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Mainstream or Specialist schools.

NAS75657

My Son in year 2 recently moved from a mainstream to a specialist school. I am already seeing a positive difference he is happier, more settled and making more progress now. What type of schools do your children attend and which do you feel is best for them? It was suggested we put him in a specialist school from nursery but we wanted to give him time in mainstream with support first, he was happy and made progress but not once his 1:1, TA left in year 1 and was never replaced. . 

  • For my son, specialist school was the way to go. He did go to mainstream primary but things got progressively more difficult for him to cope with. It got to the point that he was absent for over a year and was completely overwhelmed.  As parents, we had to fight extremely hard and build a case to get him into a specialist school. It’s been 6 years since then and the difference it has made for him is incredible. He has access to education and the extra support he needs

  • My son had been diagnosed with autism today after a long drawn out process of trying to sort the support he needs. Our main concern now is to get the EHCP he so definitely needs as he really struggles with anything academic This is my dilemma now as I am worried we won’t get this in time for him to get into secondary school which is next September. I’ve been researching special schools as I think he will struggle in mainstream school as he struggles with understanding. Thank you for your post as it’s reassuring that you’ve had positive experience in special school. 

  • My son is nearly 11 and in state mainstream currently. He will transition to secondary in September. The Dr who did his EP suggested he would be better in mainstream as he is bright and specialist schools don’t always provide the same breadth of curriculum. We thought a small local independent school would be best for him but all Jose we applied to turned him down :-( So we are left waiting to see what state mainstream school he gets a place at when the places are announced on 1 March. He is saying he doesn’t want to go to one of the big schools - but to be honest he hasn’t visited any of them! We have just applied for an EHC needs assessment but the earliest we’d have one would be September and our LEA is notorious for rejecting them initially and is also many months behind statutory deadlines for assessing so could be years. 

    Neither my husband nor I are in a position to home school, so it doesn’t leave us many options. I do worry when I read these comments about how badly children have fared at school, but I will be one of those parents who is down in the SENCO’s office ensuring he is getting everything I believe he needs. I have a long list of “reasonable adjustments” and if I believe my son needs them I won’t stop til he gets them!

  • It really depends on the individual and what their reaction to school is. I have yet to come across any autistic person who has said that they enjoyed mainstream school, and most find it unpleasant to a greater or lesser degree. Both myself and my daughter are autistic and attended mainstream schools. While we both hated school, even though we are both good academically, we both think that having attended mainstream schools has toughened us and made us better equipped for dealing with the world and society.