My daughter was in a mainstream school she was bullied. The staff didn't accept her diagnosis ,it was awful we struggled every day to even get her through the gate. I moved schools to a smaller school with an ASD unit .the transformation is amazing my little girl is so much happier. Ashes learning at her pace and feels very included in all aspects off school. The staff are amazing we were so lucky to get a place.i believe all schools should have an autism unit with in also teachers need retraining in all aspects of special needs.that way every child would benefit even ones who haven't been diagnosed yet.💞💞💞💞
I wish I never went to mainstream schools, I was told to get out of the class room for being quiet in secondary school by teachers. I continued to grew a dislike to peers and teachers as they were equally vile as each other, one of the teachers said I had a rare illness, I only heard this from another person telling me this, after he told me to get out for being quiet.years later I heard they where going to fire him, because he would lock people in classrooms and leave, he found out about this and quit before he got himself fired. His name was really hard to pronounce, people called him Mr Shagit because it sort of sounded like it. I spent most of the time on my own just drawing video game characters like Super Mario character pictures.
This was a great video! I think that should be more funding for autism schools but I also believe that there should be more autism programs within mainstream schools. I was diagnosed with autism when I was 13 months old. I had specialists come to my house from when I was 1 and half to when I was 3 years old. Afterwards I went to an autism pre school from when I was 3 to when I was 5 years old. After that I went to a mainstream school for elementary school and I had a para who would follow me around all day and I went to a learning zone program with other people on the spectrum for part of the day. When I was in middle school I had these same things but I was also given special testing accommodations such as extra time and a distraction free environment. In high school, I didn’t need the learning zone program or my para anymore but I still needed my testing accommodations. Now I’m a freshman in college and the only thing I need is my testing accommodations. Anyway, that’s my story. Keep up the great work! 👍😀
I have only recently diagnosed (finally) with ASD. I am 59, and went through mainstream school in the 1960s and 1970s. Special education in America was just beginning, and was only for people with intellectual disabilities. I was tested in kindergarten and in first grade and was found to be well above average IQ. As a result, I was mainstreamed. Teachers labeled me as disruptive, difficult and often lazy, because I literally could not be still (sent out of the class to coat closet for hours). I also just couldn’t get maths. It took me 3 years to pass algebra. While I always passed other classes, I would literally freak when I saw formulas with a lot of numbers, brackets, parentheses etc. I had No Clue what I was supposed to do. I had no friends and was bullied all the way through. I think that if a child/adolescent can function in mainstream classes, they should be allowed to. I think that there should be classes designed for autistic children to address issues specific for autistic (social, communication skills etc). I don’t think children on the spectrum should automatically be placed into special education classes or be forced to only get a special education diploma. This dooms people on the spectrum to not be really able to compete in the job market. It would be perfect if the necessary ASD specific classes were in mainstream schools, enabling those with ASD to be included with NT students, instead of excluded. Although we are different than NT people, we need to be able to function in a neurotypical world.
Thank you for this video Dan! I think autism school is a good thing, but I also think that mainstream schools should start programs for people on the spectrum or with learning difficulties. My first time in a mainstream school was a big failure because my teacher and the school staff had no idea how to deal with me and didn't want me back the following year. Following this experience, I went to a specialized school with kids who had learning difficulties or weren't successful in the mainstream school system. I spent 4 years in this school before returning to a more mainstream school system. However the school staff was very hesitant to let me in because they reportedly had too many kids with learning difficulties, but my parents had the last word, they gave it a shot to me for a week and then I got accepted the following year. The first few years were obviously difficult but the staff was very supportive to me, which is the main reason the experience was ultimately successful. In the next few years, this school started a special program for students with learning difficulties. Apparently I was an inspiration to start this program, which makes me feel grateful for making the school system advance. On this note, I think children on the spectrum can go to a mainstream school, but they will require enough support to make their journey successful and comfortable.
I was sent to a specialized school for my junior year in High School, and I absolutely could not stand it. The majority of students were also the "acting out" type as well as not going over very advanced learning material. There was basically no one on the spectrum in staff so none of them truly under it (it really makes a difference) so as a result the curriculum was so behind and it was not challenging a bit. no one really handled them correctly and it was VERY punishment focused and not improvement focused. what you need to do, if anything, is research the school and see if it's well equipped to suit your needs. it's also a good idea to know how qualified the staff are as well. if they're basically a school version of prison (we were literally searched every morning) I do not recommend. but if it's well run with competent people (huge bonus if some employees are autistic) do consider it and see whether it would work, and especially not hold you back academically.
Thanks for opening up the discussion. In Los Angeles, my son's elementary school had a great program where he would be in the mainstream class part of the day and a "special education" class part of the day. The special class was a mixed group for all grades in the school but, for my son, became limiting after the first couple years. We've struggled through several schools trying to find the right fit for our son. The main issue with mainstream schools is the way they cover multiple subject per day but, also the environment isn't good for people who get visually and auditorily overstimulated. I understand why teachers like to have the children's art work and projects displayed everywhere and cool posters of educational value but that left my son unable to concentrate and quickly tired/shutting down. At one school, they had staggered recesses so, while my son was in class trying to focus, there were kids outside laughing and yelling. When my son was 9, he took the placement test for a 2-year/junior college and qualified so we pulled him out of the mainstream elementary school. Because of his age, he's only allowed to go part-time but he blossomed in the environment. The walls are blank. The halls and classrooms are quiet. The pace is quick and he focuses on 1 or 2 subjects per day very intensely. He's never been happier in class. The downside is the lack of social peers. Everyone else in his classes is 18 years old or more. He's going to finish Calculus 1 and Physical Geography this coming semester when he's 12 years old. He's a straight "A" student in college but he's lonely. We're going to try an advanced, mainstream high school next year that seems to have an environment more like college and does offer college-level classes. A school that catered to aspies would be fantastic but I don't know if mainstream is ever going to be the right path for my son. We'll try it for a year.
In sweden we have regular schools with autism classes and they have their own schedule, their own special teachers etc (sometimes people who also work at children and youth psychiatric care clinics). Not all school have these, but some. Which I think is pretty good. There are also schools meant for autistic people too. I wish I wouldve at least gone to a class meant for autistic people. It wouldve been so much easier for me, I dont think ill ever not be sad that I didn't get that opportunity
Yes I totally get you, I also think I would have benefited from a specific learning needs class. Thank you so much for the comment! Please subscribe to my channel to see more videos from me :).
I am an Education Assistant in a special needs class...specifically Autism and our kids do go to mainstream classes but just modified...I think being around typical peers is good!!!
I go to an autism highschool, which has around 35-42 people in it. The 7 years (not including all the time I spent off) I was at mainstream I didn't really learn much, and it was terrible in every way. Pretty much everyone I've met at this school are happy not to be at a mainstream. Now I can actually learn and joke about with classmates, instead of not being able to talk and forgotten about all the time.
I’m autistic and selective mute so people always make fun of me at school but I do have 1 friend he is very kind and he helps me get through the day I wish I could go to a school where the teachers knew what to do with me, they say they don’t understand me and have no control over me.
I wish i had never been in mainstream in the way i have been. Im in year 11 and only just about to start getting proper 1:1 specialist support (i have been getting SEN support for a while). I probably would have benefited from a specialist resource base in a mainstream school, as i am fairly intelligent but just struggle with actual school and the lessons to the point where i need a lot of support, and at the moment until i get it i cant attend all my lessons and i have really bad anxiety about school because i have effectively been traumatised by it. however my SEN wasnt identified until about 18 months ago. I think it depends a lot on the student, i think good SEN teams/units within mainstream is the best for most autistic students, but they are hard to find and get access to.
I love your point of view. I live in the states, my son is 6 and in a main stream public school. He’s very HF but socially it’s very hard for him. I fear the middle school years. I’ve thought about a school after 5th grade for ASD kids. After hearing you, I agree. We want mainstream. If they could have more supports mentally and social groups in public school that would be awesome!
I like your idea about the marriage of the two, and it would be nice to see a conventional school that is sensitive to others needs and differences. I hope everywhere will be one day.
I envy the fact that there are even schools that are specifically designed to teach autistic children, given that I was raised in special schools most of my life all because I had a developmental disorder when I was 2. That children are getting screened for autism with better tools at our disposal makes me wish I could have been born a child with autism now than wait for years to be diagnosed with autism as an adult. I pray that the teachers of these schools are more compassionate with the children than the counselors and teachers I had to deal with in my years of special schools.
