Best Long Island School Districts for Special Education (Levittown, Garden City: attorneys, transfer to)

[djdairyp]

Originally Posted by Maxsmom

Don't want to hear about it "w"itch. As I said, walk a day in our shoes. We are not fighting because our children have a lisp. Perhaps we should consider cutting band uniforms or football programs. WOn't your Johnny be sad.

Walk 2 feet in anyone else's shoes besides your own and maybe you will be able to provide an informed viewpoint that is not totally self centered and narrow sighted. Don't proclaim to be 'holier than thou' without knowing with whom you are speaking to and resort to insults clearly showing your lack of logic and ability to construct a cogent arguement. Again with the "program cuts", try reading for a change, there was no suggestion of cuts. Maybe you should sue your school district to provide you with a reading comprehension specialist. Your a waste of time. Good day.

[Maxsmom]

Originally Posted by djdairyp

Walk 2 feet in anyone else's shoes besides your own and maybe you will be able to provide an informed viewpoint that is not totally self centered and narrow sighted. Don't proclaim to be 'holier than thou' without knowing with whom you are speaking to and resort to insults clearly showing your lack of logic and ability to construct a cogent arguement. Again with the "program cuts", try reading for a change, there was no suggestion of cuts. Maybe you should sue your school district to provide you with a reading comprehension specialist. Your a waste of time. Good day.

A reading comprehension specialist would be rather costly. No room in the budget.

[vavrinl]

I live in Massapequa, they have good resources for kids with Autism, not so sure about all the other kinds of disabilities out there. They have self contained k-9 and also have inclusion classes for those grades and a full autism program in with a 8-1-4 ratio that is ABA based. This year they started a socialization program for kids with autism from all programs to participate in and it has been a hit. They have a new Director of Special Ed and she is trying to model after some of the the things Half Hollow Hills is doing. They had been really lacking in services for grades 7-12 but have put together a new program to address the needs of those kids and it is in the early stages. I have been very pleased, my son is in 2nd grade now,and I have not had to beg for services or had to send him out of district. I am hoping that they will get their program for older kids off the ground and running well by the time he is ready for that.

[PT1010]

A friend of mine has a child with some spectrum-like behaviors and speech problems. She lives in Northport, and when he was little (preschool age) he went to the Early Intervention program that the district offers. He made so much progress, and my friend loved the teachers, therapists, and other parents there.

[cathicool]

my school district wants to remove my child from an integrated class (18 kids, 1/3 of which are with an IEP, a gen ed teacher and a special ed teacher plus an aide in the class all day every day) to a general ed class (25 kids, 1 gen ed teacher only) for sept. they want to d/c OT services and halve psych services. They also d/c'd PT services. Needless to say, we don't agree and refused to sign off on these changes.

we are hiring an attorney. and also seriously contemplating moving. my son has a diagnosis of autism (specifically PDD) and we are in the process of exploring a possible co-diagnosis of ADHD.

[Maxsmom]

Lawyer up! It works wonders. Don't move unless you really want to. Your child (and you) should not be driven from a home you love because of red tape. Trust me, if he is on the spectrum (ADHD is not a classification, believe it or not) they MUST provide related services. Hang tough.

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by cathicool

my school district wants to remove my child from an integrated class (18 kids, 1/3 of which are with an IEP, a gen ed teacher and a special ed teacher plus an aide in the class all day every day) to a general ed class (25 kids, 1 gen ed teacher only) for sept. they want to d/c OT services and halve psych services. They also d/c'd PT services. Needless to say, we don't agree and refused to sign off on these changes.

we are hiring an attorney. and also seriously contemplating moving. my son has a diagnosis of autism (specifically PDD) and we are in the process of exploring a possible co-diagnosis of ADHD.

What is your school district, please? And by all means, hire legal guns - some districts only react when you show you mean business

[cathicool]

Babylon Village is our district.....and we moved here for the schools! And we will move out of here for the same reason!

[cathicool]

and I should also include that they don't consider PDD autism at this school district. even though the developmental pediatrician and autism associates of NY (dr. elice) and the cody center have all diagnosed my child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)/ PDD-NOS. He's not in the "we don't know what to call it diagnosis", he has been tested and observed, etc....he has mild autism. But the various staff members at the school seem to think they are better equipped to diagnose my child. My kid's physicians have probably written 10 letters over the past year and a half describing my child's disabilites and their reccommendations for his placement. It's been a fight every single day here, literally from the very first day that my child started school here (which was jan 2008). everything that is reccommended has to be "discussed"--the school physician has to be consulted, the pricipal needs to be consulted, the teacher needs to weigh in...and of couse this all takes weeks. i am on a first name basis with the superintendant at this point! but its all very clique-y and bueracratic and sooooo frustrating!

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by cathicool

and I should also include that they don't consider PDD autism at this school district. even though the developmental pediatrician and autism associates of NY (dr. elice) and the cody center have all diagnosed my child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)/ PDD-NOS. He's not in the "we don't know what to call it diagnosis", he has been tested and observed, etc....he has mild autism. But the various staff members at the school seem to think they are better equipped to diagnose my child. My kid's physicians have probably written 10 letters over the past year and a half describing my child's disabilites and their reccommendations for his placement. It's been a fight every single day here, literally from the very first day that my child started school here (which was jan 2008). everything that is reccommended has to be "discussed"--the school physician has to be consulted, the pricipal needs to be consulted, the teacher needs to weigh in...and of couse this all takes weeks. i am on a first name basis with the superintendant at this point! but its all very clique-y and bueracratic and sooooo frustrating!

I'm so sorry you have this added stress! In the past, Babylon had a decent reputation about dealing with autistic children and the required services.
One of my grandsons is autistic (official diagnosis from the Cody Center), so I'm very familiar with the impact that has on your family life and the work it takes just to find out what he is entitled to. Bid kudos to my daughter, who is a bear when it comes to fighting for her "cub" . Fortunately my daughter's SD works with her and the IEP, as opposed to fighting everything. There are a number of SDs out there where fighting for services is the only way - what a shame! After all, you're paying school taxes...
If you'd like to some input with regard to IEP "friendly" schools, send me a PM.