what would you say is going to be the type of school for my DS

[sleepyhorse]

Hi

Feeling a bit lost. DS who is 5 and in Year One at a local infant school which has a speech and language ARP. He is statemented and has a place on the ARP - he has so far been diagnosed with a language disorder and also sensory processing disorder. He spends the mornings up in the ARP where he receives his specialist teaching and speech therapy, OT etc and then joins the mainstream classroom in the afternoons.

The plan has always been that once he leaves this infant school after year 2 that he would go onto a junior school with the same set up, a speech and language ARP. In a different town. However, he has recently started displaying difficulties with his social communication, they have now bought the EP in who along with school is expressing concern re his social development. So they are implying ASD which I have always suspected could be the case with him but its quite confusing when the pediatrician is telling me its not ASD, that his social comm problems stem from his very severe language disorder. And she is still adamant now this is the case so basically nobody is agreeing. To be honest Im not really that bothered what label they want to give him anymore as its been dragging on for so many years now!

My concern is what kind of school is going to be best for him. School have told me to go and look at lots of different schools including a mainstream with a SCD/ASD unit. I need to decide by May apparently because he is statemented they need to secure his place a year and a half in advance. I just really don't know though - he has a very spikey profile. He doesn't have learning difficulties (with the right support he can pick things up quite quickly) - he knows all his phonics inside out so his reading is amazing, however he is behind with his fine motor skills. His social skills are bad but I would say his primary need is still his language development. It really is very disordered. I want him to have good role models but at the same time I worry he might get lost in a big mainstream class. I wonder whether I should push for an ASD diagnosis and try and get him a 1-1 ABA trained support assistance in a mainstream school. Or would a specialist ARP be better?

Would be really grateful for any advice as the pressure is really on now. Sorry this is so long. Thank you for reading :-)

Sorry the title was supposed to say - Which do you think is going to be the best type of school for DS

Any

Anyone??

Sorry to sound depressing but many people here have only got Aba by tribunal as polter said start bu looking at schools

Even if you push for a ASD diagnosis, it would still do nothing.

Kids who have a severe language disorder would have a big impact on their social skills.

Thanks for your advice. I will go and look at as many schools as possible between now and May then. In an ideal world I would get a private EP on board but just more money we haven't got right now....don't even want to think about having to go down the tribunal route!

Adrianna - that's what I said to the school EP re his social communication, that it's expected his social communication is going to be delayed due to his severe lang probs - but she seems to think this shouldn't be the case. I find it so amazing how a pediatrician and an EP can have such different opinions re a child!

I disagree that having an ASD diagnosis 'will do nothing'. It varies greatly within areas and between areas, but an ASD diagnosis can bee very helpful or very unhelpful.

If I were you I'd look at all the available provisions. Then gently explore which provisions would be more or less open with an ASD dx. Some language units specifically exclude children with an ASD dx. Some exclude ASD dx if language is not the primary need, etc.

The only time a specific dx is helpful, IMO, is if your child would otherwise be under the radar/have their needs denied, or if the criteria for a provision relied on that dx.

When you look around other schools see which have children most like your ds who seem happy and well supported and thriving. That will possibly give you your answer. In many areas children with an ASD diagnosis will not be accepted in S&L unit, and visa-versa.