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What schooling for ASD?

What type of education are your ASD kids getting and are you/they happy with it?  

176 members have voted

  1. 1. What type of education are your ASD kids getting and are you/they happy with it?

    • Mainstream school - mostly satisfied
      55
    • Mainstream school - mostly unsatisfied
      37
    • Special school - mostly satisfied
      35
    • Special school - mostly unsatisfied
      6
    • Mainstream with SEN Unit - mostly satisfied
      13
    • Mainstream with SEN Unit - mostly unsatisfied
      6
    • Home Educated - mostly satisfied
      12
    • Home Educated - mostly unsatisfied
      3
    • Unable to get a place
      1
    • Other
      8


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J is in mainstream infant school where he is "progressing slowly" I have been told by the school and paed that he won't get a statement till he stops progressing. The paed has also said he should be in a special school with smaller class size to reduce his anxiety abot going to school. However, I've heard from parents at the local ASD support group that the local special school has a mixture of Dyslexic, HFA and severe autistic children and the levels of violence and bullying are higher towards the HFA kids. This has put me off the special school, so I'm hoping there is a mainstream junior school nearby which has an ASD unit. However, I've only got about 2 weeks to find out as the forms need to be in.

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so far i have been really lucky.Flynn attended a special needs playgroup from the age of 2-3.it was 2 days a week,3 hours each.it was a small group with children with different special needs.thhe parents would stay for the first hour,have a cuppa and a chat then leave and pick up the children 2 hours later.at the creche sometimes speech therepists would come,other weeks the music lady.before he left,the team leader suggested i take a look at the special needs school.she even took me there herself.the special needs school was great.Flynn would even get free transport.i decided though i would put him in a mainstream school.hhhe got his statement but whhen hhe started nursery hhe still didnt have his 1-1.i told thhe team leader at hhis creche and shhe personaly went to the school and told them hhow to handle Flynn and ggave them strategys.He got hhis 1-1 soon after.so far he has been getting on real well.The only problem i have is that for his age,hhe is really advanced(he can count to 50,speaks in different languages,knows all his shapes and colours and can read really well).im just worried that hes going to gget pulled back.like i said though hes coping well(only bitten his teacher once!!).and the special schhol has said that if hhe starts to struggle later on he can always join their school.

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Kyle started at a special school in October and is doing really well. He loves it, and has settled in so well despite all my worrying! They are wonderful with him and he has so many opportunities there. The EP wanted him to go to mainstream school, and although the local school is brilliant (my eldest went there and loved it) I knew there was no way Kyle would cope there. If he hadn't have got in to the school I would have Home Educated.

 

We are quite lucky as round here we have a brand new special school and a brand new ASD unit attached to a mainstream school, so I had a good choice. It was hard to choose which to send Kyle to.

 

Vicky

 

xx

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I am supposed to be HEing DS1. DS1 is ADHD/ASD and we've had never ending problems with him in mainstream school.The Playgroup were great with him and got him 1-2-1 support. The primary school were pretty bad and treated him like a naughty child even after he was DX with ADHD, they just couldn't accept he was incapable of behaving the way they wanted. When he was in yr 6 we moved house as we didn't want him attending any of the Secondary schools in that catchment area. He attended a different primary school for the last 7 months of his primary schooling and things were ok, we still had problems but his teacher understood he was different. His teacher even commented that some of his behaviour didn't fit with what he knew of ADHD, something we already knew but at this point had no explaination for. Secondary school was just about the worst thing that could have happened to him and I deregistered him after only 5 weeks. The head of year seemed to think his ADHD dx was just an excuse. He was permanently in DT for not doing homework or forgetting to go to DT, no amount of DT would have given them the response or behaviour they required. He was put on report for; not getting to lessons on time, not having the correct equipment for lesssons and not doing homework. He was given no help and they didn't put him on the SEN register until october(he has been action plus since nursery). He was treated with hostility by his teachers and they then wondered why his behaviour deteriorated. He didn't get on with any of the kids(he has always preferred younger kids)and they couldn't understand why. They made no effort to listen to what I was trying to tell them, even telling me that he was now in secondary school and he wouldn't get extra support so tough. I knew at that point I was never going to get anywhere so decided to take him out of school. Heing is not going well as he has a very short attention span, is far to easily distracted, has temper tantrums when I try to get him to do things he doesn't want and believe me he doesn't want to do very much. Our last hospital visit finally shed some light on the behaviour we couldn't explain, ASD probably AS. I'm not sure that mainstream school was ever or will ever be right for him, I'm not sure Heing is either though as I have no idea what to do with a child that is ADHD/ASD :( .

