Should i send my child to a special school
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My daughter is five years old and has been diagnosed with global developmental delay and autism. She is non-verbal and not toilet trained and needs lots of special care. Last week i was informed that my child has qualified to attend a school for children with special needs and I have very mixed feelings about this. The school itself is amazing and has lots of extra activities and services that my daughter will benefit from but I just can’t move past the feeling that putting her in a special school isn’t very inclusive. I am a firm believer in inclusion and think that children with disabilities should be supported to attend mainstream schools. My husband thinks we should choose the special school. Please help us make this difficult decision for our daughter.     
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Answers (3)
Best answer chosen by asker
I fully understand that it is a very difficult decision. It is also very crucial for future development of your daughter that she gets right type of support and services.
I am not sure if your daughter was previously enrolled in an early intervention service or not. If she was already receiving any such program and you are aware of her therapeutic requirement, it might help you in making the right decision.
I am personally a strong proponent of inclusive education because it allows the children to interact and learn along their typically growing peers. Children who study in inclusive environment have better social exposure and usually acquire better language, social and motor skills.
But, when it comes to the future development and success of your children, you have to make rational and calculated decisions. It seems that your daughter might require, along with academic services, speech therapy, sensory integration therapy and training in ADLs (activities of daily living). I will suggest you to visit both special and inclusive school in your neighborhood. Talk to the relevant coordinators and learn more about the services available there. Once you have met the relevant teams and seen the facilities by yourself, then make a decision.
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What reasons does your husband have to not want to put your daughter in a mainstream school? Special schools are better equipped to handle special needs children in a way mainstream schools aren't, right from resources to staff to equipment. I agree with @stella that you'll want to look at evidence to evaluate how well your mainstream school can accommodate your special needs child before deciding where to put her.
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This must be a very difficult decision for you both as you're 100% correct in that mainstream schools should and need to be inclusive. I've found in my years working across special as well as mainstream schools that some mainstream schools do this really well and others not so much. If you have identified a mainstream school that you have observed to cater well for students with high needs, then this might work for your family. Some of the questions to ask to understand if the mainstream school is the best fit is; a) how will your child be resourced in the classroom (if at all) e.g. Will it be 1:1 support from an assistant all day (or only part) or will there be access to resource allocation such as visual aids/sensory equipment b) Will the resourcing for your child in the mainstream be allocated across different students in the classroom (depending which country you live in and how this is shared) or will the resourcing just be for your child and c) How will the school keep you informed regularly about progress and needs.
If you get great answers to these questions and see the evidence of inclusivity, mainstream may be the best option and fit.
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