Autism and services in London.

[sarahbigg]

Good evening, Since i found this site it seems very active and exactly the place i should be posting on for much needed advice. We are currently living in Doncaster south Yorkshire and have been for the last 10 yrs, We have 6 children all girls that all fall on the autistic spectrum at different level's, 5 of them attend Main-stream and are able to cope quite well with support, But our Amy is very severe and can only attend school for an hour and 15 mins three morning's a week. Now Amy is 10 this year and does not seem to be progression in school what so ever, she spends the short amount of time there laying on a hammock flicking through magazines, We have so many meetings about her schooling and it really is a case of them not knowing how to find that connection, No matter what they have tried, she is so isolated and lost to autism they are running out of idea's, She has her I.E.P Which is so simple but school have yet to reach the targets set, what are the autism services like down London, here in Doncaster they are very few and far between and they seem to struggle to under-stand the severe side of autism, we need to give all the girls the best support we can find, I am wondering if we would get this in London? Any views or advice would be great Thank's.

[Barnesfan]

Hi Sarah, there are some fantastic SEN schools in London, including some autism-specific schools, and some mainstream schools with excellent SEN provision. But services and support do vary hugely. Does Amy have a Statement of Special Educational Needs?

[Otta]

There are schools kike spa school in Southwark which are asd specific.

There is a charity called Beyond Autism which has a couple of very small schools, but you'd have a fight on your hands convincing a local authority to fund it.

Lots of boroughs are giving out fewer and fewer statements, so it would help a lot if your daughter already had one which would be adopted.

[Ruffler]

Treehouse is a specialist school for autistic children and young adults in north London. Not sure if they have branches elsewhere. http://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/treehouse_school/index.cfm. You could also look at the special educational needs board on Mumsnet. http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_educational_needs

[the-e-dealer]

My boy goes to Elm Court - Very Good - and there is @The Link@ a fantastic school but expensive!

Doesn't an IE imply a Statement? Reviewing what you said the link might be the one. Funnily enough a friend with a daughter called Amie seems to be doing well at THe Link.