Great school for ds

[jenk1]

we have just decided not to send ds back to the school that he,s at,especially since their solution to his problem is to put him in with the infants and their excuse to not helping him when he has trouble from other kids is "well he never says"-erm no hes autistic and one of the problems he has is not knowing HOW to tell someone when he,s distressed.

Felt a bit down this weekend because at his parents evening on thursday found out that ds is in the top group in class and doing well that way-academically but not mentally or emotionally.
Anyway was on the net last night and i have found a school 2/3 miles away from here that has as ASD/AS/HFA unit, a sensory room/garden and helps pupils on the spectrum learn how to socialise with other people/kids.

Well i was elated

I didnt think there was a school for him round here-the nearest one would have been manchester which is too far IMO.

My question is -how do i go about getting him a place in this school?

He is due to start his assesment in early jan06 at the Child and Adoloescent Unit to see whereabouts on the spectrum he is.

Do i contact the LEA first or do i have to wait until he,s gone through the asessment?

I don't really know what the usual practice is but I would probably start by talking to the Head of the school that you would like ds to go to. He/she will be able to tell you their usual procedure for accepting children, any requirements, and whether they have any places this year.

It sounds like a much better school than his current one.

im going to phone them tomorrow,apparantly welfare are coming to see me this week re ds,s school absences-she can take a running jump as far as im concerned,do i have to see welfare or can i refuse?

Hi Jenk,

Sorry to hear that you are having yet more problems.
Maybe you could contact the ed Phsyc or the professionals involved. Does he have a statement??
When dylan was being assessed for his statement the ed phsyc talked toi the school in question and dylan was able to start before the statement was finalised 2 months later.!!!
It may be worth seeing your HV also to see what they say.

Good luck, thinking of you

Butty.xxx

No he hasnt got a statement yet, we have been told that he is at the top of the list to be seen by the various professionals in early jan so im hoping that things will start moving along then.

But in the meantime a bit of pestering wont do any harm,the most important thing to us is that ds is happy and so we are keeping him at home until we find a school that can help him in the way he needs

bump

My ds in in a unit attached to mainstream. At ours you need a statement naming the unit as placement.
I would call the school and find out how many spaces there are. Units can be very hard to get into.

You would also need to have a good look at it, my LEA has lots of units but they are not all as good as they sound and can in fact be a bit of a dumping ground.

Is it a state or private school?

My ds's headteacher spoke to me about a school nearby with a unit attached, but like maddie said, with this particular unit a statement is needed before they will even consider a child. The headteacher thinks it will suit my ds when he eventually moves up to juniors, so she has asked the LEA to consider this when assesing my ds for a statement.