SLD children in MS schools? Are there any?

[donkeyderby]

This sort of follows on from another thread...

Does anyone have a child, or know of any child with SLD who is being educated in mainstream school?

The reason I ask is that I have had a bit of a long-running argument going with some very pro-inclusion parents who have made me feel a failure for not getting MS provision for DS1. He is on the more severe end of SLD and has some challenging behaviour as well as being doubly incontinent. Their kids have got milder LD or physical disabilities and no LD and no challenging behaviour.

I have gone as far as looking up Newham schools - the one completely 'inclusive borough' that I know of, yet they still have SLD schools.

I feel that if I had a working example - even just one - of inclusion being in existence for a child like DS1, I would be more inclined to not want to punch argue with these smug fuckers passionate inclusionists

DS1 was. We were told he 'had' to go to a mainstream school btw. It was an out and out disaster. 4 wasted terms. His annual review described some sort of animal. He was held down (yes) and forced to thread beads.

I cried when I received the ms report and again 2 terms later when I received his first (warm and caring) review from his SLD school. For slightly different reasons. Actually I sobbed when I received the ms one.

my friends son has SLD, is non verbal has DS & ASD.
Has Very, very limited understanding, no sense of danger, will run off.
He has full 1 to 1 for every moment he is at school.
It only works because, it is a small village primary, with small class sizes, very knowledgable ta's & a school that works closely with his parents.
But his parents know this sort of inclusion will not be possible after primary school & are looking at schools ready for his move in to sn school.
His parents are of the opinion that post primary they will be looing for a very differnt curriculum & different type of learning than can be found in ms secondary schools.
It may take years fo him to learn to take himself to the toilet, but (amongst other things) he will have the opportunity to work on this skill at sn school, but he would not have those opportunities at ms. They feel very much at ms secondary they will be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Our experience is very similar to Anon's friend. DS2(7) has SLD and ASD. He is verbal, but only minimally. However, he is also placid, sociable, copes fairly well with change and although he does have some sensory difficulties, they're not all-consuming. He's also (just) toilet trained.

Mainstream works for him because the school is fantastic, experienced in SEN, works very very closely with us and gives him a completely personalised curriculum and full time 1:1. We've had our differences with them, but they listen and are prepared to enter into debate, which I like. From this year there's been a specialist unit on site which he accesses for most of his 'academic' work. The second reason it works is because of Ds2's personality and particular SN 'profile'- he has really benefited from daily contact with typically developing children.

If he, or the school, had been even slightly different we would have probably have stuck with special school (he went there in reception) He will definitely go to special school at secondary level, for the same reasons as Anon's friend's son.

Funnily enough, I have had some polite disagreement with parents whose children go to special school who obviously feel that I have short-changed DS2 by sending him to m/s. I sometimes feel they think we're in denial about the severity of his needs and that this 'Pollyanna' approach has influenced our decision.

I think it was mentioned on another thread - the biggest hurdle for me isn't the LD's or the autism it's behaviour. Mainstream school was not appropriate for ds1 because he's a runner. Open door- whoosh. An open plan primary with no locked doors? No good - he turns feral. Lock some doors so he knows he can't escape and you might get some concentration.

My daughter has SLD and went to a resource school at primary level. This meant she spent 50% of her time in mainstream, this was set in stone.

Her inclusion was just locational, she had a totally different curriculum and would sometimes be doing a different subject to the rest of the class. It was a low achieving school with poor teachers so the classroom was mayhem at times and very difficult for any child to do any work. I have no idea why any parents would want this for their child.

All mainstream schools should be able to cater for sld children since this is covered in Disability Discrimination Act. However not all schools are Dyslexia friendly so your child may not get the support and teaching that goes with child's learning

My dd2 is part-time ms, with 1:1 help. She is SLD, doubly incontinent, in a wheelchair, no speech, yet very sociable. I reckon she gets her sn teaching at sn school 3 days, and her social education at thems school. It is a very small (60 kids total) village primary.

Next week we have the review meeting to decide how long this will continue for

thems?

the ms!

dysgran - MS schools do not generally cater for SLD schools as far as I can see, and they can opt out if the child disrupts the education of other children. It is the behaviour that is the sticking point.

dysgran in this context SLD = Severe learning disibility as apposed to specific learning disability such as dyslexia.
Not sure if there was a bit of coinfusion.

melted - sounds like a great set up and I hope it continues if that's what suits her and you. Do you think she would be allowed a place at the same MS school if she was mobile and challenging? I know other SLD kids who are not mobile or challenging also in MS school with 1:1.

DS is very sociable - to a point - and gets on well at his inclusive afterschool club in that the ms kids think he's funny and he remembers their names. However, I can't imagine him in a classroom with 30 children. I think he would be educated in the corridor which would defeat the object of inclusion.