Units attached to mainstream schools

[simonbo]

Does anyone have experience of their child attending one of these? My LA is suggesting it as a possible option for my son, 12, after a disastrous experience in mainstream. We are a little sceptical but open to the idea. The unit they are suggesting is in Hendon.

[oxgirl]

My son attended a unit, just left there, actually. It was a mixed experience for us. On paper it sounds ideal, but there were times when it was very far from that for us. The unit my lad was in was quite small, about 7 or 8 kids at the time for the first three years. It was unfortunate for him that, when he started there, he was the only able and verbal child there, all the others were very severely autistic. It meant that there was no place for him, he could not mix with the mainstream kids but equally could not mix with the kids in the unit and we questioned a lot of the time why he was there and regretted our decision to send him there on many occasions. As he'd been out of school for two years and would not cope in mainstream, it seemed the only option and I'm sure it works very well for others, but in our case we were unlucky, I suppose, and so much depends on the other kids who are in the unit with your child.

 

After the first year, a few more slightly more able kids came, including some with extremely disruptive and aggressive behaviour. My lad was mercilessly taunted by a child for 18 months, he felt like a prisoner in the unit and could not escape and it was not dealt with at all well, we nearly took him out at that time. Eventually that boy was expelled, but the damage was done.

 

For the last two years, my lad was in the unit on another site of the school, in which there were just two other children, both non-verbal. It was a peaceful experience for him and the staff were great, but it did nothing to help him improve his social skills. In fact, the whole five years he was there they did NOTHING to help with his social skills at all, they just sent him into mainstream classes to sit alone and speak to no-one. The last two years he came on leaps and bounds academically, will probably attain As or A*s in all three sciences in his GCSEs, but is still totally friendless and totally clueless as to how to start going about talking to other kids. In fact, being at that place taught him that he was strange, odd and didn't fit in, he didn't know this before he went there.

 

Looking back at the experience as a whole, I wish we had not sent him there, but there didn't seem to be anything on offer otherwise, it was that or nothing really. It's a shame really, because now the unit only takes on more able kids, so there are a lot more of them to work with each other and socialize, my lad was the first and it meant that there were never any kids he could relate to really or make friends with.

 

I'd go with your gut instinct of the place. Look at the other kids there and ask yourself if your child could fit in there with them. Best of luck.

 

~ Mel ~

[Suze]

My son is just about to enter yr 11 and he has been using a resourced unit at high since he entered in yr 7.He had come from a mainstream primary with a statement of 25 hrs and specialist english teaching for dyslexia.The placement has been a life saver for us and him , and he has grown into a very mature and independent teenager.However the success of his placement I believe is down to the wonderful staff there and their support.He has a very special lady who knows him well now and they have a very good working relationship.I wish you lots of luck, suzex

[baddad]

I don't think there are any all round answers to this one - so much depends on the staff and the overall ethos of the unit and the relationship that they and the pupils have with the mainstream school they're attached to. Theroetically, these units should, I think, be a bridge between SEN and mainstream - allowing the children to integrate where and when they can and are able while offering the support and specialised input they need where they can't. Unfortunately, I don't think that's always the case, and that some mainstream schools see an attached unit as the fulfillment of their own responsibility or 'duty' to SEN with little or no interaction between the unit and the main school other than that they share the same geographical location. In those circumstances, particularly in units that take only a few pupils in each year, I think the children can actually be more marginalised than they would be in a larger autism or SEN specific school.

 

From a parents POV I believe the only thing you can do is check out all of the provision available to you in that extra year we're given so you can make an informed choice from those visits. Try not to think in terms of 'mainstream' or 'SEN' from the outset, but to evaluate the pros and cons of each school you visit and then introduce the SEN considerations into those evaluations. The wrong SEN school could be equally or even more damaging than the right mainstream one, iyswim. In the case of attached units, I think you have to spend as much time looking at the mainstream school too, or at the very least ask some pointed questions about how the two interacyt and support one another.

 

Hope that's helpful, and very best in finding the right placement for your son.

 

L&P

 

BD

[justine1]

Hi

My son is almost 7 and just started at an ASD unit,I didnt have the energy to fight for a special school which I would have had to do because there arent any where I live so would have been out of county,so in the end I settled for the unit.I was very reluctant mostly because of what Oxgirl has mentioned in her post,my son is high functioning and I worried as there are three in the unit that are more severe and at the same time wasnt keen on the whole intergration into mainstream after all its been a nightmare in mainstream for three years now,dont see how that will change!!

 

The staff seem good though and his statement will be up for review in a year as well as transition into middle school so if he does need to go to a special school it will be pushed by the unit staff putting less pressure on me.

