Signs Your Child May Benefit From A Specialized School

When you have a child with a disability, finding the right educational fit can be a challenging journey. Families often encounter barriers making strong supports and meaningful partnerships essential for student success. It’s natural to worry about how to give your child a successful and happy educational experience and common to wonder what the best move will be – stay in supported general education or transition to a specialized school?  

There are signs that indicate special education might be the best path forward, but before we look at when your child might benefit from attending a special needs school, we first need to understand why neurodiverse children may struggle in mainstream classes, and what a special education school has to offer. 

Why Can Neurodiverse Students Find School Challenging? 

Schools are often loud, bright, and crowded places.  For many people who are sensitive to such things, such as those with autism spectrum disorder, school is an overwhelming place. Sensory overload makes it hard to focus, increases anxiety and irritability, and reduces the ability to regulate those emotions. Even a “mild” sensitivity to overstimulation can be a major issue when you consider how constant those irritants are. Students spend nearly 1200 hours per year at school – now imagine every day you are uncomfortable and distracted as your baseline level, and there is no reprieve for hours at a time – then multiply that by 13 years. How could anyone be expected to produce their best work? 

Times like these are when the system, which is designed for neurotypical students, comes into conflict with the needs of a neurodiverse child. There is oftentimes an expectation that the child must be removed from the situation (which is not always possible) or learn to “deal with it” - rather than remove the stressor.  

This is not to suggest that there is no support in place for students with disabilities in a mainstream school. Depending on the student’s unique situation, the right accommodations can make a world of difference in their educational experience.  

Why Special Education? 

Let’s consider for a moment what the purpose of an accommodation is. It aims to remove barriers to equal access, promote inclusion, and ensure fairness and success. The necessity of accommodation can come only in a system that by nature excludes in order for it to offer adjustments to be inclusive.  

Imagine then, a school for people with learning disabilities and developmental needs, a classroom that is structured around how they learn and mindful of their sensory, language, and neural processing needs. Support is built-in from the ground up. Teachers are educated in developmental disabilities, and therapeutic resources are easily accessible to students. An environment like this is not accommodating – it is working exactly as designed, for the population it is intended to serve.  

Our high school program for students with moderate-to-severe developmental disabilities at Calgary Quest exemplifies the idea that special education can provide an environment for thriving, not just surviving. We offer 3:1 average classroom ratios, embedded therapy access & behavioral management support, along with individualized programming for each learner’s needs. In a school setting that is fully equipped to support them, we see happiness and success in our students every day. 

What Should You Be On The Lookout For? 

The major signs that your child might benefit from specialized education show up when they are not getting the most out of their school experience. 

If your child already has accommodations in the classroom, but progress remains limited despite these efforts, there may be a need for greater support than the school can provide. Sometimes accommodations can seem suitable at first glance, but if they are only providing enough support for the learner to get by, they are insufficient. In the right environment, these students can fly.   

Feedback from teachers or aides can be a big clue here. Do they say things like “needs to focus more” or mention disruptive behaviour in class? Do they note your child is often frustrated? That they need to spend a lot of time away from the classroom? Apparent troublemaking, or an inability to focus or follow instructions, can all be signs of sensory overload, processing disorders, and problems with executive dysfunction. When they struggle academically because of factors outside of their control, motivation to learn is likely to decrease since it feels like their efforts are wasted.  

There is no one right or wrong path to take when it comes to educational decisions. But if it feels like something is not working with your child’s current situation, it is worth looking into alternative options. Look for special needs schools near you or reach out to a school directly to discuss further. 

Check out our information page here for more about Calgary Quest School and our admissions progress.