Requesting reasonable adjustments in school or college

Here are some suggestions which could help you write a summary of your observations and feelings:

• how does PDA impact your child generally – what traits do you observe?
• how does this affect them at school?
• how have you adjusted life at home to help with their PDA and how has this positively impacted them?
• what adjustments/interventions have school put in place already which have helped?
• have school done anything else which you have found useful?
• what challenges are you still seeing your child encounter and how does this affect them?
• try to outline the adjustments you think could help.
• what are your hopes for your child in the short/medium/long term? (if relevant – such as managing to sit their GCSEs or transitioning to secondary school successfully).

It is helpful to begin by outlining any diagnoses your child has, including a PDA profile if applicable, or to mention if they are awaiting assessment. It can be helpful to give a basic explanation of PDA and how it can present. You can find these summaries on the What is PDA? page.

• Does your child experience sensory challenges?
  (Lights, smells, noises, uniform/clothing, being touched by others or standing/sitting too close, eating difficulties).
• Does your child struggle socially?
  (Prefer one friend rather than group dynamics, misunderstand social cues, appear bossy when playing due to need for control).
• Does your child mask?
  (Appearing fine in school but really holding it all in, what more subtle signs can the school staff be watching for?).
• Do they need longer processing time?
  (Appearing attentive but unable to recall/follow instructions as they have not taken them in, need things repeating or writing down).
• Does your child struggle with change/transition?
  (New or temporary teaching staff, change to timetables, different seating position).
• Do they have executive function challenges?
  (Difficulty focusing, can be impulsive or call out in class, appears disorganised, loses or forgets items, easily distracted).
• Is the start of day difficult?
  (Finding it hard to leave the house, arrive at school and transition into the classroom).
• Do they find it hard to focus and stay still?
  (Needing movement breaks, space to stim and regulate in their own way).

In this section of the document suggest a maximum of three or four reasonable adjustments which could be made in the school environment to help better meet your child’s needs.

Reasonable adjustments are typically changes which the school or staff can make without much additional cost or additional resourcing requirements and can be made within the nominal school SEN budget. If the school or college are unable to make adjustments which help meet your child’s needs and require additional funding to support them, then it may be necessary to apply for an EHCP needs assessment.

It is helpful to explain the difference you think these adjustments will make to your child’s experience at school.

Adjustments will vary depending on which stage of schooling you are in, but here are some ideas which may help:

• positive contact and relationship building from all staff who interact with your child. They may be particularly sensitive to raised voices, negative tones or struggle with ambiguous facial expressions, all of which can trigger them.
• staff to use considered language with and around your child as much as possible. By this we mean limiting or eliminating directive speech where possible and using declarative language instead, so that demand is kept to a minimum (you may wish to signpost to declarative language resources online or in book form to help them with this).
• adjusting how discipline/behaviour policy is implemented. Publicly reprimanding or shaming a PDAer can cause extreme anxiety and distress, and implementing detentions adds to already high levels of demand. Measures like these do not achieve the intended results of behaviour modification with a PDAer and may even result in school avoidance. It is more appropriate to speak privately to them about how their behaviour was problematic and work with them to find a better way going forwards. Making staff aware that your child’s behaviour is a way of communicating their anxiety/distress and that patience and understanding is usually the best way to help them move through it.
• allowing flexibility regarding the uniform requirements may help your child access school more easily. Simple changes such as wearing a safe and familiar item of clothing alongside uniform, swapping trainers for shoes, tracksuit bottoms instead of trousers can all help. Also not forcing your child to wear a coat unless it is completely necessary removes a demand. In Secondary school environments allowing a clip-on tie, top button undone and being more flexible around wearing a blazer can really help.
• offering adjustments at lunch time to enable them to go to lunch early, or eat in a quieter space away from crowds, noise and smells.
• flexibility around homework expectations. PDAers find the demands of attending school enough to handle, without the addition of homework when they finally get home to their safe space. It is key for school to understand this and work with the child/parent/carer to only set tasks if they are important and manageable.
• seating arrangements – in Primary (younger years where they’re taught most lessons in one room) allowing them to keep the same seat and ensuring that it’s in a position which helps them to feel safe or helps them to focus. Also checking that they are not sat near to anyone who triggers them for any reason.
  In Secondary and Further Education where they may need to move classroom more often they can still be sat in a similar position in each room (perhaps nearest to the door) and to be partnered with peers who they feel comfortable and safe sitting near.
• provide greater flexibility over toilet breaks – autistic people can have interoception difficulties and may not be aware of when they need to use the toilet until the very last minute. It is important that this is understood, and they are allowed to leave the room to use the toilet when they need to. Some schools use a “toilet pass” system to accommodate this.
• building movement breaks into the school day to help them regulate and have a feeling of autonomy around being able to leave the classroom environment when they need to.
• staff to support your child on their own terms. This includes not forcing them to make eye contact, mix with large groups or do other “typical” things which cause them to feel anxious and uncomfortable. Work with you and your child to gather information on the way they feel best supported if they are in distress or having a panic attack or a meltdown. All staff should be made aware of what works for your child and not just take a standardised approach to dealing with the situation.
• providing advance notice to you or your child of changes to things like staffing, timetabling or location of lessons which would otherwise cause dysregulation without any warning. Working together to provide solutions which help your child feel safe and reassured when these things occur, as they inevitably will.
• school and child/parent/carer to work together to create a plan for easier transitions onto the premises. This could include starting later and leaving earlier than other students to avoid crowds of people, taking something safe and familiar from home, or being met by one trusted adult in the morning.

You may wish to write a short summary of what you’ve said above, highlighting the key points you wish to make again. This could be a paragraph or simply a few bullet points. You might also like to emphasise that:

• it’s important to remember when dealing with PDAers that it’s a case of “can’t not won’t”. Although they may appear defiant, it’s coming from a place of extreme anxiety, distress and feeling unsafe.
• try to be patient and understanding – it’s harder for them than it is for you.
• offer them some reassurance that it will be okay, you want to understand and help them when they are ready.