so my little ine has been diagnosed with autism and she is 3. i am reading a lot about schools and what is better for children that have been statemented. Mine is not but I will certainly bAttle that for her. when it comes to decisions though about mainstream or special how do u choose for them? I read horrid pAinful stories About mainstream but i also read about integration etc. what is yr opinion? Have you made that decision ans what was it and why? X

My son has Asperghaus symdrome and ADHD,he was okish at his main stream primary school with extra help but is really struggling in high school
Am now in doubt with him being in a mainstream school any more.
He's not statemented as yet but think that is the way for me to go or will have no chance of getting him into a more specialised school.

Hi my son is 5 and has asd he has a statement and has 15 hours a week one to one in mainstream ATM he seems to be coping ok (learning wise but he has no interest in other children so has no friends) but I fear he may struggle as time goes on so at his next statement review il be asking about a special needs unit. My daughter has global development delay and has been in a special needs unit for 5 years (she's 8 now) and i wish I had pushed for my son to go there as its helped her so much!! She's still has integration with mainstream and is a very happy popular little girl none of the mainstream children have judged her for being in a unit like I feared they might x

What about a combination of mainstream and a special education class? I have seen this work well with some children. It does really boil down to your child's overall personality. Some kids do great in a full mainstream class, others do well in a combination of the two while others flourish in a small class setting. I have seen all three scenarios. It also depends a lot on the school district. I would recommend least restrictive (mainstream) and if it's not working I would try the other two options. I am in the U.S. but there are Team Teaching classes where there's a general and special education teacher in the same class that teach side by side. Good luck with whatever decision you make!!!

My son is in year 1 and is in mainstream school. He has quite server autism, but is improving fantastically. He got statemented in pre-school and has cared over his 23 hours to mainstream. When he started he was not toilet trained, not speaking much and behind in his motor skills also. The reason we picked mainstream was as he was going to be with all his friends from school. Well not so much friends, but children he knew and could tolerate. Now he is talking about relevent things to what he's doing, toilet trained and has a friend, although he would be happy without this friend also. He is forever being invited to birthday parties, which is also fine, we just leave earlier if he's not having fun.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Its really difficult to decide as I suppose it depends on how each child copes as times goes. I think we will start with mainstream setting and move on from there. I will go and see some mainstream schools with attached autism units to see what feel I get from them. My girl is going to mainstream nursery since she was 8 months and she is 3 now and never had any problems, apart ofcourse from teh fact that she cant really form friendships , or do circle time etc. She is speech delayed but really making an efford to express herself and has from what i see so far good cognitive skills that seems in my eyes appropriate for her age.. so I think I will leave the special school option last until I see how she gets on

That's the best choice. I have been a special education teacher for close to 10 years and I always recommend starting out with mainstream and seeing how your child progresses both socially as well as academically. Lots of luck

My son is mainstream atm.Its not brilliant but the SN schools dont seem right for him either! x

My brother was in a mainstream school. They treated him like a monster! It made me sick the way the teachers treated him. He was always singled out from the rest class, and very badly bullied and when he tried to stick up for himself, he'd get sent home. They weren't interested in helping him at all, and he fell behind all the other children, Although he was in year 6 they put him in a class of year 3s! He even tried to end his life, his time at this particular school was so bad, which broke my heart. All the teachers had to say is that he was "selfish" and a "attention seeker". What a disgrace! Always make sure you do background research on a school. There is a silver lining, he has now moved up to secondary school. He is in the special needs unit and has improved dramatically, yesterday he even got moved up to a higher maths class, its so good to see him happy again. That extra help really does make a difference

My brother has Autism (he is now 20) and I am also a primary school teacher. My brother went to a mainstream primary school although he wasn't officially diagnosed until he was 8. The school did all they could for him and were great unfortunately things were not the same at secondary school. Although he remained in mainstream he did not get the support he needed and did not make the progress he should have done.

Now that was a long time ago so thought I would also give you my experience as a teacher. I work in a school where inclusion is key, we specialise in the care of children with visual and physical disabilities but in reality have more children with ADHD and ASD. Every child is treated as an individual and we do everything we can for all of the children no matter what their needs are. Unfortunately we still find that once they leave us and go onto secondary school things do not always work out as well.

If you can find a school where inclusion is important and the teachers have experience with different needs there is no reason your child cannot succeed in mainstream education. You could always give it a go and see how your child gets on. I would just be aware for when your child moves onto secondary school that it is very different- work with the primary school to find what is best for the child.

HTH