extra support at special school

[cleo1]

Hi,
i need urgent advice and i know the ladies on this board have a rich source of information.
we are moving to a new area and trying to get my daughter with ASD into a autism school, which is my first choice.The LEA agreed,however after observing her in old school has informed us my daughter would be better off in a school which caters for children with severe and multiple disabilities and needs, due to teacher /pupil ratio being 1:3/4. The school i prefer has a ratio of 1 teacher to 8 children.
My daughter is non verbal,moderately affected,she also have adhd which is controlled by medication. i want to request for a LSA or some sort of extra support for her in my preferred school.
Can anyone advice me on how to achieve this objective.I know if i don't deal with this systematically it will fall through. Her statement has not been revised yet.

you would need to show why the SLD/PMLD school isn't suitabke for her. Remember the LEA only has to provide a "suitable" education, not the best. If you list why the school you don't want is unable to meet her needs, and why the school you do want does then you will be OK. It might be hard though - because obviously as it stands (1 teacher to 8 children) the school you want does not meet her needs. So you will have to work hard to "prove" that the other school is unsuitable.

Someone on mnet knows someone whose child has a specified 1:1 in their statement even though they are in special school, but if iirc provision is patchy in that area so it might be easier to argue for.

Ds1 (non verbal autistic) is in an SLD/PMLD school rather than the specialist autism school (which used to be MLD- so the children there are generally verbal). have to say the SLD/PMLD school suits him down to the ground because the high staff ratio means that each child can have their own individual timetable, so the teaching he receieves is actually more specific to him than would be possible at the autism school. Providing the SLD/PMLD school has a good understanding of autism it can work well.

thanks baka,
we have not ruled the other school out yet, we are going to visit early next week.
however after visiting the autism school, i do prefer it. it will be wonderful to get 1 to 1 support,wonder how the mnsnet with that went about it. i have been reading the Special needs policies to see, as u said it will be difficult but feel it will be much more suitable for DD.

I think they went to tribunal iirc. I was worried about ds1 going in without specific 1:1 (he moved from a mainstream school with 1.0 1:1) but to be honest it has worked out fine.

Hi Cleo1,

My son nearly 3 doesnt have AS but he does have a statement of special educational needs with 1:1 support in class.
It is a spacial school that caters for all and their are 3 autistic children in his class that are all none verbal of whom also have 1:1 Support.
I am friends with one of the parents and she has said that it is brilliant, she has recently been to see the AS school, but much preferred where he is now due to the 1:1 support as they wernt able to offer at other school due to funding!!!
See what you think of the other school and take a notebook to ask any questions that you may have and then compare the 2 when you are ready, it may give you a better insight.
Hope it goes well.

Butty.xxx

infact,i'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised as you both said, it can work out, however if it doesn't look good then butty, may i ask how you went about obtaining the 1:1,or if you know how the other kids with ASD got that on their statement.did it involve tribunal? Who do you need on your side fighting for you.

Hi Cleo1, my son got the 1:1 due to severe learning problems and physical probs as well as no verbal communication.
The liitle boy i know has high functioning AS and is none verbal like the other 2 little boys.
I think it depends a lot on the ed phsycs comments as she had a lot to do with dylans statement and the local LEA.
Also it could be funding and priority placements.
If you feel that your ds should and needs 1:1, then you should make it very apparant to those involved and raise your concerns about not having 1:1 and the effects it may have on your ds's progress.
If you fail, then try again until you are heard.

Butty.xxx

educational pschy, haven't thought about them,some good info to think about,by the way Butty, it's about by DD who is 7 next month. DS. is two years older and ironically absolutely fine.

i dont think it should matter what age they are to recieve the appropriate help.
all you can do is be persuesive in your ways to get where you need to sometimes and although it may be hard at times, dont give up!!!
Hope you get some where with it.

Butty.xxx

My ds is in a unit for MLD which had a staff ratio of 1:5.{Now severe 1:3) A mum of a non verbal autistic child won him an ISA attached to his statemnet. However, she did have to go to tribunal to do it as the LEA refused to fund.
The school you choose would have to prove that your daughter would be incompatible with the school to be able to refuse to take her. If they are happy to take her, they can help you fight to get the support in place.