Transferring from mainstream to special school - positive encouragement needed please!

[mommapiggy]

DD (GDD) loves being at her MS school but everyone involved with her has said that the time has come that SS will be more appropriate so she will transfer at the start of year 3.

In desperate need of some positive encouragement that this is the right thing to do, right now I just worry about the future and what it will hold for her, will she still stay freinds with he current MS friends, will she make new ones? just really would appreciate to hear about other peoples experiences in making such a big change - and ideally a crystal ball to look forward 12 months to know whether all my worrying now is for nothing!!

My dd, who is quite severely autistic, switched to SS at beginning of yr 1. It was absolutely the right the thing for her. She has always liked school, but MS was too stressful for her I now realise (the wonderful gift of hindsight). It is a really hard decision, I felt like we were letting go of some our hopes iyswim.

My dd doesn't relate well to her peers, so friendships not an issue for us. I think you might have to make some effort to retain her current friends if she wishes to see them.

Hope she settles in well and receives the support she needs.

She will no longer be the 'special needs child'..she will just be a child:)
Honestly until you see your child interacting at her level..with others..at her level.. you won't believe how wonderful it can be.

My son is in SS ..where he is an able pupil.. in mainstream he was the disabled pupil..... he has real friends as much as he ever will ..they are a motley crew with a wide variation of disabilities and the best thing is they don't SEE each other's differences.. they just play..or mooch.. or obsess together.

Mainstream friendships can be continues out of school as long as you make the effort/can face play dates!

I hope she settles quickly and has as positive an experience as my son has done.:)

Ps I also work in SS; we have children join us around 3/4 when the gap has widened too far.. after a short time the children settle SO well and often blossom because the school is geared for their pace, their ways of learning and it's lovely:)

yr 3/4 I mean :D

Ds has always been at Special school so I can't speak from personal experience, but I do chat to the other parents at coffee mornings etc, and I can honestly say I've never met one who has moved from mainstream who hasn't been totally sure that they made the right decision. HTH

Thanks for all of these - right now its exactly the sort of things I want to hear I know deep down its the right thing to do, but doesn't stop me worrying about no end of things so its good to hear anything encouraging. the comment re being an 'able' pupil in SS is ultimatly what we are aiming for yet had never thought of it in that context. I'm sure there will be teething problems and uncertainity and few tears along the way, but this has given me a bit of a silver lining on what seems a big cloud right now. thank you.