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Choosing the right school for any child is a difficult decision. But choosing the right school for a child with special needs or learning difficulties is absolutely critical. That is why I have written this article to hopefully give you some advice on how to choose the right school.

When you have a child with special needs, the RIGHT school can:

Be a great source of support for yourself and your child.
Help your child reach his full potential.
Minimize the symptoms of the disorder or your child’s difficulty.
Make your child comfortable and happy.
Allow your child to make friends and eliminate the possibility of bullying.
Improve your child’s chances of having a bright future full of opportunities and possibilities.

This all sounds great and is what all parents want for their children.

However, choosing the WRONG school can:

Give little or no support.
Keep your child.
Your symptoms get worse.
Make your child feel scared, alone, and isolated.
Make it difficult for your child to make friends.
Increase the likelihood of harassment.
Limit your child’s chances of having a bright future.

YES, that is how important it is to have the right school when your child has special needs. And sadly, this is the reality of what could (and often does) happen.

I have had a lot of experience in this area with my own son:

When was school supposed to start. I spent hours scouring the internet for the best local schools, in the best areas, with the highest scores on the leaderboard, and the best reports.

This was a huge mistake.

If you have a child who does not have special needs or learning difficulties, then yes, do what I did and find those high-performing schools in “good” areas.

BUT, if your child has special needs, DO NOT DO THAT. I can’t stress that enough.

High-performing schools tend to perform high because they have so few children with special needs.

This means that:
a) They will not have such good facilities and procedures for them.
b) will not have as good knowledge or experience with special needs or learning difficulties.

Additionally, high performing schools in “good” areas often lack diversity. This can make your child more prone to bullying. When a school has a greater number of children with special needs and a greater level of diversity, the children are more open to differences between them and less likely to be upset with a child for being different.
The first school I sent my son to I made this mistake. I sent him to a very high performing school in a typically wealthy white Christian area. The school had less than 1% special needs. And 0% of cultural diversity.

Within a few months, my son was terrified of going to school. He hardly had any friends. I was being bullied. The teacher constantly approached me at the end of the day to tell me what I had done wrong that day or how much I had struggled. He barely made any progress in learning. And every time he went to a meeting with his teacher or special needs coordinator, they would say things like “we don’t know what to do with him.” And, “We think you should consider sending him to a special school.”

For too long, I left him at that school, not realizing the damage he was doing, or that things could be different.

After almost 2 years I took it out. And not send him to a special school (as they had suggested). I sent him to a school in a nearby town, which was the exact opposite of the school he had just left.

I sent him to a school with low achievement rates. The highest percentage of children with special needs in the area (12%) and it was located in a rather ‘poor’ area with a lot of diversity.

Within a few weeks he began to read simple words, write his name, and count to 10. Things he had never been able to do. He liked going to school (most days; we still had an occasional day when he couldn’t be disturbed, but he didn’t have screaming spells). He made a lot of friends. And all the teachers and staff loved him.

Instead of having a teacher who constantly complained about him, they spoke of him with love and affection. It was fantastic.

After just over 4 glorious years at that school. Sadly he had to leave, because we had to emigrate from England to Australia.

But, when we started searching for a school in Australia, I had already learned my lesson. So I immediately looked for a school that was:

Small (less than 400 students) the less the better.
It had high rates of children with special needs and learning difficulties (minimum or 8%).
It had a very diverse mix of students, with children from different economic, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds.
A school that focused a lot of attention on social development and happy children.

We visit the school after school after school about a half hour drive from our house. And we finally found a school that met all of my criteria. Woodville Elementary School in Victoria.

My son has been there for 6 months and couldn’t be happier. He has many friends and the staff loves him. But the most important thing is that he likes to go to school. And I feel supported and listened to by his teacher and the rest of the staff.

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