Great video and well worth opening up the discussion. In general, I agree with your main points....there is a definite need for a whole lot more integration, however the specialist knowledge and facilities that Autism/Special Needs Schools can be very specific and so hard to integrate into mainstream schools in the way they currently operate. Having said that I feel that the whole education system needs a radical overhaul if we are going to produce new generations of humans who can deal with the humanitarian, ecological and climate crises that we have worked our way into. The current education system is built to sustain an industrial system with an emphasis on control and competition that is either defunct or now responsible for much of the ecological problems we face. Mainstream schools need to focus on empathy, collaboration and problem-solving; a lot of this is done in Special Needs schools, so in some ways, i think my argument is to scrap mainstream schools and learn from all the great practices in Special Needs and Autism Schools! having taught in both, with most of my experience being in SEN schools, the more we embrace each other differences and empathise, the better! I have struggled with these questions throughout my career. In frustration with the education system as is, I walked away and am now happily developing an Adventure Playground in which I am working to provide a space for all children to express themselves in environment much more in tune with educational pioneer Maria Montessori, giving kids of all stripes the opportunities to explore their individual genius and work towards Maslow's ideal of 'Self-Actualisation'; which is a lot more fun! I am also trying to bring more play into schools with a communication toybox system I developed through working with many Autistic children who were unable to communicate...I found a lot of time they had the ability, they were just not motivated enough! Find the right motivation and it is quite amazing what wonderful communication can take place! Thanks for all your work on this channel, great stuff!
I was also diagnosed as an adult. I had problems with school from the beginning. In preschool I would cry cry till I threw up everyday. My mom took me out after 2 weeks. I remember sitting there and watching the other kids and think what am I supposed to do. I literally couldn't engage with them. Later on I started masking and it was just exhausting and frustrating and I felt like a failure. I also had issues with following certain rule and dealing with teasing. I did fine with the academic stuff though. I eventually dropped out of school. I may have benefited from an autism school where it wasn't painful just to be there. I wonder if putting an autism school in a mainstream school wouldn't just aggravate parents. Some parents freak out when a kid has a nut allergy and their kids can't bring peanut butter to school. Adjustments for autistic kids might not go over well.
I’m on the spectrum and I’ve also been employed as a SEN Careers Adviser in the past, carrying out assessments and writing reports to secure funding so young people can attend specialist colleges. All that’s changed now, there isn’t much money sloshing around the system and getting the correct educational placement isn’t about what is right for the person it’s about what is available locally and as cheaply as possible. There was one school I worked at which had a specialist SEN unit attached to the school and pupils could dip into mainstream if it was deemed appropriate and if they wanted to usually PE and art. Most of the other schools had these units but the idea was to get them into mainstream as soon (and as cheaply) as possible. Sadly this rarely worked those flourishing in the unit when transferred into mainstream didn’t, but due to numbers of students’ coming through they couldn’t go back. I don’t know what it’s like now but ten to twenty years ago SEN money was regularly siphoned off and used in other school projects such as aiming to raise grades for those on C-D borderline. Parents expect to see the school achieving and bettering it’s A-C grades each year in the media, special needs young people don't get a mention.
My son is in a regular school and has a one-on-one. Plus, he’s in a smaller class for reading and math. He’s mainstreamed for the other subjects and lunch.
Hi Dan. I don't know enough to have much of an opinion regarding the merits of autism schools. However, speaking as a 37 year, diagnosed aspergers at 13 (1995), who went to mainstream school and did have extra support, I don't think I learnt anything about making friends at school. Being around people all day meant that I needed break times to myself, and my social life outside school consisted of just latching onto my parents middle-aged friends being the safe, easy and comfortable thing to do. So not everyone on the spectrum will learn stuff socially from being in mainstream school, in fact I don't think I learnt much at all by 'picking up' things that weren't taught from the front.
I have been in 8 different school settings, in four different sectors. In all schools, I have had the same problem I have high needs but I also have high IQ (something like 140 +). All schools have bullies and social situations and all sectors have good and bad schools. I think that the most important thing is not necessary for the setting but the level of personalization (taking you as a person, not parts all sectors (health, social and education) have an issue with) and what external service people are willing to use. It is also very important that they understand that you also have to live, not just do school and appointments, balance is key. the majority of SEN schools are in the private sectors and funded by EHCPs, I do think to have smaller units that are linked to mainstreams and mainstreams that are more willing to make their environments accessible (this does not just mean wheelchair access, the main thing is attitude and then other stuff like getting rid of those stupid lights and sound insulating their walls) would be a good solution. I currently do 1 hour of school a day at mainstream sixth form (75 people in my year so tiny) with a 1-1, but I also have a wide variety of outside services involved. Not getting the help and support that I needed have made life even harder than it needed to be, also not being believed really make things hard. Us fighting the local authority was part of the reason why they are creating an Autism pathway. I have always fallen through the gaps even when people know and recognize I need the services. with me, people think they have a rule book and they can follow it but really they need to throw it out the window and write a new one. The key things are: 1. Service communicate 2. It's personalized 3. The person is asked 4. They are allowed and supported to have a balance 5. You look honestly, without judgment at their needs and gifts, and meet both of these. Hope this makes sense
I think it would have been helpful to me to have been able to go to a school that could have helped me. I had so many issues at public school, not that the work was hard, it was easy, just monotonous and booring, but the bullying from other kids and even some teachers was really bad. It wasn't just teasing and name-calling, I was physically attacked many times. Later on I tried twice to go to college and both times I just couldn't set foot in the door because my anxiety went through the roof. I learned later that I actually have PTSD, and with it being strongly indicated that I may be an Aspie on top of it, you can see just how horrible of an issue it has been for me. Yet doing my own research and study is no issue. I can list over two dozen different subjects (some related to each other, many not related at all) which I have studied nearly my entire life starting with dinosaurs (Paleontology) at age four. But independent study gets you nothing because society requires college attendence and paper certification to prove you know or have any training in anything. But all anyone sees of me is being a high school drop-out with a GED... Thus to everyone I am stupid and lazy...
My daughter goes to a mainstream school and hates it. However she refuses the idea of going to a specialist school. I worry because she seems lonely in school. Maintaining friends has been her biggest struggle.
My mainstream experience was really hard, I not only have autism but pda (pathological demand avoidance syndrome) and (self-diagnosed) selective mutism so I stayed in the background and sadly my pda and anxiety stopped me from actually attending, it's heartbreaking because I love learning but mainstream school just doesn't have the means to accommodate me. I had neuro-typical friends but it's not just social difficulties that effect people. Teachers can be so mean because they don't understand and it's not really their fault, they were not trained BUT I was diagnosed, they should have some basic grasp of it because I am not the only person with autism in the school and they will psychologically damage the people. I'm trying not to fully blame them but they don't make it easy because they can't spend half an hour online? I really just don't see how this is allowed to happen. But that's just my opinion.
I went to one autism school during the summer (they have one summer holiday/vacation). It was alright. All the students have some form of autism (some can’t talk). Their were differences from the school I went to a mainstream school with special ed programs; the autism school doesn’t serve the students food, so the kids bring their own lunch.
My school has this thing called learning support and a class for kids that need a bit more help and a lesson for us to get more help or catch up on work
Me and my mother had a conversation about this subject a while back. She was talking about how she went to check the local school for autistic people before i started education. She was telling me that some of the children there were VERY severe in terms of behaviour. My mother's worry back then was that if those children kept having meltdowns in the class or playground, i would eventually get caught in the crossfire and get hurt. But i personally think that the mainstream primary and high school i actually went to were much worse than what any special needs child could ever do to me. Whenever i got a panic attack, a meltdown or complained about something. Most teachers and students were never very nice to me. Ofcourse im sure there are plenty of autistic people who have had an good enough experience in mainstream schools. But when i think back to my school days, i really wish i did not beg my mother so much to stay in mainstream school.
Allan The Sheune myself and my mam had the same problem she looked for an autistic school for me too and thought a smaller class would be easier and she was right! But everywhere was for moderate-severe or profound rather than mild like myself. For that i was stuck with my mainstream and it was horrible!
This is litrally a debate I am having at the moment. My little girl is 5 and struggling in mainstream emotionally and mentally but yet because she is up go the educational level she needs to be at the mainstream school are saying she doesn't need additional support so she's being left to self cope, shes pulling her hair and biting her nails until they bleed. I just wish I could help out more and understand her more. Maybe autism school is the path we need to go down
I'm an undiagnosed teenager (going into year 11 in September) and even though I have no diagnosis I still have access to some of the support as I have bad social anxiety and struggle with social interaction.
