Would you move your child from mainstream to specialist if they were "fine" in mainstream?
My son, yr 3, has ASD with a typical Asperger's profile.
He's extremely bright, a real rule follower, he joins in and seems to rub along fine with other children.
However, he is very socially awkward, struggles to hold a decent conversation, does silly walks/noises and I'm noticing the gap between him and his peers growing. He says school is boring and he's not keen to go but never kicks up much of a fuss although for a while he seemed depressed about going. He's very compliant so I worry I wouldn't know how he feels anyway.
One of my worries is if he stays at mainstream I think he'd be aiming for a super selective grammar. Does that option go out the window if we choose specialist primary? Would the leap just be too big? (I know that option may not suit him anyway socially but I don't want to totally rule it out at this stage).
He has a lot of learn socially. We spend at least an hour every day after school in the playground which gives him the opportunity to play with friends. Is that enough to close the gap that I see growing between him and his peers or is the only way to narrow it to go to a special school?!
Am I doing him a disservice to leave him in mainstream because he isn't having major problems or would I be doing him a disservice moving him to a special school when he could stay in mainstream?!!
If we went to a special school I'd want him to learn social skills, be challenged more academically, learn life skills to protect his mental health, feel like he fits in. Is that what he'd get?!
I pretty sure he wouldn't get an EHCP so we would be self funding which isn't a problem but if he wouldn't get an EHCP it makes me wonder if he doesn't really belong there. He's been offered a trial as they think they may be able to meet his needs from reading his diagnosis report.
Any thoughts please?