Class sizes and Aspergers

[shaunan]

My 5 year old has been diagnosed with Asperger's. He doesn't have learning difficulties but its more social interaction, emotions and communication. At the minute he is in a class of 6 but we are moving and the school we have chosen has 21 in the class with 1 teacher (they are trying to get a classroom assistant). Do you think he will cope? There is another school with smaller class sizes so I am wondering if I should put him there instead but husband thinks bigger class might make him 'fit in' more and prepare him more for his future. Anyone any advice/experience please? Thank you xx

[olvermosley]

IME most children with AS do better with a smaller class size. Social communication is hard enough without the additional complexities of a larger peer group. Also, the bigger the class, the more likely there will be sensory issues due to noise, crowds etc.

DS is high functioning with no learning difficulties but he is in a Asperger specialist school with up to 6 students in each class. He is older than your DS, 13, but could not cope with a class size bigger than 10. It's a bit naive to think that a bigger class would make him fit in, as if having AS is just something that he could grow out of. You have to be realistic about what kind of future he will have. But that will come in time.