If you can share a bit more about your son and the school, maybe I can tell you my opinion. My son, who is now 21, was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified and a Special Education classroom for reading and math launched him to heights unknown, helping to make him the wonderful young man he is today and giving him confidence I never dreamed he'd ever have. I'm not sure what a leveled program means though or what your son is capable of. I also don't know if he has any friends. My son ended up with a group of friends, a mixture of high level academics and Special Education kids. It was an interesting mixture.
When he was in regular classroom he had an aide. By the end of high school, he did almost everything on his own and his Special Education classes taught him the coping skills he needed to live on his own today. In his classroom were a mixture of different types of children and he became like the leader, helping the lower functioning kids and developing a strong sense of empathy. By high school, he was mainstreamed. He is doing quite well for somebody with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified diagnosis and is definitely a very happy, even-tempered, confident young man, although he does requires a little bit of help. He does have a job and does it well. I could go on and on about this particular child and, although all kids are different, I feel his teachers and school intervetnions and his own grit and never giving up helped to make him the young man he is today. And, yes, he had horrible tantrums when he was young, but there is no shadow of that little boy in the man.
Not all kids learn best in a mainstream classroom. That doesn't mean they can't shine
