Please note: the phrase ‘ASD’ stands for Autistic Spectrum Difference. ‘LEA’ stands for Local Education Authority.
Pupils with an ASD have 3 basic options when it comes to receiving an education. They can either go to a mainstream school, a dedicated autism unit or a special school.
Its my contention that there are not enough dedicated autism units in this country- its only possible to get less than half of the ASD pupil population into dedicated autism units due to a lack of places. I’ve discussed why I feel that every pupil with an ASD should have access to a dedicated autism unit placement in a seperate article – suffice it to say I believe it is wrong to deny a pupil what is potentially their best opportunity for an education and that educational choices should be about need rather than policy or finance.
I’ve also discussed why I feel that mainstream education is not always the best thing for a pupil with an ASD. In this article I’ll discuss why Special Schools are not always the best thing for a pupil with an ASD either.
What Is A Special School
A Special School is a school that caters for pupils with a disability that is so ‘severe’ that their educational needs could not be met in a mainstream environment. This covers a very wide range of disability, both physical and learning based. For a lot of pupils, Special Schools are an ideal solution to their educational need but for pupils with an ASD, this very diversity can cause problems:
Children with autism and Asperger syndrome have uneven abilities and it may not be appropriate for them to be in a setting for children with learning disabilities where it is assumed that abilities are equal across a range of subjects.
and
Boredom is a problem. There is no attempt to help interact- the unit is a communication disorders unit – the three (out of six) children with autism are often left out of activities…
These two quotes illustrate both the complex nature of an ASD and the simplistic approach taken by LEA’s and the Government to address the needs that arise from such complexity. It also indicates a worrying misunderstanding of autism on a very basic level.
ASD is not the same as other learning disabilities- IQ for instance is often completely unaffected in people with an ASD- and consequently, attempting to educate users with an ASD in the same way as people with other learning difficulties isn’t really a viable solution- its more akin to an admission that an LEA doesn’t really know what to do with that particular pupil.
Pupils attending Special Schools are also sometimes required to travel long distances. In the case of my daughter, our LEA suggested to us (with a straight face!) that our 4 year old daughter could be picked up by taxi at 8am every day to be driven 20 miles to the nearest Special School. We found this suggestion to yet again display a total ignorance of ASD’s- autism is partly a communicational and social disorder. Getting into a taxi with a stranger every day would cause nothing but upset to a young child who cannot communicate feelings. I can’t imagine the parent of a non-disabled pupil accepting this as a viable option for their children so why should parents of children with an ASD accept it? The implications for potential abuse are worrying enough on their own.
A Bad Fit?
I do believe that Special Schools are a bad fit for pupils with autism. Before our daughter was placed in a mainstream school, our LEA asked us to look around a local Special School. At that point we were of the opinion that a Special School would be ideal for our daughter- one assumes that a Special School would have the right sort of staffing and training to help pupils with an ASD easily.
Its fair to say that our preconceptions were totally blown out of the water- it was obvious that this Special School had little to no idea about how to deal with autistic pupils. Pupils were encouraged to be quiet which was very worrying to us as our daughter undergoes speech therapy where she is encouraged to speak. Pupils were expected to sit still for periods of up to 20 minutes at a time- for some pupils on the spectrum (particularly young pupils) this is akin to expecting water to flow uphill! The last activity of the afternoon was an hour of watching Tom and Jerry cartoons- the whole situation seemed more like glorified baby sitting to us. Most worryingly of all, there was a little girl there who was almost exactly the same as our daughter in terms of her presentation, behaviour and ability. This little girl was spoken to by staff on one occassion for the whole afternoon we were there. We realised immediately that a Special School was not right for our daughter- we wanted her to have an education where she was valued, encouraged and actually taught. Not one where she was sidelined and marginalised.
What Next For ASD Pupils?
Due to the unique nature of autism as a disability and the fact that intervention is achievable if the right teaching is in place, I believe that for a majority (but not all) of pupils with an ASD, neither mainstream schooling, not Special Schools are appropriate educational environments. In both these environments there is evidence that pupils with ASD ‘disappear’, or are so disruptive they are excluded. The simple-to-achieve solution of providing enough pupil places in dedicated autism units would ensure that pupils with the spectrum have the opportunity to attend an educational environment that is ideally suited to meeting their need.
In my last article in this series I’ll look at what I believe a specialist ASD unit should provide to pupils and try to find out what those that exist now actually _do_ offer.
Left Brain Right Brain 
I didn’t like the special ed classroom that was available to my ASD child at age 7, so I kept that child mainstreamed. I don’t know, what it was, exactly, but I think that it was too slow for my child, though xe had an IQ test her at 70 at age 6, the child could read at begining level at age 3 1/2. Xe never needed an aide in class, xe’s very passive and quiet, but distractible.
The mainstream classroom is far from idea, though, since there is so much distraction going on at times with far too many people talking at once.
I look forward to your next installment
Hi Keith
I too will be looking forward to the next instalment.
i will be ready more ,my daughter is in the same boat..
I think I probably agree with you Kev about generic Special Schools (though I do know people who are very happy with the education their autistic children are receiving in that kind of school). But some LEAs do run Special Schools specifically for ASD pupils. We are hoping that our 3-year old will be offered a place in one in the next year. I suppose it’s similar to the concept of the autism unit, except that it isn’t co-located with a mainstream school. They do have strong partnerships with local schools though and those pupils who benefit spend time in both mainstream and the ASD environment.
Know what you mean about the taxi ride though 😦
My son attends a small generic special school. We are more than happy with the school and know for a fact that the staff have an excellent understanding of autism. My son gets a 1 to 1 session each day, they are taken on little trips out to the local shops, park etc They have musicians and actors come in to school, go swimming etc I definitely don’t feel it’s a baby sitting service, my son doesn’t watch any TV so watching videos for an hour would be impossible for him he just would not be able to sit through it. We know he is happy and enjoys his time there. The atmosphere in the school is incredibly warm and open. I understand your experience of special education was negative and rightly so by your description but there really are GOOD generic special schools out there with incredibly dedicated staff – it’s not all bad and I think it’s important that this is recognized also.
Absolutely Clair. The important thing that the _choice_ is there but I totally agree that for some kids either mainstream or special schooling may be just what they need.