Where would you move to? London or commuter belt, SEN schools

[Chachachachaha]

We’re looking to relocate from SE Asia to the U.K. in the next year. Housing budget is £1.1m or thereabouts, looking for a four bed house, ideally detached but willing to consider semi/terraced for areas closer in to London. Have two kids- one 3 year old with mild autism (they use the phrase Level 1 ASD here- equivalent to Aspergers) who is currently in an early intervention program, could probably do mainstream primary with support, one (so far) NT one year old. We’re looking for safe, leafy, well connected with fantastic schools and ideally specialist support available. Need to commute to Kings Cross and Westminster, ideally in under 30 min, and have family around Manchester so probably want North London/surrounds for ease.

So far we’ve identified Muswell Hill/East Finchley (but possibly out of budget) and St Albans/Hitchin. Any other ideas really welcome.

Also, for anyone else who has done a similar move, did you find education and location consultants useful?

I agree with everyone above. Mild autism would not be diagnosed aged 3 in the UK and would be unlikely to qualify for an ehcp and therefore a specialist school place.

would be unlikely to qualify for an ehcp and therefore a specialist school place.

This just isn’t true. There are DC all over England with high functioning autism (which is what I presume you mean by ‘mild autism’) who have an EHCP, some of whom are in SS. There are SS who specialise in high functioning autism.

I have two DS with autism and know several 'high functioning' children who were diagnosed pre-school so it does happen but I agree it is less likely at the moment.

OP my eldest is in an enhanced resource primary school - in my area they are a bridge type school between full mainstream and a special school. He basically has a programme that is tailored to him, spending half the day with his main stream class and half the day getting individual or small group support.

This is why the OP needs to really understand the local offer, because enhanced resource provision in my area is only available for children who are very disregulated, and a child with ‘mild’ autism wouldn’t get within a mile of it. There are 24 places for a city with a population of 200k. Provision varies widely, and that’s why it’s so important to understand what might be available.

This is why ‘mild autism’ shouldn’t be used. In order to get a diagnosis someone must have difficulties in the triad of impairments that “limit and impair everyday functioning”. Just because they have ‘high functioning’ autism (which is what people generally mean when the say ‘mild’ autism) doesn’t mean they aren’t dysregulated or very dysregulated.

I think somewhere like Gerrards cross or beaconsfield might suit you Op to the north- coming in at Marylebone but then quite quick to kings cross and Westminster- maybe 45 mins in total. St Albans is an option but having lived there twice I'm not over keen these days - it's only 22 mins into kings cross but would be around 45 to 50 to Westminster. Obviously the best areas for under 30 mins don't necessarily fit your budget or criteria as would be pretty central London and wouldn't be detached or even semis

Hi Op.
it must be hard from abroad. These things are hard even when close!
it is very hard to move somewhere with multiple options. Catchment in Muswell hill/Finchley can be 0.3 of a mile. I would consider renting for a year when you return.
it will give you that time to really visit schools and then move accordingly

Camden primaries tend to be very good with autism. Netley if more severe, Kentish Town or Primrose Hill if less, and most others if even less.
secondary is different, but is a long way off for you. I’d start saving for Egerton Rothesay or Abingdon House if I were you…
housing is pricey tho.

NB in Camden don’t panic unduly at catchment - due to steep falls in the birth rate these are growing. Can still be small but not as ludicrous as in recent years.

Nope, entirely agree with you re high functioning autism and its effects, and talking about ‘mild’ autism as a descriptor. Of my three children with ASD, two have coped in mainstream (one has left school, the other not) with varying levels of stress, but managed to be part of the group more or less. I suspect one may not continue that way without more support. One cannot and has never been able to. All have strengths. I totally should not have used dysregulation as any sort of shorthand. What I would say about the children in our ERP is that they are mostly struggling to access the curriculum because of their levels of anxiety or regulation, so it is not the right learning environment for a child that is struggling in other ways but able to access age-appropriate learning. Where we lived before, the ERP was more integrated into mainstream, so offered different support, more akin to that described. Really, ours is more or less a specialist school rather than a mainstream support. So the OP ideally would understand what the options are and how they might meet the needs of her child given how different things can be.

