The 7-year-old Warrington boy has a high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, which means he is verbal and on a par with his peers academically. In reading, he is ahead a few years. But he needs teacher-aide support.
Because of his high skill level, he previously only received Ministry of Education funding for a few hours of support per day at Warrington School.
His mother, Kerry Hodge, said the school exhausted its funding last year to provide a one-to-one teacher aide for Felix until noon each day. But the teacher aide did not have experience working with special-needs pupils and Felix’s behaviour deteriorated when that ended.
"Things got very bad at the end of last year. He was very down and upset with school.
"He would come home and say things like, ‘it’s all my fault, I’ve ruined school’, because he wasn’t fitting in.
"I would be getting calls at 10.30am asking me to pick him up because he wasn’t coping and the school wasn’t coping.
"We pulled him out of school for the last two weeks last year. He was getting far too depressed for a 7-year-old boy.
"If anyone had asked me then ... I would have said he would have to be home-schooled by the end of the first term."
However, in late December, the ministry contacted her to say Felix had qualified for two years of intensive wrap-around service funding, which supports him, his family and his school.
"It’s a very rare package. Felix is one of only 12 kids in the South Island who receive it."
The funding only started in May, but already it was having a dramatic effect.
"As a family, we work with the school to construct goals for what we want to happen. The main one is getting him at school and enjoying school."
The funding provides an experienced special-needs teacher aide for Felix from 9am until 1pm.
"She’s absolutely fantastic. It’s made a huge difference.
"He’s more engaged at school and at home.
"We’re hoping her work with him will help him to become full-time by the end of the year."
The ultimate aim was to help him gain independence and manage his own behaviour.