Autism school Do You Think It's A Good Thing? Tldr: No, not if you're high functioning. This feels so good to get off of my chest. I've been bottling this up for years.. I apologise in advance for the long post and how It may seem off topic in places. I feel that I have to briefly list my life events along with my experience at the Autism school, as I find it hard to separate and explain this topic without going into my past.. Background. I have P.D.D (Pervasive developmental disorder), Dyspraxia, making me a part of the autistic spectrum. I was bullied in primary school and then severely bullied for the first year in secondary school for being the vindictive troll that I was. I chalk this up to both nature and nurture. Even when I stopped behaving this way other people went out of their own way to attack me. I was constantly betrayed, had abandonment issues, gaslighted, suffered with an physically and emotionally abusive father who used extreme force instead of explanations to "teach" me right from wrong. I have a selfish, toxic mother who hid her intentions by feigning ignorance and masking her true intent by pretending to act positive and she manipulated me through her actions. In hindsight she definitely seemed like she displayed traits of munchausen syndrome by proxy. My parents certainly suffered an equally and at times a worse childhoods than me. (Personal note to would-be parents: If you have unresolved childhood issues, anger management problems etc... then either go into counselling or use a rubber as you will not be fit to be parents. Children never asked to be brought into the world and so they deserve to be raised properly, with your best foot forward to coach them through life. Without fear of violence or aggression from you, whether it is passively or direct.) I was shipped off to a N.A.S School (National autistic society) boarding school without warning after being removed from secondary school due to almost committing sui****.and because of an altercation with a school bully.that almost resulted in d*ath and/or my imprisonment by age thirteen. Upon reflection the NAS school was a great place for children with moderate to severe autism, however it was terrible as the educational system was dumbed down.and/or pushed back (eg didn't learn about s*x ed until year 9) they did however prioritise independent living skills. The other issues I experienced with this special boarding school are as follows; you were always shadowed by a teaching assistant, if you are a known trouble maker then you were always blamed or Gaslighted to make it easier for the staff to fill out their paperwork, no exams.. so when you leave the special school you don't have any qualifications or job experience, you were forced to attend activities until I learned to either be violent (and lost privileges) or I performed a silent protest, you were treated like a severely autistic person and spoken down to by 50% of the staff there which was so dehumanising.. it effects me to this day and as well made me feel like that I was no better nor any more capable than the majority of severely autistic teenagers at the school. I was by no means a saint as I briefly mentioned but I didn't deserve this. To this day I ended up fearing authority figures like all of my ex girlfriend's parents, teachers, police, my bosses out of fear that I will either be beaten or gaslighted into receiving a punishment, even though I have done nothing wrong or made a mistake.. as 90% of these people in power within my life were toxic. The cherry of top of this "cake" during my time at the school was that the head teacher of the boarding school portion of the autistic school. Mr. Gaslighter himself!.. was arrested for possessing explicit material of children on his computer... Oh, and he just so happened to have a criminal record for having an altercation with an underage person before he applied to be at the school. I managed to leave that school when I was sixteen instead of twenty-one. This's because my mother saw a positive change in my attitude and finally felt guilt for my situation, so she secretly enrolled me into my local college on a day release scheme whilst on summer break (She finally stopped lying to me, as she used to say that she couldn't do anything about taking me out of the autistic boarding school because the government said she she will go to prison otherwise >:/ ). The Autistic school was strongly against me going to college for whatever reason and I had to have many meetings with them because of it.. They also refused me from attending a local mainstream school on a day release scheme a few years prior, despite the fact that there was one other student in the whole school doing this.. Their reason for me not attending was because.. "Everyone was currently doing exams and I would only fall behind") This all happened between 2000-2005 I don't know if the NAS school system has had any changes since then but that particular special school allowed students to attend a special unit at the local college after I left. Also my bully of a key worker quietly passed away in the night from a brain tumour.. A few years after I left. So this was my experience in a nutshell. All in all it's a great place for autistic people who're moderate to severe but for the ones who're high functioning I would argue that sending them to an Autistic School would be condemning them to a bleak, unqualified, potentially socially withdrawn, future. Feel free to ask me anything.
Heyy!! Thank you for such interesting insight! Thank you so much for the comment! Make sure you are subscribed and have the notifications turned on :).
I was diagnosed with aspergers when I was nine and had been going to a mainstream school for a few years by that point, and even though I fucking hated the school part, I don’t think I would be as social as I am now if I was going to an autism school. There is no perfect solution , but I believe that an autism school would not have been the best option for me.
Went to mainstream had an assistant in the classroom and it didn’t benefit me at all! I didn’t learn any social skills making me more vulnerable in the real world. Was expected to behave like i was 25 but was treated like i was 6 years old at 15 it sent me mixed messages. Stood up twice and was sent to my year heads office twice for being a smart ass. Personally I think an autistic school with mainstream curriculum would be better and maybe in a smaller class environment This was better for me education wise I didn’t need an assistant at that point and in uni my classes have a small no of people which i also like as it’s easier to function. However i was badly bullied in my small class at school so overall school was hell! After the assistant went was horribly picked on no other words!
Same story. Even year before (2011) I had so many gains in social and academic; they weren’t impressed. You’re so right (2012) they don’t teach you the social skills, academic, what is the teacher or the assignment/tests are saying, no life skills. In fact they do teach you anything there may just be two in-school supence classes. Is there any reason why I’m so anxious now?
Where I live in America we have special classes within the mainstream schools. My son needs the emotional and social skill support. He goes out to mainstream for a couple of his classes. I think it's good and bad. Good that neurotypical students get to be exposed to autistic kids and the kids who show the ability have the opportunity to be out in mainstream classrooms. Bad because quite often neurotpyicals will make fun of those on spectrum for things beyond the kids' control.
I went to a private school.. they had a program there for people with learning disabilities and even though I was in it for all of my primary and high school years I didn’t get diagnosed with Aspergers or Irlen syndrome until after I dropped out of school.. I have a lot of disabilities and I had troubles with not only directions or task making but I also had troubles understanding right and wrong and once I did know I always expected to get punished coz for some reason they wouldn’t punish me when I did something but I not on purpose.. I went into a panic and started hurting myself coz no one was punishing me for what I did.. and this is still going on now.. I still do self harm to myself.. as a kid my grandma would slap me with a ruler or wooden spoon when I would misbehaved.. and my mum would hit me a lot.. she had problems too.. the reason she is so violent is because she’s a negative blood type.. that and my grandma had my mum later in her late 30’s.. so my mum would of have some learning difficulties growing up but these problems aren’t genetic.. she was just a late baby.. but my dad however he has ADHD and Irlen syndrome.. I also went through some trauma in the womb.. my mum accidentally had alcohol when I was still in the womb.. it gave me permanent damage.. my disabilities are Seizures Irlen syndrome (I send the link on more about it but I have Irlen syndrome genetically) ADHD Endometriosis Ptsd Anxiety Depression A disability that makes me faint if I stay in one place for longer than 30 minutes.. it doesn’t matter if I’m standing, sitting, slightly moving.. it doesn’t concern the environment whether I’m in a small space or a big open room.. I’ll just get sick, have a panic attack then I’ll probably faint.. I can’t control it either.. well usually if I’m doing something to keep my mind off it I usually don’t start to feel sick.. but maybe it is to do with the environment.. who knows! Stomach problems (I can’t eat some foods coz they sometimes make me throw up.. but I usually won’t vomit coz I usually swallow it) I fart a lot (I need to see a doctor about that..) Oh and I have ASD OCD.. I think that’s all
This is something i like know view on my 12 year old boy aspergers and dyslexic not been at school since leaving primary in june so aug sep oct nov dec should have been at first year at mainstream high school but he cant deal with how big it compared to his primary that was mainstream but only as max of 240 kids he don't like thought of 7 classes a day 7 different teachers occupational therapists 2 educational psychologists and cahms nurses he still no further farward
For my first 4 years of high school (ours is from 12 to 18) I went to a high prestige (around a 1000 students) high school and it was awful. I was constantly sensory overloaded and very much struggling with the social aspect of school. At the end of the day I would often shutdown because I was so overloaded. I think my saving grace was that I went to my mum's cafe for lunch, so I had several lovely adults there I could talk to, which really helped me to recharge. When I was 16, I switched to an arts school (only around 260 students), It was lovely because our practical curriculum was given to us in blocks of 2, 3, and 4 hours. And, just having the time to set up your stuff in an easy manner, to have nice teachers, and to not have teachers telling us off for talking to each other during the lessons made such a big difference. Granted I was still dealing with a bit of burn out from the previous school, and I still very much struggled with sensory overload, and some social aspects. Plus, I had very bad migraines, so I wasn't in school around 40% of the time. All of that back story to say, is it possible to find a school for him that doesn't switch subjects 7 times a day, but maybe only 3 to 4 times a day? I really wish all schools would implement less switches during a single day.