EHCPs can be given to children with ‘high functioning autism’ but many, many parents find it very hard to find appropriate school places where their child’s needs can be met - whether that be the level of support required or access to the appropriate level of learning.

it is very much the exception in a few areas
the send green paper is clear about the future direction
there will be a national system

@Elsie2022 I'm really interested in your assessment about Singapore (presumably). I'm a parent with an autistic child in EIPIC, also facing similar decisions on when to go back and where to live in the UK, albeit in a different location. I thought some of the specialist schools were meant to be very good, that some even specialise in autistic kids. Why do you think the UK is miles better? I understand from speaking to therapists that the quality of therapy is similar. Would be interested to learn more.

Also sympathies @Chachachachaha, I'm at a similar point now, still debating whether to even go back to the UK. It's very tough.

Can you afford £35,000+ per annum fees for one child in a private London SEN school ?

I have shifted my plans to move the children because I wasn’t 100% of the schools being able to meet the needs of my high functioning ASD children. They need OT, speech and physical activity otherwise they are significantly disregulated.

I echo the advice to look at private schools. I found some good options in the NW. I’d keep plugging away to find those schools and then pick the house.

@Mamma353 I am sure that the SEN schools 'test well' based on metrics, the mainstream schools in Singapore test even better relative to your average UK mainstream school! The reality is that social attitudes towards SEN needs are v different in SE Asia and that includes Singapore; and my cousin's experience was that he was excluded from mainstream education very early on due to.thus (including from international school).
He went to a special school for most of his education but it wasn't easy to get a space either. He is in mainstream education now as a teen.

That sounds like a really good set up. I think we’d like to find a similar option. How did you find schools that were supportive? Was it advertised as part of their offer or something you had to ask about?

Not rude at all. I think the picture in the U.K. is very different to Singapore. There’s a lot of options here and the only gatekeeper is your ability to pay. We got my daughter’s diagnosis and a place in a specialist early intervention program within a few months of her school raising concerns.

She’s just been assessed by a school here that has both an early intervention group and a large mainstream international school, and they think
she can do mainstream with a bit of SLT, some social skills sessions. But we don’t know how that will actually work in practice yet or what she’ll end up really needing.

That sounds like a really good option. Are they common or very specific to certain LAs?

It’s so hard! And this thread is making it really clear that the provision varies widely from place to place, which makes it even harder. I think I need a very detailed spreadsheet to try and list all this info out . I just wish we could actually visit and get a feel for places. You might be right that renting for a year is the best option- but we need an address for the start of Jan next year to get my daughter into the main admissions round for schools, I believe.

I know this wasn’t to me, but from what I’ve heard and the limited experience I have here, the stereotype is that the U.K. is supposed to have a better philosophy (much more mainstreaming, more inclusive, more ambitious about what autistic people can do) but the practical accessibility of support is harder, while Singapore is seen to have a fantastic range of support which is easy to access if you can afford it, but also tends to have more ABA type therapy and less mainstream acceptance of autism. However, we’ve managed to find some really good support that feels more inclusive here so YMMV.

NW of London or NW of England? We’re also considering Manchester. Great schooling options would definitely help make that decision for us!

Thank you for this. Edgerton Rothesay in particular looks really good.

I agreed that the budget for special needs in state schools Hertfordshire is very squeezed. I'm not sure about other areas. If you can afford private (or can fight for an LA funded place) Egerton-Rothesay School could be perfect. If their needs are milder St Columba's in St. Albans is great and St. Albans is lovely.

Honestly? I’d stay where you are if there’s any way possible. The lived experience of school with children with Sen in the uk is awful and I wouldn’t want that for mine if there was any way out.