Moving to London with autistic son

[Itguy]

Hello! I would be grateful for any advice in my situation :)

I have a good offer with relocation to London (currently living in Eastern Europe).
And I have a 7yo autistic son. So I'm trying to understand as much as possible regarding autism support in the UK and, more precisely, right now I'm trying to research two things:

1. Selecting a place/borough/district to rent something. As I understand, almost all rentals in London are strictly long-term, so I should pick a place really carefully. I should take into account schools nearbly, LAs approach to autistic children, etc.
   I have read this thread: www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_needs/1974916-Autism-friendly-Borough-in-London-or-near-London but it's pretty outdated.
   For now, I'm just looking at the London special schools map and trying to read something about districts where there are 2-3 such schools. But I feel that this is not a good approach :)
   Any advice would be highly appreciated!

2. ABA services availability.
   We are attending ABA therapy from my son's 1.5, taking ~15-20 hours a week, mostly in the aba-centre.

   
   
   • do I understand correctly that in London/UK aba therapy sessions are mostly established at kid's home?
   
   
   • How much does aba therapy usually cost? I've found very different information, from 20-30 to 80-100 gbp per hour. (I'm not talking about LA support for aba therapy, I'm ready to pay - but it depends on how much will be the fees)
   
   

ABA isn't the go-to therapy for children in the UK.

IPSEA and SOSSEN are charities whose websites have lots of helpful information on about the SEN system in England. They also have helplines.

You can search for schools here. The majority of special schools, even many independent special schools, require an EHCP. You don’t say anything about DS’s needs, but not all DC with ASD attend special schools, many attend mainstream schools.

Looking at secondary schools for academically able pupils it seems like Surrey/SW London border has a lot of good options. There is Freemantles and lots of other options. Seems to be a lot more than in other parts of the SE but I don't know what they are all like - and they are all bound to be oversubscribed

Hi OP, I can only tell you about my experience but I think many parents also struggle with this
my daughter Is autistic and non verbal even despite these needs my local authority will not provide full time 121 support and I am prepared to take them to tribunal for this (someone involved in panel told me this). She would also not be automatically eligible for a special school or an autism resourced unit.
there are lots of Facebook groups you can join to try and get a feel for things and find out how other parents are doing.
good luck

Hi! In London there are a couple of ABA schools, snowflake, beyond autism. If your pupils gets EHCP and one of those schools have a place and your child is likely to be accepted to the school
you can name the school. Some of the schools also accept students via private funds. Alternatively , private aba can be accessed via paying consultant to establish the program and find tutors. Tutors and consultant can also support if child attends a mainstream or sen school.
I hope this helps,