Specialist School Placements

meritaten

if his school doesn't want him - then a change of school is best. He will not get the support he needs at his current school. They have already told you they don't want to know!
I would phone around nearer schools and ask what facilities they offer to special needs children.
your son sounds as if a school who understands his needs and can cope with him could be found mainstream. Both my Grandson (Aspergers) his sister (also Aspergers) and my granddaughter (ADHD) have found schools which suit their needs - all within five miles of home. They are all mainstream schools but the heads are really aware of these issues.
Seems to me, your son just needs a school which will take account of his needs, provide a safe place for him and staff which understand his condition.

shegirl

shegirl wrote: »

Ds isn't a normal case at all but as there was nowhere in the city suitable (always been in special schools though),he's a very complex boy and he isn't able to be in class with others,he is funded for his own classroom with his own staff (currently three) and the curriculum and approach is completely tailored for him.This is in a special school.Because he's seperate from the other kids they can work with his ability.

So,although that's an extreme case (and it costs the LEA a bomb),it shows that it's possible to find alternatives.

D&#8517 wrote: »

Glad to hear he's finally getting the right support Shegirl he must be growing up too how old is he now?

He turned 14 last week:eek: Scary times lol

meritaten

dizzyblonde82 wrote: »

He is brilliant at reading and using a computer but when he finds things too difficult he hits out, throws things, swears and spits.

From the meeting I get the feeling that they feel if he could learn to deal with his behavioral issues and stress build up then he would find completing work easier.

He is advanced at reading and maths, he has some speech problems around pronunciation and thoroughly dislikes writing anything down.

His teacher says he often sits in his quiet corner in the class room but still picks ups what is being taught in the class, his memory is fantastic - unless you ask him what he did in school or what he ate for lunch

I am trying to do some more research into Attachment Disorder as I feel at the moment it is all being put down to me not bonding with my son when he was a baby. Due to financial issues I had to go back to work when he was 6 weeks old and my nan looked after him in the evenings whilst I work. 18 months ago I cut my hours down to school hours only so that we have lots more time together.

That is Bull - if every child whose mum had to go out to work developed Autism or Aspergers or ADHD then the class would be full of them! Its just another 'label' that some psychologist somewhere has done a study on and psychs have jumped on the bandwagon and thought 'great - another disorder we can blame on the parent'!

You 'bond' with your baby within days weeks or months - my bet is you fell in love on first sight. length of time of you going back to work is not down to 'bonding' - its down to finances.

sock-knitter

i have two sons with severe adhd, and aspergers, they went to specialist EBD schools, and did really well. one went to a local school, and one travelled rurther afield, but enjoyed the journey on the mini bus picking up others on the way. both sons are really bright and achieved more gcse's than my friends children who went to a mainstream school. class sizes varied between 3 and 6 children, and the staff were able to teach to the individual's abilities.
a lot of written work was typed up as they have trouble with a lot of handwriting. at the time i was very upset that they were excluded from mainstream schools, but in the end a specialist school was the best thing ever for them.

madjay

My DS has Autism and he went to a main stream school until he was about 7. it was felt he would keep up with the other. He now does to a specialist school for Autism and in a class of 8. He travel to and from school by mini Bus and they have own little PSP and DS Club on the bus while he travel. My DS's school classes are not graded by age but by ability and he has improve alot over the last three years there. Like you we was put into a position that he had to go to the specialist school but did not like it, but for my DS it has helped alot.

dizzyblonde82

Thanks for all the replies, we should hear about the school placement this week - If he doesn't get the place at the recommended school then the education board will be looking at out of county schools. We have been told that a mainstream placement is not appropriate to deal with my sons needs.

My son threw a door stop and smashed a window at school last Friday, I was told that he wasn't aiming at the window but the door stop bounced up after being thrown. The head teacher saw it as an accident and fortunately we have not been billed for the window.

Whilst discussing the incident at school I learnt that the Y3 and some Y4 are taught together so the class size will increase to over 30 and there will be some children who my son doesn't know.

We are trying to look at the move to a new school more positively and hope that my son finds somewhere where he can get the help he needs

Frith

I am also waiting to hear about my son's new school place. I think I will probably hear next week, though. :-)

I think a primary school with an attached asd unit will be most suitable for my son; they are just looking at his reports to see if he will be eligible.

dizzyblonde82

We all went to look around the special school today and it was great, small class sizes of 6-8 children, just 48 children in the whole school, and my son loved it

The Head did warn him that Friday afternoons are chill out afternoons where the children get to choose either computer, games consoles, watch a film etc but the rest of the week they have to actually do some work lol!

It was a nice relaxed atmosphere and the children looked like they were enjoying themselves. They take all the children swimming once a week and they also go to a sensory place once a week.

The journey wasn't as long as expected and we have been told that my son will be the only child from this area so he will go in a separate taxi so he won't have any extra delays from drop-offs and collections.

Feel so much better about things now and it was great to see my son so relaxed about this massive change.