will stall, lose notes etc.
Phone daily, if need be, to monitor progress.
Write to your MP to intervene...

Sounds like you have a good speech therapist though.
Agencies such as Parent to Parent are excellent for info and support.
Very best of luck

What we need is a specialist school in Scotland - my child has been sent 250 miles away. I appreciate that there is Struan, however this is not a full time 52 week provision. My child attends a fantastic school where the staff are well trained to deal with all aspects of ASD, the down side being a 500 mile trip to visit.

Finnking and Gobsmacked are absolutely correct. As a mother of a special ed. child, and as a former sp. ed techer who is now a mainstream teacher, I find the parents of autistic children, and other special needs children such as Down syndrome, are unrealistic in their demands that their child can get the attention he or she needs in a regular classroom. Those parents have been conned by administrators into thinking that being mainstreamed is best--that the child will become accepted by their peer group, that the child's self esteem will improve, etc.

In my experience--and I'm better trained than most to work with the special needs child--the child is not accepted well and becomes acutely aware of the gap between his/her achievement and that of the other students in the class. And yet, this is supposed to be good for the child's self esteem?

The other students in the classroom must also be considered. What sort of learning environment is it for them to have the noise and disruption caused by autistic students interrupt their concentration?

My heart goes out to the parents of special needs students; I personally know what that is like. However, I beg them, and the public, to realize that a specialized learning environment teaches those children best.

Yes, the children may feel stigmatized in a special school, but that is because of how people in general treat them and not because of the education pupils get at specialized schools.

Please realize that asking--no--demanding--that teachers add yet another difficult and specialized instruction to their already overburdened day, is not realistic, nor does it serve any student well.

Mainstreaming is indeed a convenient, and less epensive, way of passing the responsibility for meeting special needs into the regular classroom. Shame on those who perpetuate this fairy tale.

Martha #64 and the rest of your comments

A Program of ABA (Lovass) was what I found was the most effective treatment for my sons Autism. I am assuming it was the real thing.

It never occured to me that "A GOOD STROPPING" would have had the same results.

of course the Scottish Parliment did outlaw this type of therapy. YOUR COMENTS ARE LUDICRUS TO SAY THE LEAST.

In your defence you were probable routinely diciplined to submission. But It obviously did not do you any harm?

#63 +++ Martha.

Hey hey Martha, ranting on and on will do nothing to change our US culture which is based on "The Quick Fix" mentality, plus other shallow attributes.

A majority of US children are forced drug users. When their so-called parents set them up on Ritalin.

Why do we have more people in prison in the US than any other country (proportional to population) except for possibly Communist CHINA.

What has Ratilin go to do with that ?

Time for a pint.. of stong ale 6.8% Alcohol Vol.
Non of this Bud Light pussy piddle.

GC

#6 7 calscot

My son is ASD and performing very well in maistream P4. He was given an effective early intervention which prepared him for P1. The school has been very supportive. My son has earned the right to mainstream education. He should not be excluded because of his label. Lets not blame autistic children for all the disruption in schools.

Autism is one of the issues that alot of teachers want to lose at the botom of their in tray. Learn and understand this issue it will not go away. It might make beter teacher's

yahhh. i agree.

As a teacher I want to do the best for all my pupils. Unfortunately, whether or not disruptive behaviour is deliberate is not the issue; no pupil has the right to damage the educational opportunities of the others in the class.

What all of these comments make clear is that each child is an individual and needs to be treated accordingly. Obviously there were Asberger's children in previous generations who learned to get along in the so-called mainstream.
Any reaction here to the Massachusetts case, where a mildly ASD student stabbed and killed a classmate. It is unclear at best whether his "condition" was as much a factor as his history of terrible experiences in special schools.

I have 2 boys who are autistic. I have had a good experience with the educational system. Both my boys attend mainstream and the school have been exceptional in looking out for the interests of my children. They are firm but fair and, while not tolerating bad behaviour are always very adatptable to the boys conditions. Having spoken to other professionals they agree that the school my boys go to is exceptional. I do find that there is a lack of understanding by the public. My children and I have be verbally abused many times through lack of understanding. More awareness is needed as this condition is now affecting so many families and is starting to have a real impact on society.