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I voted mainstream satisfied.....but that would have been very unsatidfied pre statement.....el is now going to mainstream senior school next year, g help us i hope it works out ok....... :unsure: i visited the school and was impressed with the senco and what she had to say, but only time will tell if she is full of it or not.....and if she is...... :ph34r:

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Hi, I voted 'mainstream mainly satisfied', but feel that this needs clarification, so here goes:

 

Barry is in his final year at Primary School. The small village we live in has a small (50-60 pupils) school, who have been excellent with Barry, and supportive to both him and to ourselves as a family.

BUT...

Our local High School don't seem to want Barry as a pupil because he has 'violent outbursts' mentioned in his 'statement'. The High School SENCO seemed horrified that her cosy little world might get disrupted by a 'violent' pupil! The High School have never met or even seen Barry, but his statement has got them panicking and running for the excuse cupboard! So much for trying to place him with what few friends he has got!

 

However, there is another high School quite close to us, who have an excellent record on 'special needs' education, so we are about to visit them and see what they have to offer Barry. If this School turns out like the local one, then it will be Home Edding for us, and stuff the LEA!

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My little one hasnt started school yet and so far its pretty difficult to decide which way to go. The local mainstream has made me feel a little unwelcome at the outset, but I also have some mainstream schools with SEN Units and dedicated special school within a reasonable(ish!) driving distance. I dont think I've got enough energy for home schooling!

What option have you taken and is it working out ok? I'd like to get a general feel of your experience.

Thanks in advance

 

Hi mum! i have 9 year old twins one of them is autistic, i was lucky as he was diagnosed at 3and living in wales they start at that age here. at first i put them both into mainstream nursery, then all hell broke loose my son was acting out more than usual i had divirced their dad and felt totally alone!! i the made the decision to put my son into a unit, i had to fight tooth and nail to get him there and pester all sorts of people all the time but believe me it was worth it! he started just before his 4th birhday and within 6 months i could see a vast improvment. i could take them out to the park without worrying about his behaviour and running off!!! he then went to mainstream at juinor age with an hour support a day.(i am fighting at present to have more hours) He is diong fantastic this is his second year in mainstream and he is keeping up with the work. (which is all i want him to be able to do) he does have some problems still, which i think compared to five years ago is something i dont mind putting up with! what im really trying to say is that the start that he had in the unit was vital to where he is now. if in my opinion he had not gone there then he would never had fitted in to mainstrem. that was his foundation. the one piece of adive i can give you is that you have to be prepared for a battle with the education authority to get him whatever help he made need. i wish you and your son all the luck in the world!!! xx

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I went to mainstream school and finished four years ago. I got 8 gcses at grades A and A* and two and a half A levels - an A, a D and an E.

 

As well as my autistic impairments I have a mobility impairment and a high IQ and need direct support for a lot of my learning.

 

I think special school would have damaged me - I find it hard enough to cope with having to interact with lots of people who do not understand about autism now, I think I would find it even harder if I hadn't grown up with quite a lot of them in my class.

 

I think being very different from the ordinary in mainstream school helped me because my needs had to be met individually, for me - not slotted into someone else's system. When I was 14 my biggest class had 20 people in, when I was 16 until the end of sixth form the biggest class was 10 people and I spent half the time at school in a group of either 5 or 3.

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Hello,

 

My son is in a mainstream primary school at the moment. He is 8. He is not statemented, but he has been taken aside with three other children with learning difficulties for small group literacy and numeracy work. He received some 1:1 tuition from an experienced support assistant for handwriting and we have had updates from the SENCo and annual reviews. So, the school tries hard to meet his needs. I am quite happy for H to remain in mainstream school as long as he is happy. His younger brother attends the same school and H has some friends. However, my niece (also AS) was relatively happy and made good progress in primary school, but her needs increased and could not be met in secondary school and she ended up being home educated from 13 onwards. So, we remain on hold, and although it would mean a significant loss of income, I am prepared to take the reins of home education if needs be. (It would mean hubby might have to get a job though!)

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DS 11 was in a mainstream school and in a specialist resource base, they did the best they could but it really wasn't ideal. Now (fingers crossed) he will be in an Independant school in an Autistic unit with four other children. I have high hopes for this school as it sounds like he'll be correctly placed this time!

