stevesmum Report post Posted March 7, 2005 hi everybody,desperately need help.my 10 year old son has asperger's and recently passed his 11+.we put one grammar school on the form for admission to secondary school(this is the one we really want him to go to),but instead the local lea have given him a place at a bilateral school which has a reputation for poor educational results,being "rough" and is also the largest school in the county.on no account is he to go to this school,and obviously we've appealed and put his name on waiting lists for other grammars in the area.what we really need is advice on what to do next,has anybody been through the same thing?can anyone recommend organisations who can help us prepare the appeal and give us some "clout".we feel very alone on this,nobody really wants to help us and without some back up from professional people we're worried that the appeal panel won't take us seriously.his consultant doesn't want to know and the local autistic trust is closing down after easter through lack of funding.he is not statemented,but does have an iep.any ideas,by the way we're in the medway area.thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Helen Report post Posted March 7, 2005 The following link will take you to a few helpline services: http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=676 ACE tends to provide information, IPSEA provides information and it sometimes involves itself in certain cases- depending on the severity of the case and the NAS has an Advocacy for Education helpline. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mbrown Report post Posted March 7, 2005 Hi Stevesmum, Have you actually been to the school that you want your son to attend to see what they have to offer him? Also have you been to the other school for the same reason? You are entitled to visit any school you want to learn about it. This is beneficial when placing your request in that you can make a comparison and explain why you are choosing one school over another. My boy is 10 and a half and we have just visited our local high school. The have a special education unit withing the school and it is extremely well funded and staffed. It appears to be the ideal place fo rour AS lad. His primary school teacher who came with us to the school said if He was her child she would choose this school. We do have to enquire at least to the other two possible schools to see what they can offer but I am pretty certain that we shall be choosing the first. I suggest that your LEA may just be putting your lads name to another school with no regard to his educational needs. As far as choosing a school goes I would go for the one that has the best support unit for your boy. Good luck Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kazzen161 Report post Posted March 7, 2005 If he has no statement, then his special needs will not be taken into account in the standard allocation of places. If you appeal, you do need to present a good case why one school is better than the other, giving specific examples eg: one has Unit, one does not, size of classes, expertese in AS, etc. A friend of mine won an appeal on the basis of her Mother providing child care and living close to the school she wanted, so there is hope. The other 15 people did not give good reasons, and they lost. Karen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
