Primary school selection for autistic boy

NeutralHandle

My son is almost five. He was assessed as being autistic, level 2 in a social dimension and level 1 in a repetitive behaviours dimension. He was also assessed as being pretty intelligent, but behind with everyday living skills. He has speech apraxia, which makes it hard for him to be understood sometimes, but he has received speech therapy and this has improved, and I am hopeful it will not be a major issue by September.

We don't know what schools will be options for us yet, but there are two schools that we are primarily interested in.

One school is an educate together, with an autism unit. We were advised to look for a school with this. Although he is capable of engaging in mainstream education, the presence of the unit indicates a better awareness and attitude regarding autistic children's needs, as a rule of the thumb.

Another school is a steiner forest school. The high level of engagement with nature is an appealing aspect of this. There is a small number of children in the school, and most ages are mixed together. There is no special provision for autistic children, and I don't know what level of knowledge the teachers have. I'd be particularly interested in hearing from anyone who has knowledge of such schools, and especially any experiences of autistic children in them. I would be concerned in particular about a potential level of closed-mindedness that if present would make it hard to provide for his needs.

byhookorbycrook

I hope your boy and yourself find the right fit for school. I’d strongly recommend visiting any school you are interested in and seeing exactly what support they can offer .

I don’t like the Steiner school ethos , though a particular school might seem very attractive. I’d suggest you look very closely into it and see what you think .

byhookorbycrook

https://www.quackometer.net/blog/2012/11/what-every-parent-should-know-about-steiner-waldorf-schools.html

NeutralHandle

Thanks. Since I posted, I found info like that and we probably won't send him there. When I got the report, their advice wrt finding a school was also to go and meet the principal and get an idea of the individual schools, so we'll do that.

Acey10

I obviously don't know your individual circumstances but from a teacher perspective I would recommend a school with an autism class (the word unit is being phased out). Then your child could be integrated into mainstream at parts throughout the day. Often autistic children find the busyness difficult, not to mention the high class numbers in mainstream. I have worked in both autism and mainstream classes, and have welcomed autistic children into the class, but they know when they have had enough and can go to their own class where the ratio is 6:1.

I would also enquire about sensory areas, soft ball play areas and their outdoor area as autistic children often need more sensory input.

Best of luck.

NeutralHandle

We are looking at schools that have autism classes, as we were advised these schools would be more likely to have good knowledge and attitudes. The fluidity between mainstream and autism classes sounds good. I think the default option for him would be the mainstream but options and flexibility are good. Our first choice has great outdoor areas. Dont know about others. He likes being outside a lot and is used to having a lot of time outside.

byhookorbycrook

Schools that have autism classes usually have facilities such as sensory rooms and more SNA support. I would make an appointment with the principal as soon as you can. Autism classes are usually very much in demand so the sooner you talk to the school, the better.

NeutralHandle

Thanks again. We found a place that we are very happy with. Asked around and met the principals of a few. Heard very positive things and really liked the attitude we encountered. It does have an autism unit, but he will be starting in mainstream. For us we wanted that because its presence means the level of insight in the organisation overall is better.

Funny how your ideas can change so much. A year ago we were sure the steiner/forest place would be almost vital. Now we view it negatively.