PLEASE COULD YOU SIGN THIS PETITION--Petition: Require mandatory training on ASD/ADHD and SEND for teachers

It is all a complete mess and I agree with those sceptical. If teachers/carers are concerned it is still a bloody mess and eHCP hasn't made much difference either. I have worked with kids that have really quite obvious and diagnosed needs and still they can't get help/funding unless they have parents who are switched on and know how to complain and be heard. So many people and parents are under so much pressure they can't do that (and I had a very disabled baby when I was very young fwiw - there is no judgement from me on parents or teachers at all)

lemongrove

Nobody would need detailed expert knowledge gained over years trisher just the basic knowledge I had to acquire quickly in order to deal properly with my DGS.Once you can spot the signs you can at least alert the parents and the school of your suspicions in order for all of them to come together and investigate more thoroughly.

You dealt with one child lemon. Suppose you had 30 children and at least half of them had problems which could be related to a specific need. You would then need to aquire the same knowledge you aquired x 15. And when you had managed that your request for help might very well take time because the SENDCO has a huge workload already and the school's special needs budget is fully stretched. It's no use knowing what the problem is if the resources you need to adequately deal with it just aren't there.

Imagine you're a secondary school teacher, who teaches (depending on subject) between two and three hundred pupils in a week.

Every single one of those pupils has individual needs and parents/carers expect them to be dealt with as individuals.

eazybee

It is the PGCE system that needs looking at; to expect people with no experience in education to become competent teachers during what is nine months training is ridiculous, particularly in view of Mary Warnock's statement that every teacher is a teacher of Special Needs.

Agree eazybee
Our youngest daughter is a teacher this last 15y. She did a 4 year ‘teacher training’ degree at Manchester uni. Said she’d never have had enough depth of knowledge when she was an NQT otherwise!

Since the govt expanded teacher-training to include school-based, which is supervised by assorted independent authorities, all sorts of information slips through the cracks.

Not sure what SEND is. I am familiar with ADHD but I am not sure they use that acronym, SEND, here. I just thank my lucky stars I am no longer a teacher. Sounds like everyone wants a piece of them.

nanna8 Special Education Needs and/or Disabilities. SEND

Agree with Easzybee and Urmstongran. After my 4 yr B.Ed Hons I went onto teach in 6 schools, finally managing an ERF (enhanced Resource Facility) Unit in a mainstream school. The best training and the most useful training came from regular in house sessions.

Thanks muse. I think we just call it Special Needs over here as far as I know.

I will sign it. I have an 11 year old autistic grandson so I am well aware of the time and opportunities that a child with needs loses due to an ineffective teacher and before I get a backlash about teachers, sadly there are some who fit into that category. Government and local education authorities are keen for a SEND child to be in mainstream schooling rather than special schools, so it makes sense, surely, for those teaching them to have at least the rudiments of coping with SEND pupils. It may be a short and basic course but it's a start which can be built on over time. SEND also covers gifted children too. Sometimes they are forgotten about.

Now signed.

Sarnia

I will sign it. I have an 11 year old autistic grandson so I am well aware of the time and opportunities that a child with needs loses due to an ineffective teacher and before I get a backlash about teachers, sadly there are some who fit into that category. Government and local education authorities are keen for a SEND child to be in mainstream schooling rather than special schools, so it makes sense, surely, for those teaching them to have at least the rudiments of coping with SEND pupils. It may be a short and basic course but it's a start which can be built on over time. SEND also covers gifted children too. Sometimes they are forgotten about.

It's the building up over time which you should be pushing for. There are dozens of reasons why a child has special needs and no short course can hope to do more than scratch the surface. The danger with this petition is that a few hours might be introduced into an initial teacher training course, a box ticked and then forgotten about.

growstuff

Sarnia

I will sign it. I have an 11 year old autistic grandson so I am well aware of the time and opportunities that a child with needs loses due to an ineffective teacher and before I get a backlash about teachers, sadly there are some who fit into that category. Government and local education authorities are keen for a SEND child to be in mainstream schooling rather than special schools, so it makes sense, surely, for those teaching them to have at least the rudiments of coping with SEND pupils. It may be a short and basic course but it's a start which can be built on over time. SEND also covers gifted children too. Sometimes they are forgotten about.

It's the building up over time which you should be pushing for. There are dozens of reasons why a child has special needs and no short course can hope to do more than scratch the surface. The danger with this petition is that a few hours might be introduced into an initial teacher training course, a box ticked and then forgotten about.

Valid point.

Any knowledge which may help a teacher have suspicions of autism and ring alarm bells is welcome.What we have at present are teachers and TA’s with no idea, who treat small children from the moment they enter school as badly behaved troublemakers in many cases.
I never have much faith in petitions, but anything that may help in this case is worth signing.Hope loads of people will.

lemongrove

Any knowledge which may help a teacher have suspicions of autism and ring alarm bells is welcome.What we have at present are teachers and TA’s with no idea, who treat small children from the moment they enter school as badly behaved troublemakers in many cases.
I never have much faith in petitions, but anything that may help in this case is worth signing.Hope loads of people will.

It's no use knowing what autism is, thinking you recognise it in a child then fiinding your school's Special Needs budget is already stretched and can't cover the children already in the system. You are left with a possible special needs child and the same behaviour problems. It's a bit like having a car mechanic who can tell you exactly what's wrong with your car but can't fix it because there isn't a garage.

lemongrove

Any knowledge which may help a teacher have suspicions of autism and ring alarm bells is welcome.What we have at present are teachers and TA’s with no idea, who treat small children from the moment they enter school as badly behaved troublemakers in many cases.
I never have much faith in petitions, but anything that may help in this case is worth signing.Hope loads of people will.

I honestly don’t think that is always the case. There is a lot more awareness of such issues in schools if not necessarily enough resources to deal with them.

I'm trying to sign the petition, but I haven't had the email. I will keep trying.
My eldest grandson has tourette's and ADHD too. When he started school, he had repeated meltdowns, and his teachers didn't know how to help him.
When his younger brother with autism and DVD started at the same school his teacher did not know how to teach him. He just sat in class and was left to his own devices. My DD took then out of school and teaches them at home.
They have been repeatedly failed by the school system both in Scotland and England.
Teaching staff really need extra training.

How do you suggest they should have helped him? Was there any extra resourcing (eg money) available?

How would extra training help if there are no resources to implement any strategies?