Secondary school with ASD

[MuminMama]

Hi. My DS (10) has recently been diagnosed with ASD. He has managed fine academically at primary school but socially he struggles. We need to apply for schools by this autumn and I don't know where to start. Our local comp is great, but giant, and I don't know how he will manage as he is disorganised to the extreme. I found a special school, but I have been advised that he wouldn't get an EHC as his difficulties are mild, and the website says you have to have one to be considered. Where does that leave us? I would really appreciate any advice.

Didn't want to read and run.
Have you spoke to the senco at ds's primary regarding suitable schools?
Also possibly speak to the senco at the schools you're considering for advice.

Our DS has Asd, adhd, dyspraxia and I was extremely concerned about choosing his secondary school. He currently has a one to one assistant in primary and his new school in Sept have said that this will continue.

Get advice from your current school before deciding on anything. Feel free to pm me

Have you got any local ASD Facebook groups you can join? I find that’s the best way to find local info about schools which may be suitable.
My son has ASD/ADHD/dyslexia and is going to the local comp in September. In my area the choices are really limited and there’s no middle ground for children like him, the mainstream schools are too big and overwhelming, the SEN schools don’t meet his academic needs!

Thanks both. I'm going to talk to the SENCO this afternoon and will see what light she can shed. The Facebook idea is great and I will see what I can find. And yes, middle ground is what we are after too. I think it might be available if you can pay for a nice cozy fee paying school!

Yes definitely look at what the help they offer those with additional needs. My Ds went to secondary without a diagnosis and he is currently being assessed for asd now in year 10. I won't lie, it's been pretty awful but I think that's because in hindsight I picked the wrong school and of course he didn't have a diagnosis to help him access any extra support.

I think with the right secondary school things can be a lot better and more supportive though. Wish Ds was back in year 5 again, I would have certainly done things differently.

When I looked around schools I briefly explained my sons needs and asked what they could offer, all but the one he’s going to told me to look elsewhere as they didn’t have the budget to help him.

The amount of SEN support is so variable. One school has one TA per department (English, science, humanities etc), another school places TAs where the help is needed. One school had a SENCO who was also an English teacher, another has a SENCO dedicated to that role. One had a staffed learning support room open at all times, in another learning support was only open at lunch.

My DS is going to secondary in September.

I am presuming this is your first to go. Firstly go on each school's website and look at what their SEND offer is, next arrange to visit the senco at any schools you may be interested in, most schools will allow you to look round separately from the open evenings which can be overwhelming for the best of people. Some mainstreams have a specific learning need they cater for, for example one school near me has a unit for pupils with sensory loss.

Look carefully at the oversubscription criteria, there is often a 'social and health' needs category, which is different from the main send one.

We were at a slight advantage as he is my 2nd so I had already done the rounds. The school that he is going to has a learning support centre. Like your ds though he has no real learning issues, so a specialised school would be inappropriate for him.

The other thing you may need to consider is will he manage the journey to school, we went to the extremes and moved next to the school, but otherwise it would have been buses.

Good luck, and I hope you get the right school for him.

I wouldn't write off a school because it is big. My best friend's son with asd goes to a school which takes in 280 children each year group - she is delighted with his asd support. Bigger school- more children with asd - he has a club/cassroom he can go to if he wants to socialise with other asd children. He has made a best friend from this club.

Thanks all. I have a daughter at secondary already but she is, what do you say, neurotypical, so the local comp, which is great, was an easy choice. I really appreciate your advice and will start getting in touch with some schools. It has become much clearer to me that he needs a mainstream school with good SEN support.

The school my son will be going to has an intake of 294, so is massive. However most of our local schools have a high intake. As above it has a lot of resources.