Anderson School

Hi I am hoping someone out there might have any knowledge or experience regarding the National Autistic society's criteria for their school places.

My 10 year old son is in his last year at primary school and we were very pleased that the NAS opened one of their schools in Chigwell in Essex less than a mile away from our home.

We viewed the school and it is amazing.

We have applied for a place at the school for my son and have been rejected on the basis that he is not academic enough for the school.

My son is a high functioning autistic boy but struggles with basic reading and writing, 

My question is why spend so much money on a school for autistic children but only accept the ones that are high achievers, in my experience and after reading up on this subject these are the types of children that do ok in mainstream school as they only struggle with the sociable side of school life and can cope academically with their school work within a mainstream secondary school.

We are now struggling to find a suitable school for my son as special educational needs schools that we have visited that are within 10 miles are not suitable for my son as his needs are not as severe as the children that attend them., therefore we are concerned that he will fall further behind if not challenged.

Any suggestions would be welcome.