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ES is going into S4 in a mainstream senior school supported by staff from the Autistic Base - he officially is one of their pupils but he does a full mainstream ciriculum in top stream in all subject - he has won prizes in Maths and Science. He has very few friends.(if any). Had to fight to get him into the remit of the Base - everyone agreed he needed the support but since it is the only LEA unit places are very limited. Best thing that could ever happen - he has grown up so much in last 3/4 years.

 

DD is going into P7 (last year at Primary school) she gets no support - she is in the top level group in all subjects and is graded Level F in Maths and Reading (equivilent to 2nd year senior school). One second school claim that she neess no help and next second state she can't go to Holland for her schhol trip because of her behaviour causing 'Health and Safety' issues. Feel that school sends both her and us very mixed messages about how she is doing. She has friends but is also bullied quiet a bit.

 

YS is going into P4 and is changing schools so he will be in an Autistic Base in a mainstream school. Last year he was in a mainstream school (same one as DD is in) and it wasa total disaster. P1 and P2 were OK but within days of starting P3 he was excluded for a full week due to his behaviour and the whole year was similar. He was on part-time schooling (maxm 2 hrs/day) when he was allowed to be there.

New school/Base will accept him as a full time pupil. HURRAY.

 

Louise

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My son goes to mainstream school with one to one support,i had the option of holding him back a year in nursery,which i took and glad i did,his birthday is December,so a lot of his immedaite peers where already older, Scottish school term starts in August. The staff have been very helpful, i really can,t complain,however he got restless towards the last months of term and they arranged for a bus trip to Nairn beach, now he loves the bus,so with my oh(i was working that day) they decided to get worried about his unpredictable behaviour and suggest we take a car along just incase :unsure: we couldn,t go that day in the end he was ill,but still. The day could have been ruined if he had to go i a car. Then they arranged a Teddy Bers picnic in the woods, i bought him wellies and found his teddy they started to make worried noises and i told them he was looking forward to walking in the woods with teddy i,d got him new wellies :wallbash: he went and was good and enjoyed himself :rolleyes: so my fear they seem to be trying a little exclusion. they have arranged for the school to go to the panto in December and i have booked tickets to see the Singing Kettle for next week to give him the idea on how to behave in a theatre and get used to the clapping and having to sit in a theatre,so hopefully he will be able to cope and i hope they won,t try to exclude him with some lame excuse :unsure:

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I voted for mainstream satisfied. My son is in year 2 in a mainstream school and they are fantastic with him. Although had this vote been last year it would have been a very diffrent answer. We removed C from the school he was in in Jan '07 - middle of his year 1. The school he was at was terrible, they didn't have a clue what to do and by the time he left he had missed 87 sessions in year 1(bearing in mind he had only been back at school for 4 months and 3 1/2 weeks of that being holiday!!!)

It has made me realise how diffrent schools can handle diffrent situations. C definitly needs to be at mainstream, but one that can deal with him!!!!

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MY son is in special school now, and I'd NEVER allow him to be transferred back to mainstream again, I'd teach him at home first. Mainstream was a complete and stressful failure that damaged my son more. The topic is loaded isn't it ? mainstream or Special ? like there is much choice ! I find many parents opted for mainstream via guilt and convenience, not practicality, and listening to Pros who were too stupid to recognize where the child best thrives. It is NOT an easy option to go for special school at all, my son lost 6 years education by going to mainstream, so we know what we are talking about, which is more than the LEA ever did. It makes NO difference how much they waffle about inclusion, it doesn't work, and the only thing that does is trained and professional support geared to autism, not politically correct dogmas. That let's out 98% of schools and special needs classes too, most do NOT understand autism issues at all. They shouldn't use our children as a social experiment, and they're NOT going to use mine that way either.

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Hi Matthew started out in mainstream in the nursery which was hell, it was awfull he never liked going cryed every day and tantrumed on the floor in the cloakroom where everyone had to walk over him! it was a battle from then on, he went into reception which didn't go too badly although had bad days, then yr 1 but yr 2 was awful, he hated it, never liked going and segregaged himself from the rest of the class by hiding under tables and singing at the top of his voice or running out of class/ even out the school twice. he eventually started hitting, throwing chairs etc. he really couldn't cope. he last in the classroom 2 months then they took him out in a room on his own for half days for almost a year! he is now in a special needs school in yr 3 and doing very well. yes he still has bad days but it is loads better, he is back in full time school in a classroom with just 8 boys altogether and 1 teacher and 2 TAs. he goes on the mini bus everyday.

