Looking for secondary school for my autistic son, please help

[MariaU]

This is my first letter to this group, so hope it fits. My son is 10 and he is moderatelly autistic with ADHD. He is a great talker, but his language is often controlling and repetative and he stimms quite a bit, espec. when he is excited or upset. On the other hand, he is bright, musical, fun and sociable in his own way and if right strategies used, he can learn and make progress.
Unfortunately, despite huge efforts, his Primary school education so far has been largely unsupportive and failling him. I have tried to make up for this by working/playing quite a bit with him at home and as a result experiencing a huge burn out.

I am anxious to find a right secondary school for my son, where he would be happy, supported and accepted. Preferably not a large school, but with a curriculum that suits the needs of children with autism, with emphases on social communication, self help and independence skills. it would be great if some learning through using music, drama, play and physical activities was offered, rather than numeracy and literacy drills and abstract learning forced on my son in his present school...Ideally it would be within London, or at an easy reach.

He is my only child and I am a single parent. We are getting increasingly isolated as my son is getting older. Also, puberty is emerging and its challenges and I am running out of ideas how to help my son and there is no one to turn to.

I feel i am losing my strength and hopefullness about the future and it is scary. It is so crucialy important i get it righ this time. Please let me know of schools you think I should consider. Many thanks.

Roughly where do you live? Parents in that area might be able to chip in with suggestions.

I know of no schools in London Im afraid, although hopefully others will come along that do. But just wanted to ask, does your son have a statement or ? Are you thinking mainstream or a special school? Presumably he's in mainstream primary? If he doesn't have a statement, what support does he have in school and have you ever requested a statement? Sorry for all the questions but the answers will help people give you more advice.

Are there any schools with ASD units near you? They can be quite hard to find out about....

if you contact the education they will send you a list of schools and what they specialise in this might help you in researching schools

MariaU, sorry I can't help with a specific school (have the same prob myself!), but you can do a search for schools on the NAS website, filtered by location, and perhaps SOSSEN might help? Another suggestion might be the parent partnership team at your LEA or a neighbouring one.
Good luck!

when you find out schools with ASD units and special schools dont rule out one or the other go and visit them all as parent partnership said to me some people rule out one or the other without going to view it or chatting with the senco/inclussion teacher at the school as you say its vital now to get it right i viewed both and instantly after looking round and chatting to the teacher and HT you get the impression yes my DC will or wont fit in and you may fall in love with a certain school and thier ethos i walked in my sons SS and was bowled over by the friendly staff smiling happy children my DS rarely used to smile and came out of school (when they kept him there all day that is) everyday upset and anxious now hes getting much better because they totally get him and where hes comming from and as they say what with all the stratagies they have in place hes much more happy and relaxed boy , so get a list from the local authority and ring them to go and view them you might be pleasently surprised

Where are you, geographically?

How about Hillingdon Manor School or the Priory Lodge?

Many thanks on all responses.
We live in North London. My son has SEN statement and he attands a specialist autistic unit within a mainstream school. He has 1:1 support and all other elements in place, for what they are worth. Teachers, TAs etc are all well meaning people, open to suggestions and ideas, but they never carry anything through for longer than couple of weeks, then inertia sets in. They have no vision for children they look after, just dragging them from A to B and measuring how well children are doing by how long they can sit on the carpet before they get disruptive.
For over 2 years now I kept going to school trying to move things on. Then building up debts by sending in independent professionals to advice them, but all for very little result..
Anyway, I desperately want better for my son. I want to find a secondary school where the teachers would know what they are doing and I could finally relax a bit and have some life besides my son's education. It seems like not too much to ask for, but at the same time I fear it probably is.

We are in North London.

What about Kestrel House? Or there is a new one opening in Barnet, part of Norwood. I don't think TreeHouse sounds appropriate. Have you contacted other local parents through NAS branch or Resources for Autism? I have a lot of contacts all over North London so do please ask if you want me to ask for more specific information.

Many thanks Davros. Kestrel House seemed dreadful when last visited them, very few children and no much life about it. They keep Changing the Heads and have difficulties attracting enough children. Also, their last Ofstead was not encourageing. Have tried different outlets for information, but no firm sightings of good secondary schools within easy reach so far. I would appreciate if you would ask your contacts if they know any more.

Try contacting your local parent partnership service www.parentpartnership.org.uk/

I have found them very helpful with the transition for my DS for secondary for this september.

Only checking MN for the first time since Weds. I will ask my contacts for any ideas. Interesting about Kestrel House, it was trumpeted as the great new thing and big rival to TreeHouse!

we looked at Kestrel House for dd1. the then Head (18 months ago) did little to inspire any confidence in her at all. dh and I could barely bring ourselves to stay for a tour around after being greeted, summed up and sneered at by her.

was all very odd.

Have you looked at Blossom House? Not North London, though. I didn't see around the main school (dd1 was pre-school age when we looked around there), but have heard some good things.