Mainstreaming/Inclusion/Self-Containment/Special Schools

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For anyone on whatever range of the spectrum, what method of schooling do you think is best for them?

I think the obvious answer would be "it's a case-by-case basis for each child," but I wanna hear more opinions than that.

I think if you're at the academic level of your peers, mainstreaming/inclusion should be encouraged as much as possible. I have a harder time thinking about what to do for a MFA middle schooler, however. Would you put them in a special school because you know they might notice that they're different and want to settle their fears about that by putting them with students they could relate to, or would you keep them in the self-contained classroom at the public school so they're in touch with the outside world by being surrounded by NTs?

What would you do, if you had a child on the spectrum?

I had a terrible time in inner city, segregated school systems. This was before they had mainstreaming for folks of my severity. I would have done better in mainstreaming. Parents also don't always have much control - especially poor and non-English speaking parents like mine were.

Best practice is inclusion in a mainstream class with appropriate supports depending on child's individual needs like a 1:1 if needed and/or pullouts to specialists or quiet room etc if needed, as needed.

As you said, it's a case-by-case thing, so the reality is that no matter what you choose, there's no guarantee that it will be the right choice.

With that in mind, I think when the "right place" is unclear, the best option is to aim for as close to mainstream as you think they may be capable of. If you don't know, give them the chance to be in a mainstream class and find out what they're capable of there. That way, you can at least be sure that you're giving them the chance to succeed and achieve as much as possible - you don't want to put a child in a special school when they don't need it, because of the future limitations it can place on them. If you start with mainstream or close to it, you can see how the child does in that environment. Then, as wildcoyotedancer said, if and when individual needs arise you can either add additional supports or look at a different environment.

In general, though, I think that in most cases a mainstream environment, with additional supports placed within that environment (either in the mainstream class or by pulling them out of the class at certain times) is much better than complete segregation.