For background: DD is 4 in July and has autism - this effects her by way of speech delay and rigidness with her speech/thought (for example, she does not understand the concept of 'Why') as well as sound sensory issues e.g screaming kids.
She attends nursery 5 days a week and we are currently drafting an EHCP for her - her biggest hurdles are her social communication and noise sensitivity - she simply will not engage in any adult led learning activity in noisy enviroments.
We have been attending SEN specific activities but we are starting to wonder if we should also attend some regular sessions, as the noise isnt less there (there are lots of children with vocal stims which DD can find upsetting) and she has started trying to talk to some of the children who cannot speak back to her or do not want to engage with others.
This leads me to my question - there is a fantastic SEN nursery that is opening a new location this September specifically for children who are delaying their reception school start - which we are doing with DD. But I am trying to balance the worry in my head that this may be regressive for her versus specialised support in a smaller environment. She responds well to her peers at nursery and learns so much from them in terms of speech and play - is this worth losing for better access to 1-1 support?
Sorry if this reads hickledy pickledy - hopefully you get my gist. I dont have any experience of SEN schools or nurseries so my fears may be unfounded? I dont think she would ever get a place at a SEN school - I dont think her needs are that severe and we are instead looking at mainstream schools with great sen support and units attached.