LEA fund Ind MS school

[want2sleep]

Anyone managed to get LEA to pay for this for their dc with asd?

Ds in MS class to big re sensory overload and only other is SN school. He has above av IQ so needs MS and is a copycat!

If so how did you manage it and any tips?

independant mainstream????????????????
my ds goes to a private priory school specifically for asd children. he is in a class with 3 other children and there are 13 in whole school. cost is £66k a year and LEA fund this plus taxi and escort there and back!

There are independent special schools but your LEA would have to agree that their special schools couldn't meet your sons needs for this to happen.

I know two parents who've managed this, via Tribunal. In one case, the parents pay fees but the 1:1 support is LA funded; in the other, the LA pay fees and 1:1.

dont live anywhere near SN ind schools like Priory not even in next LAs I think nearest is 70 miles away bonkez wow well done..which LEA you in? Did you have to go to tribunal?

It is the small class size I am after for ds to be able to learn in but not in environment where they dont do NC which ds should be allowed access too as not struggling in this area...yet but because of sensory overload will become huge learning disadvantage

GMS do you know how the latter family got this by any chance or was it dreaded tribunal? Ds needs 1:1 as well.

Bonkerz I don't feel that bad asking for 9K a year now maybe they will give transport too!? How on earth did you get all this....what a truper you are!!

want2sleep, have you looked at past SENDIST decisions on their website? If you search for 'Non Approved Independent Schools' this mostly leads to mainstream independent schools.

It will give you some idea of the reasoning behind appeals which have been successful/unsuccessful. Often parents have already funded private school fees themselves initially. Part of the reasoning is that it would be distressing for the child to move once they are already settled.

I have the problem of a bright child who can't cope in mainstream, too. We're looking at an independent residential school, it is about 70 miles away. Would the distance be such a problem if it was residential?

Another alternative might be an ASD unit attached to a mainstream school? I know that some bright ASD children have thrived in that environment. There may not be one in your LA but there could be one in a neighbouring LA - have you searched the NAS Autism Services Directory?

thanks Sugarcandy mountain. I didnt know about the tribunal site.

Secondary yes their are a few asd resource bases onto MS but at primary level nothing. Got 6 yrs to go before secondary!

It would kill me(more than ds I guess) and ds if I put ds in residential...we are so close...selfish also ds is all I got....my rock too!

How old is your ds? Have the LA just said yes to residential or was it big fight? What made you choose residential rather than Ind MS or SN IND MS? I always thought if a dc was HF and doing well 'academically' they (LA) would not even consider a package like residential...any tips on if IND MS is suitible or not....sensory overload is main problem for ds. Their are no SN IND MS either within 70 miles.

not a trooper at all, to be honest it nearly ripped our family apart.
Im in leicestershire and we went to tribunal once as they refused to assess for statement. DS was excluded from 2 mainstream schools before he was 7 and was at a pupil referral unit for a year (normal time at PRU is 3months max!) the LEA kept telling me they could find the perfect school for DS, the psych etc were saying ds needed small class sizes and higher staff ratios than children. I visited 4 special schools in my county and 2 in another county, all 4 said DSs aggression would mean he was too much of a health and safety risk for them. I also emailed 152 schools with details of DS and his issues and 53 schools emailed back saying they would not take DS for health and safety issues. I then emailed this to the LEA stating that unless they knew of somewhere else then i wanted ds to go to priory! (i thought that if i aimed for the stars i may get something half way! at no point dod i ever think they would allow it!) and 2 weeks before tribunal the LEA backed down and offered the place at the priory.
like i said, this fight almost ripped my family apart but DS has been at priory for 2 years in october and is making brill progress!

Wow, Bonkerz, can't believe it's been 2 years! (tis Give me sleep here) I remember the email tactic...so glad it worked out!

yes ofcourse i recognised you! LOL
yep 2 years in october he started at priory! best thing thats happened for him! he loves school (still kicks off but he does love it! LOL) longer days too so he is out 8-4 which is better for us
Hows J doing? i suspect from name change things are a little better?

sorry bonkerz...so glad it all worked out though and your ds is doing well
I have been to tribunal once already so understand the stress.