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My son is 11 and in mainstream; at the moment we are mostly satisfied however, this took many years of struggle and until last year we had a BIG problem with his old school in relation to the general culture and attitude of staff towards children like him-saying this however, I am not sure he would (and us) have done better in a special school or not?

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T used to be in a mainstream school in an NT class of 27 where he was mainly unsettled but is currently in a mainstream school's SEBD Unit and a class of 8 and although he's only been there almost a week, 'I' am happy but he is still going through the adjustment stage. We have only just moved home so all the changes and routine changes have taken their toll on him behaviour wise. I'm sure that once he settles in, he'll be ok. :)

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My son was 2 and a haf years in a mainstream comprehensive and it was a disaster, he eneded up with a breakdown. He's now at a mainstream with ASD unit but things are not going so well. I've lost hopes in the educational system for my son.

 

Curra

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we stuck with mainstream for years, and it was incredibly stressful, for everyone! things deteriorated and he went from a fulltime pupil to 3 hours a week 1-2-1 in link ed following an exclusion, and what went inbetween is too long to go into. But he's missed about 4 years of school :( I thought we'd never get him into a school ever again. Now he's at a special school and loving every minute, and in five weeks they've now got him to try it out full time - absolutely incredible!

Edited by scrappyb

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well its horses for course as they say isn't it? mainstream can be good for others and of course depending on the expertise and funding for the mainstream school and if the pupil can work in one, but i also believe in the value a special school has for children who just can't cope and vice versa in mainstream.I think a lot of the problems that education people don't seem to get is that as all children are different with different ablilites, so are the ,children/young people on the specturm .I have to admit we have been lucky in what we have gained from our mainstream school for my ASD son,the 1to1 and the funding and the teachers taking time to learn about autism and any other special need that might need support for learning.I feel very sorry that all children on the specturm don't get the support that we do and i do appreciate the battles some of you are having, to get the help and support your young people so badly need. My wish is that autism/ apsergers gets the same recognition for equal oppertunites in education,health and life as someone of a different colour of religion is entitiled to.

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My son is in a mainstream school in a class where all the children have either ASD or are on SAP.

He has a Statement.

What I find so frustrating with school is the 'one size fits all' approach to everything.

We are coming up to AR in the new year.

I have had to send a letter to the school and LEA about non-compliance with the Statement.

School are not happy with this and have basically told me to "leave them alone to get on with it and just trust them".

But i've had a phone call from the SEN Head of commissioning. He agrees with my concerns. I have alot of the evidence I need and I had almost accepted that at AR they would probably not agree to anything and I would have to ask for a re-assessment.

However it looks a bit different now, and the statement may get amended next year for things to be included in section 2 and recommendations in section 3.

The fact that I have already been to tribunal and won seems to be helpful, because the LEA know I will go the same route if I have to.

School should be doing more. But if it aint in the Statement, it just doesn't happen. Therefore I have to amend the Statement to ensure they do what they should be doing.

It is all down to money, resources and budgets.

I don't know where is going to be right place for secondary school.

I already have in writing that the LEA says that an autism unit is not appropriate. But all the SEN mainstream secondary schools are too big and noisy for him to cope. I'm hoping that I get him into an independent school before then. But to do that I have to keep the pressure up and increase the support and provision in the Statement until it becomes more cost effective to send him to an independent school.

I think schooling is maybe the biggest area of concern by parents of school age children. And we have to try to ensure that they make as good progress as they are capable of to help with their life choices after school.

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The other thing I think is relevant about this poll is that I believe you would get different results if you had two polls; one for primary and one for secondary. I think there are alot of children on the spectrum that just cope in primary years. But once they move to secondary it all falls apart.

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Primary School was bad enough and I would not even consider mainstream high school for my daughter. I fought tooth and nail for a Statement to get her into a Special High School. She started in September and the changes I have seen in her are tremendous. She is supported and understood. However, I understand that it is not for everyone and only the parents can decide how their child will cope. All I will say is - make sure you give it plenty of time and thought before sending your child to mainstream high school as it can do severe damage if they are not supported and you have to later go down the route of getting them into Special.

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Hi,

 

My boys went to a special needs school and it was shocking, they lost skills, they refused to take measures to ensure their safety even after one of my boys nearly got knocked down in their car park, didn't provide the basic things listed in their statements, didn't comply with dietary needs, allowed them to self harm, and terrorised and bullied them to try to make them into the docile children they prefer to deal with.

