Should i move for a better school?

[craigmancie]

My son is 9, was diagnosed with ASD at 3 and has been well support by the local authority up until now!!!

 

He at the moment attends mainstream school 2 days a week and a special ASD school 3 days a week. The LST at the mainstream school get a lot of support from the staff in the ASD school...you couldnt ask for a better service and he is doing so well at school.

 

Today however i found out he has to be integrated into mainstream full time by DEC 2012 as the ASD school does not provide support beyond P4?? This is such a huge jump for him and i do not feel he will be ready but what choice do i have? They are unable to support him full time in mainstream with a LST and im not sure this is suitable anyway! If 'they' decide he still needs additional support once in mainstream, he may be able to go to a special needs centre but this is for a wide spectrum of learning support needs and is not individually targeted (his acedemic ability far exceeds this) It just sounds like he is going to be dumped and expected to cope!!

 

Would you move to be closer to a school that continues to support beyond P4? would this be the best thing for my son?

 

Any help appreciated

[bed32]

I am going through a similar thought process, with our 8 year old son who is in mainstream education now. I feel he has no chance of coping in any of the mainstream schools in our neighbourhood.

 

I would definitely move house to be nearer to a good school for him.

 

At present the quality of life for our entire family is very tightly linked to how he is getting on and providing him with the best possible environment has to be our number one priority.

[Sally44]

Does your child have a Statement?

 

If he doesn't, then you need to write to your local authority and request a Statutory Assessment towards a Statement.

 

If he has a Statement, they cannot change the placement without you having a right to Appeal that change.

 

If he is academically capable, yet cannot cope mainstream, and they are admitted that they cannot keep him in the Unit because he is too capable - then you are actually in a very good position to seek an independent school placement that is for ASD children only.

 

You don't need to move to achieve that. You need to find your nearest independent ASD specific school.

 

What year is he in now?

 

My son recently moved [he had just started year 6, but had been out of school for around 11 months]. It was a similar situation to yours in that the school/LA had already said he was too capable to go into the Autism Unit. He had been placed mainstream with additional support, but did not cope and became ill. He was referred to Clinical Psychology and CAHMS and was out of school for about a year.

 

We appealed to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal, and we won our case.

 

You need to download the SEN Code of Practice, which is in the list of SEN Publications at the top of the Education Forum.

 

You need to start to gather your evidence by getting everything in writing.

 

So write to the unit and ask them to put in writing that they intend to move your child to full time mainstream because he is too capable and no longer fits their criteria.

 

As part of the assessment towards a Statement the LA should ask the EP and SALT to assess your son. You can find out who that would be and you can write to each of them and ask them to carry out standardised assessments.

 

Standardised Assessments give a baseline reading of ability. Ask the SALT to assess his expressive and receptive speech and language skills, and also his social communication and interations skills, as well as his emotional literacy.

[Sally44]

Even if you move to another area, there is no guarantee that there would be a place available for your son. So you would still be in a position where you would need to Appeal.

 

You usually need your child to have a Statement of special educational needs to get a placement other than mainstream. And you need one even if a child is mainstream, but they need support over and above what the school typically provides.

 

A Statement is the ONLY legally binding Special Educational Needs document. Whatever is in the Statement MUST be provided by the LA. If they don't provide it a parent can use Judicial Review, and the court would Order the LA to fulfill the Statement.

 

Although you've been told your son is going to be moved, the fact that he is currently in the unit proves he needed to be there. For there to be a change in placement the LA need a professional [EP or SALT] to state that he no longer needs to be in that unit. And although LAs may attempt to move children to a different placement without such advice from professionals, an Educational Tribunal will want that advice, otherwise they are likely to decide that the child should stay where they are.

 

If the LA argues that he is too capable for that unit, they are essentiall shooting themselves in the foot, because they have no evidence he could/would cope mainstream. Therefore that only leaves an independent placement as the other option.

 

Do you have any evidence of him NOT coping mainstream eg. days when support was not provided, or days when there were changes of routine/staff etc. You need all that in writing. And any support you can get from the mainstream school would help. Has the mainstream school said that they CAN meet his needs?

[Sally44]

Also have a look on the www.ipsea.org.uk and www.ace-ed.org.uk websites.

[chris54]

If you were to move to be nearer a particular school you have to remember that there is no guarantee that you would get a place at that school anyway.

If you are prepared to move, then you would be able to cast your net wider in search of the right school, hopefully secure a place then move to be nearer.

But any school would, in the short term, have to be within a realistic travel distance of were you are now, or that you could make some sort of immediate alternative arrangements.

 

A former work college of mine, found that the nearest suitable special school to him would mean over 3 hours traveling for his son each day.

He did just that, got a place at the school, then moved. Fortunately he was in a housing association house and they agreed to move him. But it meant giving up his job. Lost touch with him so don't know how it turned out.

[Sally44]

I found this on the Ipsea website. It is advice about what to do if the LA/school suggested a child were moved from mainstream to special school prior to a Statutory Assessment. So this advice works the other way around too eg. from special school to mainstream.

 

http://www.ipsea.org...tion/Case08.pdf

 

This advice quotes from the Education Act, which states that a child should not be in a LA special school placement if they do not have a Statement. So your LA may already have acted illegally, by not producing a Statement for your son.

 

I would suggest you put in writing that you don't agree to this change of placement, and request that an assessment towards a Statement is carried out. The Statementing process takes 26 weeks from start to finish. That gives you time to find out about other schools in your area, and get clued up about the SEN Code of Practice and Statements.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Sally44

[Sally44]

I think a travelling distance by taxi of 30-45 minutes is acceptable.

 

Depending on the age of your child, you could argue for him to be in the LA special school full time, and then seek an independent ASD specific school for secondary transfer on the argument that it has already been accepted he cannot cope mainstream [because he is already in a special primary school], and that a special secondary school cannot cater for his specific difficulties relating to an ASD, and cannot meet his academic ability which is over and above the criteria for the LA special secondary school.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Sally44

[craigmancie]

Sally44 - no he doesnt have a statement, he is in primary 3 at the moment.

 

He currently attends a ASD specific school but from what i can gather they offer no child support within this centre after Primary 4

 

The mainstream school from the start have struggled to cope with my son, and have only managed to cope due to using techniques passed onto them from the ASD school. His LST in mainstream would i believe openly say they are unable to cope with him full time and without any support

[Kathryn]

umm... Sally I think the poster is in Scotland? Different country - different law.

 

 

K x

[Sally44]

Is that what Primary 4 means - a Scottish terminology??

 

I was thinking of P scale 4, where Primary Special schools criteria maybe that a child above P4 does not fit their criteria?

 

If you are in Scotland, I would suggest you phone the national autistic society to find who could advise you.

 

However any written evidence from the mainstream school that they would not cope, or that your child would not cope, is useful.

 

Find out what level of support he currently receives, and ask the mainstream school IF they can provide that.