If you could design an education system for children with ADHD and/or autism...

[TheRolyPolyBard]

... what would it look like?

I'm just curious. A family member is recently diagnosed and struggling in school. If you could design schools around the needs of these children, what would your imaginary school look like? What hours would they be in? What would classrooms look like? Would there be any classrooms?

Caveat: it needs to be affordable for the UK, so nothing too fantastic!

I'm wondering if a school system which suits NT and ND children is actually possible.

Sorry my long post was to @Whippetwonder although I went off on a tangent too :D

I'm just going of what would of worked for my two boys
I just think to have that in place for parents to also dip in and out of as a back up or if a child is of school with illness or disability ..
Basically as a back up

For a start I’d remove all of the 2014 curriculum reforms and I think I’d find a significant minority of children wouldn’t be SEND anymore they just wouldn’t be struggling with a curriculum that doesn’t understand age related expectations.

I’d follow the exact same routine everyday so children knew what to expect.
I’d have options for indoor and outdoor play and I’d have an afternoon break.
At least two TAs per class - one to support with learning and one to support children with the more pastoral side of things; self regulation strategies etc.
I’d take all pressure off the subjects that aren’t English and Maths. No concepts that have been shuffled down from ks3 the only purpose of the afternoon lessons would be to encourage enjoyment and engagement in that lesson.
Small class sizes
trauma and ND informed staff.
Natural consequences and a relational approach towards the children. No using shame as a consequence.
Lots of work on careers so chn understand the purpose of each subject.
Pupil led topics
Less displays
Sensory rooms
Less visitors in and out of classes.

ND children also need the opportunity to socialise and to exercise.

There is already a full and complete syllabus online from the government for all lessons with online videos.
https://www.thenational.academy/

This is the reality of most classrooms.

I guess with the huge numbers affected now they could actually have schools dedicated just to ND kids.

Reduce the age of compulsory education. Dramatically. 13 or 14. Reduce university funding to the mist capable at which point make it fully funded. Go back to normalising work. Make it easier to go back to school when people are ready.

Support disable people who can't work better

You really don't want half the school population emptying out onto the streets aged 13. They're not going to be able to work, so then what?

I dint see how this would specifically support children with autism or adhd? My son didnt really start accessing education until he was 14!

Secondary is often (not always) where trouble really kicks in. At least for those at the less extreme end of the spectrum. We know many who are in this midrange do much better in work or practical employment. Then make it easier to return to education when the brain has matured and and individual is ready for it.

So much sen support is literally pissing money up the wall with no real difference to the individuals involved.

We need to normalise younger people working. It's so hard these days for teens to get jobs

I guess some might respond to supported work placements. They'd still need to access social skills support and it think they would need access to all the additional sporr, pshe and enrichment that goes on in school.

I cant see employers taking on a bunch of 'mid range kids' without a lot of government incentive and funding.

So much SEN support is fixated on wedging neurodivergent children into the neurotypical model.

Oooh I had this too. Child with one need who we were told could break rules (come up to the teachers desk and pick up items/ start doing press ups and we just had to ignore it) and the other, in the same class, with ASD who had a very rigid view on rules. Nightmare.

How you handle this depends on whether you believe a school is for learning or to build social experiences.

If it’s for learning then these kids are probably better taught (and can learn more) without the anxiety at home via tutors / home schools.

If you believe schools are needed for social experiences then they are are probably better taught in small classes.

They dont take them on with the current support in place.

Very little SEN programs in education have demonstrated outcomes.

Quite asides from the fact so so much SEN spending is not actually going where it is meant to. I've seen TAs walk out of the class with the child they were support ongoing "because the child wasn't engaging with them" (hmmm that's what your there for!) And very rarely do the TAs even know who they are meant to be supporting (ie the actual child that's paying their presence in class).

And yes kids dumped in a "nurture" class or group with entirely contradictory needs

Im really not following you. What i think you have said is we should stop educating them at a younger age because its a waste of money, and normalise them working whilst knowing employers wont take them on.

Im trying to engage in good faith that employment might be a better option for some but I think it would need to be structured and well funded to succeed. Certainly supported internships exist for pupils with an ehcp at 16 and this coukd be introduced younger.

I cant see the point of replacing something that doesnt work with something else that also doesnt work because employers simply won't go for it.

This X100!

So frequently, the equally important needs of two children with SN are in direct conflict with each other. That’s on top of the direct conflict that can be expected to happen with the needs of the majority of the class.

Perhaps we could send them up chimneys.

Young adult school leavers struggle to get jobs. All the jobs that teens used to do like paper rounds and shop work have been replaced by digital media, self-checkouts and Amazon. Adding a whole bunch of extra unqualified people onto the job market would just make the situation even worse.

The Michaela approach would be perfect for my son with autism. He hates unpredictability and the behaviours of other kids, unexpected loud noises and yelling, shoving in the corridor, boy-play (headlocks, spit in hair and food, messing with his bag etc) unscheduled time. He has been in special and mainstream schools and he's thriving now at a very strict mainstream, focused on academics, with Michaela-lite principles.
One thing they don't tell you about special school (especially when they're non verbal when they start) is the constant low level violence between the kids. I didn't realise he'd been punched almost every day at his outstanding special school from the ages of 5-8 till he started speaking. It never appeared in the daily notes. Also they wrote him off academically and didn't allow any of the kids there (even the very verbal ones) to take SATs, yet he's now doing GCSEs and is predicted good grades.
Which just proves all ND are different and there is no one size fits all solution. A choice between strict and relaxed is good but there'll always be outliers.

I'd like to see more consideration of the studio school movement where students do core GCSEs and then a vocational qualification.

For instance, one school I looked at offers core GCSES (2 x English, Maths, 2 x Science) and then a choice of performing arts streams which result in a qualification worth 4 GCSEs.

I feel like it could suit my ADHD child well (much more movement; less sitting) but she's not keen on a school change for year 10.

However, studio schools often aren't full but maybe more choice could be offered without increasing costs by co-locating several school types on campuses and allowing an element of movement between them?

I think we could learn more from the Swiss system where students are on a high quality vocational track from early on.

And absolutely yes to restoring support services in real terms to where they were!

It definitely would cost more to have that flexibility. You couldn't guarantee the numbers of each, and you couldn't have a class of the 30 children that need to move a lot in our current sized classrooms.

Most of the suggestions will cost more. And they need to. Education is an investment, not 'spending' in the same way other short term spends are.