Assisted places at private school

[BrieAndChilli]

DS1 is in year 4 so were are starting to think about secondary school. He currently attends the best primary school in the county (state) it is a small village school and they have been brilliant with him.
He is very acedemically able. He started reception with a reading age of 14 years as an example.
Our 2 local secondary schools unfortunately aren't more than barely average, and as we are in Wales there are no grammar schools/11+ etc so that's not an option either.
A local private school that has very good results offers assisted places and bursaries - to be honest we couldn't afford to pay more than a token amount, would it be worth trying to get a 100% assisted place or do such things not exist? Is it worth approaching the school or will they just laugh us off the premises??

[Squashybanana]

Disabled yes, diseased no.

[Blue14]

that is a purely political position, squashy, and not a constuctive one, and certainly not a scientific one.

[Squashybanana]

Actually I work in the diagnosis of autism field as well as having autistic children, and am one of the leading people in autism in my local area and none of my team would ever describe aspergers as pathological. Thankfully.

[Blue14]

so have I done, and most of the people I work with understand the meaning of the word pathology.

[BrieAndChilli]

I don't really understand why you think I'm confusing the 2? Yes DS1 is 'wired' differently to most people but that doesn't make him any less academically able? I don't see where I've confused the 2? Only that I have concerns for his social development and well-being at secondary school. In fact I've always made a point in general life to downplay his intelligence (party due to the fact there there has been other issues we needed to work on - physio for weak core muscles, occupational therapy to help handwriting etc as well as the fact that I advanced as a child, joined MENSA aged 12, moved up a year, got a bursary for boarding school etc which piled on the pressure to excel resulting in me self destructing) in fact it's been the school that's also made a big deal out of how amazing he is.

[Squashybanana]

Brie, some aspergers children excel in the early years at skill acquisition processes. It sounds as though your son was hyperlexic, for example. For some children this can begin to fall apart, usually starting around year 4 in fact, where the curriculum moves from a skill acquisition focus into a skill application focus, and this can get harder still around year 7 ish where abstract thinking and opinion giving becomes a core skill in certain subjects. This means that some aspergers children who have excelled start to become much more patchy in their success and this can be bewildering to them and to their teachers if those teachers don't understand the typical aspergers strengths and weaknesses. This should be noted to be of course a generalisation and doesn't happen to every aspie child, and can be less of an issue at a level where youngsters can specialise more. Other aspergers kids find providing volume of work or redrafting/ editing is extremely difficult.
This means, coupled with social issues, that aspergers youngsters can find secondary school very difficult. However not all of them do and it doesn't mean, despite Blue's posts, that your son isn't also very bright. However it may mean that he won't sail through secondary as far advanced in all areas as he has been at primary.

[Squashybanana]

Sorry that should say at 'A' level where youngsters can specialise more...

[Citrasun]

Brie, my DS sounds very similar to yours. We moved him from state primary to a small independent school in year 3. We were offered a substantial bursary, which was definitely larger than they would usually offer, as DS was so academically able. He has now been offered another large bursary for his next school.

It is definitely worth speaking to the bursar. Be prepared to be very honest and open about what you can afford and you may be pleasantly surprised. I would also consider looking further afield and the possibility of boarding if need be. My DS boards sometimes (school is very flexible) and enjoys it far more than we thought he would. The smaller classes and large number of other very able students to talk to, has improved our DS's social skills beyond belief.