Mainstream or special needs school for autistic 2 year old

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Need some advice please. Our little boy is 23 months old and on the way to being diagnosed with some autistic spectrum disorder. He has no speech and requires a lot of supervision as he has no real understanding of language or danger for that matter. That said he is very happy and super fun and seems to be very smart in other areas. Anyway his portage tutor has suggested that we will need to apply in the next couple of months if we want a place at 2 1/2 for him at a special needs school for a couple of sessions a week. She said this does not mean that he will necessarily stay there in the long term as he will be constantly reviewed and if he progresses well could go mainstream. My head tells me therefore that this would be a good thing. The school seems very good and we are going to go see it for ourselves. My question I suppose is that is a school which caters for all forms of disablility from autism to severe physical disability the right place for him. Physically he is completely normal and very coordinated. His problems seem to lie in being a bit over-active and not concentrating and speech development.Can anyone with a similar experience tell me whether, in their opinion their child flourished more in a very focussed environment like a special school or from being around so called 'normal' children in a mainstream school. I have to admit that we are struggling with all of this as he appears normal in so many ways but he just doesn't talk. Any advice or experiences would be gratefully received

Hi :)

My DS2 was 2 1/2 when he was dxed with autism, sounds similar to your DS.

He went to a SN nursery attached to an ASD school where he was assessed throughout the year, as well as got a lot of SALT and other help with his emotional developement.

When he was there he had a lot of different professionals and we had several meetings throughout the year. DS2 got statemented there as well which was a long and scary process.

DS2 now attends MS with a full time 1:1 and he has done quite well, albeit being 2 years mentally behind his peers. He is in Y2 now.

There have been times I have panicked and thought I have made the wrong decision, but that is usually when he is having a bad week or transitioning hasn't gone to plan.

If you get the right team behind you then you should get help making the decision.

Good luck.

Apply for the SN school, and see how he progresses. At the end of the day, they will be better equipped to deal with his lack of language (at the moment) and any other challenges at the moment IMO. And you can always transfer to mainstream whereas its not so easy to transfer the other way. Good luck :)

Ds1 is 12 severely autistic and non verbal. He's always been very sociable with adults and a friendly happy souk.

He started in a mainstream nursery then school. The nursery was fantastic (but quite unusual for a mainstream nursery - the manager for example funded herself on the pecs course). School was a disaster and a total wate of everyone's time. He switched to an SLD/PMLD school age 6 and has flourished there ever since.

*soul

I would go for SN school as you will access special services like speech and language more readily and the school will be able to effectively deal with all hs needs.
From hindsight my now 12 year old DS could have easily transferred from SN school into mainstream school (some have very sucessfully) instead of us battling for the last few years in mainstream primary.

Really appreciate the initial feedback and I do think that starting him with the most support is for the best. Its also good to read about other people's experiences as we don't know anyone else who has an autistic child so it's quite hard to discuss these choices with our friends. Thanks :)

Most special schools now have opportunities for inclusion where appropriate anyway. Also it's usually easier to transfer into mainstream from special than the other way round (in terms of spaces etc and battles with the LEA). Every year at ds1's annual review for example the HT/teacher and us have to indicate to the LEA whether ds1 is ready to be included (bog off being my usual response )

Emtotionally ime it's much easier on the parents when their kids are in special school as well. You're not constantly having to watch the differences.

Thanks for that info saintlyjimjams. I went to a coffee morning with some of the other people on the portage service last week and I must admit it was nice not to have to constantly explain that my son can't talk and doesn't understand sharing etc. I can imagine that it would feel good for him to be in an environment where he is included fully as opposed to being the odd one out. Feel a lot better from reading the replies here.

my son has been in a special school since he was 4 (SN nursery before that). He is on the autistic spectrum, has concentrations issues and did have limited speech. His co-ordination is not fantastic and he is socially about 4/5 years below his peers (he is now 12).

As I teach in secondary school I was well aware of the difficulties to gain a full statement (and it is going to get a lot harder, as funding is being cut and statements are being even further discouraged) and therefore I pushed and pushed as it was very obvious from an early age that there was serious educational issues.

I applied for a ms place whilst undertaking this and he was offered a place at the school I wanted. But, my dh and I sat down and had a long discussion....

The up shot of this discussion was -

a) what impact on him would 1:1 help (in ms) have in terms of growing his independence later on in life
b) will he have any actual friends in ms due to his social behaviour/needs?
c) what would be the impact of such attention required from his TA and the class teacher have on his peers
d) will he be happy?

we decided that special school would fulfil all his needs and address the concerns above. He has achieved far more than he would have ever done in ms as his school (which also has a range of needs from autistic spectrum to very physical disabilities and learning needs) as the additional support is easier to access, the specialists are there and you are not waiting for the next appointment! The curriculum is not just focused on academic learning! life skills/social skills etc are also high on the agenda

I can honestly say that I believe we made the correct decision for his needs and this continues to be so.

I would also echo the other posters who have said that it is far easier to transfer from ss to ms than the other way round....I have taught many students whose needs are not being met and are being failed in ms as there are not the places available for them

should also add that he is also about 4/5 years below the 'average' learner for his age

Thanks for sharing your story cricketballs. Those are the same questions we have discussed. I think i worry most about whether he will have friends (especially as he is our only child so no siblings to play with) and be happy.

ds has lots of friends with a wide age range (his school is 4-16 and very small) but he does have 2 'best friends' and a girlfriend