social aspect of a special school....

[sladeford]

We are about to move our DS2 from an independent mainstream school to a Speech and Language school. He is going from a class of 20 children, none of whom have any form of SEN to a class of 7, of which 2 are autistic spectrum and 2 have ADHD. All have a statement of special needs. The school is absolutely the best place for him in terms of therapy as he has very delayed speech (due to working memory issues) but we are concerned that the social side of things may have an adverse effect. Having never known any children with ASD or ADHD it would help greatly if someone could shed some light on what it may be like for him in the classroom and almost as importantly in the playground. We are having to fund this privately, which luckily we are able to do but it is a huge commitment and we will have to make some big changes in our lives so all the more reason that we make the right decision. Any help / advise will be greatly appreciated!!

Hi OP, you should post on the special needs:children board. There is more traffic here.

Has your DS been giving a diagnosis, how old is he? (Just being nosey).

But to answer your question, DS who has ASD and verbal dyspraxia, would hopefully be going to a speech and language school. Some children with autism can be very sociable, equally some children who only have language disorders as such can be very unsociable. It entirely depends on the child, my DS is sociable.

Some children who are usually admitted to SLCN will have social interaction difficulties, regardless of diagnosis. On the other hand, some children are more engaged with children, with similar difficulties to them and hence they become more sociable.

I think if you are worried about the social aspect, I'll advise you start placing your DS into outside clubs/activities, if you want to widen his friendship group. DS goes to his football class every two weeks and he has made two good friends there.

You are doing the right thing by placing your DS into a specialist school.

Hi, I am in a similar situation to you. My son had a stoke, he has processing and receptive language issues and this translates into severe literacy and numeracy problems. He has been at a specialist indi school for two years. Learning has been great. He's progressing at his own pace so it's ideal. Yes, the social side is an issue. When there are only five in a class and the other four have social issues etc, it's a struggle. Sadly no school is perfect when you have a child who doesn't fit. We make sure DS does masses of out of school clubs, sees lots of kids outside school etc as sadly it is the only thing we can do.

Thank you BigBird69 and Adrianna for both of your really helpful replies.

Adrianna, my DS is 7 has been assessed but has not been diagnosed with anything specific other than having significant language and problem solving difficulties with a smaller capacity for retention of information.

I am going to get a more detailed Speech and Language assessment done in the next few weeks although this may not be necessary as the school will do one anyway.

BigBird, you are right, there is no school out there that ticks every box...Its all about deciding what the priorities are...and therapy is at the top. I am glad to hear that your DS is making good progress.

We have narrowed the schools down to two, both special schools, one with a better social mix, the other the better SALT route. He has got assessments days booked with both schools and what I am hoping is the the speech and language school ends up being good on the social side of things too...as you say Adrianna all children are different so it really will be dependant on how he interacts with the actual class.

Thank you again for getting in touch. Its good to hear from other mum's that are in a similar situation...I have felt very alone in this process...what I want is for someone to come along, wave a wand and say...this is the right school for your son...but as fairies don't exist..Im having to throw the net out and get as much help advise as possible...mums in the same situation is the best advise!

So thank you!