Not sure about special schools anymore :(

[adrianna22]

I just don't know anymore.

Someone told me that it's hard for a child to transfer from special to mainstream school.

There is a special school I love, but knowing the LA would want to give me the schools around the borough.

I've looked at the ASD units close by,speech units, I've looked at so many special schools.

I just don't know.

A lot of professionals are telling me to think very wise about sending a 4 year old to a special school.

I'm not seeing SS as a short term fix, but I'm hoping that if he progresses, I may think about him being transferred to MS. DEPENDING on his needs as he ages.

My ds goes to a special school. I know of cases where a child has moved to ms. The school has supported the moves. It isn't unusual. But obviously depends on the child's needs.

zzzzz No-one actually told me if SS would be suitable for DS. I was just advised by a friend to get the intensive help early and SS special units provide that more than MS.

The pros (regarding SS) - DS would get the early intensive support- intensive speech therapy input- small class sizes- staff who have a better understanding of DS needs.

cons- Finding the RIGHT special school, would not be around NT children to develop appropriate social skills- would miss his old school friends- be distracted from the other kids who are more behavioural ( DS gets EASILY distracted)- moving from an SS to MS.

PolterGoose- His doing ok, but not great, his four so is still very young.

.....another con SS school would not stretch DS academically.

Hi. I have not been on here for a long while so am not a common poster but thought I could share our experience.
Mainstream may be able to support your child into the future, but it would need to be very clear what the needs are and the school may need to acquire skils and capability it currently does not have.
We found the educational psychologist report gave a very plain indication regarding ms ability to support needs but did not specifically state a ss would be best placed to do this......not in writing anyway.
we were similarly very wary of ss , having the same worries about socialisation and appropriate behaviours to emulate, having a significant peer group to interact with.
Ds, who had asd and adhd, has been at ss since September and the difference to him with small class size, understanding staff(all staff not just the few that are working directly with him) and differentialted work directed at the correct level is astonishing.
he now enjoys school, he is with his peers and not singled out as different, he is engaged in lessons and is learning swiftly as his anxiety levels have dropped so much and he is actually interested in the work.
In main stream ds was isolated,constantly overwhelmed and anxious which led to 'unpredictable' behavior ( for the school with inadequate resources)
its early days, and there are things that are not yet quite right for him, he struggles with unexpected behaviour ( others should always be following rules and be perfectly behaved of course) but he is not suffering the anxiety that was omnipresent that affected every day, every relationship and every experience. No learning happens when highly anxious.
based on the past few short weeks this is right for him at the moment......what he will need in a years time, or when he goes to secondary ( he is n year3)will be assessed and we will investigate where is best to deliver what is needed.
right now ss means ds is able to learn,
Does your childs have a statement? Do you have enough information about needs to determine if ms will be able to deliver, are the ms school willing to deliver?

DS has HFA (Aspergers). He's at a small private school after suffering terribly from abusive teachers at an outstanding local state school.
I'm going to apply for EHCP but have been told that since we live in an area renowned for being v tough to get one/ statements PLUS the fact that he is in a private school, we will not be likely to succeed.
I'm being encouraged to apply for one by professionals (those on NHS who assessed him). I've been given the names of fantastic professionals with whom to get specific assessments of his needs (OT, EP, SLT) but also told to get a solicitor as it'll end up at tribunal.
I've had a hard year for other (health) reasons and find that this is all very overwhelming, mentally and emotionally.
He's in Year 2
His school are fantastic with him and, despite it taking all the money from the sad inheritance of both in laws who passed away, we are thankful that he's there.
I can't seem to find anyone whose child is in private ed. and who's been through this. Do I really need to 'find' thousands for a solicitor? I don't want to spend thousands on assessments and not go that extra step if it's going to make it necessary.

Wait and see if he gets a statement first and then see what is offered. My LA won't let a parent 'choose' to send a child to ss unless ms is completely inappropriate. All the ss here are oversubscribed and places are like gold dust. You wouldn't get a place here without agreement of professionals and even then it can take ages (over a year for ds to moved!)
Getting a statement is the first hurdle you need to concentrate on that first.

The EP told me she was not allowed to say special or mainstream school which frankly seemed a bit ridiculous but there were many things in their statements that would basically have been unfeasible at mainstream.

Having said that we are in a different situation as mine started off in mainstream and at five we really had no idea there were any problems other than needing a bit of SALT. In terms of behaviour the only thing my two learnt in their last two years in mainstream was anti-social behaviour. Once ds1 in particular was in his special school they were able to work much more intensively on his social skills and he came on really quickly. So I think it is a bit of a myth that kids needs to be in mainstream to learn social skills.

We also ironically found that academically they were able to differentiate much better too presumably because of the small class sizes.

We were no doubt very lucky in ds1's school but it just shows there are good ones out there if you look hard enough.

Why don't you think a special school would not stretch your DS academically?

My son is at a special school and it has a mix of abilities - every child is taught according to their ability and has individual targets. As targets are met new ones are set, he is constantly being challenged.

I have seen many children move from special schools to mainstream, it is much harder to get a place in a special school than it is to transfer back to mainstream - a special school will not want to keep a child that would be better off in mainstream and the LA always have a demand for special school places so will make sure a child can be moved back to mainstream asap.

As others have said you really need to see if he gets a statement and take it from there.

"another con SS school would not stretch DS academically."

That really depends on the school. There's a newish SS in our area where they teach all the way up to A-Levels for children who are able to reach that level.