Dual placement at 6th form? More tribunal?! Are you kidding?

[Gillway]

Any tips re 6th form
Placements for Aspergers please?

After two year battle I got EHCP a year ago and got child into independent specialist school. Unfortunately child barely been in due to Covid. Now I learn we have to prepare (financially and psychologically!) for battle for post 16 provision. More expensive professional reports and more tribunal trauma if we want dual placement of 2 days at independent specialist school (therapies, specialist teaching and mentoring, peace) and 3 days at local 6th form college (integration into Community, old friends, opposite sex, varied courses) .

My bright anxious Aspergers child has missed years of education and will need the dual placement because won't cope in a large mainstream college full time (possibly not at all .... who even knows?)

Thoughts please?

Do they need to learn independent living skills? Would they cope with residential provision?

My worry about this is that the msinstream college courses don't necessarily run on just those 3 days, making things more difficult for him.

@Ellie56

Do they need to learn independent living skills? Would they cope with residential provision?

100% need to learn independent living skills but would never agree to residential. Wants to stay in hometown and be with local mates, most neurotypical and managing in mainstream secondary while mine is at independent specialist autism school. My teen has fantasy that they will be "cured" of autism nonsense and they will flourish at mega 6th form college because it will be mite sedate than secondary school.

@PickAChew

My worry about this is that the msinstream college courses don't necessarily run on just those 3 days, making things more difficult for him.

Thanks! Never thought of that. Mind you I think the mainstream college has to work in tandem with the independent specialist teachers to get a package tailored to the CYP. So a missed lecture would be compensated for in other ways.

Hmm our son coped better in mainstream secondary school than he did in mainstream FE.

The support put in place at college was nothing like school. Most of the tutors had no clue about autism, cared even less and just expected him to fit in with everyone else.

DS was so stressed out by it all he ended up nearly having a nervous breakdown. It took a very long time to undo all the damage. At one point he was having therapy three times a week.

He was out of education for a year, then went to Farleigh FE College in Somerset, a specialist college for autistic students, for three years. It was the best thing that ever happened to him. He was so happy there and he achieved far more than we ever thought possible.