Class sizes and Asperger's

[shaunan]

My 5 year old has been diagnosed with Asperger's. He doesn't have learning difficulties but its more social interaction, emotions and communication. At the minute he is in a class of 6 but we are moving and the school we have chosen has 21 in the class with 1 teacher (they are trying to get a classroom assistant). Do you think he will cope? There is another school with smaller class sizes so I am wondering if I should put him there instead but husband thinks bigger class might make him 'fit in' more and prepare him more for his future. Anyone any advice/experience please? Thank you xx

Am guessing if he has been diagnosed at five then his issues are significant.

There is a huge difference between 6 and 21 so you may well find he doesn't cope in a larger class because (a) More sensory problems -noise, smells, touch and (b) Because the teacher will not be able to monitor him in the same way as in a smaller class. Does he cope with places where there are lots of people - might give you some indication as to if he could cope with a bigger class.

Children with "ASD" have to be taught social skills - they do not learn them simply by being in a class with NT children.

Even more important than class size though is attitude and flexibility of the teachers. Do either school have experience of special needs, what support can they give him, are they prepared to be flexible etc.

Thank you both for your replies. I haven't met the teacher yet and there are only 12% SEN in the school compared with 22% in the smaller classed school so not sure how much support/understanding he will get. According to their inspection their provision is very good. Do you reckon I just try it and see how he gets on? The reason for his early diagnoses was due to the impact on his interaction with his younger siblings, he's generally ok at school apart from being a bit rough, he is very popular but then again there are only 6 of them with a teacher and classroom assistant. He doesn't like lots of noise and I think it can cause him to 'play up'. As he has only been diagnosed it is still hard for us to understand what his triggers and sensory issues are...its all so complex!

Can you make an appointment to see the SENCO at each of the two schools. WWYD type questions in a given scenario can be quite illuminating about school attitude.

No as we live in England and are moving to NI. I've been told they are a bit backward on it all still over there so glad we got diagnosed whilst we are still here. The school have said that they need to see the report which they will then send to the Education Psychologist. Any decisions on provision for him lie with the Education and Library board Psychology section so it doesn't sound straight forward unfortunately.