Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi Everyone
My son is currently going through the ASD diagnosis and is finding it a bit difficult to focus in mainstream school, he is only 5 years old and currently have no issues with learning as such but finds it hard to use what he has learnt in a functional way.
I have been asked to look at specialist schools for him and have started visiting them but we do not feel that this is the right environment for him and we would like for him to stay in mainstream school with the right level of support.
Is anyone else facing this tough decision at the moment, I would really like to hear from parents who have faced the same challenge
Thank you
Hi, I was the same with my daughter. She is now 15 and had been in mainstream since primary school. Up til now that is.
Like you I wanted to keep her in mainstream because I didn't want her to feel different than her friends and peers. She only had a few close friends in primary and only has 3 friends in secondary school but stiĺl i thought I was doing right by her by keeping her in mainstream.
My daughter has moderate learning difficulties as well as autism.
Unfortunately the older she got the more it was noticeable that she wasn't coping, the meltdowns the school refusals, how she will often say the teachers don't get me. Basically socially and emotionally she isn't coping!! I've had to make that decision to move her to a specialised school.
Personally I wish I had done it sooner but as parents we want our kids to be happy. Her school would say we can meet her needs but unfortunately it never did.
Go with your instincts, do you think your son could be happy with the right support? Will his teachers support you both? Would he cope with a move after settling in with school and routine etc?
It's not easy. I wish you all the best of luck xx
Thank you so much for responding this is such a difficult time for us as we do not know what is best and we just want him to be happy in his environment and he is currently really happy in his school.
We visited a specialist school for him and felt that this was not the right setting as it was for kids who had Severe learning as well as severe physical disability, we do think in the right specialist school it may be better for him in the long run but we also want to see what happens when he gets the EHCP and the right support in mainstream. Everything is a waiting game and in the meantime it feels like time is being lost whilst waiting for everyone to make a decision.
I was told that if we do keep him in mainstream and he does have a EHCP then at any time as his parents we can request for specialist schools as there is a panel discussion every month not sure if this is really the case though as things never move quickly
The other challenge is that all specialist schools in the borough are either ''full'' or they do not fit the criteria.
Decisions ... decisions ....