Which primary for DD with GDD?

[litdog]

Our DD has severe global delay - she can't talk at all, and has huge difficulty processing and paying attention. She is sharp underneath it all - she goes to a mainstream nursery and they tell us she is one of the brightest children there, but you wouldn't know it! (disloyal mummy, but just being honest). She is friendly and sweet and hyperactive - won't let us sit down for a minute.

At the root of her problem is a rare chromosome disorder.

We have been granted a statement and they have termed her as having Severe Learning Difficulties, and said they will provide an LSA for 25 hours a week, which sounds quite good to me.

What I can't decide is whether to send her to a mainstream primary (at least for a few years) or straight to a special school. Our local special school is practically all austistic children (7/8 of the class) and they work with walls around their desks. This worries me as DD is very sociable - she seeks and needs cuddles etc from her peers far more than any 'normal' child, eg her little brother. So I worry that if she is in a classroom where everyone else has walls around their desks, isn't big on eye contact etc, she might feel rather lonely and unhappy.

We have found a nice mainstream primary where they say they are happy to help and they have some experience of children with SEN, though no experience of children who are totally non-verbal, like our daughter.

There is one other special school in our borough but it is absolutely miles away, and I can't imagine how she would get there - it literally would take at least an hour, probably more, in the mornings and same again in the afternoons. That's two, two-hour round trips a day - four hours in the car for me. As we have two children and one more on the way before she starts primary in September, I just can't see that we could manage this, practically speaking.

We need to respond to our draft statement in the next 15 days and I am starting to question whether we are wasting everyone's time going for the mainstream school. But I don't think the special school is right for her. I will tomorrow ring the other school miles away and ask to have a look around, but I just wondered - has anyone else any advice?

Finally, in case it's relevant, we live in the London boro of Hammersmith & Fulham - any recommendations welcome!

Thank you

My advice would be go with your gut feeling about where your dd will be happiest.

Off the top of my head, 25 hours a week lsa, will this include break and luchtimes? will she be vunerable during these times and need supervision to keep her safe.

If the other ss is right for her and the local authority agrees and names it on statement the they should provide transport to tske and bring her home from school.

Does the local special school not have any other classes othen than with children who have autism? I know in ds's school they have an asd class for every key stage and other classes for children with other needs (sld, complex needs school)

I know when we did the looking for school for ds we just knew that the school he is in now would be the best place for him, and it is.

Has your dd visited the schools, would she be able to indicate to you were she may like to go, I know she is non verbal but does she sign use pecs etc.

She sounds a bright little girl, hope all works out well for you whatever you decide

Go look at the other school I had same dilema with ds

What you need to find out is what lsa they plan to use ds old school used one they had in school already rather than employ someone
it failed only training she had was 4hrs of makton no pecs etc ds had already outstripped her before he even started

the 25hrs does that include preparation time ,look see if visual timetables used how inusive are they or talking location only ds said they. Would but after 1term was obvious that. In reality they could notcope

Ss where we used to live was not right though did have fantastic work with dc with asd

We moved a and now looking at a school for ds that is approx 1 hr journey but the school is right so be worth it

Just in regards to the distance of the other school. If you get that named on your DD' statement then you will get transport to and from school provided. My DS's school is a similar distance away and he goes in a bus - he loves it! He started on there the day he started school in reception and it leaves me the flexibility to go with him or collect him sometimes but not have to spend hours in the car.
I would suggest going to see all and seeing if your gut instinct tells you anything!

Thanks so much all. Really interesting and useful points - I will have to do some speedy research. Interesting re: taking DD round the schools as well - hadn't thought of that!

Much much appreciated.

PS on another note, someone said it is not enough to have on your statement that the child will (for example) have speech therapy - apparently it must say exactly how much speech therapy and what level of qualification the therapist will have - or they will fob you off with an assistant.

Anyone know if this is the case?

Thanks,

Harriet

hello Litdog.

