Mainstream v special unit ?

[Crawling]

can people tell me the positives and negatives of each option? also will a specialist unit teach the same stuff as a mainstream school? what is this 1:1 everyone talks about ? is it a helper for your child or 1;1 teaching ?

1:1 is usually a TA (or team of TAs) who works exclusively with your DC. In reality they usually work with a small group of DC including your DC. The statement of SEN should say what sort of support the TA is giving, helping with social skills, supervising behaviour, helping with numeracy and literacy, etc. It depends on your DC's needs. It can work, but be aware that, in effect, your DC is spending a lot of time with an adult who is the least qualified person in the classroom. A lot depends on whether the TA works well with your child, whether they are a good fit. I say this as a parent of a DC with SN and 1:1 support and a 1:1 TA, myself.

I would expect a special unit to be better than 1:1 in MS. You would have staff who were more experienced, if not better qualified. It's a halfway house between MS and SS. More experience with SN but still NT role models and MS teaching available to stretch more academic DC. It depends whether any teaching would be done in the MS part of the school or all in the unit?

I think it depends also on the 'model' of the unit.

DD (4, ASD) attends a unit. her unit is very much geared towards supporting children to integrate (pupils spend a max of 1.5-2h/day in the unit and the rest in the MS class with a high level of TA support - DD has 1:1 at all time in MS). I know other units work very much the other way round; i.e. spending most of the day in the unit and only litte in MS.

we originally considered another MS school with 1:1 support (closer to home). however, I find it really helps that DD attends a school with a unit ? she does not only get the 1:1 in MS but the school as a whole has a lot of experience of working with children with SEN. I don't think a pure MS school would be able to offer the same support even with a full time 1:1 TA (but I could be wrong).

Thank you I was asking as the ed psych said dd asd will most likely attend a special arising unit and I was wondering about the benefits for her which you have both answered thanks.

sorry arising should be autisim damn auto correct.

I had to choose between the 2 for DS when he started school. He's in yr1 now.
We applied as usual to our favoured ms primary (he already had dx asd and 1:1 in nursery). We had met the head and liked the school, and told them about our son's needs etc.
Then got a phonecall from SEN team, advising to go and look at this asd unit. He was assessed by a panel for a place, and awarded one. There are only 6 places per year.
My ds is quite high functioning but his main struggles are social integration. When I looked at the other children there, he would have been at roughly the same level as one other boy, functioning at a higher level than the others.
I was quite keen, therefore, that he would have a lot of access to the mainstream classes. In my view, learning social skills would be much harder in a group of other children with social difficulties.
I got the feeling from the unit that they were quite rigid in their practice. His access to ms would not necessarily be according to need as they are not staffed 1:1, but when the dc went to ms classes they were accompanied 1:1. They were inflexible about a part time start, which I wanted.
I ended up deferring his entry to school, then requesting a split placement between the unit and the local ms, working to a transition to ms full time, then as time went on and he progressed all the time, going for a pt placement at local ms starting Easter and going ft in yr 1 in Sept. He has a 1:1 full time.
The unit was miles away and he would have to travel by taxi, with other boys from the unit. The school is 3 minutes walk away.
At the local school he has made local friends. When we go out, we see children who know and acknowledge him. At the park etc there are often kids who know him, it makes a big difference.
I could defer his entry and keep him at nursery (3 days with 1:1) because he was not 5 til the summer and I had the support of the nursery. If I had not been able to do so, he probably would have gone to the unit because he wasn't quite ready for ms then. He matured a lot in those few months.
It really depends on your child, the unit, and the other options available to you. I would say look carefully at all options available, take your time to decide, ask to go back again if you want. Listen to the professionals, but remember you know your child best, you know what priorities you have for them, and what your family circumstances are. Trust your gut. Never undervalue your own intuition.
Good luck, it took me a year to come to a conclusion and it made my head spin, but I am confident we made the right one.
Either may be 'ok', both will have challenges, but they are likely to be different challenges.

I chose both - in reception ds2 had monday morning at our chosen ms, the rest of the week in the unit (which I loved) which was attached to a ms (that I hated). he managed to access 2 afternoons a week in Y1 & 2 but reverted to 1 afternoon from Y3 through to y6. A resounding success for everyone which allowed him to get the best of both environments