I have been through ds school file and 3/4 of his time in school he has had a 'bad' day re sensory overload and anxiety resulting in behaviours.

Is this enough to warrant a smaller class size? He is above peers in academia so dont want ds to go to local SN school or resource that will cause regression as they are just babysitting services in my LA. I have been told by ds therapist that if smaller class size is possible ds can start full time in school instead of a future of many years of slow intergration into this large MS class.

Annual review is next week and I know they will say no so not even worth asking.

in my experience, small class sizes are not something you can get in mainstream. my main problem with our local SN school was that it was as you say a babysitting service for children, it had no services for intelligent autistic children whose main issues were behavioural. I actually got the MS school to write in theor report that DS had not accessed the curriculum for months due to his behaviour and the pshch wrote ds specifically needed higher ratio of staff to children. this forced the LEA to meet my sons needs.

it would totally destroy me to send ds away so this is my only route. Ds is more aggressive and a danger to himself than others as will headbutt, stick hand down mouth, run off, eat anything non food and choke. Needs 1:1 24/7

Ds cant access cirric either because sensory problems prevents this. But is fine at home where main education takes place...cant integrate ds into MS. It will take 10 yrs+ before fulltime...by then time to leave school!
Dont know wat to do?
It's tomorrow

it is such a difficult choice. I was lucky that our priory school is only about 30 mins away but does mean ds spends an hour a day travelling. Another option we had was a residential school but like you i did not want this at all for DS. In my experience you need to be pro active to get things done, dont rely on your LEA to find the best for your son, they wont!
Get out there and visit schools, lots of schools. The LEA have to prove they are meeting the needs of your child and you have to show them that the school you want will do this too.

DS is 11, so much younger than yours want2sleep. I wouldn't have been happy with DS going into residential at that age, either (and even at 11 I'm not too comfortable, I would have preferred it if he was a couple of years older, but it's the best option we have at the moment).

LA haven't actually agreed to residential - we're going to tribunal in a few months. Our situation is not too different from bonkerz, actually - lots of exclusions, DS is in a PRU at the moment and a long list of schools refused to offer him a place. bonkerz your story is inspiring and does give me hope that things can work out!

Is the smaller class size of a normal independent school going to be enough for your DS? I ask because in a special school, the class sizes often have up to 6 pupils. At an independent school 'small class sizes' often mean about 15 - much smaller than normal state school but still too many for DS.

Is home ed an option? Or moving to somewhere with more choice of schools?

Sugarcandy the school I have seen has 7 children at present..I am aware they can go up to 20 but small now. Ds is 5yrs old

They have another child with asd who is integrating well with ABA (full time already)

Ds been Home Edding for 3 yrs and still only in school 8 hrs a week. I am finding it very stressful after so long and not seeing integration happening really.

I cant afford to move as would have to lose mortgage...just keeping roof over our heads as cant work as need to be home as tutors often absent/leave their is only me for ds. Dont know what I'll do if cant get this school at my wits end

That sounds like a tough situation, want2sleep. I agree with bonkerz in that you need to be proactive - I visited over 20 schools and wrote/phoned them to explain DS's needs and asked how they would be able to meet them.

You need to be able to show that the school you want is the only one which can meet your DS's needs.

For the review, I would ask for more information about the options the LA think your DS can go to. Then it is up to you to find evidence that those options would be unsuitable.

Have you been in touch with SOS SEN or IPSEA?

been to smaller ms schools and ind ms schools ds even passed 3hr entrance tests for one very highly academic ind school. But found this one very small and numbers low....searched every school on NAS directory all over UK. two schools I liked one called Frewen school SN ind but other side of country...I'm tied into benifits system where I would have to pay both rent and mortgage at same time if moved and cant do that when cant work at present and houses not selling. So stuck!
Thanks for advice...but to scared to mention anything they might take ABA off ds as still needs it.