Did anyone see/hear the article a couple of weeks back about the boy who killed a young girl at a party and had apparently been harassing other girls previously. It was stated that he was Asperger's almost as if that was the reason for the tragedy. Surely more to this than AS. My AS son is quiet, caring, and very non confrontational and other young people I have known with AS, although definitely prone to outbursts when stressed certainly don;t indulge in calculated behaviour of this instance. I have concerns that with the wider dignosis of AS it is going to be used to excuse all sorts of antisocial behaviour to the detriment of people with the disorder who surely have enough to cope with anyway. What do others think?

You wouldn't ask a neurosurgeon to to do an ortheopaedic's job, you wouldn't ask an oralsurgeon to do an orthodontist's job. They are all doctors but specialise in differeent areas. Why do we aska general teacher classroom teacher to do a specialist's job with autistic kids. The affect on ordinary children's education by mainstreaming special needs kids is a disgrace! BY ALL MEANS EDUCATE THEM IN THE SAME SCHOOL BUT IN SEPERATE CLASSROOMS. There are many oprions but the one chosed is to teh disadvantage of students mainstream and ASD alike. Shame on the goverment, education dept and medical world.

I'm not ranting. It's much more comforting to parents to hear that their child has "special needs" than to confront the fact that the kid is out of control.

Real autism is a very serious mental condition. Parents with real autistic children need help and support-- but I would venture to state that the majority of children who are supposedly "autistic" or "learning disabled" are not. They are just unable to focus on the real labor of learning, and when you consider how much time they've spent in front the TV set and playing electronic games, you can easily understand why this is.

These same children are given caffeinated drinks and way too much sugar on a daily basis-- then parents wonder why the kids are "hyperactive." A change in diet and enough outdoor play would do wonders for many of them, frankly.

Galactic Cannibal:

In answer to your question:

1. The USA is one of the most populous countries on earth. Therefore we have far more criminals than countries with, say, a population under 60 million, which describes most European nations.

2. We have hordes of illegal immigrants who get into trouble here.

3. We have excellent police forces who actually catch criminals. Many nations do not.

5. Because of our great wealth, we are a target for drug sellers around the world. I think that the majority street crimes are drug-related.

6. Because of our welfare system, large numbers of people can subsist without working. These people are also disproportinately represented in prisons.

#61 Martha--You and yours are welcome to gobble and inject as many heavy metals as you wish...I encourage it...the mainstream media has even on occassion claimed it was good for you. And, incidentally, Area #51 exists...though I know nothing about "alien abductions".

While you are busy gobbling heavy metals, be sure to wash it down with tea made from water boiled in an aluminum kettle that has been treated with Sodium Fluoride...don't forget to swallow your tooth paste!...and buy the flavored kind so the kids will enjoy it as well!

Don't bother to ask yourself why the government has published recommendations for 'safe' levels that are exceeded by many times with one single jab--I'm not going to tell you which jab...you'll just have to get them all so you can enjoy the healthful benefits of mercury!

As usual Martha you miss the entire point of the mention of the Amish...it wasn't a recommendation for anything beyond looking at them as a population that was not exposed to vaccinations. Incidentally, there are one or two Amish children that were autistic--one had been vaccinated and it was unknown whether the other one had been, if memory serves.

One of the problems I have with National Health insurance is that it pays for self-inflicted problems like autism and most, if not all Type II diabetes as well as the cardiovascular problems and chronic diseases brought on by poor life-style choices....in diet, sex, drugs, alcohol and vaccinations....

Martha

Predudiced & totaly illinformed people like yourself is one of the bigest problems parents and autistic children have.

go and read the real facts about ASD rather than making up your totaly unfounded oppinions.

you quite clearly have no idea about the subject.

you must spend to much time in front of the computer? Go read a book.

#75 cat lover

My AS son is very similar he is often the first to go to another child who has fallen over and hurt themselves or tell a joke to cheer someone up. He's in a small school but mainstream which we pay for, I worry when he will have to go to secondary what we will be able to do as at the moment he would struggle to look after himself. it will be fingers crossed I fear.