Is main school ok for learning difficulties?

Your questions answered by Bill Goodyear of Greatvine.com.

Does main school integration work out ok for most kids with moderate learning difficulties?

Moderate learning difficulties are a very broad term. Main school integration is a very broad concept, so it is very hard to offer a clear answer.

The biggest factor is the school – are they capable of meeting the child’s needs and does your child enjoy being there? Mainstream schools are usually good at reassuring parents and continuing to do their best to cope and manage while they give the child time to develop the skills and attitudes needed to move forward. They are usually very good at including and very patient. However, they are also becoming increasingly quick to exclude and before that they sometimes fail to make all the provision they promise.

Daily experience

The thing to keep your eye on is your child’s daily experience. If it is bad, it may be better to seek a specialist school, or a different mainstream school. Changes take time and a school career is a brief thing, so it is better to move sooner rather than later.

Pros and cons

What mainstream does do is to leave intact a child’s view of themselves as a mainstream operator who can move ahead, get a job, a life and all the things that we hope for in our children.

It also holds all options open in terms of exam success and further education. However, bullying, academic failure and bad relationships with teachers can destroy confidence, so these possibilities may not be of value.

What a specialist school can do is to provide extra attention, a much higher guarantee of success and hence a greater chance of a happy and confident child. Private schools can also provide much of this, with a more able peer group and no loss of aspiration, though sometimes with a lesser level of specific skill and understanding and, of course, a financial cost, although local education authorities may be persuaded to pay for such a provision.