We’ve got a Dual and Multiply Exceptional DS1, aged 5. He is autistic and was assessed earlier this year with the non-verbal IQ of a 12 year old (his verbal IQ is that of a 7-year-old child).
My parents-in-law paid for him to go to a small pre-prep at 3 years old, but he was expelled for behavioural issues due to the undiagnosed autism. He’s currently at a huge local mainstream school with a brilliant SEN provision. They have done amazingly at settling him. He had a bumpy reception year, but now seems to be emotionally regulating and articulating his needs much better.
We’re unsure whether to move him at all, as he likes school because he “likes learning”, but we’re aware that his current school has a vastly academically varied intake. The other two kids with neurodevelopmental SEN in his class are profoundly learning disabled - one is non-verbal and has a cognitive age of 2-3. They’ve noticed he can read fluently and are going to test him, but have no organised gifted & talented (G&T) provision whatsoever.
As such, we’re concerned that, at some point, he’s going to lose interest in the curriculum due to the G&T issues. As such, we’ve been looking at moving him back to the private sector and have visited Dulwich College Junior School, Dulwich Prep and Eltham College Junior School.
They all say they’re open to a DME kid like my son, but we’ve no idea how he’ll fit in - especially in the ‘through schools’. Just wondered if anyone had any experience of this? Whether you think it’s worth moving DS1? And whether there were any schooling options in SE London we haven’t considered?