Hi, Same happened to my 12 year old son, my son has missed nearly a year of school secondary school, feel like we are just left on all these waiting lists and not a lot of help.
We in glasgow am haveing meeting after meeting but nothing comes of them my boy getting worse took him to woods with his new bike he walked with it refused to ride it its no like he cant we no done any school work he also dyslexic
My six year boy has ASD and is in regular school has aba sessions at a private clinic twice a week for 3 hours every time. The private sessions has helped him tremendously and we also feel the regular has helped with social interaction. Still trying to figure out how to better improve on this situation
I was mainstreamed having a major deficit ( Disability, not neurotypical, undiagnosed autism) up until my second go at 12 grade. My parents ( bless them) didn’t want me to feel different and just be a kid.... all was ok until Junior high😕 Bullies and just more bad than good.
Lie Feral I’m so sorry. One good thing has come of it WE SURVIVED! ( yay mentally it’s got us but we are here 😊💪) . I didn’t have this kind of support growing up so it’s nice to have now to help others and compare “war stories “.
@@meganlovesdisneyandcrafts4780 lol I make that same joke. Yea, we did survive. You're spot on there. Fortunately I didn't need support as an adult but it's definitely nice to help others with the knowledge and experience I have. Best wishes to you.
Think of normy schools as free-ranging. It's akin to throwing children into the ocean to teach them to swim. Sometimes they learn; sometimes they drown. What do you think?
Where I live near Philadelphia they're putting autism classes inside the public schools but they really don't know what they're doing my son's is Teachers real nice but they're not really set up for it. he went to mciu last year and he love that so much more because it was set up for him better
Hi Aspie World Disability or autism. We're there are people committee say autism and disability are the same thing. Autism is a disability even the aspergers type as it was. When claiming PIP Autism has to be seen as negative thing so they and get more disability benefits. Also why it called ASD the disorder is to try and see autism medically as a disability. Under the governing autism is a cognitive disability by it self. So you could have disabilities which is autumn said in the video. You could of said go to school for disabilities. Learning disability, autism. Because especially at school if you didn't have learning disability like dyslexia which is commobility with autism. Autism on it own is a disability of communication and lots of other things. Which of course the strength of autism which of school those parts I loved I was proud of. For example great long term memory. I know that not everyone in community don't want to forget that autism is a disability by it self. Hope you respect the comment. I like the video. Should autism be called a disability? It's a interesting view point.
Having said that it was too noisy for me at school and i couldn't concentrate they should have headphones but be more descrete so as not to be made fun off
Dan I went through mainstream school it was horrible I think I would have been better off going through a "Special School" I got zero support and left with no qualifications as a result
I've become super skeptical that inclusion is actually working for autistics, based on our years of experience. For many kids on the spectrum, mainstream inclusion becomes untenable around 4th or 5th grade as the fun and creativity of early elementary school gives way to worksheets, tests, and piles of homework, especially for those with pathological demand avoidance. No amount of routine "accommodations" was working for my kiddo going into middle school because the environment and core curriculum are fundamentally wrong for him. They are created for neurotypical kids. I think the future of autism education will expand away from this inclusion experiment which fails a lot of kids and go back to models that are tailor-made for autistics.
I went to catholic school in the 90s. Some kids were mean, I was bullied but always had a few accepting friends. Teachers, on the other hand, caused a lot of difficulty in my experience. US teachers are grossly underpaid. We need to pay our educators appropriately and educate them on different learning styles and personalities. I think representing diversity to kids is super important though. If we prioritized education and changed the system overall, it could be a better experience for everyone.
Sometimes I wish I hadn’t been integrated into mainstream classes. Typically I’d have one particular friend to be around with, but otherwise I don’t really connect that well with most people. I might be able to connect in the most superficial sense but that won’t make me feel satisfied or truly happy. Also the classroom in general can be a distracting place and I can’t receive one on one attention. I had to use additional support in learning and would have to leave during the middle of class to visit the assisted learning center. Also I’m somewhat selective mute so doing presentations puts a lot of pressure on me. People tend to mistake my reluctance for fear when in fact I’m extremely stubborn and refuse to talk unless there is a compelling enough incentive to it. Being forced to communicate under unusual circumstances isn’t an accomplishment for me. Even now as an adult, public speaking likely will have no applications within my lifestyle. The only good use I got from mainstream was education but not so much on guidance
Do you think that all people are born neurotypical and then develop autism or do you think that autistic people are born with a truly different neurology?
All people are born differently. Autism is a neurological issue that develops during brain development pre-birth. Thank you so much for the comment! Please subscribe to my channel to see more videos from me :).
@@TheAspieWorld I saw a great TH-cam by an English guy (I think he is related to Sacha Baren Cohen) who showed that the various hemispheres of the brain for NT and ASP brains are quite different and that the nerve ganglions (connections) are also quite different in structure.
Sounds like a bad idea to be honest, i feel like autistic people don’t work together because of how different we are. Some of us HATE loud people, and a lot of autistic people are super loud. I just don’t see it working properly...
I don’t think it is valid to say that autism schools are right or wrong. It mostly depends on the staff at said school and how they they treat their students.
Has anyone ever heard of " laughing spells" with ASD? My son is 10 and was humming and now laughs at very odd times...its new and wondering if anyone has heard of this? Thank u:)
Is he laughing out of nowhere? In what kind of situations? It could be either a vocal tic (the humming sounds like it is, or he likes the sensation of it), or if hes not doing anything and starts laughing he might be in his head imagining something that he finds funny. I did this a lot as a kid.
@@amberjones6162 it's not strange, hes probably thinking about something funny♡ dont worry about it. People with ASD have incredible imaginations and build up entire worlds and stories in their heads and can get very into it. If hes verbal you can probably ask him and he'll say why. If hes not, I think it's safe to assume hes just happy. IF it's a tic, which is more unlikely but could always be a reason, it'll probably disappear. But I cant say unless I hear it However; if it's totally uncontrollable and it lasts for several minutes, it could be pseudobulbar affect which is caused by neurological conditions or brain injury. The laughter can end in tears forming or coughing or having a hard time to breathe sometimes. I dont think it is, but since I dont know the way he laughs, how long, how disruptive it is etc I'm giving you as many options so you can form your own opinion
Has my comment been taken down? If so, why? I thought this was meant to be an open embracing community, but getting rejected without explanation? More than a little disappointed. I took time on that comment. At the very least I’d appreciate a little feedback if you felt I said something wrong, so I don't do it again or we can talk about why you feel that way.
My daughter was in a mainstream school she was bullied. The staff didn't accept her diagnosis ,it was awful we struggled every day to even get her through the gate. I moved schools to a smaller school with an ASD unit .the transformation is amazing my little girl is so much happier. Ashes learning at her pace and feels very included in all aspects off school. The staff are amazing we were so lucky to get a place.i believe all schools should have an autism unit with in also teachers need retraining in all aspects of special needs.that way every child would benefit even ones who haven't been diagnosed yet.💞💞💞💞
I wish I never went to mainstream schools, I was told to get out of the class room for being quiet in secondary school by teachers. I continued to grew a dislike to peers and teachers as they were equally vile as each other, one of the teachers said I had a rare illness, I only heard this from another person telling me this, after he told me to get out for being quiet.years later I heard they where going to fire him, because he would lock people in classrooms and leave, he found out about this and quit before he got himself fired. His name was really hard to pronounce, people called him Mr Shagit because it sort of sounded like it. I spent most of the time on my own just drawing video game characters like Super Mario character pictures.
Yeah I can see how mainstream schools can not be the best!
