NAS Schools

[Corrimony]

Sorry, I have posted on here quite a bit recently. Because things aren't going very well in MS recently I am going to look round the NAS school in Reading (probably for the transition from infants to junior stage when he'd have to move anyway). From the website I really like the sound of it. Just wondered if anyone had any experience of SS for higher-functioning autistic people?

Something that worries me about SS is that DS has not handled being around other autistic children very well in the past. He seemed to find other children acting in similar ways to him quite stressful! But perhaps in the right environment this wouldn't be the case...

DS1 has had some teething troubles, adjusting to the other kids in his specialist school, but he's also been interested in their stims and mannerisms and has begun to learn something about himself from them.

The school he's at has tiny classes, though and is generally a very calm environment, which has helped him to make that adjustment.

Do your homework on the school other than from its website, btw. There's been a bit of turmoil at some NAS schools, in recent years and a fair bit of staff turnover, due to their employment terms. Look at OFSTED, do a bit of forensic googling and, if you visit, ask some very specific and pointed questions about what they would do in certain situations that are likely to arise with your DS. For example mine can be a bit of a chair thrower in meltdown. I would want to know how they would ensure he didn't get to that point (asking about how they would handle particular triggering situations) and what they would do if the red mist did descend.

There is a nas school near me and it's grim. Go in with your eyes wide open and don't get wrapped up in being the best just because it's a nas school. I looked round for ds he has asd, is slightly behind academically but no learning difficulties but has very challenging behaviour. Most of the kids at the nas school were limited or non verbal and had learning difficulties so there was no peer group for ds. I agree to ask pointed questions. I asked how they would deal with DS's behaviour and they couldn't really answer. They have also had a new ht since I looked round last year.
Ds goes to an independent special school. There are 5 in his class who are all working at a similar level to him. Some of them also have challenging behaviour like ds and he loves it there. There are fall outs with the other boys at least once per week and he sometimes gets upset about the others breaking the rules or making too much noise but he has to get used to it and learn to cope with it without having a massive meltdown.

DS1's in a similar sized class, fairgame. It's so much more manageable for him than a larger class and I agree, it is important that he learns to cope with some unpredictability from other kids.

And they all head straight for the lego on options afternoon, unless there's something even better on offer, sothere's a bit of companionship in their common interest, even though DS1 really struggles to initiate social contact.

I'm not saying that they aren't clever zzz and I haven't said that at all. But it's not good putting a child who likes to talk in a school with children who have limited speech or are nonverbal. How the hell do expect my child to develop in that sort of environment?

It is horses for courses.
corrie your gut reaction is a pretty good guide. fair's reaction to her nearby NAS school was really that it would be grim for her dc, because it was catering for a different group of ASD kids, whose parents probably love it and were over the moon to get it.

No school is perfect, but just because it is ASD doesn't mean that it will cater for your dc's needs as it is a wide spectrum.

If you can, I would look at plenty of schools - even ones that are not practical for you because they are too far away, or are indie and too full. You learn a lot on visits.

Good Luck

I'm afraid you seem to be seeing offence where there is none meant, zzzzz. It would be absolutely inappropriate for DS1 to be taught in a class of kids like DS2. Their needs are completely different. Even if it did turn out that DS2 had a cure for cancer lurking in his brain, somewhere, he still needs a completely different learning environment and very different teaching methods.

And, it's come up in another thread, but no matter how harsh it seems, DS1 has no tolerance for children he can neither relate to nor look up to. The kids in the class he's in are diverse, but otherwise approximately on a level with him and the call upon his limited social skills and unlimited social anxiety is manageable. In 8 months, he's moved on from showing little interest in the other children, through acting out some issues with some of them, to being more relaxed in their company. Maybe, in another 8 months, friendship may begin to blossom.

Oh no I meant it was grim in that it was badly decorated inside and really dull. Not clean and fresh and inviting like any of the other special schools I looked round. Sorry I'm replying on my phone and trying to shorten messages which seems to be confusing. There are some lovely asd schools out there. My favourite was Alderwasley hall in Derbyshire but they wouldn't take ds due to his behaviour.
There are nonverbal children in DS's current school but they are in a different class. The groups are split accordingly at most schools so that kids have a similar peer group but not at the nas school.

No I wouldn't put him in a class full of visually impaired children because he would be the odd one out. It's the same as he would be the odd one out in a class of nonverbal children which is why his school have not put him in that class. How would you feel if you tried to talk to your peers and they didn't reply or engage? It would affect his behaviour and his self esteem. He loves going to school and talking all day about minecraft with the other boys in his class. He would be very lonely if he was the only talker.
My son is very limited in what he can do due to his significant delay in social skills and his challenging behaviour. There are many parents that would not want a child like ds in the same class as their child. I don't get offended about it I accept that as presents in lots of different ways.

*asd presents

The school DS1 is in isn't "selective". It's his only chance of not having his educational prospects limited by his sensory issues, mental health and resulting behavioural issues. I'd love it if he could cope with mainstream, but 7 years of that was more than enough for us to be sure that it wasn't doing him any good.

And under that definition, is "selective" education such a bad thing, or should I be striving even harder to force DS1 into a school environment that was making him ill?

You are right to regard it as a potential problem and you need to ask how the school manage . My two are very sensitive to light touch so having a touchy-feely sensory seeker in the same class can be very difficult for them.

ds1 has had problems this year with a child in his class poking him (probably not very hard) which caused his anxiety to really build up again. He also gets scared when other kids have meltdowns even though (or perhaps because) he has had some epic ones himself. But the school have worked with us to eliminate the problems - change of form group, alternative lessons, reassurance that children having meltdowns are closely supervised etc.

In truth I think ds1 managed better in his EBD primary where although clearly all the pupils had their own problems many of them had better social skills than him. In his current school where they are all have HFA or AS he has struggled more to make relationships with his classmates although the staff work very hard to give him the opportunities. The other problem is that because all the children travel a long way there is also no real opportunity to build up friendships out of school.

My ds attendsa NAS school. It has developed and changed its character over the years. Ds is non verbal and very severely affected by his autism, but there are many other children in the school who are verbal, even in the same class. I think these schools tend to have very individualized curriculums anyway. My ds has a very different timetable to his peers in the class and though they may do some stuff together they are all working at very different levels. The high ratio of staff to children and the expertise allows them to do this. I have been v impressed with the school, but you can only go with your own feeling about the ones you go to see. I saw another specialist independent school that felt completely wrong. It was very stark and felt more like an institution than a school. I think just like mainstreams vary, special schools also vary massively. I also agree that non verbal doesn't always mean limited. My ds is very limited and has associated learning difficulties, my dd whose language is also quite minimal is a real smart cookie!

corri to get back to you - I have a relative with high functioning ASD who went to a special school which taught him lots of social skills and other mainstream communication so that he can now operate totally undetacted in the mainstream world.

He was the most able there, but knows that it game him a chance at life that he would not have had without it - his is married, employed, and happy. He says that without the support his outlook would have been very bleak.

fair sorry to mis-guess you - I get it.

Totally get people with limited verbal ability can be intelligent and talented. Thanks for the pointers on what to look out for next week, questions to ask and things to consider etc. Lots of stuff to think about! Cansu, it's good to hear your ds's NAS school sounds good and they are able to provide an individualised curriculum. Senvet, it's lovely to hear of your relative.