Mainstream School...with Special Needs Units attached???

[Anna85]

I have heard that some schools have Special Needs Units attached to mainstream schools....just wondering if these are still classed as going to a MS school??

Also if anyone knows of any HFA children being accepted into them?

A x

Hi Anna, I think it really depends on your local authority and the provision available in your area.

Thats what we just got in...it is a MS school, just has an extra unit but ours cannot be accessed without a statement or until year 3. So HFA or not it depends on your statement. HTH.

I know a lot of units depends on statements!

I had been told before DS was to high functioning though yet there are no end of problems at school!

Yes they do exist and are classed as MS, every area is different though.

i viewed a couple with units in my area and are still classed as mainstream they are within the MS school usually in my area and i think its the same in many areas now your DC attends basically all MS lessons and the unit is open and available as a place to go to meet with other pupils with ASD and rest and recuperate b4 school at break and lunchtimes and after school if needed plus this is where they advise them to go if they feel they need time out , they would also go here for eg: SLT for instance but yes they have to have a statement as often these schools are also few and far between as in my case boths the schools with units were out of "catchment" so you would obviously need statement to put this down as your prefered school my son was not suitable for one of these places and is about to start at a SS, this may be a little different in other areas

hi sorry forgot to add they are basically ment for HFA children as i say they are expected to attend all MS lessons with all the other MS children and in my area this is only available from year7 but of course they would still get any extra help that was written into their statement too HTH

The MS schools with ASD units round here require both a statement, and for your child to attend between 20 - 80% of classes in the MS school, and spend the rest of the time in the unit......

So they are very much for HFA. There is a proper specialist ASD school here, so any child who isn't high functioning would normally go there......

Ds attends a unit attached to a mainstream school. He is dx moderate autism. Ds's statement guarantees him 1 to 1 support at all times so his attendance in mainstream classes varies greatly depending on how ds is, what the lesson is, how the rest of the class is doing, what the weather is like even. Ds is having a rough time at the moment so hasn't been in mainstream much for quite a while. Others in the unit spend much more time in mainstream, some lessons independently and 1 to 2 support is more the norm tbh.

there are two units attached to school within my LA, both for high functioning children and they are classed as attending a mainstream school

there are other school which are not mainstream at all for children who wouldn't cope in the attached units

The NAS Autism Services Directory lists mosts schools with ASD units. There are a few in my LA and they won't accept high functioning children like my DS, who are expected to stay in mainstream (although he is now in ss for HFA). I wouldn't say the children in the unit are very low functioning though - they have language and are usually only slightly below average academically.
There is a separate special school for lower functioning pupils who often have MLD/complex needs as well.

I've heard from other parents that even when their child was rejected for the unit and attended the mainstream part of the school, staff were more understanding because of their training/experience with pupils from the unit. Eventually some of them have managed to access the unit even though they're not officially admitted - they could be flexible as others in the unit were accessing mainstream at the time. So I think it's worth applying for a school which has a unit even if you can't get the unit itself named.