 

I agree 100% with Baddad it is such an individual choice,depends on the unit,the school itself and the childs needs.

 

Good luck whatever you decide <'>

[oxgirl]

BD makes a very good point about links with the mainstream school. Where my lad was, the link with the mainstream school was practically non-existant, it's as if we were not part of the school at all, a totally separate entity. Jay did go into some mainstream lessons and sometimes went to registration with his form but he was never actually a part of the form and, in fact, I never felt he was a part of the school at all either. We never received letters about trips or newsletters which were given to the rest of his form, were always the last to know anything, if we found out at all and he was never included in outings. In lessons, the teacher just left him to his TA and he had very little input from teachers personally, he was just there and not really included. Some of the TAs he had were awful, just clueless, but it was left to them to 'teach' him. He was lucky in that in the last two years he was there his TA was fabulous and she really understood him, but the previous three years were desperate most of the time.

 

~ Mel ~

[Sally44]

From my point of view I did not seek a placement in the autism unit because I feared what Oxgirl has said was her experience.

So my son has remained mainstream, but in a school that has a high proportion of children with ASD and he has what is termed an 'enhanced resource' placement. It means the school has extra funding for the proportion of ASD children it has. (However on paper that extra funding is about 2 more EP hours per term for the whole school!).

Anyway, my experience has been that my son has coped, but he has not made academic progress. He does not get the individual specialist teaching that he would get in the autism unit.

 

So I suppose the answer is that no placement is perfect.

 

You know your child and you know what their major difficulties are. If you feel your child needs the environment and specialist teaching of the autism unit then go with that. You can apply pressure on the SALT to put together a social communication programme for your child because that is the remit of the SALT. You can also try things like cubs etc from home.

 

If your child is doing okay academically and has some social skills, then you might prefer to try to remain mainstream with as much TA or LSA support as you can manage to get for your child to support them throughout the school day.

 

It is a difficult decision to make. Like Oxgirl, i'm not sure I made the right decision to keep him in the mainstream classroom. There is a real possibility that my son might leave school illiterate, but with some social skills. Whereas Oxgirl is saying her child is going to have good A grades, yet cannot socialise. How do you choose between the two scenarios??

[puffin]

DD1 has attended the unit for the past 3 years and it was the best thing that ever happened to her she has developed to an incredible level and gone from a school stress/refuser to a girl who likes school and works hard

 

I would say though

Staffing is the key

- you need staff who 'get' autism/Aspergers and understand the condition - if you get staff that don't then it could be a disaster

- our worst experience ever was with a mainstream teacher who presented herself as the school's 'autism expert' she just didn't have the right personality

- however the teachers at the unit were fabulous and integrated social skills training into the school day - such as de-briefings after each breaktime for the kids to talk through social interactions and any possible misunderstandings

 

Support from mainstream school

DD1's unit is located between two schools - a primary school and a secondary school

We noticed a huge deifference in cooperation

- the primary school didn't really cooperate with the Unit at all - DD1 missed out on quite a lot of activities becuase of this obstruction - she was meant to be with a mainstream class for music, drama and craft classes - yet messages were never passed on so she missed the year 6 musical that she wanted to be in and was placed in the most disruptive group for music and craft so in the end she was too scared to go

- the secondary school was completely different and much more supportive - part of a LSA's time was allocated for coordnating and helping her organise and she keeps tabs on all being OK / a quiet area of the school library was identified as a place she could go to escape noise and the Librarian briefed that DD could ask for the phone to call over to the unit if needed

 

Peer group

It is also a good idea to research the peer group to make sure it is right for your child

We turned down the first unit we were offered as it didn't feel right - DD1 is a highly intelligent girl with AS/ADHD and at the time was 11 - we were offered first a place in a Unit for low functioning ASD or other severe learning disability age 6-12 - this felt wrong

However we were offered another for 14-17 year olds where there was already a high functioning boy with AS - when she was 13 we began seriously re-integrating into mainstream rising from 25% integration to 90% at the end of term

After the summer the plan is for 100% integration - although a few subjects still need to be ironed out

[Liamsmummy]

HI my son attended a INC which was attached to a main stream school and sturggled, as much as the staff tried it just didn't work out. Go with what you feel and don't let the LA 'bully' you. My son was dianogised in 2004 whlie at nursey he stayed in that main stream school until he was 6 slowly he went from full time to 1 hour a day 4 days a week we then moved him to another school (the one with the INC) and managed to attend 3 hours a day 5 days a week but we didn't see much change. the LA attended a multi agency meeting with us and said that as he would soon be getting to the age for secondry school we needed a plan because he obviously couldn't stay at a primary school, he wouldn't be able to cope with a secondry school and the special needs school were over subscribed which as you can imadgine dosen;t leave us with anymore options.