Your DD sounds alot like my DS-he is 8 yrs old now and goes to SEN School. I know other families who felt that a mainstream setting for their dc's with the same condition (Angelman Syndrome) was the right way to go and they tried it for a few years but then felt the need to switch to SEN as their children got older. The main problem seems to be that the amount of hours/specific LSA's are subject to change (illness, reviews etc) therefore the level of support your DD will recieve could change quite dramatically. Also, as our children get older, esp those with SEN/gdd and non verbal etc, the differences become more apparrent and the level of achievment falls way behind their peers. At the end of the day, my DS is not going to learn his alphabet, how to read and write and do algebra etc, but it is important that he feels happy in his surroundings, enjoys going to school and learns at a level thats appropriate to him-also he needs to learn how to dress/feed himself/basic signs and symbols for communication etc, and SEN schools are the best place by far for this. It obviously depends on the level of LD. My DS used to travel by bus for about 1 hr each way, now we have moved he shares a taxi with 2 other pupils and is at the same school till hes 19. Its not the ideal SEN school for him as most of the pupils needs are not as severe/or autistic or they have complex medical needs, (3 wheelchair users-severe CP) but its all we have on Anglesey, and hes happy there. hope you get something sorted. sorry its so long

As others have said 'you need to go with you gut feeling'.

We planned on sending dd2 to MS school until a few weeks ago when i changed my mind, we are now trying to get her a place at the local SN school.

Dd2 has ASD and the SN school does have a lot of autistic children, not all autistic children are un-sociable (both of my dd's are sociable) so they don't all sit on their own and not talk to each other.

Thanks both, and Marne thanks for the info re: ASD children, I do hope I didn't offend as I certainly didn't mean to. I think I was just a little shocked to see a roomful of children all hidden behind their walls - and rather upset to think of how DD might react to that environment.

God, every time you think you've done everything you can, another thought strikes you and there's suddenly loads more you ought to do...

Like the idea of going with gut instinct too.

Thanks for all advice... This forum is great. So nice to find others going through the same things when it seems like everyone else is blessed with perfect children and no problems...

x

litdog, hi My DD starts School in September. She has a brain malformation which they think is caused by an unidentified genetic condition, and she has MLD. She is verbal, but delayed/disordered both receptively and expressively, as well as issues with all other areas of development.

We decided against maintstream, as to have full 1:1 (which DD would need) she would need a 32.5 hour statement, and she would need lots of modifications to the learning environment.

For us, the SS was the best choice. WRT the cubicles - DD is "She is friendly and sweet and hyperactive - won't let us sit down for a minute", and in order to learn, the cubicles will be ideal They don't use them all the time, just for learning time where they need to be free of distractions. I know that to get DD's attention you have to block out everything else. Hopefully, with the screens, she will be able to concentrate on what she does.

The other deciding factor for us is that with the MS school, DD1 would need to have 1:1 the whole time - just wouldn't be safe without. With the SS because of the setup, it gives her a shot at independence, which of course would be our dream for her.

don't worry litdog, i'm not offended, i have visited a few schools (1 just for ASD children) and i have seen a mixture of sociable and un-sociable children, i think the schools tend to put children with others that are similar (not always in year groups) so not all classes are the same, they tend to keep the sociable ones together to help them maintain their social skills (from what i have seen, not sure if this is the case for all schools).

I was worried about sending dd2 to SN school as she has been doing so well in MS nursery and her communication has improved so much in MS but i felt she would do better in SN rather then making do in MS.

Thank you all - fascinating opinions and I hadn't even thought the cubicles might help DD but totally get the logic of that.

Loads to think about, and Marne we are just the same in terms of DD has thrived at her MS nursery.

But I see the point about getting a chance to be independent at a SS...

Thanks again...

Make sure that you specify that it's contact time with salt as ds salt phoned me about something then when I pulled. Up at meeting with lea about lack of salt as in statement this actually counted