school advice please

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Hi

I am a Mum of a 7 year old boy who was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at the age of 4. We have always been open about his diagnosis and when he questioned me a year ago I explained to him basically what having AS meant and I'll never forget how relieved he looked when he found out.
He sees a Speech Pathologist and O.T and has been going really well and I am so proud of him. The problem is since he commenced at mainstream school his anxiety has increased dramatically. The school is very well meaning however it has many changes every day and his teacher is wanting him to 'be just like the other kids' as she doesn't want him to feel left out. It is his 2nd school and I find that if he accomplishes one thing they then want him to accomplish everything. My son states that he doesn't want to attend assembly and seeing its the only thing he objects to I believe he should be listened to. I have watched his anxiety steadily rising the more they try and have him doing everything. I would love to hear from peoples experiences whether they feel it is a good thing to be made to do things at school you are just not comfortable with or whetehr you wished people would have listened more? I know I am being looked upon as the 'over protective parent' however I really believe my sons wishes should be taken into account. Any schooling advice would be really appreciated.

Many thanks

I'm just wondering if it could be explained to the school officials in the context of an allergy. It's something that causes him problems right now, and is easily avoided. I'm sure the school would not insist on a student who is allergic to mice to hold and pet the caged mice in the classroom (as an example). I would certainly hope allowances would be made for a kid who was allergic to milk or peanuts. The only real difference is that your kid's reaction is not purely physical.

It may even be that since your son is doing so well in other areas that they don't realize what a real problem this is for him. My own son did not do nearly as well in school, he was not even diagnosed until 5th grade (and I was too, LOL). He had problems with a lot of things and he was accommodated even before the diagnosis because it was so clear that he had problems.

What are the things about assemblies your son has trouble with? Is it the noise, the crowd, something about the lighting? It may be that with earplugs or something he could cope better. A lot of autistics have issues with sound and lights that overwhelm them even when other people think things are fine.

Hi

Thanks for the advice. I think its a great suggestion about the allergy idea. Its much appreciated. The problem stems from the last school where his teacher use to 'surprise' him at assemblies with awards. In her mind she was helping him but the difficulty of assembly was enough for him without then being expected to stand in front of the whole school. He is hypersensitive to noise but what what worries him the most is the subjects that are discussed in assembly i.e swine flu, changes to the school etc
Many thanks