Guerrillamum's Blog

Peter has now completed his first term at sixth form on his A level course.  For him, sixth form and A levels were the only choice really, he is still in a mainstream school, but has a place in the school’s Asperger’s Unit, which started the year he did at the school, and has now extended into the sixth form to continue to support those of its students who have progressed  there.  

He still has a similar package of support to that he had in the lower school, only TAs now perform the task of note takers.  They are on hand to help with organisation and planning of work and to help Peter manage his private study time.  In reality, much of the private study work lands with us at home in the form of homework.  This is because I think that Peter is really enjoying the social side of being at a sixth form, in a way that he didn’t in the lower school.  Out of necessity, the Aspergers Unit had its own place in the school, as children who have AS can cope poorly with the social aspects of being in a big school during break and lunch time.  This is when friendships are forged and Peter missed out.  He is really enjoying the fact that there is no separate social area for the young people with AS to go, (even if they need a refuge from the racket and noise) and he has had to learn to make friends.  This was very difficult and stressful to begin with and to be honest, I really missed the AS unit on his behalf, but he has actually made more friends than he ever did in the lower school.  I am very happy about that, and I know how lucky we are that he has been able to cope.  I know some  young people with AS struggle to make the transition.

In terms of work, he has kept up pretty well.  He has kept up with the essay type of work, and the practical side of his courses pretty well.  However, he is struggling with some aspects of the extended coursework in terms of planning and organisation, but is developing (with help) some strategies to cope with this, so I am optimistic that he will catch up.  He is also enjoying the enrichment courses.  These are things like rock climbing, football, business courses and Music.  He came home very happy today as he is now involved in music group and has been singing and playing music all afternoon.  

We are tremendously lucky that Peter has a place in a sixth form with the continued support from the AS unit.  His AS level predictions are optimistic and if he manages to keep up with the work load and to adapt to the unexpected demands it is making on him (lots of extended course work), I am hopeful that he will get some reasonable A levels.

We can only take things one step at a time, but I think it is fair to say that we are cautiously optimistic for the future.