Special schools or inclusion for special needs children?

Hi all,
Would like to know your thoughts on this subject,I have 2 boys which are special needs and have moderate learning difficulties,my boys have had experience of both schools and to be honest i would prefer them to be in a special school,but since they don't exsist anymore where we live this is kind of difficult.
I feel very strongly about this subject and made the headlines in our local newspaper a few years ago,because i was told i may find it very difficult to get my son the education he needed.
The mainstream school he was attending could no longer meet his needs,and it resulted in him not wanting to go to school,being bullied,getting hiself into trouble,and made to feel very inadequate.
I believe with the plans for inclusion,it will take away our choice as parents where our children are educated,I also believe that it will be with disasterous consquences and it will be the children that suffer not the politicans.
Our children may be sen,but they also have a right to an education that meets their needs.
Children in special schools are not forced to compete socially or academically with hundreds of other children,or made to feel different from their peers.
I feel that our children need these special schools,what happens when these plans for inclusion fail(which they will).
Our children are the future,I don't want to see any child forced back into a mainstream school.
Sal

When i was at high school we had a similar situation. One lad nicky , his mum was insistant he join our high school...it would have taken 15ooo out of the school budget per year for nicky as he need a full time nurse and teacher..

It ended up at downing street and reporters outside.

In the end the school gave in an sacrificed our music and drama building. Once they did that she said she didnt want him there so it was a waste of time. If he had gone there it would have been cruel...He would have been bullied mercilessly and have no friends. We would also have suffered as the school was becoming overcrowded and lacking in facilities.

I beleive Special school should always be here for the choice and wellbeing of the kids!

Alex
xx

Hi Sal
I really feel for you! My son has articular dyspraxia. We went thruogh hell with the education authority.
He goes to a special school. It is a very good school, but i wanted him to duel regisration with our local mainstream school. He did this for a while, but they were too interested in gaining high tables, rather than help the
special need, so he does not go there anymore.
The education authority is c**p. Children with special needs need more support!
Jules X

unfortunately special needs and mental health are the neglected areas of sociatey when it comes to budget planners!

unfortunatly so very,very true
Sal

Hi guys,
Forgot to mention,after we moved,we really struggled to find my youngest a school place,Why? because he has complex needs and not many mainstream schools would consider him,it took us 7 months to find a school that would take him,and this is what Mr Blair calls inclusion!
Sorry it makes me mad!
Sal

i dont believe inclusion works for all children. my son has sen and has always attended special schools (after me fighting for him). i get so angry with the system that tries to put our children in the wrong places and does not listen to the parents. my son's school has just done a u turn over what he can do at lunchtimes and breaks as he was being bullied by a child 2 yrs younger than him after we involved the lea. the lea are s***. would love to sue them when my son leaves school with no qualifications.

I think there should be a choice. Some kids do better in mainstream, some don't!! It should be up to the child/parents to be able to decide.

I happened to work in an amazing mainstream school, in a poor area, that did amazing things for kids with additional needs. They worked very hard at inclusion, and it payed off. They got an amazing Ofsted report. There were kids with all kinds of additional needs and disabilities working alongside, your average Joe (or Joanne )!

If there are no special schools, make sure you thoroughly investigate all the mainstream schools around you, you may find somewhere as good as that place.

Taken from http://www.woodchurchhigh.com/welcome.html

My oldest son is now 23 but he has moderate to severe learning difficulties and behavourial problems. He started in a 'special' school and everything was fine - then it became the trend to integrate into mainstream schools. This was a total disaster all round.

I spent years fighting it, but got nowhere. In the end my son lost out because the mainstream schools although having pupil support didn't have the means or experience to deal with him. He got left behind big time and learned nothing (they didn't even pick up the fact that he was dislexic - this came to light when he was 19 !)

It also had a 'knock on' effect with the rest of my children. Our village school was very small and was like an extended family (my kids totalled 10% of the school population of 4 - 11 yr olds). Anyway, it caused problems for my other kids and I ended up removing THEM from the school and taking them to another school 5 miles away - a journey I had to do twice a day for about 9 years.

It should never have happened and I will still argue the case today. With all the good intention in the world special needs kids need specialist schools. It ISN'T discrimination - its giving them the right to the appropriate education and also the mainstream kids don't have their lessons disrupted.

In fact, I'm all for bringing back 'streaming' - I think thats half the problem with schools today - but thats another debate.

we must be lucky where we live i use to be a mid day at the school for children with dificult problems just around the corner from me , and at my sons school there are two children in wheel chairs and one with a problem [ i dont no what ] but here parents are given the choice as to which school bes suits their child which i think is great as only parents no what their capable of not always teachers no best