Getting extra help at school

Many autistic children and young adults will have an Education, Health and Care Plan which helps them get more support at school. If your child doesn’t have one, or if you are in the process of applying for one, you can still get extra support at school.

Your child may be entitled to get access to Special Educational Needs (SEN) Support at their education setting. SEN Support has four stages:

1. Assess – Teachers or Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCo) keep a written record of your child’s needs. This should be reviewed regularly with input from you
2. Plan – your school will tell you if your child needs SEN Support and you should be consulted about the interventions proposed. The support programme will be shared with all staff at your child’s education setting
3. Do – the plan is put into action and your child’s Teacher holds responsibility of implementing the plan
4. Review – there needs to be a specified date to review the success of the interventions and the impact it is having on your child. This is an opportunity to suggest where things can be changed and should take place termly

Areas of need include:

• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, mental and emotional health
• Sensory and/or physical needs