Does the school/nursery have to be told about asd dx?

[mamadadawahwah]

I am going next week to check out some nurseries for my 2.8yr old son. Do i have to tell the nursery/school about his asd? Obviously, i will be fighting for asd support but do i actually have to tell them first hand about this? Are the schools made aware of any diagnosis by the health service?

I would - if only so you know which one is likely to offer the best support for him.

i think you should, that way they can let you know of any support they already have in place, and they can work with you.

Technically you don't personally have to tell them yourself but it would be a lot simpler if you did. It may be, for example, that they already have experience of ASD or other SN. The staff may also be interested in going on courses about ASD, as the staff at my ds2's pre-school did.

If your ds needs extra support then the SENCO will almost certainly be involved. They will need to work with the staff to discuss strategies, potential problem areas etc so will need to tell them about the dx.

I would. At my ds's first pre school, the staff gave 101% support to my ds, they were willing to learn as much as possible about ASD, but even though they had great enthusiasm, it was agreed that he would benefit far more in a pre school with experienced staff who had already recieved the relevant training. So it seems that not all nurseries/pre schools are capable of managing a child with ASD. I'd certainly ask to see what training they have beforehand.

At this point, if you're just looking around, you can get away with not telling them. In your shoes I'm not sure I would tell them as its an ideal opportunity to ask them about their experience with SN and how they manage and you can gauge their attitude without them realising you've got a vested interest. If you want to take it further though, it might look odd. Maybe ask your key questions and tell them half way through the visit?