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Mainstream or Special?

Rachyjane1

Hi, not sure where to start really.  I live in Birmingham but actually fall under Solihull council and have a son aged 3 and a half in a mainstream nursery.  He was diagnosed with ASD a few months ago, although we suspected this for a while.  In the middle of the statementing process now, however, I am in a real pickle in wondering which school to send him to.  He has very limited speech.  He will come and ask me for things such as "computer on please" or "wheres drink?" etc but can't answer questions or have a conversation.  He is bright though and I don't believe he really has a learning disability.  He can recognise all the letters of the alphabet phonically and can recognise a handful of words.  He can't really draw or write, however if you ask him to spell his name, he can call out the letters in order and draw something that resembles the correct letters! He has sensory issues with certain noises but doesn't have routine issues.  I've looked at a few schools and although my local special school (Merstone) looks great, I can't help but worry that my son will start picking up unusual behaviours by mimicking whats around him.  Ideally, I think with a fab mainstream school thats supportive and with a good one to one worker, I really believe he will shine.  Sorry for rambling but has anyone else been in this position and what did you do?  Noone seems to be able to recommend a good local mainstream that is supportive with this as noone else has had the experience of it.  HELP!!!

Parents

  • Hey! The situation now is that we have had a proposed statement through and I had to sign and send back with preferred school on there.  I ended up going along with the Specialist school local to us.  We had one school not far away that was MS with a ASD unit but was over subscribed and had quite a poor ofsted report.  I viewed it and just knew in my heart that the best chance my son had was in Specialist provision even though I somehow feel he doesn't quite fit there either.  Reception year is classed as "early years assessment" and during this first year, my son will be constantly assessed and pushed to check if he has got any learning difficulities.  We don't believe he has but at least we know that professionals are working with him rather than a teaching assistant in a mainstream school that may not have full understanding or experience of ASD.  Don't get me wrong, it will break my heart when I take him on his first day.  Its a horrible thing to say but noone expects to have to send their child to a special school and neither do we want to but we have to do whats best for him and in our hearts we know that we are doing the right thing.  I'd rather start him at a SE school and then maybe progress into a mainstream rather than start him at mainstream, watch him struggle and then move him. Its such a hard decision but after speaking with my keyworker, I believe we've made the right one. Well, time will tell anyway!  

    There are just not enough provisions for children like ours and most people that work in the system will agree too.  Not severe enough for specialist but with communication issues, not quite right for mainstream either.  Tough choice.  Make sure you view as many schools as possible.  The specialist that my son is going to has an outstanding ofsted report, although you need to go and look at them to get a gut feeling.   It wasn't until I viewed all the other schools that I realised that the SE unit was the best.  Good luck.  Let me know how you get on!! x

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  • Hey! The situation now is that we have had a proposed statement through and I had to sign and send back with preferred school on there.  I ended up going along with the Specialist school local to us.  We had one school not far away that was MS with a ASD unit but was over subscribed and had quite a poor ofsted report.  I viewed it and just knew in my heart that the best chance my son had was in Specialist provision even though I somehow feel he doesn't quite fit there either.  Reception year is classed as "early years assessment" and during this first year, my son will be constantly assessed and pushed to check if he has got any learning difficulities.  We don't believe he has but at least we know that professionals are working with him rather than a teaching assistant in a mainstream school that may not have full understanding or experience of ASD.  Don't get me wrong, it will break my heart when I take him on his first day.  Its a horrible thing to say but noone expects to have to send their child to a special school and neither do we want to but we have to do whats best for him and in our hearts we know that we are doing the right thing.  I'd rather start him at a SE school and then maybe progress into a mainstream rather than start him at mainstream, watch him struggle and then move him. Its such a hard decision but after speaking with my keyworker, I believe we've made the right one. Well, time will tell anyway!  

    There are just not enough provisions for children like ours and most people that work in the system will agree too.  Not severe enough for specialist but with communication issues, not quite right for mainstream either.  Tough choice.  Make sure you view as many schools as possible.  The specialist that my son is going to has an outstanding ofsted report, although you need to go and look at them to get a gut feeling.   It wasn't until I viewed all the other schools that I realised that the SE unit was the best.  Good luck.  Let me know how you get on!! x

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