This was a great video! I think that should be more funding for autism schools but I also believe that there should be more autism programs within mainstream schools. I was diagnosed with autism when I was 13 months old. I had specialists come to my house from when I was 1 and half to when I was 3 years old. Afterwards I went to an autism pre school from when I was 3 to when I was 5 years old. After that I went to a mainstream school for elementary school and I had a para who would follow me around all day and I went to a learning zone program with other people on the spectrum for part of the day. When I was in middle school I had these same things but I was also given special testing accommodations such as extra time and a distraction free environment. In high school, I didn’t need the learning zone program or my para anymore but I still needed my testing accommodations. Now I’m a freshman in college and the only thing I need is my testing accommodations. Anyway, that’s my story. Keep up the great work! 👍😀
I have only recently diagnosed (finally) with ASD. I am 59, and went through mainstream school in the 1960s and 1970s. Special education in America was just beginning, and was only for people with intellectual disabilities. I was tested in kindergarten and in first grade and was found to be well above average IQ. As a result, I was mainstreamed. Teachers labeled me as disruptive, difficult and often lazy, because I literally could not be still (sent out of the class to coat closet for hours). I also just couldn’t get maths. It took me 3 years to pass algebra. While I always passed other classes, I would literally freak when I saw formulas with a lot of numbers, brackets, parentheses etc. I had No Clue what I was supposed to do. I had no friends and was bullied all the way through. I think that if a child/adolescent can function in mainstream classes, they should be allowed to. I think that there should be classes designed for autistic children to address issues specific for autistic (social, communication skills etc). I don’t think children on the spectrum should automatically be placed into special education classes or be forced to only get a special education diploma. This dooms people on the spectrum to not be really able to compete in the job market. It would be perfect if the necessary ASD specific classes were in mainstream schools, enabling those with ASD to be included with NT students, instead of excluded. Although we are different than NT people, we need to be able to function in a neurotypical world.
Thank you for this video Dan! I think autism school is a good thing, but I also think that mainstream schools should start programs for people on the spectrum or with learning difficulties. My first time in a mainstream school was a big failure because my teacher and the school staff had no idea how to deal with me and didn't want me back the following year. Following this experience, I went to a specialized school with kids who had learning difficulties or weren't successful in the mainstream school system. I spent 4 years in this school before returning to a more mainstream school system. However the school staff was very hesitant to let me in because they reportedly had too many kids with learning difficulties, but my parents had the last word, they gave it a shot to me for a week and then I got accepted the following year. The first few years were obviously difficult but the staff was very supportive to me, which is the main reason the experience was ultimately successful. In the next few years, this school started a special program for students with learning difficulties. Apparently I was an inspiration to start this program, which makes me feel grateful for making the school system advance. On this note, I think children on the spectrum can go to a mainstream school, but they will require enough support to make their journey successful and comfortable.
I was sent to a specialized school for my junior year in High School, and I absolutely could not stand it. The majority of students were also the "acting out" type as well as not going over very advanced learning material. There was basically no one on the spectrum in staff so none of them truly under it (it really makes a difference)
so as a result the curriculum was so behind and it was not challenging a bit. no one really handled them correctly and it was VERY punishment focused and not improvement focused.
what you need to do, if anything, is research the school and see if it's well equipped to suit your needs. it's also a good idea to know how qualified the staff are as well.
if they're basically a school version of prison (we were literally searched every morning) I do not recommend. but if it's well run with competent people (huge bonus if some employees are autistic) do consider it and see whether it would work, and especially not hold you back academically.
Thanks for opening up the discussion. In Los Angeles, my son's elementary school had a great program where he would be in the mainstream class part of the day and a "special education" class part of the day. The special class was a mixed group for all grades in the school but, for my son, became limiting after the first couple years. We've struggled through several schools trying to find the right fit for our son. The main issue with mainstream schools is the way they cover multiple subject per day but, also the environment isn't good for people who get visually and auditorily overstimulated. I understand why teachers like to have the children's art work and projects displayed everywhere and cool posters of educational value but that left my son unable to concentrate and quickly tired/shutting down. At one school, they had staggered recesses so, while my son was in class trying to focus, there were kids outside laughing and yelling.
When my son was 9, he took the placement test for a 2-year/junior college and qualified so we pulled him out of the mainstream elementary school. Because of his age, he's only allowed to go part-time but he blossomed in the environment. The walls are blank. The halls and classrooms are quiet. The pace is quick and he focuses on 1 or 2 subjects per day very intensely. He's never been happier in class. The downside is the lack of social peers. Everyone else in his classes is 18 years old or more. He's going to finish Calculus 1 and Physical Geography this coming semester when he's 12 years old. He's a straight "A" student in college but he's lonely. We're going to try an advanced, mainstream high school next year that seems to have an environment more like college and does offer college-level classes. A school that catered to aspies would be fantastic but I don't know if mainstream is ever going to be the right path for my son. We'll try it for a year.
In sweden we have regular schools with autism classes and they have their own schedule, their own special teachers etc (sometimes people who also work at children and youth psychiatric care clinics). Not all school have these, but some. Which I think is pretty good. There are also schools meant for autistic people too. I wish I wouldve at least gone to a class meant for autistic people. It wouldve been so much easier for me, I dont think ill ever not be sad that I didn't get that opportunity
Yes I totally get you, I also think I would have benefited from a specific learning needs class. Thank you so much for the comment! Please subscribe to my channel to see more videos from me :).
I am an Education Assistant in a special needs class...specifically Autism and our kids do go to mainstream classes but just modified...I think being around typical peers is good!!!
I go to an autism highschool, which has around 35-42 people in it. The 7 years (not including all the time I spent off) I was at mainstream I didn't really learn much, and it was terrible in every way. Pretty much everyone I've met at this school are happy not to be at a mainstream. Now I can actually learn and joke about with classmates, instead of not being able to talk and forgotten about all the time.
I’m autistic and selective mute so people always make fun of me at school but I do have 1 friend he is very kind and he helps me get through the day I wish I could go to a school where the teachers knew what to do with me, they say they don’t understand me and have no control over me.
It is so important to have a good friend!! Thank you so much for the comment! Please subscribe to my channel to see more videos from me :).
Stupid teachers
I wish i had never been in mainstream in the way i have been. Im in year 11 and only just about to start getting proper 1:1 specialist support (i have been getting SEN support for a while). I probably would have benefited from a specialist resource base in a mainstream school, as i am fairly intelligent but just struggle with actual school and the lessons to the point where i need a lot of support, and at the moment until i get it i cant attend all my lessons and i have really bad anxiety about school because i have effectively been traumatised by it. however my SEN wasnt identified until about 18 months ago. I think it depends a lot on the student, i think good SEN teams/units within mainstream is the best for most autistic students, but they are hard to find and get access to.
I love your point of view. I live in the states, my son is 6 and in a main stream public school. He’s very HF but socially it’s very hard for him. I fear the middle school years. I’ve thought about a school after 5th grade for ASD kids. After hearing you, I agree. We want mainstream. If they could have more supports mentally and social groups in public school that would be awesome!
I like your idea about the marriage of the two, and it would be nice to see a conventional school that is sensitive to others needs and differences. I hope everywhere will be one day.
I envy the fact that there are even schools that are specifically designed to teach autistic children, given that I was raised in special schools most of my life all because I had a developmental disorder when I was 2. That children are getting screened for autism with better tools at our disposal makes me wish I could have been born a child with autism now than wait for years to be diagnosed with autism as an adult. I pray that the teachers of these schools are more compassionate with the children than the counselors and teachers I had to deal with in my years of special schools.
Great video and well worth opening up the discussion. In general, I agree with your main points....there is a definite need for a whole lot more integration, however the specialist knowledge and facilities that Autism/Special Needs Schools can be very specific and so hard to integrate into mainstream schools in the way they currently operate.
Having said that I feel that the whole education system needs a radical overhaul if we are going to produce new generations of humans who can deal with the humanitarian, ecological and climate crises that we have worked our way into. The current education system is built to sustain an industrial system with an emphasis on control and competition that is either defunct or now responsible for much of the ecological problems we face.
Mainstream schools need to focus on empathy, collaboration and problem-solving; a lot of this is done in Special Needs schools, so in some ways, i think my argument is to scrap mainstream schools and learn from all the great practices in Special Needs and Autism Schools! having taught in both, with most of my experience being in SEN schools, the more we embrace each other differences and empathise, the better!
I have struggled with these questions throughout my career. In frustration with the education system as is, I walked away and am now happily developing an Adventure Playground in which I am working to provide a space for all children to express themselves in environment much more in tune with educational pioneer Maria Montessori, giving kids of all stripes the opportunities to explore their individual genius and work towards Maslow's ideal of 'Self-Actualisation'; which is a lot more fun! I am also trying to bring more play into schools with a communication toybox system I developed through working with many Autistic children who were unable to communicate...I found a lot of time they had the ability, they were just not motivated enough! Find the right motivation and it is quite amazing what wonderful communication can take place!