 

I took it upon myself and googled 'autistic schools in nottinghamshire' which found an independent school i approached the LA who implied that i would have to pay the fees to send my son there.

 

To cut a long story short a few weeks later afters meetings upon meetings the LA arranged another meeting and suggested sending my son to this school for an assessment and secured him a place and agreed that the LA should fund it as they couldn't find suitable school for my son. within weeks my son started there full time and has been there ever since he will be 11 in march

[Emmet Murphy]

The quality of any educational setting depends mainly on the staff working there and - to a lesser extent - how well they are resourced. I would suggest that you visit the prospective placement several times and try to spend some time in the class your child would be going into.

[puffin]

I agree with what the poster above says

 

We negotiated a 30 day trial on the basis that if it didn't work out we would be able to look for another school

[KLP]

Hi simonbo,

 

I picked a unit attached to mainstream for my son that starts reception in September and tend to agree with few postings above.

 

The unit we have is not just for autistic children but for children with different disorders with mild to medium learning difficulties. The staff were excellent when I first went to visit the unit alone few months ago and then recently when I took my son along.

 

The children were very welcoming, tried to include my son in games, offered him the PC, gave him toys without being promted to do so by the teacher or assistants. The classroom looked lovely with lots of visual aids, the atmosphere was positive, the assistants with welcoming smiles trying to entertain my son while I spoke to the teacher. The senco was also very positive about the development of the unit, the extra funding they had available for the term to come, inclusion with mainstream, parental involvement. Children that attend the unit will stay in the unit am and after lunch will go to mainstream with support for rest of the day. So the inclusion will be there from the very start.

 

I will suggest visiting the unit as many times as you can and analyse the staff, the children, speak to the senco about policies and inclusions (this senco was also flexible on including my son even more should the teacher felt it was appropriate should that be my wish) and also take your child with you maybe not on first but subsequent visit.

 

The reason I choose the unit over the place we had in mainstream is because when we both visited mainstream I dont think the teacher or the assistant knew how to engage with him the way they did in the unit; in mainstream he was just running all over the place. The children were encouraged to take a turn taking game with him which worked ok but I honestly couldnt imagine him getting anywhere academically sitting in a corner with support. The senco in mainstream 'promised; they will do the best they can to help him and the support staff they had lined up to interview was a mother of autistic child with no teaching qualification. When I weighted both options my choice was easy - the unit! And I hope I made a good decision since I can always move him back to mainstream at any time, but the waiting lists for the units grow bigger every year.

 

It was a very stressful time making, lots of wine and few cigarettes (even though I gave up 6 years ago) the decision so my heart is with you. Good luck!

[oxgirl]

Hi Simonbo,

 

The unit your lad is going to sounds great and hope it goes really well for him. I think units attached to secondary schools are very different from those attached to primary schools, though. I wish the option for primary unit had been available to us.

 

~ Mel ~

[Annea]

i don't think there will be a definitive answer to this one... It will depend on so many things ...

We did fight against provision at one of these units for the follwoing reasons... it miught give you something to pondr, but it will be different depending on your son and also the unit.

 

1. The unit that was suggested for us was very small, only 10 pupils. It was attached to a very rough school, with poor over all results, Definitely not a school that we would have chosen for our daughter.

 

2. We felt that we wanted inclusion which doesnt necessarily mean main stream, for us it meant to be able to take part in a full curriculum. In this unit her education would have been very stilted.

 

3. There was not a full curriculum on offer, if she had wanted to do her full choice of GCSE;s. In order to attend some of these classes, she would have had to go into the main stream classes. At the time she was a school refuser as she couldnt even cope with the small secondary she was in, there was no way she would have coped with this much bigger school.

 

4. The children were segregated for meal times, social times etc... when the unti was full there were only 10 pupils, some days much less so we felt that she would never get the feel of mixing with people and making friends.

 

the unit also had a couple of teachers taking all subjects, they were not teachers who were necessarily that qualified int he subjects they were teaching. I personalyl didnt find this satisfactory.

 

In the end we fought for a residential Asperger School, we were told by the LEA that she would get worse, that she would never learn how to function in the real world and that her academic studies would suffer. Now although it doesnt work for everyone, for her it changed her life. She is more balanced than she has ever been in her life, she took part in a full curriculum and was able to study ALL the subjects she wanted to with teachers who were used to children with her difficulties. She came out with good results in all 6 of her GCSE's and she has learnt a comassion for others (not just other ASD kids) that is sadly lacking with many NT kids.

 

Your decsiion has to be based on so many things, but do try to speak to parents of other kids who are already there so you are not just hearing the glossy brochure speak....

 

Oh and good luck xx