# Autism and education choices:mainstream or special school?



## Fluxuspoem

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


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## vixxen

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:wacko:
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.


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## g3mz

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


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## Courtney917

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!!!


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## mummy2o

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.


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## Fluxuspoem

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


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## Courtney917

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 :)


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## Midnight_Fairy

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


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## Kloe

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 :)


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## Mrs S-M

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


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## Midnight_Fairy

Mrs S-M said:


> 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

Totally agree, we have huge issues with mainstream sometimes but we work together. I have friends with kids in the best SN schools and even they have problems, its just the nature and complexity of autism I suppose. We are looking at other options for secondary, my son will not cope with mainstream secondary without an additional support unit. xx


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## Tiff

We're in that boat as well right now actually. We'll be starting Claire's IEP this month argh: ) and I'm so nervous about it. The school actually has an Autism specific class but I'm not sure if that's right for her. It won't always be available, iykwim? 

I think your best bet is to talk to whatever school your kiddo will be starting in. Ask them questions on how they are prepared to deal with the special needs and what they have in place for extraordinary students. Take tours of the classes on both aspects (if you have a SN class available to you) and question, question, question.

You are your kiddo's biggest advocate, don't be shy to know exactly what you guys are in store for! :hugs: Its tough, I will let you know how ours goes. I was so afraid of how it would be I actually kept Claire out of school for one year to give her a bit more time to develop and mature. Currently she's 4 with the developed skills of a 2.5 year old. :hugs:


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## Babycakes92

My brother has classic autism, he attended a special pre-school at aged 3 and then went to mainstream schools from 4 onwards. He received extra help from a special needs teacher within the schools. He is now 16 and about to sit his GCSE's in a mainstream high school. His teachers are all aware of his autism and he has access to extra help if he feels that he needs it. My mum never had a doubt that he wouldn't be able to cope with mainstream schooling if he had extra help available.


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## twinmommy1

My son is 3 years old and has recently been diagnosed with Autism. He is a twin and when we took him and his sister to the open evening for mainstream school (after having already secured him a place in a speacialist autism unit), we were told that we had made the right decision as they did not have the facilities or knowledge to cope with him. My son is now in a specialist unit and he hasn't really been there long enough for us to see any real progress so far. But I am happy in the knowledge that he is around teaching staff who know how to cope with him and are not going to view his behaviour as naughty. He is completely non-verbal and is unable to feed himself and I didn't want him to stick out like a sore thumb in mainstream. He seems so happy where he is and the staff are fantastic so I feel like we have made the right choice x


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