Mainstream vs Special schools for children with ASD's.

essbeehindyou, is the only option boarding? I always resisted my chap going to a special school and he was ok in mainstream during primary but there is no way he would have survived secondary. He's in a special school now which does all the subjects and expects the same as a mainstream the only thing is is that he gets loads of therapies. He is in a class of 5 to 10 kids and its a bit like an exclusive private school but we don't have to pay. He does have a long taxi journey each day. Even being in a special school year 7 has been tricky at times (suddnely going from loads of 1 to 1 to being independent) and there are things you 'give up' at a special school rather than at a mainstream but if your kid is less anxious and stressed then surely that is to the good. There are loads of kids in mainstream that desperately need statements and aren't even on school action and some that most definately need a special school place because they just can't cope or are only just coping in a big, noisy environment. If you have the option of a special school place - don't turn it down - go and have a look. I've looked round quite a few - where are they suggesting?

Best of luck

Dh just got a phone call from his ex to say that dss has just got a glowing report from his mainstream school. I take it with a grain of salt because I don't believe a word dh's ex says, but the fact that he is still in the mainstream school and hasn't even had a temporary exclusion, much a less a permanent one, means that the special residential school that he was in was a big help. What part of the country are you in. I think that the special school that dss was in is supposed to be one of the best.

Hi, sorry to hear things are so stressful at the moment.

I am assuming as you think your son is going to have to be moved it will be as part of a proper "managed move".

Who has said that he will be moving? Has it come from general comments at school rather than an official path?

It would be reasonable for you to be asking what stratergies have been put in place? How long have they been given? How have they been monitored? Have behavioural support services been involved? What is the autism outreach input.

Or am I on the wrong track and are you concerned about possible exclusion?

My dss had a statement, but the mainstream school resisted it for so long that by the time he did get one, it was too late to catch him up with the rest of the kids his age. Also, be careful about what happens in between. Dss was at home "waiting" for a place for 6 months in between ms school and special school. He was supposed to be gettting tutoring during this period, but somehow it never seemed to happen.

essbee,

First thing I would ask is whether your DS has a Statement or not. No statement to my mind equals no support.

Have you contacted the NAS? (National Autistic Society).

Also have you looked at IPSEA's website; there's a lot of info on there re permanent exclusion. www.ipsea.org.uk

What have the LEA said to you about this matter?.

Sorry for all the questions but answers to the above may help you further.

I would also post this on the Special Needs board; you'll get more responses on there (it seems more widley read that this particular board) to your question along with more suggestions as to what to do.

Am sorry this is happening to you, the self same scenario happened to a friend of mine and her son is now in a special school (at that time he was supported by a Statement). It was very badly handled by the school in question.

My stepson was put in a residential school for children with behavioral problems. It was a godsend for him. Partially because it took him out of the awful unstable setting of his mother's house (hopefully not the issue in your case), but also it was great for him because he got lots of one to one attention that he needed. Much of his behavioral problem was a result of learning difficulties (undiagnosed) that resulted in his being far being the other children academically and also he is physically very small for his age too. They eventually put dss on ridalin (sp?), which dh and I opposed, but it did dope him up enough for the school and his mother to be able to control him. He was always well behaved for dh and I and we felt that his behavior problems were primarily because of the instability in his home and his learning difficulties and that drugging him really was not dealing with the root of the problem. All of this is to say that you may find that sending your ds to a special school for a period may be really helpful in getting to the root of his behavior issues and hopefully help you with tools for changing the behavior. It doesn't necessarily have to be a permanent move. Dss is now back in mainstream school.