Anyone in N IRELAND???? Special needs schools

[Gigglebizmizz]

Is there anyone out there who has experience with special needs schools and units in N Ireland? . Just about to remove my DD from mainstream P1 she has adhd and dyspraxia I haven't a clue where to send her the education board just tell me they are not allowed to advise me!!!! I have a few appointments lined up to see both mainstream and special schools but just thought I would see if any of you lovely mums netters can help.

What part of NI are you in? I am in North Down so I know a bit about that as I have a DS in a special unit in mainstream with a similiar diagnosis as your DD.

I am in Lisburn. Would you reccommend a special unit then? I am totally confused about what to do. DH wants DD to stay in mainstream but her behaviour is just awful in school and I am so fed up with the teachers treating her like the bad kid in the class. It is so clear that they want her out. I have made appointments to see both mainstream and a special school (Longstone in Dundonald)DD also complaining about "the noise" in the classroom so I thought smaller class size would be important. Your thoughts much appreciated.

My DS moved from mainstream when he was in P4. It has worked very well for him, small class sizes and a lot of support. He integrates into Mainstream at 2pm each day for the last hour and does PE and all the non academic activities with his mainstream class also . Noise is also an issue for DS as he finds it really difficult to filter out backround noise so finds it difficult to concentrate in a large class. He is currently in P7 so we are now looking at the transition to secondary. I also recently made appointments with a number of special and mainstream schools prior to his recent EP assessment. I wanted to visit Longstone but they didn?t come back to me in time for an appt that suited. However a number of children in DS?s unit who were in P7 last year went to Longstone and are getting on very well. I have heard only good things about it. I visited Killard House in Donaghadee but that?s probably a bit too far for you . Again I know of children who went there for both primary and secondary and have heard only good things about there also. We are likely to opt for Mainstream because although DS needs support, academically he is probably not suited to special school , at least not a MLD school.

The thing about special units attached to mainstream at the moment is that I think there are winding down. In Ds? school the key stage 1 unit has been closed due to the reduction in the numbers of statements being given to children in NI in recent years. The children are just not even getting to the assessment stage in a lot of cases. When DS and his peers leave next June I cant even see the key stage 2 unit surviving as there are such small numbers there. I think in a few years there will just be special schools and mainstream with children with milder issues getting some support in mainstream but probably not enough.

How is your DD academically? I know of a boy who had no problems academically but had severe behavioural problems who went to Longstone for a while and then back to Mainstream but I think his parents felt that he wasn?t in the right environment socially and academically for him.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Probably not much use and I don?t know much about the lisburn area

I cannot thank you enough for getting back to me it is brilliant to finally talk to someone in N I who knows what the problems are etc. I went to see a school today which has 2 special units but currently only taking children from p3 the headmaster told me he would love to take children at P1 but he isn't getting the numbers because the board will not let him advertise and no-one knows that these units exist he said it is like a big secret so I think you are absolutely right it sounds like they want to wind these units down as it costs them too much money. It is hard to know if my DD has problems academically as she has just started school in Sept and the noise of the classroom etc means she will not co-operate at all she just wants to walk about the classroom. At home she can read and her verbal skills are above average but she has problems with pen holding etc because of her dyspraxia.
I am seeing another mainstream school tomorrow and then Longstone on Thursday morning. I now think we should go for Longstone and hope that by P3 she may be ready to move into a special unit (if they still exist) and then make the transition into mainstream. It is her birthday party on Friday I invited 5 children from her class and not one of the parents have replied to the invitation so I don't know if they are going to show up or not. This has certainly made me so much more understanding about other people's disabilities and difficulties. It is such a shame that the education board cannot advise parents on these matters.

So what type of provision did the EP recommend? I can understand her not recommending a specific school but did she say whether mainstream/special/unit would be most appropriate. The EP report for DS 3 years ago said that a unit or mainstream with some support would be the appropriate and that she favoured the former. The statement then was vague about what level of support would be available in mainstream and when we investigated we felt it was not sufficient (although probably a lot more than you would get now)

The only thing I would worry about is that your DD sounds bright enough if she can read at this stage and her verbal skills are good . I would be a bit wary of putting her in a special MLD school if she is academically able although I know that Longstone have a behavoural unit which is where the boy that I spoke about went. Not sure whether your DD has severe behavoural issues though. Walking around a classroom doesnt sound that bad at this stage in P1.

Its nice to speak to someone in Ni, not many here. I also noticed in one of your earlier posts ( I was trying to see if i could work out where you lived) that your EP tried to diagnose ASD and then it was changed by the paed.
My EP phoned today to arrange a meeting for next week to go through his recent report and to discuss ASD traits which the school have highlighted. She doesnt seem to be trying to diagnose but has agreed that there are red flags and agreed that its worthwhile getting it investigated. So by coincidence I have a EP and paed appt next Monday! Am feeling sick already!

Hi thanks for getting back to me, had busy weekend there DD's 5th birthday party managed to coax some of her school friends to come and a great day had by all. DD has been throwing chairs and hitting teacher in school also sitting with hands over ears complaining about the noise. What we have found is that there are ASD traits that are also ADHD or Sensory Processsing disorder traits but everyone justs seems so quick to say ASD. We were told ASD and accepted it (we were devastated) we then took DD to a place called CEAT in Belfast they are the centre for early autism treatment they use ABA they did a free assessment with DD we told them she had ASD. After their assessment they said she definitely DOES NOT have ASD. They said that yes she ticks some of the boxes but in order to have ASD you have to tick ALL the boxes and they said every single one of us has some ASD traits which is very true I have now noticed when people are talking to me I sometime zone out and am thinking about something else entirely LOL!!! Anyway what I am trying to say to you is I have learned that some of these EP'S do not have a clue!!! My husband is a solicitor and as we were applying for a statement (we did this off our own bat as the EP told us we did not need one- We now have one and full-time classroom asst hours) he applied and was granted legal aid to have a private clinical educational pyschologist report completed by John Eakin (he is the professor at Queens who tutors the educational pyschologists so really knows his stuff) he conclusively said No way is it ASD so if you ever feel you want to go down that route and see some-one privately I cannot recommend this man strongly enough!!!

Our EPwould not reccommend any sort of provision said that she was not allowed to and we had to make our own decision very helpful indeed. We have decided to give another mainstream school a shot. I totally agree with you about Longstone the children in the P1 diagnostic unit had what I would class as quite severe learning difficulties and had daily speech therapy and DD is not in this bracket. The headmaster actually told me it was their aim to have children leaving school at 16 and being able to recognise an exit sign or read a menu which DD can do now. I didn't like the school DH thought it was wonderful we are like chalk and cheese!!!

Try not to worry about meeting on Monday just remember what John Eakin told me there are hot spots of autism in N Ireland and this is not because there is something in the water it is because it is being wrongly diagnosed his own grandson was wrongly diagnosed!!! please let me know how you get on you can personal message me if you like and if you ever what to chat you can let me know and I will PM by phone number

Sent you a PM.

Sorry to jump on this so much later but if anyone sees this I’m just wondering if you have any recommendations for schools! Am struggling with where to send my son next year. He is autistic with a moderate learning disability but this year is mainstream p7 and seems to be coping quite well. EP suggests a special school but I think he honestly would prefer a mainstream perhaps if one had a good unit or just a really good school and a 1-1. Any advice much appreciated!