Thanks for all your work on this channel, great stuff!
I was also diagnosed as an adult. I had problems with school from the beginning. In preschool I would cry cry till I threw up everyday. My mom took me out after 2 weeks. I remember sitting there and watching the other kids and think what am I supposed to do. I literally couldn't engage with them. Later on I started masking and it was just exhausting and frustrating and I felt like a failure. I also had issues with following certain rule and dealing with teasing. I did fine with the academic stuff though. I eventually dropped out of school. I may have benefited from an autism school where it wasn't painful just to be there. I wonder if putting an autism school in a mainstream school wouldn't just aggravate parents. Some parents freak out when a kid has a nut allergy and their kids can't bring peanut butter to school. Adjustments for autistic kids might not go over well.
That would be perfect I only wanna talk to other aspies
nuero typicals are bloody dreadful
True, but immersion is a wonderful tool to learn how to deal with such plebeians. 😉 (Just kidding to neurotypicals who read my comment!)
Join us! We are there for autistic people! :)
I’m on the spectrum and I’ve also been employed as a SEN Careers Adviser in the past, carrying out assessments and writing reports to secure funding so young people can attend specialist colleges. All that’s changed now, there isn’t much money sloshing around the system and getting the correct educational placement isn’t about what is right for the person it’s about what is available locally and as cheaply as possible.
There was one school I worked at which had a specialist SEN unit attached to the school and pupils could dip into mainstream if it was deemed appropriate and if they wanted to usually PE and art. Most of the other schools had these units but the idea was to get them into mainstream as soon (and as cheaply) as possible. Sadly this rarely worked those flourishing in the unit when transferred into mainstream didn’t, but due to numbers of students’ coming through they couldn’t go back.
I don’t know what it’s like now but ten to twenty years ago SEN money was regularly siphoned off and used in other school projects such as aiming to raise grades for those on C-D borderline. Parents expect to see the school achieving and bettering it’s A-C grades each year in the media, special needs young people don't get a mention.
I think another important question is: Would an autistic school be better that home-schooling?
This is a great question !
From personal experience: HELL no. 😅
IMHO - Home schooling is contingent upon the parents' ability to teach.
My son is in a regular school and has a one-on-one. Plus, he’s in a smaller class for reading and math. He’s mainstreamed for the other subjects and lunch.
Best of both worlds. When I was in school (very long time ago), there was not support.
Hi Dan. I don't know enough to have much of an opinion regarding the merits of autism schools. However, speaking as a 37 year, diagnosed aspergers at 13 (1995), who went to mainstream school and did have extra support, I don't think I learnt anything about making friends at school. Being around people all day meant that I needed break times to myself, and my social life outside school consisted of just latching onto my parents middle-aged friends being the safe, easy and comfortable thing to do. So not everyone on the spectrum will learn stuff socially from being in mainstream school, in fact I don't think I learnt much at all by 'picking up' things that weren't taught from the front.
I have been in 8 different school settings, in four different sectors. In all schools, I have had the same problem I have high needs but I also have high IQ (something like 140 +). All schools have bullies and social situations and all sectors have good and bad schools. I think that the most important thing is not necessary for the setting but the level of personalization (taking you as a person, not parts all sectors (health, social and education) have an issue with) and what external service people are willing to use. It is also very important that they understand that you also have to live, not just do school and appointments, balance is key. the majority of SEN schools are in the private sectors and funded by EHCPs, I do think to have smaller units that are linked to mainstreams and mainstreams that are more willing to make their environments accessible (this does not just mean wheelchair access, the main thing is attitude and then other stuff like getting rid of those stupid lights and sound insulating their walls) would be a good solution. I currently do 1 hour of school a day at mainstream sixth form (75 people in my year so tiny) with a 1-1, but I also have a wide variety of outside services involved. Not getting the help and support that I needed have made life even harder than it needed to be, also not being believed really make things hard. Us fighting the local authority was part of the reason why they are creating an Autism pathway. I have always fallen through the gaps even when people know and recognize I need the services. with me, people think they have a rule book and they can follow it but really they need to throw it out the window and write a new one.
The key things are:
1. Service communicate
2. It's personalized
3. The person is asked
4. They are allowed and supported to have a balance
5. You look honestly, without judgment at their needs and gifts, and meet both of these.
Hope this makes sense
I think it would have been helpful to me to have been able to go to a school that could have helped me. I had so many issues at public school, not that the work was hard, it was easy, just monotonous and booring, but the bullying from other kids and even some teachers was really bad. It wasn't just teasing and name-calling, I was physically attacked many times. Later on I tried twice to go to college and both times I just couldn't set foot in the door because my anxiety went through the roof. I learned later that I actually have PTSD, and with it being strongly indicated that I may be an Aspie on top of it, you can see just how horrible of an issue it has been for me.
Yet doing my own research and study is no issue. I can list over two dozen different subjects (some related to each other, many not related at all) which I have studied nearly my entire life starting with dinosaurs (Paleontology) at age four. But independent study gets you nothing because society requires college attendence and paper certification to prove you know or have any training in anything. But all anyone sees of me is being a high school drop-out with a GED... Thus to everyone I am stupid and lazy...
My daughter goes to a mainstream school and hates it. However she refuses the idea of going to a specialist school. I worry because she seems lonely in school. Maintaining friends has been her biggest struggle.
My mainstream experience was really hard, I not only have autism but pda (pathological demand avoidance syndrome) and (self-diagnosed) selective mutism so I stayed in the background and sadly my pda and anxiety stopped me from actually attending, it's heartbreaking because I love learning but mainstream school just doesn't have the means to accommodate me. I had neuro-typical friends but it's not just social difficulties that effect people. Teachers can be so mean because they don't understand and it's not really their fault, they were not trained BUT I was diagnosed, they should have some basic grasp of it because I am not the only person with autism in the school and they will psychologically damage the people. I'm trying not to fully blame them but they don't make it easy because they can't spend half an hour online? I really just don't see how this is allowed to happen. But that's just my opinion.
I went to one autism school during the summer (they have one summer holiday/vacation). It was alright. All the students have some form of autism (some can’t talk). Their were differences from the school I went to a mainstream school with special ed programs; the autism school doesn’t serve the students food, so the kids bring their own lunch.
My school has this thing called learning support and a class for kids that need a bit more help and a lesson for us to get more help or catch up on work
TJ I couldn’t stand that in school! It meant more homework!!!🤯 I kept exploding!
Me and my mother had a conversation about this subject a while back. She was talking about how she went to check the local school for autistic people before i started education. She was telling me that some of the children there were VERY severe in terms of behaviour.
My mother's worry back then was that if those children kept having meltdowns in the class or playground, i would eventually get caught in the crossfire and get hurt.
But i personally think that the mainstream primary and high school i actually went to were much worse than what any special needs child could ever do to me.
Whenever i got a panic attack, a meltdown or complained about something. Most teachers and students were never very nice to me.
Ofcourse im sure there are plenty of autistic people who have had an good enough experience in mainstream schools. But when i think back to my school days, i really wish i did not beg my mother so much to stay in mainstream school.
Allan The Sheune myself and my mam had the same problem she looked for an autistic school for me too and thought a smaller class would be easier and she was right! But everywhere was for moderate-severe or profound rather than mild like myself.
For that i was stuck with my mainstream and it was horrible!
This is litrally a debate I am having at the moment. My little girl is 5 and struggling in mainstream emotionally and mentally but yet because she is up go the educational level she needs to be at the mainstream school are saying she doesn't need additional support so she's being left to self cope, shes pulling her hair and biting her nails until they bleed. I just wish I could help out more and understand her more. Maybe autism school is the path we need to go down
I wish this would have been an option when my son was growing up.
I wish it were an option when I was growing up. :-)
Just have him get austistic friends
I'm an undiagnosed teenager (going into year 11 in September) and even though I have no diagnosis I still have access to some of the support as I have bad social anxiety and struggle with social interaction.
Oh hey, ah that’s gotta’ he tough!! Thank you so much for the comment! Please subscribe to my channel to see more videos from me :).
Autism school Do You Think It's A Good Thing?
Tldr: No, not if you're high functioning.
This feels so good to get off of my chest. I've been bottling this up for years..
