Gridlink
Education System
Case History 2
Paul (not his real name), aged 12,
was permanently excluded from school following behavioural problems and class
disruption. His problems stemmed from particular learning difficulties
(dyspraxia/Asperger's syndrome), the inability of the school teachers to handle
his special needs, and the lack of understanding by his peers. A bright boy,
but with communication problems, he became extremely frustrated by his
treatment at school and his lack of progress in learning. He became withdrawn
from social contacts and would only talk to adults. As an example of his school
experiences, because of his writing difficulties he had been allocated a
personal laptop by the LEA, but had been forbidden by teachers to use it in
class. Subsequently it was destroyed by a fellow pupil.
Paul had experience of home tuition, and attendance at a Pupil Referral Unit.
Neither prevented his personal problems worsening. He was resentful, very
unhappy, and had no interaction with people of his age group, even his sister.
The LEA’s proposed solution was to send Paul to an out-of-county residential
school for EBD children. His parents regarded this as a recipe for disaster.
They did not want Paul to be away from a caring home, and wanted his physical
and educational needs to be addressed through knowledge and understanding.
After contact with the Gridlink System the LEA agreed to an assessment of
Paul’s suitability for study with us. On assessment we found Paul to be
intelligent and willing to learn but hampered by poor physical and voice
coordination. His interest in learning using a computer, overcoming one of his
major handicaps - his poor writing ability, plus his willingness to learn,
persuaded us that Paul could benefit from our system. Paul started with the
Gridlink System in November and the Gridlink System was responsible for all his
curriculum subjects studied.
Within weeks Paul’s parents reported a substantial improvement in his general
well-being. Paul established a good relationship with his tutor, and his
communication skills developed markedly during the next few months of daily
telephone conversations. His IT skills developed rapidly, and he applied them
throughout the curriculum, producing good quality work in all his subjects,
whilst still having difficulties with English.
The boost in self-esteem this success gave him allowed his parents to start
encouraging him to start out-of-home activities.
After one year Paul was introduced to a second tutor, to widen his contacts and
reduce over-dependency on a single personal connection with the Gridlink System.
The Gridlink System has been included on Paul’s last two statement reviews as
providing an education ideally suited to his special needs, and in this case
the provision continued to GCSE; Paul was successful in his 5 GCSE
examinations.
Paul is expected to continue to do well in his studies, and although he still
has problems associated with his disability, he has become confident, lively in
conversation, and has developed extremely good skills in acquiring and
retaining in-depth knowledge of his subjects.
