special needs nursery vs mainstream?

[papierplatz]

my ds is 2 and a half and has cerebral palsy, he is non verbal and has no independent movement. He is currently attending a mainstream nursery because I wanted him to have some time with other children but I am increasingly concerned that he is not getting the support he needs. He has a one to one person working with him and she is lovely but he is the first special needs child she has worked with so she doesn't have a lot of experience.

We are just about to move to LB Croydon and I can only find a group attached to the oasis academy that offers special needs care for under 5s. I am a bit stressed out wondering what is best for him so any advice or ideas would be amazing!

DS2 did a mixture of both, 2 mornings in mainstream and 1 in special needs playgroup. He preferred the SN one but as we knew he'd have to go to mainstream school we kept going with the mainstream playgroup as well. Also the SN playgroup was miles away and awkward to get to.

Have you visited it and clarified what support he will get there?

Hi not sure if this will help but in case it does i have a ds who is 3,10 with cp. in mainstream nursery with 25 hours 1-1. He has had lots of benefits from mainstream, he is an only child, and being with other children has pulled him along. He is however mobile (crawling/kaye walker and recently tripos sticks) and verbal. He has also always been just ds to the other children and they have grown up with him. As such he has some friends and the children make allowances. He isn't that bothered by his cp and tries things he possibly wouldn't do if he were in a specialist setting (dancing with tripod sticks is an interesting sight)

Even then we have had problems. Ds 1-1 is lovely but naive and inexperienced. She is however keen and willing to learn. she is also physically strong which is useful. but she doesn't know much about early years or child development. Also ds wraps her round his little finger. She doesn't push him, and lets him get away with I'm too tired etc. she also supports him too much and babies him, and ds being a child lets her! The more senior staff don't so much but I can't be there all the time so I do wonder whether he gets what he needs by way of physio. I have to be on them all the time. I also have to push to get times that works for the professionals to go in which doesn't get in the way of other children. That can be hard. So I largely think he gets the support he needs but it is not always targeted appropriately, nor delivered as it should be, and the staff don't have the experience. In our nursery they have a fair few children with asd and similar disabilities, but they have not ever had a child with a physical disability before ds so they have needed a lot of training and support which a specialist nursery may not need. They also can't support us as a family as much as we might like, it is more us supporting them when a new issue comes along.

Being honest other parents are a problem too. I have had comments about how much attention he gets, also insensitive comments about just push him when he's in the way, and lots of silly things like he just needs to practice in order to learn to ride a bike (frankly I would rather he learnt to walk!).

How much input do you think the CDC could give. Without training and equipment it would have been a disaster.

Oh the nursery is also very near so we can get there easily and juggle when ds s ill, that also helps. Ds will also go to a mainstream school s like others we knew he'd have to cope.