I apologise in advance for the long post and how It may seem off topic in places. I feel that I have to briefly list my life events along with my experience at the Autism school, as I find it hard to separate and explain this topic without going into my past..
Background. I have P.D.D (Pervasive developmental disorder), Dyspraxia, making me a part of the autistic spectrum.
I was bullied in primary school and then severely bullied for the first year in secondary school for being the vindictive troll that I was.
I chalk this up to both nature and nurture.
Even when I stopped behaving this way other people went out of their own way to attack me.
I was constantly betrayed, had abandonment issues, gaslighted, suffered with an physically and emotionally abusive father who used extreme force instead of explanations to "teach" me right from wrong.
I have a selfish, toxic mother who hid her intentions by feigning ignorance and masking her true intent by pretending to act positive and she manipulated me through her actions.
In hindsight she definitely seemed like she displayed traits of munchausen syndrome by proxy.
My parents certainly suffered an equally and at times a worse childhoods than me. (Personal note to would-be parents: If you have unresolved childhood issues, anger management problems etc... then either go into counselling or use a rubber as you will not be fit to be parents. Children never asked to be brought into the world and so they deserve to be raised properly, with your best foot forward to coach them through life. Without fear of violence or aggression from you, whether it is passively or direct.)
I was shipped off to a N.A.S School (National autistic society) boarding school without warning after being removed from secondary school due to almost committing sui****.and because of an altercation with a school bully.that almost resulted in d*ath and/or my imprisonment by age thirteen.
Upon reflection the NAS school was a great place for children with moderate to severe autism, however it was terrible as the educational system was dumbed down.and/or pushed back (eg didn't learn about s*x ed until year 9) they did however prioritise independent living skills.
The other issues I experienced with this special boarding school are as follows; you were always shadowed by a teaching assistant, if you are a known trouble maker then you were always blamed or Gaslighted to make it easier for the staff to fill out their paperwork, no exams.. so when you leave the special school you don't have any qualifications or job experience, you were forced to attend activities until I learned to either be violent (and lost privileges) or I performed a silent protest, you were treated like a severely autistic person and spoken down to by 50% of the staff there which was so dehumanising.. it effects me to this day and as well made me feel like that I was no better nor any more capable than the majority of severely autistic teenagers at the school.
I was by no means a saint as I briefly mentioned but I didn't deserve this. To this day I ended up fearing authority figures like all of my ex girlfriend's parents, teachers, police, my bosses out of fear that I will either be beaten or gaslighted into receiving a punishment, even though I have done nothing wrong or made a mistake..
as 90% of these people in power within my life were toxic.
The cherry of top of this "cake" during my time at the school was that the head teacher of the boarding school portion of the autistic school. Mr. Gaslighter himself!.. was arrested for possessing explicit material of children on his computer... Oh, and he just so happened to have a criminal record for having an altercation with an underage person before he applied to be at the school.
I managed to leave that school when I was sixteen instead of twenty-one.
This's because my mother saw a positive change in my attitude and finally felt guilt for my situation, so she secretly enrolled me into my local college on a day release scheme whilst on summer break (She finally stopped lying to me, as she used to say that she couldn't do anything about taking me out of the autistic boarding school because the government said she she will go to prison otherwise >:/ ). The Autistic school was strongly against me going to college for whatever reason and I had to have many meetings with them because of it.. They also refused me from attending a local mainstream school on a day release scheme a few years prior, despite the fact that there was one other student in the whole school doing this.. Their reason for me not attending was because.. "Everyone was currently doing exams and I would only fall behind")
This all happened between 2000-2005 I don't know if the NAS school system has had any changes since then but that particular special school allowed students to attend a special unit at the local college after I left.
Also my bully of a key worker quietly passed away in the night from a brain tumour.. A few years after I left.
So this was my experience in a nutshell.
All in all it's a great place for autistic people who're moderate to severe but for the ones who're high functioning I would argue that sending them to an Autistic School would be condemning them to a bleak, unqualified, potentially socially withdrawn, future.
Feel free to ask me anything.
Heyy!! Thank you for such interesting insight! Thank you so much for the comment! Make sure you are subscribed and have the notifications turned on :).
@@TheAspieWorld You're welcome & i'll do that.
Innocence
You are quite intelligent, however
👍✌️
I was diagnosed with aspergers when I was nine and had been going to a mainstream school for a few years by that point, and even though I fucking hated the school part, I don’t think I would be as social as I am now if I was going to an autism school. There is no perfect solution , but I believe that an autism school would not have been the best option for me.
This is a great thing !!!!!!!!! Thanks for the News Dan
I was in special education classes all my life in schools that had regular classes. I was main streamed in English.
Went to mainstream had an assistant in the classroom and it didn’t benefit me at all! I didn’t learn any social skills making me more vulnerable in the real world. Was expected to behave like i was 25 but was treated like i was 6 years old at 15 it sent me mixed messages. Stood up twice and was sent to my year heads office twice for being a smart ass. Personally I think an autistic school with mainstream curriculum would be better and maybe in a smaller class environment
This was better for me education wise I didn’t need an assistant at that point and in uni my classes have a small no of people which i also like as it’s easier to function. However i was badly bullied in my small class at school so overall school was hell! After the assistant went was horribly picked on no other words!
Same story. Even year before (2011) I had so many gains in social and academic; they weren’t impressed. You’re so right (2012) they don’t teach you the social skills, academic, what is the teacher or the assignment/tests are saying, no life skills. In fact they do teach you anything there may just be two in-school supence classes. Is there any reason why I’m so anxious now?
Where I live in America we have special classes within the mainstream schools. My son needs the emotional and social skill support. He goes out to mainstream for a couple of his classes. I think it's good and bad. Good that neurotypical students get to be exposed to autistic kids and the kids who show the ability have the opportunity to be out in mainstream classrooms. Bad because quite often neurotpyicals will make fun of those on spectrum for things beyond the kids' control.
I went to a private school.. they had a program there for people with learning disabilities and even though I was in it for all of my primary and high school years I didn’t get diagnosed with Aspergers or Irlen syndrome until after I dropped out of school.. I have a lot of disabilities and I had troubles with not only directions or task making but I also had troubles understanding right and wrong and once I did know I always expected to get punished coz for some reason they wouldn’t punish me when I did something but I not on purpose.. I went into a panic and started hurting myself coz no one was punishing me for what I did.. and this is still going on now.. I still do self harm to myself.. as a kid my grandma would slap me with a ruler or wooden spoon when I would misbehaved.. and my mum would hit me a lot.. she had problems too.. the reason she is so violent is because she’s a negative blood type.. that and my grandma had my mum later in her late 30’s.. so my mum would of have some learning difficulties growing up but these problems aren’t genetic.. she was just a late baby.. but my dad however he has ADHD and Irlen syndrome.. I also went through some trauma in the womb.. my mum accidentally had alcohol when I was still in the womb.. it gave me permanent damage.. my disabilities are
Seizures
Irlen syndrome (I send the link on more about it but I have Irlen syndrome genetically)
ADHD
Endometriosis
Ptsd
Anxiety
Depression
A disability that makes me faint if I stay in one place for longer than 30 minutes.. it doesn’t matter if I’m standing, sitting, slightly moving.. it doesn’t concern the environment whether I’m in a small space or a big open room.. I’ll just get sick, have a panic attack then I’ll probably faint.. I can’t control it either.. well usually if I’m doing something to keep my mind off it I usually don’t start to feel sick.. but maybe it is to do with the environment.. who knows!
Stomach problems (I can’t eat some foods coz they sometimes make me throw up.. but I usually won’t vomit coz I usually swallow it)
I fart a lot (I need to see a doctor about that..)
Oh and I have ASD
OCD.. I think that’s all
I forgot to link it.. sorry..
irlen.com/what-is-irlen-syndrome/
This is something i like know view on my 12 year old boy aspergers and dyslexic not been at school since leaving primary in june so aug sep oct nov dec should have been at first year at mainstream high school but he cant deal with how big it compared to his primary that was mainstream but only as max of 240 kids he don't like thought of 7 classes a day 7 different teachers occupational therapists 2 educational psychologists and cahms nurses he still no further farward
Aw no that’s not good :( . Thank you so much for the comment! Please subscribe to my channel to see more videos from me :).
For my first 4 years of high school (ours is from 12 to 18) I went to a high prestige (around a 1000 students) high school and it was awful. I was constantly sensory overloaded and very much struggling with the social aspect of school. At the end of the day I would often shutdown because I was so overloaded. I think my saving grace was that I went to my mum's cafe for lunch, so I had several lovely adults there I could talk to, which really helped me to recharge.
