Schools for DS with moderate ASC / ADHD and mild Dyslexia

[Scouski]

Hi all, I'm trying to find an appropriate school for my 8 year old DS who has a diagnosis of ASC and will soon be assessed for suspected ADHD and mild dyslexia. I need an 8-18 independent (prep to secondary) or state sen secondary. My problem is he is managing in mainstream primary, albeit below expected in core subjects, but comes home increasingly disregulated due to increasing academic and neurotypical demands on him in the classroom, he likes to fidget and often whistles / mutters. He's very bright and has huge potential. We live in Wiltshire and are in the middle of the admissions process for More House Frensham but they have said they don't offer 1:1 support in the class which my DS currently has in mainstream to keep him focussed on his learning. Does anyone have experience transitioning a child from 1:1 in mainstream to MH without that in place? Also, do MH cater for children who fidget and make noises? Any other behavioural issues (not violent or abusive, just stimming type behaviours)? I feel like the school I need doesn't exist. Willing to move but not London Boroughs or North of England. He has EHCP but we're also willing to fund. Any recommendations for private schools with SEN units / pastoral?

He won't need 1:1 if his learning and emotional needs are met by a specialist class teacher, and class TAs. More House sounds incredible. No personal experience though. I have worked with many children who previously had 1:1 in mainstream but in SEND placements have thrived without.

Does DS have an EHCP? Does it say anything about 1:1?

Be aware if you move LAs the new LA will review the EHCP and potentially amend, reassess or even cease to maintain. Obviously you would be able 5 appeal, but you need to be aware it could happen.

Don’t rule out schools that don’t go to 18. There’s no guarantee it would still be suitable all that time, and with an EHCP there is no guarantee the school would continue to be named until 18. You could look at Egerton Rothesay. Until you said not London or the North I was going to suggest Holmewood, Abingdon House, Breckenbrough and West Kirby. More House don’t generally accept those with violent and challenging behaviour, but some pupils there stim.

His EHCP prescribes 1:1 support in Section F but that's what he needs in mainstream, I'm not sure how he would function in SEN school without. It's hard because sometimes he seems fairly mild in his needs, albeit quirky and noisy, but other times under pressure he can get quite excited and disregulated.

Hi YellowRoses, he's not violent he just chatters a lot and whistles, he's calm one minute and excitable the next. The EHCP will help with funding maybe but we're prepared to pay too so not a defining factor in our search. We just need a school that specialise, he's not suited to most SEN schools, he's too high functioning, but the SpLD schools don't seem to like any behavioural issues so it leaves little to no options.

Lots of special schools don’t allow parents to self fund, and where they do many cost a lot. More House is cheap in comparison to most.

I hope you don't mind me joining your discussion. We are also applying to More House and have all the anxieties of whether our son will be accepted. Our boy also get's quite a lot of adult support at present (although not a dedicated 1:1).

My understanding is that More House teaches their children to be independent, hence they dont need 1:1s. They do have teaching assistants but I can't remember if that's only for certain subjects.

Also, the teachers are trained to support ND children, unlike most mainstream schools. For example - I believe at MH they can recognise when boys need movement breaks and then tell them to walk around the courtyard - or take something to another teacher.

I also recall seeing lots of boys with various stims and I understand these also change as the boys mature.

We think our son's behaviour is mostly linked to being unregulated and SPD and I am hoping if we get in to MH the regular OT will help support this.

We are hoping that the admissions team will have read all sorts of reports (hopefully worse) and will invite our son for a trial to see for themselves that maybe he's 'not that bad'.

Have you looked at Appleford? We really liked it but was too far and didn’t want our son to board.

This sounds similar to my DS, he's fairly mild in symptoms / behaviour mostly but some days he can be quite dysregulated. School plays are the worst, that's when we're reminded that he is clearly on the spectrum as he slid across the stage on his tummy pretending to be a snail 🐌 in the middle of Jesus and Mary, then he'll come home and have eloquent conversations about science beyond his years. So hard to know what MH will and won't tolerate, I sent them a video recording of my DS playing with lego in the garden so they can see how he is, a bit fidgety but mostly it's the little noises and whistles that he makes.

Appleford is 20 mins from me so would be perfect but say they don't cater for any behavioural problems. My friend has just applied for a job there and the headmistress told her that they would take her twin ASD/ADHD girls, her children are academic and don't exhibit any real behavioural issues.

Our son is at More House. He used to have a 1:1 at his main stream primary and I was very anxious about him not having it. I really didn’t need to worry, when he went for his assessment day he came home buzzing about how amazing the teachers were and how they “got” him. As a PP said, the teachers are trained to deal with boys who need different teaching and quite frankly they work miracles.

All the boys (and staff) are very accepting of “quirks” and nothing really seems to phase them. They have high expectations of behaviour, but are very clear with the boys about what is expected so there are no surprises.

I really hope you are successful getting your son a place, it has been a game changer for our son and our family.