Special school or mainstream?

[hsmum]

Hello,

 

 

There is a very good school close to where I work which specialises in teaching pupils with ASDs. We are thinking of moving closer to my workplace when H's Statutory Assessment is complete. Therefore, we are tentatively considering the possibility of H attending the special school. I would welcome any comments about the advantages or disadvantages of special schools over mainstream and vice versa. Just so that we are a little more informed.

 

Thanks

[doodle]

Hello,

 

 

There is a very good school close to where I work which specialises in teaching pupils with ASDs. We are thinking of moving closer to my workplace when H's Statutory Assessment is complete. Therefore, we are tentatively considering the possibility of H attending the special school. I would welcome any comments about the advantages or disadvantages of special schools over mainstream and vice versa. Just so that we are a little more informed.

 

Thanks

 

Hi. Do visit the ASD school and speak to his prospective teacher. You need to know the teaching method. If she uses TEACCH and PECS that is a good sign. Make sure the teacher is calm and has a sense of humour. Ask if the children progress academically and socially and how this is assessed.

ASD school do have the advantages of being able to prioritise teaching. They might have more time for life skills than a mainsreaam school and acsessability to speech therapy should be better. The staff should all wish to work with ASD children too.

On the downside inclusion with mainstream kids wont happen. It depends on the severity of your child and what you regard as most important. You do not say his age. If he is of primary school age you might consider ASD schooling for a couple of years and then move to mainstream.

Hope that helps.

[madme]

I think that Doodle has put it very well. Good luck

[JsMum]

Hi. Do visit the ASD school and speak to his prospective teacher. You need to know the teaching method. If she uses TEACCH and PECS that is a good sign. Make sure the teacher is calm and has a sense of humour. Ask if the children progress academically and socially and how this is assessed.

ASD school do have the advantages of being able to prioritise teaching. They might have more time for life skills than a mainsreaam school and acsessability to speech therapy should be better. The staff should all wish to work with ASD children too.

On the downside inclusion with mainstream kids wont happen. It depends on the severity of your child and what you regard as most important. You do not say his age. If he is of primary school age you might consider ASD schooling for a couple of years and then move to mainstream.

Hope that helps.

 

 

Hi J is in a mainstream school, and this was his report, when J is interested in a topic he be quite animated but if he is not interested he is very reluctant to become involved or produce any work, and he will not work independantly, he tends to prefer to work by himself, finding group situations quite difficult.

 

so you see J doesnt even interact that much with the children in the school, I feel this would be different in a specail school, but a specail school that caters for his difficulties, so a specialist ASD school with children with average cognitive/IQ but have spersific difficulties in language, communication and socail interaction J has a mix of impairments and high abilities.

 

The school Ive identified for J is spersific to his needs, Ive found a school that meets his specail needs, he wont have to mould or adapt or fit in.

 

It totally depends on your child, his needs and what are his main difficulties, for J its his social interaction, ADHD and Dyslexia.

 

You will need to visit the school to ensure this is what is going to be needed, I saw several specail schools and only one was what I could see J been in and settling.

 

Its a personal choice too, what expectations you have from the teachers and what you thi8nk will be gained in a year or two. progress, or a step back.

 

Good luck its an emotional journey finding the right special school from our experience it has been very stressful for J to attend Mainstream and to apoint where now he has been withdrawn.

 

JsMum

Edited July 16, 2008 by JsMum

[hsmum]

Hello,

 

Thank you for the response. I have just sent an e-mail asking if it is possible to have a look round the school. I know that the school caters for a range of abilities and uses the SPELL strategy. My concerns are: (1) I do not want H to experience what his cousin went through at school. She was withdrawn and home educated from the age of 13. (2) H is 9 and he finds most of the social situations at school unmanageable (he hides under a bench at playtime). He also self harms mildly. The school specialises in Autistic Spectrum Disorders and may be able to help H cope a little better. H is also 3 years behind his peers in most academic subjects. On the other hand, H will be separated from his brother if he goes to a specials school. He will (as Doodle states) not have as much opportunity to mix with mainstream pupils.

 

Anyway, hopefully I will have a look around and see if the school could possibly be the best palce for H.

[cmuir]

Hi

 

It's obviously a very personal decision and one that's individual to every child concerned.