When I was 16, I switched to an arts school (only around 260 students), It was lovely because our practical curriculum was given to us in blocks of 2, 3, and 4 hours. And, just having the time to set up your stuff in an easy manner, to have nice teachers, and to not have teachers telling us off for talking to each other during the lessons made such a big difference.
Granted I was still dealing with a bit of burn out from the previous school, and I still very much struggled with sensory overload, and some social aspects. Plus, I had very bad migraines, so I wasn't in school around 40% of the time.
All of that back story to say, is it possible to find a school for him that doesn't switch subjects 7 times a day, but maybe only 3 to 4 times a day? I really wish all schools would implement less switches during a single day.
Hi, Same happened to my 12 year old son, my son has missed nearly a year of school secondary school, feel like we are just left on all these waiting lists and not a lot of help.
Homeschooling at the moment
We in glasgow am haveing meeting after meeting but nothing comes of them my boy getting worse took him to woods with his new bike he walked with it refused to ride it its no like he cant we no done any school work he also dyslexic
My six year boy has ASD and is in regular school has aba sessions at a private clinic twice a week for 3 hours every time. The private sessions has helped him tremendously and we also feel the regular has helped with social interaction. Still trying to figure out how to better improve on this situation
Yes you can get ptsd from contant bullying at a neurotypical school but you can get bullied anywhere work or hobbies best to make people more aware
I was mainstreamed having a major deficit ( Disability, not neurotypical, undiagnosed autism) up until my second go at 12 grade. My parents ( bless them) didn’t want me to feel different and just be a kid.... all was ok until Junior high😕 Bullies and just more bad than good.
I know that pain..
Lie Feral I’m so sorry. One good thing has come of it WE SURVIVED! ( yay mentally it’s got us but we are here 😊💪) . I didn’t have this kind of support growing up so it’s nice to have now to help others and compare “war stories “.
@@meganlovesdisneyandcrafts4780 lol I make that same joke. Yea, we did survive. You're spot on there. Fortunately I didn't need support as an adult but it's definitely nice to help others with the knowledge and experience I have. Best wishes to you.
Lie Feral ❤️ I wish the same for you. If you do one day need support, remember asking for help is definitely a strength. It creeps up outta nowhere.
Think of normy schools as free-ranging. It's akin to throwing children into the ocean to teach them to swim. Sometimes they learn; sometimes they drown. What do you think?
Where I live near Philadelphia they're putting autism classes inside the public schools but they really don't know what they're doing my son's is Teachers real nice but they're not really set up for it. he went to mciu last year and he love that so much more because it was set up for him better
💙💙💙I go to Kaiser for my testing in 7 days!!🙊🙊😱😇😇
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@@TheAspieWorld ???
Hi Aspie World
Disability or autism.
We're there are people committee say autism and disability are the same thing.
Autism is a disability even the aspergers type as it was.
When claiming PIP Autism has to be seen as negative thing so they and get more disability benefits.
Also why it called ASD the disorder is to try and see autism medically as a disability.
Under the governing autism is a cognitive disability by it self.
So you could have disabilities which is autumn said in the video.
You could of said go to school for disabilities.
Learning disability, autism.
Because especially at school if you didn't have learning disability like dyslexia which is commobility with autism.
Autism on it own is a disability of communication and lots of other things.
Which of course the strength of autism which of school those parts I loved I was proud of.
For example great long term memory.
I know that not everyone in community don't want to forget that autism is a disability by it self.
Hope you respect the comment.
I like the video.
Should autism be called a disability?
It's a interesting view point.
Having said that it was too noisy for me at school and i couldn't concentrate they should have headphones but be more descrete so as not to be made fun off
Dan I went through mainstream school it was horrible I think I would have been better off going through a "Special School" I got zero support and left with no qualifications as a result
Like this kind of videos
U have a lot of good ideas 💡
This would have made a good live stream video
I would of went to that if I was in school still
Nice video
Love it
I've become super skeptical that inclusion is actually working for autistics, based on our years of experience. For many kids on the spectrum, mainstream inclusion becomes untenable around 4th or 5th grade as the fun and creativity of early elementary school gives way to worksheets, tests, and piles of homework, especially for those with pathological demand avoidance. No amount of routine "accommodations" was working for my kiddo going into middle school because the environment and core curriculum are fundamentally wrong for him. They are created for neurotypical kids. I think the future of autism education will expand away from this inclusion experiment which fails a lot of kids and go back to models that are tailor-made for autistics.
I went to catholic school in the 90s. Some kids were mean, I was bullied but always had a few accepting friends.
Teachers, on the other hand, caused a lot of difficulty in my experience. US teachers are grossly underpaid. We need to pay our educators appropriately and educate them on different learning styles and personalities.
I think representing diversity to kids is super important though. If we prioritized education and changed the system overall, it could be a better experience for everyone.
Sometimes I wish I hadn’t been integrated into mainstream classes. Typically I’d have one particular friend to be around with, but otherwise I don’t really connect that well with most people. I might be able to connect in the most superficial sense but that won’t make me feel satisfied or truly happy. Also the classroom in general can be a distracting place and I can’t receive one on one attention. I had to use additional support in learning and would have to leave during the middle of class to visit the assisted learning center. Also I’m somewhat selective mute so doing presentations puts a lot of pressure on me. People tend to mistake my reluctance for fear when in fact I’m extremely stubborn and refuse to talk unless there is a compelling enough incentive to it. Being forced to communicate under unusual circumstances isn’t an accomplishment for me. Even now as an adult, public speaking likely will have no applications within my lifestyle.
The only good use I got from mainstream was education but not so much on guidance
We can't handle emotion to that's why I'm a walking 🌋😂💯😔
Do you think that all people are born neurotypical and then develop autism or do you think that autistic people are born with a truly different neurology?
All people are born differently. Autism is a neurological issue that develops during brain development pre-birth. Thank you so much for the comment! Please subscribe to my channel to see more videos from me :).
@@TheAspieWorld I saw a great TH-cam by an English guy (I think he is related to Sacha Baren Cohen) who showed that the various hemispheres of the brain for NT and ASP brains are quite different and that the nerve ganglions (connections) are also quite different in structure.
I had the most horrible experience in a mainstream school
Sounds like a bad idea to be honest, i feel like autistic people don’t work together because of how different we are. Some of us HATE loud people, and a lot of autistic people are super loud.
I just don’t see it working properly...
Lucky. You got diagnosed.
How are you doing, Dan?
I don’t think it is valid to say that autism schools are right or wrong. It mostly depends on the staff at said school and how they they treat their students.
Well, ok, maybe first years....
Has anyone ever heard of " laughing spells" with ASD? My son is 10 and was humming and now laughs at very odd times...its new and wondering if anyone has heard of this? Thank u:)
Is he laughing out of nowhere? In what kind of situations? It could be either a vocal tic (the humming sounds like it is, or he likes the sensation of it), or if hes not doing anything and starts laughing he might be in his head imagining something that he finds funny. I did this a lot as a kid.
He is laughing out of nowhere..its strange to me..:(
@@amberjones6162 it's not strange, hes probably thinking about something funny♡ dont worry about it. People with ASD have incredible imaginations and build up entire worlds and stories in their heads and can get very into it. If hes verbal you can probably ask him and he'll say why. If hes not, I think it's safe to assume hes just happy. IF it's a tic, which is more unlikely but could always be a reason, it'll probably disappear. But I cant say unless I hear it
However; if it's totally uncontrollable and it lasts for several minutes, it could be pseudobulbar affect which is caused by neurological conditions or brain injury. The laughter can end in tears forming or coughing or having a hard time to breathe sometimes. I dont think it is, but since I dont know the way he laughs, how long, how disruptive it is etc I'm giving you as many options so you can form your own opinion
Thank you for your responses. It means so much...💙
It's public school not mainstream English aspie
Are you American?
Has my comment been taken down? If so, why?
I thought this was meant to be an open embracing community, but getting rejected without explanation? More than a little disappointed. I took time on that comment. At the very least I’d appreciate a little feedback if you felt I said something wrong, so I don't do it again or we can talk about why you feel that way.
really not sure, fearing catering to a broad spectrum would dum certain things down
No, I think help and knowledge should be aviable in ordinary schools. "Autism school" sounds in a way like segregation....to me its a big sad no.