Has anyone moved a child from mainstream to special school

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We think its coming to the point where this may have to happen for our son who has aspergers and adhd, im worried that if he is always with other kids who have the same problems he will regress in some ways, but then again im worried that in mainstream secondary he will get bullied. We are so confused, I was just wondering if anyone else has done this and whether it worked out to be the best thing or not for their child, thanks in advance. He is 8 years old by the way, thanks.

We have not moved our son, but have friends who have. In both cases they moved to a private special needs school and in both cases the families love the school and believe they really did the right thing for their child. Those children are thriving, and I know this because they have siblings still in school with my other kids. I've seen no regression in either; just the happiness of finally succeeding. I do think we are lucky to have such a lovely special needs school available, and that much of the kuddos goes to it being such a special place, but I do not believe it is the only school of its kind in the country.

It is difficult to predict how any change will play out, but remember that every child can and should do well with school, when given the right opportunity. When the school situation isn't working for your child, you know it, and should change it. When the school situation is working for your child, you also know it. Predicting which school will create which result is the hard part, but since you seem to know you need to make a change, I'm not sure there is much to lose. Research your alternatives carefully and follow your gut as to which the best choice will be.

My son, who is a good bit older than yours, is in a private school. When he was in a "typical" school, he was so anxious that he was starting to regress and his functioning was not optimal. When he switched to a "special" school, his anxiety level dropped so much that he was able to function much better, hence he was no longer regressing. Was it the "best" decision? We'll never know - we can't run the parallel universe with both outcomes, in order to compare. We're very happy with the decision we made, and so is our son. At a good school, the staff makes every effort to make sure that students are learning positive behaviors, and not picking up bad habits from each other. They are also generally experienced and skilled at guiding students, rather than at just nagging them and making them shut down. Of course, like any place, there are better and worse teachers, but if it's time for a change, check out your options.

Hm, it really depends on the child. My mom decided to send me to mainstream school (with an aide) even though I could have easily gone to a special school with my moderate (at the time) Autism because I was really good at mimicking people at the time and my mom thought that it was better to see what appropriate behaviour was and I could mimic it. Yes, I got bullied, and I didn't really have any friends until high school. But I learned so many more social skills from those tough situations and now I have friends who accept me. This could not be the right situation for your son though. Talk to your son's school and see what they'll be willing to do to help your son. If it's not much, then I would recommend a special school.
Also, the change to a special school might be hard. That's a change in routine, and you should expect it to be hard for the first little bit while he changes.

I know someone who had a rough time in a typical public school and then transferred to a private school. He didn't/doesn't have Asperger's Syndrome, but he did have some other problems.
At first he seemed to be doing much better; in fact, I would say that the private school was a much better environment for him in many ways. However, it didn't solve the long term problems; those continued unabated all throughout high school and then college. Meanwhile, the private school cost a lot of money.
I guess the point is that changing schools can sometimes just be a matter of creating a different context in which a problem can occur, and it's important to remember that problems need real solutions.

Our daughter went from a mainstream school to a special needs school. The change has done her a lot of good. Yes, she's now with other kids who have problems similar to hers. Rather than causing regression, what has actually happened is that the teachers are very knowledgeable at how to teach around those problems because it is what they do all day every day. No regression. All progress.

Thanks for all the replies.

Janissy, thats really good to hear. The school are managing him at the moment and he has full time support. I just cant see him managing secondary as he is in his own little world and will only talk about his interest. He cannot put pen to paper even though its all there in his head - he also has behaviour and hyperactiveness problems. Im just really scared that if we ask for him to be referred to special school that its the wrong thing for him and will affect his future etc.

I guess we will only know what will happen if we try it. Thanks again.