What type of school should i pick

[wasfield]

My daughter has just been diognosed as autistic, she is also registered partially sighted and has albinism. We are in the process of having her statemented and I do not know what kind of school to chose for her. She is 7 yrs old and in a mainstream primary school at the moment where she is struggling in all subjects and has no real friends and has recently been having problems with bullying so I am def. going to move her when she gets her statement. My problem is I do not know which school to chose, There are mainstream schools that are lead schools for autism, there are schools that are leads schools for Visual impairment and she really needs heip in both areas so if I chose one will the other disability not be addressed properly? The only type of school that possibly could deal with both her autism and VI is a special needs school. Are special schools really suitable for children who have autism or are they meant to be for children who are more seriously disabled? I just do not know what to do.

[bid]

Special schools are very different today...have a look round your local special primary school, it should be designated either MLD (being phased out as a designation) or complex learning difficulties.

 

My DH works at a secondary school for complex learning difficulties, and he has children with multiple conditions, including autism and other physical difficulties.

 

I think until you visit you won't really know wehat any of the schools are like...it really depends what you feel will be the best fit for your DD.

 

Bid

[Lynden]

My son is in a school for children with severe learning difficulties and profound medical and learning difficulties and they are amazing. Probably 60% of the children there are on the spectrum. They also have children with visual impairments and have a VI specialist comes in to help out. One little girl in Ls class has autism and is blind in one eye and she does really well at the school. I can't fault them at all - they are amazing and the perfect place for my autistic son. There are also equivalent schools for moderate learning difficulties in the Borough and whilst none quite measure up to ours, they are very good schools.

 

As Bid says - go and see them and get a feel for what will suit your daughter

 

Lynne

[Sally44]

As already said, I would look at all types of school.

Many on the spectrum have sensory integration difficulties and that in itself can be similar to visual or hearing impairments. And a VI school maybe able to present her work in a way that would also be useful from an autistic point of view. Or a school that has teaching approaches for ASD maybe able to get a VI teacher to come to their school and give them advice on a termly basis(or more often).

Try to think about what it is about the mainstream school that she is struggling with.

Some mainstream schools have autism units.

Is she struggling with literacy, how is she currently learning to read (due to the VI) ie. does she use a different system such as braille.

As a general rule the smaller the setting, small group and 1:1 environments which are low distraction tend to work better.

You can ask each school about their provision. What level are teachers trained to.

 

Remember that regarding her Statement, she will only get what is itemised in it in terms of 1:1 specified hours or weekly hours such as 30 hours support a week etc. If she needs help at breaktimes/dinner times due to being VI, or due to social interaction difficulties that also needs to be specified in terms of hours and staff support. Also any therapy should be itemised in the same way eg. 7 hours per term 1:1 direct therapy with a SALT and 5 hours per term for admin. All professionals should be required to produce an updated report and to attend the Annual Review.

 

Try to get an organisation such as the NAS or IPSEA to look at the wording of the Statement to make sure it is legally enforceable, otherwise the LA just will not provide it.

[Kathryn]

Hi Wasfield,

 

Are you in touch with your local Parent Partnership service? They may have good local knowledge and can perhaps help you think about schools and maybe go with you to visit them.

 

You can also look at independent special schools as well, although as it would cost the Local Authority more, it is more difficult to get an independent school named on the statement.

 

When you visit schools, take along a list of questions to ask so that you get some idea of how they would provide for both your daughter's conditions. Ask whether there are any other children there with a similar profile. Are the staff qualified and experienced in working with children wih autism and visual impairments? The educational psychologist may be able to guide you in the things you need to be asking and looking for.

 

K x

[wasfield]

Thanks everyone, I am going to get in contact with the nearest special needs school and take a look, I have looked at a school that leads in VI which was very good but it was a 20 min drive from our home. As Sophie has only just been diognosed as autistic I have been blaming her poor academic performance on her vision and her school not supporting her well enough, I am now wondering if her autism is also something that effects her school work and so I really do want a school for her that can support both. Sophies Statement panel met on Mon so I am eagerly awaiting to find out what provision they are going to offer her.

 

Lou x

[Sally44]

What has her current school said in their report towards the Statement?

Have you talked to the teacher/SENCO about their feelings about why she is not doing well academically?

 

Does your daughter have speech and language difficulties?

 

Children on the spectrum can have difficulties with concepts, which can cause problems with learning. Lessons should be highly structured and use as much hands on, real things in real time etc.

 

But equally children with an ASD can also have co-morbid difficulties that affect learning such as a Specific Learning Difficulty such as Dyslexia, poor working/short term memory, Dyspraxia (problems with writing, sequencing thoughts or work, motor planning), problems with executive functions, visual or auditory processing difficulties. These can all impact on learning.

[special_music]

Hi Wasfield. Does your daughter's dx say where she is on the spectrum?

If possible, I would first look at a VI school, because some things commonly viewed as part of autism can sometimes be secondary. (For example you will see a lot of children with PMLD engage in classic "autistic" stimming for lack of means to communicate and/or amuse themselves). As your daughter has VI, there may be a whole lot of communication and social issues around that. If some of her ASD traits are secondary, they will lessen/disappear when she gets appropriate VI help. If not, you can still try and move her to an ASD school, but I would definitely try a VI school first.

[Sally44]

Hi Wasfield. Does your daughter's dx say where she is on the spectrum?

If possible, I would first look at a VI school, because some things commonly viewed as part of autism can sometimes be secondary. (For example you will see a lot of children with PMLD engage in classic "autistic" stimming for lack of means to communicate and/or amuse themselves). As your daughter has VI, there may be a whole lot of communication and social issues around that. If some of her ASD traits are secondary, they will lessen/disappear when she gets appropriate VI help. If not, you can still try and move her to an ASD school, but I would definitely try a VI school first.

 

 

Yes, as you say there is alot of evidence that children who are deaf or blind show similar behaviours and also similar language development and language disorders as those on the autistic spectrum (ie. difficulties with pronouns). And because of how those on the spectrum have difficulties with visual/auditory and other sensory perceptions and processing there has also been asked the question "are those on the spectrum in some way deaf or blind", and can the supports used for those populations help those on the autistic spectrum. And I think the use of PECS and signing shows that similar supports are used.