 

Where my son was concerned, he's regarded as being 'mild' on the spectrum (hate that word - there's nothing mild about his meltdowns!). However, by that definition, he's verbal. Biggest worry was his behaviour, compliance, unpredictability, etc. I must admit to being for going down the special school route, but was advised to give my son the chance to try mainstream - his behaviour was so bad I didn't think he would manage mainstream (he was branded 'unteachable'). Two years on, he's doing fine and has exceeded my expectations. I guess one factor was that because he's regarded as being 'mild' on the spectrum, he wants to be sociable (he does have friends who are accepting of him), he wants to try and fit in, etc I think for us mainstream has been the best thing. I believe that R has been able to learn from other children (NTs) how to respond in social situations, behave in class, work, comply, etc whereas if he were in a special school with others kids that perhaps had more obvious/pronounced difficulties, I'm not sure he would have learnt as much from his peers.

 

I think a the decision boils down to which type of school are best equipped/best able to support a child's specific needs and try and work out which environment a child would be able to cope best in.

 

Best wishes.

 

Caroline.

[jlp]

It's a tough one. My son is very bright and very challenging behaviour wise with huge meltdowns. Because of his academic ability (and he wasn't diagnosed till he was in Reception) we kept him in mainstream. However gradually his academic progress has gone downhill and he's gone from the top group to the bottom - this last year he's made no progress at all with 1-2-1 full time support. It's not that he can't, it's that he won't!

 

However he's always had friends and the children in his class have always been fairly tolerant of him (and tend to give way to him a bit!), since he's been in the juniors, older years do seem to tease him a bit but this can be 2 ways as he gets obsessive and if someone upsets him he will spend breaktimes following them round saying nasty things, he seems to love confrontation.

 

He'll start an ASD unit in September and I have concerns about that too - on one hand they're experts and very knowledgeable about ASD, he won't be changing teacher every year which is like starting from scratch every September, hopefully they do programs with regard to anger management etc. A big worry is the social side as he looks likely to be the most able child in the unit, and also children who also have ASD won't be so accomodating as his current class so I can forsee standoffs!

 

I have a niggling worry that this is just a case of sticking them in a classroom and reading stories to them but I'm sure that won't be the case and I'll be reassured when we get there!

[darky]

Very personal choice!! I shall give you my perspective. My daughter's first year of school was fantastic. She has a wonderful, very patient and supportive teacher. In year 1 my daughter struggled a lot. Her teacher was ok, fresh out of uni and I hoped that would be a good thing, but it wasn't, my daughter was not happy at all. She became selective mute. Highly anxious and would not interact. Various things happened and we decided to remove her from that school and try another mainstream. Best decision we ever made. Within a year our girl was statemented for full time one to one support. She came out of her shell completely. She is now going into year 5 in September. She is happy and confident at school. The support has made a great deal of difference.

 

I had similar issues with my son now 11. He struggled and the school were quite dismissive. He was also highly anxious. I pulled him out that school and into another mainstream, and again, it has proved to have been a good move. Again my son is happy and confident. He has just worked really hard, improved his ability by 2 years with the support of a statement, and he has just taken part in a production of Oliver, where he had to perform 3 nights running in front of 200 people a time. We still have issues sometimes, of course we do. Often it is mis-understandings or bullying, but the school is always willing to talk about it and they do listen and act if need be. There was one point where I seriously considered special school for my daughter rather than her having full time one to one in mainstream. It sounds good but it does have disavantages as well. Independance is difficult to achieve. BUT I have to say, that I fought very hard, they both have good support, and they are both doing well. I am well aware things can change, but for now we are happy. I watch them at the school gate, both having friends run up to them, chatting to them, laughing together, and I am really pleased mainstream is working for us. I have to say that the school my children are at is in special measures from ofstead, but that has not prevented either of them making great progress.

 

Good luck in your decision. Round here the special schools are for children with severe learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties and EBD. None of which would be suitable for our children. I knew I was going to have to fight long and hard with little chance of winning a place unless it was out of Borough, but there is virtually no chance of that, especially with my daughter who has made great progress and has so much support. So we were kind of forced into mainstream, but luckily with all the support we have from social services, CAMHS, and the school, it is working well. <'>

[CEJesson]

Agreed on that it is personal choice.

 

Mum looked at special schools for me back in 2000 but I eventually went to a mainstream secondary comprehensive with a special needs department. Although the school experience was mostly horrific the department at least was a godsend.

 

I envisage it will be a tad easier to find special schools now for ASDs than back then, not necessarily easier to get in one!

Edited July 26, 2008 by CEJesson

[forbsay]

hello

 

yes, i agree with the others that this is a personal choice.

 

My little boy goes to a special school for ASD children. I feel that this is the best place for him to go to and the difference in him is amazing. He also goes to an afterschool club with his one to one carer. This is with NT kids. This has not been without it's difficulties, however he has got alot out of it.

 

M learns from other kids but i personally feel that he would not have coped with a mainstream school. He also learns alot from his little sister. They have a very strong bond.

Edited July 26, 2008 by forbsay