Finding a suitable independent secondary school for a Year 8 autistic daughter

[ISaySteadyOn]

We have a DD currently in Y8 at a mainstream state secondary school. Recently, she was diagnosed with high functioning autism. The school has said that they will make adjustments for her but so far those do not seem to be working and she is miserable. All the state schools around us would not be much better. We can just about stretch to an independent school but we are having trouble finding one that we think would be suitable for her. If anyone has been in a similar situation and found an appropriate school, how did you manage it? We're not even sure where to start.

I think looking at the local independent schools and asking about sen provision etc is the starting point. I would get this thread moved to Private School section and if you are happy to say what area you are in you might get recommendations.

The recent white paper on SEND means that very soon all state secondary schools will have an inclusion base. For academically able autistic children this can be a real life line. they can offer all sorts of support or just a quiet place to go and reset at break and lunch.

Look for schools who already have one or one that has announced they will soon.

Yes, the difficulty now is that the 'quiet place' is the same place they send all the kids they have removed from class for disruptive behaviour.

Thanks, I will see about moving it and check other schools for an inclusion base.

Find an education consultant in your area and ask them to recommend schools. That’s what we did for our daughter at the end of Y7 in a similar position. She’s now at a small independent school that we hadn’t otherwise considered, and is really happy.

This is near me https://www.wildslodgeschool.co.uk/ if you would consider boarding?

Are you in any local support groups for autism? Worth searching for them on Facebook, you can get lots of useful info from other parents.

But there’s no real shortcut - arrange to visit the schools, tell them you’ll need to meet with the SENCO, be prepared to explain what accommodations you’ll need.

If you like the look of it they’ll have their own entrance criteria/assessments - if she needs reasonable adjustments to those assessments don’t be afraid to ask. If they refuse then it wouldn’t be the right school for her anyway.

Just a note to say you are not alone there. All SEN are often lumped together so it isn’t a quiet space at all but where the disruptive kids are sent.

Sounds like you're already on it, but make sure you ask for details about the inclusion base. I've seen some really good ones, where children can basically be in it full time, just for breaks or anything inbetween (that one did need an ehcp) and some where it was basically 10 minutes in a quiet room (or worse the same room as they send the badly behaved children (yes, I know there's overlap between them and SEN)) and a few that were somewhere in between.
My daughter profile means most mainstream private schools won't accept her, but I know some autistic children done well in small non-selective ones.

Just be careful, a lot of the smaller more nurturing independent schools seem to be struggling financially since the VAT came in, several have closed around here, so if you do find somewhere do your due diligence carefully.

Thanks everyone. I am actually looking at a school tomorrow. I am looking at it on my own first without DD because I don't want to pressure her.