New Beginnings

I finished work yesterday, taking voluntary redundancy.  Although I loved my job, I felt that with increasing funding constraints in FE as they are, I could no longer offer my ASD students the provision they need.  It is so frustrating to be told that vital Lifeskills work cannot be done due to lack of money!  Luckily, my last intake of students have made excellent progress and moved on to the courses of choice with appropriate support. I am staying in touch with my former students and parents to hear how they are coping.
After long discussions with all my family we have  decided to become Foster Carers, focussing on caring for children with disabilities and conditions such as ASD, OCD and ADHD.  It is a daunting prospect, but I am also very excited as it is a new challenge!
Meanwhile, I am getting used to being at home. My job involved being away from home for 3 days/week, so this is great.  I am planning many projects, we are getting chickens and I am setting up a Wormery!  Watch this space for progress!!!






 

Life Changes

I have not been able to blog for quite a while due to the fact that my trusty but ancient laptop gave up the ghost.  Have now got a brand new one (RED!!!) and I am back on line.

At present I feel very excited as I only have 5 teaching days left before I leave my employment as a Lecturer and begin my life as a Foster Carer.

At work, life is somewhat difficult as some of my students are in panic mode due to the change in routine.  I have tried to reassure them as much as possible - introduced the new Tutor, showed them their new classroom and established on which days they will be in college next year so that out of college activities can be planned as soon as possible.
All-in-all we have had a successful year, with all students responding well and 4 of of them moving to the vocational courses of their choice and level of academic ability. Last year they wouild not have coped but thanks to my brilliant team of in-class Learning Support Officers and a lot of co-operation and the will to learn new teaching strategies by my colleagues, we are getting there.  Next year, more will follow.
The students that are unable to progress will hopefully have been able to learn that even though we are suffering severe funding cuts, there are still options in the community and by dialogue with them and parents, we have identified and introduced the young people to progression routes such as Voluntary Work or Supported Employment.  All the students leaving have been successful in this area.

For me, a new life will begin.  More on that next time.

In these times of economic hardship, it is going to be even harder to get the help needed for many people on the spectrum.  If you find that support has been reduced or changed to be less effective, please remember that LEA's have had drastic funding reductions.
This does not mean that you should not fight for your child's needs.  I just think that initial negotiation and positive communication are the way to go.  Confrontation and tribunals should only be the last resort.
As a teacher of autistic young people in a specialist FE provision I try and get all the support that my students need from within my organisation.  Although we try and make it happen, funding cuts have made this very difficult. 
I have had to become very knowledgeable about outside agencies that can be included in achieving the level of support needed.  It takes a lot of co-ordinating and goes way above and beyond the role of a teacher, but with the help of all parties concerned I feel we are making a difference.

Can you help/advise?

This week I attended a transition meeting for one of my students.  He, more than any other of my class represents the complex problems Autism can present to all concerned.  
He is a very clever young man, brilliant at using media software and creating games and other stuff I have never even heard of.  He has had no formal qualifications and desperately wants to start a Media course in college.  I have no doubt, he would run rings around the other students but to succeed, he would need to have 1:1 support.  He does not listen to instructions or follow any set format in his work, with erratic outcomes (sometimes brilliant, sometimes truly poor and unworkable).  During 'Free-time', he displays very inappropriate behaviour towards other students and the general public.
1:1 support by a person who knows him well will enable him to keep on tack to achieve  but where would he go from there?
Does anybody know of a way he then could work from home?
Would love to hear!!!

Moving on

We are officially confused!!!!  This has been a hard months for some of my students.  All the changes in routine due to Bank holidays! 

Preparing for Change

I am working my last few months as a FE Tutor for young people who predominantly have ASD.  The majority of my students have been with me for 1 year and settled well into the college environment.  Some of them are ready to move to vocational courses of their choice and all of them will have to get used to a new Personal Tutor.  This is not easy for students who cannot cope well with any sort of change.

We start the preparation process for progression to next year's courses after the Spring half-term to allow what I call a 'de-sensitising' process to take place. (More on this shortly on my website).

Together with completion of course work, exams and moderation, it is a very busy time!

I AM LIVE!!!

I am soo excited!  After months of planning, my website has gone live today.  Not an easy thing to do as I have no understanding of creating a website.  But this is one of the reasons why we have children - thank you Kat!