Sigh. I don't know why I do it to myself. I've
just wasted a good hour looking at the local property pages, in full
knowledge that all Mr C wants is a country garden so he can buy a
sit-on lawn mower, and what I'd actually like is for someone to come
in and just re-decorate all of our house (apart from the kitchen) in
one go so it looks at least presentable. On top of that, I also know
that we can't afford to move anyway (have you seen property prices
down here lately?!), and even if we could, I don't know where we
could move to exactly, because that decision would need to be driven
by where the girls could go to school.
And therein lies the biggest
problem. What school can the girls go to? Just recently I've been
very aware of other parents doing the rounds of local secondary
schools open evenings. We are extremely lucky in this area that there
are several good schools and so it's not as if there is a really bad
choice. However, everything is different if you have a child with
Special Needs. I don't want to pull the old 'woe is me' line or make
anybody else feel bad, but it is simple fact that the decision for us
is so much more difficult. So difficult in fact, that I really wish
someone else would come along and make that decision for me.
For our
eldest it should be a relatively easy decision, as, unless we move, we
only have guaranteed entry into one of two schools – one Catholic,
one not.
I'm finding it hard though, to separate the decision for our
eldest away from the choice we may have to make for our youngest with
autism. For our youngest, there'd be so much to gain from going to
the same school as her elder sister – that familiarity,
understanding of routines and recognition of the buildings would be a
great basis from which to start. However, at this stage, with Sasha
only in Year 2, we have no idea if she is going to be able to cope
with a mainstream secondary at all, even if it was to be with a 1-1
support (which is not currently in her statement anyway, and you
wouldn't believe how difficult it is to get that changed – but
that's a whole other story!).
Sasha has managed admirably in her mainstream
infant school so far, and they have been extremely flexible and
encouraging with her. The 'SATs' testing for end of Year 2 will be
here before we know it though, and I haven't the faintest idea how
they are really going to grasp and get down on paper how much Sasha
has learnt and how she compares to the other children. We
have discussed how Sasha doesn't have a learning
disability, but we also agree that her PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) is a barrier to her learning. We're not sure we can define
her as high-functioning, but she's definitely not 'low-functioning'
(not actually a real phrase). We are currently waiting for a return appointment at Great Ormond Street where they will do more in-depth assessments (they had such a huge influx of referrals that there is now a 6 month waiting list) to help define her areas of strength and weakness.
Numeracy is definitely Sasha's thing
(although she's not a genius, let's not get stereotypical here!), and
she's had a love of numbers from an early age. Her reading has come
on in leaps and bounds, and she reads with good expression (when she
wants to, a very common PDA phrase). She very rarely agrees to write,
although I have been pleasantly surprised that she has agreed to
write her own spelling words for the past three weeks (being able to
choose and even copy the words herself has probably helped there to
be fair!). Everybody says that not being able to write shouldn't hold
you back in this day and age, but I'm not sure how true that actually
is. It's not as if she has picked up super fast typing skills to make
up for the lack of writing (although she can build a much better
Minecraft world than me...). So recording her work remains a big
challenge.
Mainstream secondary schools are just so huge (so
many pupils) that it would be difficult to see how they could give
Sasha the attention she needs. The environment would also prove
challenging for her – sensory issues are a common feature of
autism. The alternative to mainstream, which several SEN (Special Educational Needs) parents turn
to, private education, is likely to be impossible for us – quite
apart from the money issue (as mentioned at the beginning of post,
ahem), they do tend to expect a certain level of conforming and
'doing as told', neither of which particularly apply to Sasha. Private education might work for some though, so here's a good post from Who's The Mummy, asking 'is private school worth it?'.
My
preference would definitely be for 'inclusion' for Sasha – for her
to be able to attend the same mainstream school as her sister.
However, PDA is still relatively unheard of and I don't think many SENCOs,
let alone teachers, would fully understand it, and would be willing to make
the necessary flexible adjustments to keep Sasha motivated. Even if
they were, the huge task of educating her peers and the issue of
inevitable bullying would still need to be addressed.
So my current
feeling is that a Free School for high-functioning autistic children,
led by the National Autistic Society (NAS), would be the best
environment for Sasha to spend her years aged 11-18. Somewhat
cocooned maybe, but encouraged and educated by individuals who would
really understand and care about her, and enable her to develop her
full potential so there could be a chance of good society integration
as an adult.
Am I just dreaming? Well yes, it would seem so.
Currently there is no such school in our county, and despite the NAS
having opened schools like this already in other counties (for more information see here), our local
county council is dead set against it and are refusing to support the idea.
Apparently they are insisting that Hertfordshire already has suitable
educational places for high functioning ASD children. That is despite
the fact that there are not even any autism bases attached to mainstream
schools, such as exist in other counties.
In this county, the choice
is either mainstream, MLD/SLD special schools (moderate/severe
learning disabilities, neither of which Sasha has) or BESD schools –
behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. These BESD schools
are predominantly filled with male pupils with challenging (violent)
behaviour. NOT the kind of place I'll ever be sending my girl to.
Home educating is the final option, but for me it would definitely be
a last resort. I totally accept the views of parents who choose to
home educate, but I think lots of parents sympathise with me when I say I think my children work better for others. I
know for sure that there are lots of SEN children being home educated
simply because their mainstream setting was a complete disaster, and
there was then no other option. Funny how the council does not have
to record this fact – and also interesting to know that once out of
the education system, the council no longer has to pay financially
for any of these children (someone please do correct me if I'm
wrong....). Why can't we have an NAS Free School in Herts? Does it all come down to money again? The fact is though,
that the council would save money if the Free School was opened, as
there would be less parents going to tribunal (a costly legal
process) to win a place for their child at an educational setting
outside of this county than there currently are.
I cannot begin to
tell you how infuriated I am with the short-sighted attitude of our
county council. Whether the Free School would prove to be the right
choice for my girl or not remains to be seen, but I do believe
that all autistic children should have the right to an education where
there is a level playing field and they are able to learn without the
distractions a huge school brings with it. Even acknowledgment that we need some autism bases, and widespread training of teaching staff would be a small move in the right direction.
Can you help me? How do we change this situation? What should I do next?
What would you do?
