How do I find a suitable nursey for my ASD child?

[staryeyed]

As you can see from my other post he has not yet been diagnosed. He is my first child so Im sorry if this sounds thick but Im completely clueless about the whole procedure of nurseries. I have already been to see the local one attached to the school which has some special needs provision but I dont know whether it would be suitable. Does he need a statement before he is given any SN provision at all?

Can someone break down the procedure of applying to nurseries for SN children into a step by step guide.

I haven't been down this route, so others will be better informed, but as I understand it, to be ASSURED of SN provision he would need a statement, otherwise the nursery should be getting input from Special needs advisers (I think from the Council) and looking at systematic plans of what to achieve with your child (IEPs - Individualised Education Plans). In terms of suitability - I would imagine one - ask them what experience they have with children with communication problems/on the spectrum, and two, guage their general attitude towards having children with SN in nursery - do they seem happy/have experience of children with SN in the nursery.

Another thing you might want to consider at this stage of some sort of specialist provision, like an ICAN nursery (specialist language provision), in my area speech therapists decide on whether it's appropriate to refer to them or not.