Preferred COIN unit for DD is all boys - problem?

[Veebs21]

My daughter is 4 and due to go to school in September 2023. She has an autism diagnosis & we are week 9 into the EHCP process.

A private assessment we’ve had has recommended a school with a COIN unit would meet her needs best. I’m fully expecting LA will recommend mainstream with support, but that’s another story!

We’ve looked at all the COIN units in our area & we really only like one of them. Aside from the fight we’ll have to get in there, my only concern about it is that currently, the 9 kids in the KS1 class (R, Y1, Y2) are all boys.

Obviously we won’t know if there would be any other girls given spaces in 2023 but parents of autistic DDs - would this concern you? If your DD is in a specialist setting/unit, is she around other girls? I’ve just read how important it is for autistic girls in particular to be around other autistic girls. She would access mainstream 50% of the time in this setting but I’m not sure if that is enough or not, and how likely it would be for her to form friendships in that time.

Any insight or experiences really appreciated x

Ds is at a specialist autism school and last year there was only one girl in his class of 10, this year there are none. Girls are more likely to be diagnosed later so I expect this is common in KS1 provisions. In the older classes at his school there are more girls.

Yes that’s true about KS1 and girls being diagnosed later. Not sure whether it’s something to worry about or not, just purely from a making connections perspective. All the kids she tells us about at (mainstream) nursery are girls.