 

It was a constant battle with the head-teacher making it her life's work to be difficult, I removed them from there and home educate them, it might not always be bliss but I know they are safe and they are making progress.

 

Access to the right interventions has been surprisingly simple having opted out, the things that should have happened in school and didn't are now happening, I might have to nag a bit but they happen :-)

 

My boys are severely autistic and would not have functioned in a mainstream school so I have no experience of that to comment on, sorry my school story is so anti but that was our experience.

 

Good luck working out what's best for you,

 

L

 

 

My little one hasnt started school yet and so far its pretty difficult to decide which way to go. The local mainstream has made me feel a little unwelcome at the outset, but I also have some mainstream schools with SEN Units and dedicated special school within a reasonable(ish!) driving distance. I dont think I've got enough energy for home schooling!

What option have you taken and is it working out ok? I'd like to get a general feel of your experience.

Thanks in advance

 

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my littley is first year at high school and is mainstream but is also cared for by a specialist unit.

he is very well looked after

and doing really well

he came second in first year in his english tests.

but isnt doing well at maths.

he is asd and adhd.

he cant fathom maths but excels at creative writing,science,and IT.

so far he is doing well we are in central scotland.

love noogsy

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started mainstream primary had a poor time,now into secondary school and much better,in positive attitude and flexiability with the school,the teachers and the support unit, i can't fault it.in fact the time in secondary school this first year has been his best and most successful,again because of the skill and professionalism of the staff, autism is not unmanagable to them.

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Mainstream is the only way, as what other bearing in mind at age eighteen AS disappears, as whatever one is as a a child one becomes grist to the mill when one reaches adult hood where one is expected to work at least and have a family, buy a house and incur debts and so on as an adult, because adult AS is not catered for, so the only way is get used to Britain through mainstream schooling.

 

Way back in the seventies a particularly clued teacher suggested to my parents I indeed had autism to which my father blasted the teacher for writing me off at such a young age, as what there was for minds like mine was 'special schools' which were basically bins or holding pens for the written off. My father was right to keep me in mainstream school, yeah sure I was bullied all the way through it, but sadly bullying is part of life and it will never be eradicated. Academically at senior school I excelled, but the bullying took it's toll resulting in final exams where I had not a clue regarding their importance and so fluffed them big time, it didn't help that my father was not around and my poor mum had to put up with me on her own.

 

AS in adult hood can be managed, I met another adult AS last night, a 57 year old, one who is still bullied in their work place, but excel she does, very highly qualified and clued up and this is the reason for the bullying, others don't like people that not only can do their own job but can do the bullies jobs as well.

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HI mainstream has been a complete nightmere for us. My daughter13 and if i could of got her into a specialist school at beginning I would of. Finally school broken down for second time and this school say they can not educate A . I have not been able to work for 13 yrs constantly supporting sch on phone in meetings and supporting daughter due to massive anxiety.You are lucky in that there are more schools for boys, hardly any for girls. I think if you have the choice go look at AS schools. I am now looking round whole country and unable to find right thing at mo and my daughter out of school again.Get statement of special needs,you can request,appeal if declined,dont think people working in your favour, all about funding and budgets.get independent advice. I would never want anyone to go through what we have been through . Infant school is more able to cope but junior and senior , so many staff someone always says the wrong thing and meltdown again. Need specialist staff who understand and like our children.My daughter got to the point of strangling herself at school she was so stressed as they were all ignoring her trying to see if that worked, clearly it didnt ! My daughter has v high IQ two,but sadly unable to assess education at mo.

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When this thread was started, my son was just 1, hehehe.

By now he attends a Special school for the third year an we are very satisfied (e.g. 7 pupils per class, mainly because of their poor motor skills, and 2,5 staff).

Our mainstream school was very happy to provide us with all the necessary paperwork ...

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So your son's about a year younger than mine, Shnoing. Yes, my middle son's school really pushed hard to get him into special school because they simply weren't coping with him. Behavior charts show that he sometimes hit his TA about 40 in a morning or afternoon. He would bite and draw blood, and they phoned me at 13:30 or 14:00 to take him home. He's been in special school since February last year and his progress has been rapid because his behavior is vastly improved. It's education rather than just behavior management. There are 10 pupils in his class and he sits comfortably within the ability band, which I think is very dignifying for him. He's a much happier boy :)

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