Where do kids with moderate autism go?

[Takiwatanga]

Hi everyone

I'm in a but of a pickle about what to do with my lad. He's 3 and has a diagnosis of ASD. He's very able in some respects , though delayed compared to NT peers. He is also impacted a lot by his asd - his diagnosis report reflected this.

I am totally unsure where to send him for school. He doesn't start school till 2019 , however it's something I feel I need to start planning now to prepare for the best outcome for my son.

I am SO scared to make the wrong decision . My son has sensory issues , lots of meltdowns (can be very violent ) and can talk but he is delayed. He has good understanding , I'd say his receptive skills are better than his expressive skills , hence the almighty meltdowns .

I am bit opposed to mainstream or a sen setting. I just find it hard to decide as my son is somewhere in the middle of the vast spectrum; it isn't clear whete he will thrive .

Those with kids with moderate ASD , what did you do? Did it work out?

I want to give him a chance of mainstream , but at the same time I feel in my gut he needs a sen setting at this age.

In our area sen schools are reserved for more impacted kids at this age. They really push for mainstream first and then if they fail they go to a sen school. This concerns me, I don't want to set my son up for failure .

I'm sorry for a bleak post, I just don't know what to do...

[elliejjtiny]

I have a nearly 5 year old with moderate learning difficulties and a nearly 4 year old who is being assessed for asd who seems fairly similar to your son.

Nearly 5 year old is loving mainstream school. Way behind all the other children in his class but making some progress (can now write his name and 3 other very short words with some help). He is really enjoying himself though and especially likes lunch!

Nearly 4 year old is currently at sn preschool but going to mainstream school in September. I have my misgivings about it but the sn school wouldn't have him as his needs are not severe enough apparently. I'm going into it with low expectations and we will see how he gets on

[fairgame84]

DS went to ms from F2 up to the end of Y4. He had full 1:1 support throughout the day. He was violent and demand avoidant. His 1st ms school was awful but we moved area just after he started y1 and the 2nd school was much better, very inclusive.
Unfortunately despite 1:1 full-time, outreach from the asd team and a period of 2:1 adult support, DS was not making any progress. The school decided part way through y3 that they couldn't meet DS's needs anymore. Here ensued a complete farce of a battle to move him to a ss. The LA were just stalling at every stage to the point that we had made no progress on the move at all that by the October that he was in y4 and I had to go down the sendist route. 8 months later he was offered a place in an independent special school.

It easier to move from ss to ms but incredibly hard to get from ms to ss. This is true for where I live anyway.