PLEASE NOTE – THE SCHOOLS WITHIN OUR NETWORK OF VALIDATED PROVIDERS ARE CURRENTLY OVERSUBSCRIBED. UNTIL THIS SITUATION CHANGES, WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO ASSIST YOU WITH THE SCHOOL AND YOUNG ADULT PROCESSES THROUGH OUR SUPPORT PACKAGES AS DETAILED BELOW.
Our first telephone or email response to your enquiry is FREE OF CHARGE. If you require further support please scroll down for our Support Packages. Please complete the form with as much information as possible indicating which package you are interested in.
FIND AUTISM SERVICES
I am looking for support with Schools and Colleges and I need following:
Living Autism will respect your privacy and never use or pass on your details without your permission.
Why use Living Autism to help you look for autism schools and autism colleges?
We work with the independent sector and the Living Autism team will –
• Listen to your requirements
• Offer you a free and independent service
• Support you in finding the best choice of bespoke autism schools and colleges focused on specified needs (temporarily on hold due to oversubscription)
• Validate autism services within the Living Autism network
• Support you through local authority processes
• Advise you of your rights and when to appeal
Our first telephone or email response to your enquiry is FREE OF CHARGE to you. If you need further support, please scroll down for our Support Packages.
SEMH
Some of the providers within our network successfully support children and young adults with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) conditions alongside those diagnosed with autism.
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Our support packages
You can make an enquiry by using our contact form above. Our first telephone or email response to your query is FREE OF CHARGE.
If you need more in-depth support we offer the following packages – blue, green or orange.
| Children – up to age 25 |
Blue package |
Green package |
Orange package |
| What is included | £495 | £995 | £1,495 |
| Assistance with putting together papers for EHCPs | √ | √ | √ |
| Assistance with papers for tribunals | √ | √ | |
| Attending a virtual multi-disciplinary tribunal meeting (face-to-face cost is an agreed extra) | √ | ||
| Adults – from age 19 |
Blue package |
Green package |
Orange package |
| What is included | £495 | £995 | £1,495 |
| Assistance with understanding the process for Adult Social Care Assessments leading to supported living or residential placements and the complaints process if necessary | √ | √ | √ |
| Assistance in preparing for a multi-disciplinary meeting regarding adult placements | √ | √ | |
| Attending a virtual multi-disciplinary tribunal meeting (face-to-face is an agreed extra) | √ |
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Blue package – Children up to age 25 |
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Green package – Children up to age 25 |
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Orange package – Children up to age 25 |
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Blue package – Adults from age 19 |
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Green package – Adults from age 19 |
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Orange package – Adults from age 19 |
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General information on schools and colleges for SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities)
Below is some general information on schools and colleges, how special needs are supported and how they are generally funded. For our Support Packages in helping you look for schools and colleges please scroll down.
Schools
Schools are overseen by the Department of Education. Local Authorities are responsible for implementing policy in schools. There are 3 age bands for schools:
- Nursery — ages 3 and 4
- Primary — ages 5 to 10
- Secondary — ages 11 to 18
Children are required to stay in the education system until the age of 16 and they can stay in education till the age of 25.
There are state-funded schools and privately-funded schools. State-funded schools receive their funding from Local Authorities and are free of charge for pupils.
There are a small number of City Technology Colleges and academies. These are secondary schools which are funded directly by the Department for Education. Academies can also accept funding from private individuals or companies.
All state-funded schools are regularly inspected by OfSTED (Office for Standards in Education).
Approximately, 7% of all school children and 18% of secondary school children attend independent schools.
Special Educational Needs in Schools (inluding autism schools)
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) is a term used for children who have learning difficulties or difficulties that make it harder for them to learn or access education. If you have any concerns about your child’s learning it is important to get help straight away.
Most children with SEND can be supported in their education and needs within a mainstream school. A school will use the SEND Code of Practice to assess your child’s needs and to guide the school in how best to meet your child’s needs.
If your child’s teacher or their SEND co-ordinator (SENDCO) feels that your child needs support from outside the school, such as speech and language therapy, they will get help through School Action Plus.
Education Health and Care Plan (mainstream and autism schools)
Sometimes, schools cannot fully meet the needs of your child. In that case, you can ask for an ‘education health care assessment’ direct from the Local Authority. This assessment will help to identify in detail your child’s educational, as well as their health and care needs.
If you are looking for an autism school you will need an EHC Plan.
If your request for an assessment is accepted by the Local Authority they will carry out an assessment within 20 weeks. Once the assessment has been carried out, the Local Authority will write an EHC Plan.
This EHC Plan will help your child access extra support. Some autistic children might need to attend a specialist autism school, either autism residential school (also called autism boarding school) or autism day school, for their needs to be met.
Colleges
After school at the age of 16, students will continue their studies in a sixth form college or a further education college. This sector is called Further Education. Further education usually lasts until the age of 19. There is discretionary financial support for students over the age of 19.
A child with an EHC Plan can continue in education until the age of 25. Funding is accessed through the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Colleges also have a variety of adult education courses.
Special Needs in College (including autism colleges)
Colleges have an obligation to make ‘reasonable’ adjustments for special individual needs. However, sometimes those ‘reasonable’ adjustments are not sufficient to support an individual. In this case, there are specialist colleges which cater specifically for the needs of people with disabilities or learning difficulties.
These colleges are usually independent and, often, residential. Funding can be accessed through the Education Funding Agency.
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