Asperger's Boarding school

[Daisee]

Hello,
My DS is 13, entering year 9. He has Asperger's and ADHD. Very bright with above average IQ. His only behavioral problems are silliness, hyperactivity, and basically being annoying and distracting, which interferes not only with his learning but of those around him. He has no anger or mean or violent behaviors at all. He was at Stanbridge, and for obvious reasons, we are having to move him. We visited Swalcliffe in Banbury last week and were pretty impressed, but I want to check some other schools out as well. We are Americans who live in west central Africa for the next few years. What I am looking for is a boarding school that specializes in Asperger's and/or Autism Spectrum Disorders but that are high functioning, above average IQ students with no violent behaviors.

Can anyone give me any recommendations?

Also, can anyone give me any personal opinions regarding Swalcliffe School?

Thank you so much! It was stressful enough with the whole Stanbridge situation, and I am hoping to minimize the stress for my DS in looking for and starting a new school.

BTW, we are privately funded with my husband's employer, since they denied him entrance to their school, so we don't need to go through the LA, etc; or worry about financing his education.

Thank you.

Daisee

I've only ever heard good things about Grateley House school from a friend who has a boy with a similar profile there www.cambiangroup.com/Ourservices/EducationServices/FindASchool.aspx

I'm sorry to hear your DS was caught up in the mess of Stanbridge, that must have been stressful for you.

I have heard good reports about Swalcliffe, but they are third-hand accounts from friends of friends, so no direct experience.

I think Grateley is an excellent school but its fees are considerably higher than Stanbridge Earls (around £130k), would your husband's employer still fund this? Also, some independent special schools don't allow unstatemented/privately financed dcs to attend as a matter of policy, so that is something to be aware of - I know that Grateley has allowed parents to self-fund though.

They do take on students with challenging behaviour, so you might be wary of that. I think it is quite rare for AS specialist schools to not take on challenging behaviours tbh - there are special boarding schools which will not consider students with violent behaviour but they tend to specialise more in SpLD/ADHD rather than ASD, with a handful of students who have high functioning ASD but are academically bright (I would say that Stanbridge fell into this category as well as it never really had expertise in AS). Your DS might fit well into this type of school, and schools like this are cheaper than the fully specialist ASD schools. However, they won't offer the full 24-hour curriculum that you'd get in an ASD school, but the focus is on small classes, dyslexia-friendly teaching approaches (which tends to help those with ASD/attention problems too) and building self-esteem.

Centre Academy East Anglia, Frewen College, St David's College Wales, Shapwick School, Appleford and More House School Farnham are all worth looking at - they are generally SpLD schools (dyslexia, dyspraxia etc) but they often will consider academically able students with AS and no behaviour issues.

I know of parents who use Breckenbrough in Thirsk North Yorkshire and seem happy with it. I dont know if it accepts private funders though

I have hard good things about Frewen and More House and Grateley. However, one thing that has put me off some specific ASD schools like Grateley is the very small number of pupils who take GCSEs.

Some schools seem to spend alot of time filling the school day with subjects which would drive my DS wild - all art based. He likes to be taught what he needs to know and get out of there.

I would add, reading your post, that specialist ASD provision is unlikely to be free of children who have had challenging behaviours.

SpLD might be your best bet but I'm never sure how 'ASD friendly' they really are - kids with ASD were being sent to SE for years when they clearly had very poor understanding

I think Breckenbrough do rely on LA funding, but no harm would come about through contacting them to find out. They also take boys with challenging behaviour but are very careful about integrating and mentoring.

The thing with the indy SS specialising in aspergers/HF ASD is that if a child is coasting along nicely in mainstream, it would be extremely difficult to convince LAs that they need to offer a more expensive option. The children they take tend to either be long term school refusers or exhibiting behaviour difficulties in school, in many cases leading to exclusion or withdrawal by a parent who has had enough.

I know some mainstream private schools do attract a high percentage of pupils with aspergers, particularly the more "hippy" and outdoorsy ones. IIRC, someone who used to be on this board sent their DC to Summerhill school.

Slindon College in West Sussex - we have no personal experience but it has a great following locally and from Good School Guide. We're keeping an eye on it Good luck

Sorry for thread hijack, but are there any good for girls with a similar behaviour/academic profile to OP's DS?

Frewen is co-educational. I went to Tribunal to win placement here in May and know that the school goes to great lengths to make sure that pupils do not have challenging behaviour. All potential pupils have to complete a trial after which the existing pupils are specifically asked whether the new pupil would fit in and whether they like them.

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm checking into all of your recommendations. Grately is full and we are in their database/wait list, but it doesn't look hopeful. Thanks again! Very appreciative! :)

Do children need to be statemented to get into Frewen? There is no way our family could afford the fees so LEA would need to fund a place...