autism - best schools (Madison, Brookfield: rent, homes, neighborhoods)

[mommoving]

My family is planning a move to madison with our 5yr old autistic son. Any advise on school districts and individual schools that are good or bad would be wonderful! We have heard good things about middleton and waunakee, we're leaning towards middleton.

[arangoa79]

I'll talk to my wife, she has a BA in special education and taught in the Madison school district for a while. She also did ABA therapy in NYC for an Autism foundation.

[Megan1967]

Even within specific schools, there are teachers who are better at working with special needs children than others. You have to pretty much take it one grade at a time and some years you will have better matches than others.

There are usually specialists assigned to each school who you would want to talk to and observe in order to get a feel for how they interact with their students. Most autistic children are assigned full time aids, at least in Madison Metro School District so I assume most districts, so you'd want to see them in action as well.

If you have time the best thing to do is to visit the schools in the areas you'd like to buy or rent in. Almost all of the schools allow potential families to sit in on various classes and watch the teachers at work. You have to call ahead to set up an appointment, but you could spend a couple of hours in each classroom to see which teacher works in a way that would be best for your child.

I don't think there is any one school that is best for any one child, regular ed or special needs. There are schools that have generally better teachers than others, but a teacher who is good for one child is not necessarily good for another. The special ed teachers would be the biggest determining factor since they are more or less your child's advocate and safety net.

[mommoving]

Thanks for all of your opinions. We certainly plan to visit the schools, and speak to special ed teachers, etc. but I also know from our current school district that parents at some schools are consistently happy with the teachers and adminstration and others have to fight every step of the way. Sometimes, it's hard to tell until your child is in the school.

[RemiJP]

If you are interested in additional speech and language therapy, you might want to try getting on the waiting list for treatment at the UW Speech & Hearing clinic.

[mommoving]

No other opinions that any of you can share? Honest feedback would really be appreciated, we are debating between waunakee and middleton schools at this point, anyone know which might be better with special ed?

[kt35]

I posted on another link, and see you here again. I am a parent of a child with autism, who currently attends Common Threads, which is a private school for children with autism in McFarland. The McFarland school district is also excellent and McFarland is conveniently located close to downtown Madison. There is a large number of children with autism in our community. I know of around 4 other children that are being referred into the Early Learning Program at the school, so the therapists are well-versed in autism treatment. In terms of location, we lived on Madison's east side for 7 years and I get into town faster living in McFarland. There is a mix of homes available and some lovely neighborhoods. I think it's generally cheaper than Middleton and comparable or slightly cheaper than Waunakee. Perhaps contacting the Autism Society of Greater Madison might be helpful in locating services. I'm not sure if they'll give you their opinion on individual school districts.

[mommoving]

I did call the autism society, they wouldn't give opinions of schools - good or bad. I have heard good things about comomon threads, but haven't spoken to anyone who has older special needs kids in McFarland. I hate to move there without some first hand accounts of their experience with the schools in the district.

[Lynn HV]

My autistic son, now 19 years old attended Oconomowoc Developmental Training Center (ODTC) in Oconomowoc, WI (my district sent my son there - private school). He attended ODTC from the time he was 8 years old until 12 or 13. He was only there as a day programing. After that he attended Fairview South in Brookfield, WI (Elmbrook School District) which is a public school only for the disabled. Many districts send their kids to this school

[amysherman]

One thing that I will mention is that Middleton (my son attends Elm Lawn Elementary) is very overcrowded. While I love our schools and I think the school district does everything it can to help students with autism, it can be diffucult to work with kids with special needs when the physical space is so limited. Elm Lawn and Northside are really overcrowded.
We tried to pass a referendum to add school space, but in this economy that can be hard. And Cross Plains which is part of the Middleton School District is not overcrowded and in their short sighted way, they refuse to vote for any referendum that does not effect their children that year.
My understanding is that Waunakee does not have as significant an overcrowding problem.
I will second the idea that you look at McFarland as well. McFarland has an excellent reputation and is often overlooked because Middleton and Waunakee have been given such a bright spotlight.
Middleton, McFarland and Waunakee are all fantastic communities and each has their own unique characteristics.
It seems to me that you are very proactive parents and that will get you far no matter what community you settle in.
Best of luck!
Welcome to the Madison area!