Perfect Mainstream Primary school for children with ASD

[glinda]

Well, what does it look like? I am asking for practical professional reasons. If I get this right so many children with ASD could benefit so I am asking as many parents of children with ASD as I possibly can. All ideas and opinions gratefully received!

one where all the staff #listen# to parents and, when you say my ds will not swim in a pool with leaves in it/needs a pink worksheet/can't sit near a fan, the school says "oh, we will try our best to accommonate this" rather than saying "don't be so stupid she will have to learn to fit in someday so might as well start now". Also one where the staff have all heard of ASD adn know that we are talking about a syndrome not a specific condition so the fact that child1 with as ASD does x,y and z does not mean that child2 who does a,b and c does not also have it.

Emotional literacy leads to self-awareness. How can a child use a "Get me out of here" card if they are unaware or unable to monitor their own feelings or stimming behaviour?

Isn't this supposed to be part of the general curriculum now anyway?

Then life skills. Can their classmates use cutlery, wash & dress, fasten their own trousers, make juic? OR just cooking with assistance or making sandwiches?

Don't expect them to participate in team games such as rounders, sensory issues, sequencing problems and a lack of theory of mind make this the last great barrier for asd children.

Specialist Support

*Speech and language therapist
*Social and Behavioral Therapist
*Occupational Therapist
*Clinical Psychiatrist and Psychologist
*Holistic Therapist
*Medical Officer

Continuous training for all staff. Large Music room. Large soft play area.

Eventually I would go on until I've created a utopia for children with ASD, but what we really need is for teachers in mainstream schools to be more clued up in ASD so they can better advise and/or help parents and children.

likeacuppa - I love the sound of the nurture group - especially the private playtime, sounds lovely.

Late to this thread, but our local school seems to fit the bill.

Smallish village school - 130kids from nursery to Y6. Everyone knows everyone else.
In a somewhat impoverished area, so used to kids from all sorts of backgrounds and geared up to language difficulties.
Strong community feel and very caring ethos.
Staff keen to learn. Very keen to learn.
School that wants to do the best for my kids to the extent that they initiated statementing for DS1 and fought for him when funding seemed inadequate.
Despite funding limited by size of school, have put up extra cash to pay for 5 days of support for DS2, who was awarded 4 days of 1:1.
School fought with local resource centre to have their choice of 1:1 for DS2 while he is in nursery, since the one assigned by resource had already been a bad fit for DS1 and the school and the assistant he'd had through his stint on the 2 year old pilot had been like a second mum to him, This lovely lady is now going to be his aide as long as they have funding and she wants the job!
Wonderful assistant for DS1, too, who has learnt so much about how to help him and clearly loves him, even at his most difficult.
Communication! Essential!