Hi, I've visited a steiner school today in Cardiff. They are small, you take your shoes off when you come in, and are welcomed by teachers who are dressed in a simple manner and are very polite and calm. My ds is 5 asd and high functioning potential. his current school doesn't think he would fit in mainstream but he was well accepted by teacher there. at no point she referred to special needs autism etc. she saw my ds for what he was and said he would fit in there. she said they have got kids between 3 and 7 in one room and that he wouldn't stand out because he looks like he is at the 3 yr old stage. which pleased me. My ds is doing aba at home so the pressure to educate him and cater for his asd needs is not with school. he would be with neurotypical kids and observing kids that are older than him too doing things with them. Council never allowed my ds to do this... She talked about the community spirit they have, lots of wood around you, no richness, no interactive screens computer, tv or whiteboards but a lovely atmosphere. Calm and they focus on being together. no pressure is put on kids to do this or that but they said they'd welcome my ds's aba trained ta to carry on his programme in school as long as she didn't interfere with the normal flow of the kids play and activities, which is fine by me as a ta's job is to facilitate not to interfere. my ds is on a gfcf diet they cater for that too. their day is they come in, play outside (whatever the weather), they come in sing songs (more lively songs in summer, warmer songs in winter), they follow the seasons with their eating, activities etc, their cooking is vegan and home made foods that kids help make once a week as part of their activities. They tidy up together, sit together at the massive table that fits in 16 kids that is their no per session. they recycle and you see wooden toys everywhere. Their little classroom is simple but so full of stories to tell... they've got ceramic tea pots and glasses around so kids learn not to break them. They eat from glass plates and glass cups from a young age. they learn the meaning of consequence too by dealing with the consequences of their actions. No punishment but teaching.
If they're a cult, they didn't tell me that and I didn't see that. Kindergarden teacher is lovely. My son hasn't been invited to a party for 2 yrs... she says they're all included in everything there and parents are part of their community and meet twice a week for coffee and a chat. I want that... my son deserves to be with other kids that are high functioning to learn social skills, hippy or no hippy lol concil is too arrogant to allow my ds with 'normal' kids at the moment. they don't wear uniforms there. for me it will be ideal until i get my ds at a point where I can apply for a place in mainstream when he is more high functioning. He needs to learn from other kids.
I'm strict about my kids education, I but in, ask questions to school and in my opinion no school should be solely responsible for your child's education if he is SEN. I've taken the plunge and gave up work to oversee my ds's education last december, don't regret. Not saying everyone should to this but you need expert advice and school should be willing to work with YOUR choice of treatment for your kids. I shall not be dictated to by NHS or LEA. Look for best options not for easy options. School will never do what U the parent can do! Steiner in my opinion would be a place my ds would go for social/interaction with high functioning kids and a break from aba. That is that! They only start teaching to read and write when kids are 7. No problem there for me as I only learnt to read and write at 6 and here I am typing and managed to get a degree in English... not bad I think. Finish kids are the best readers in the world and they do a lot of repetition which is a good therapy for asd kids. In this case they will be suitable for us... I don't actually care if he is singing to the rain on a rainy day, to the sun on a sunny day as long as he has a voice and is imitating other kids!!! :c) he can goo and pee in the bush if he gets potty trained.
I'm a Christian but my first impressions of them were good. No cult signs... no dark magic. They probably clean their toilets with vinegar because they look after their environment but who cares? what is it with people nowadays... they wanna see a lot of high tech stuff and spotless clean places full of chemical products. uniforms... the world has got more to offer than that... would u rather have your kid in a special needs unit cut off from the rest of the world? I know what I want and it's not that...
My ds will have a session there in september. will post here as I've been told I can stay for the whole four hours and make up my mind. kids at kidergarden age don't need to attend every day so we can pick and choose when we send them. very suitable for ABA too.
Hope it's helpful... :c)