Best schools for autistic 13 yr old - south of Milwaukee (Waukesha: house, transfer)

[mamacass]

My husband is going to be starting a new job in Milwaukee soon and we are looking for a good school for our autistic son. Right now he is in a regular classroom with a full-time aide and receives approximately 2 hours of special services per week. We live south of Chicago now and are hoping to relocate anywhere within a 45 minute commute south/west of Milwaukee. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[mikki]

I was an elementary special education teacher in the Waukesha Schools for many years and I can tell you that they have awesome services here. (I left b/c we are moving to NV as soon as we sell our house here.) I am not as familiar with the middle and high school programs, but I do know that the middle school near us, Butler MS has excellent special ed. services. What I would suggest you do is contact the special services depts in the districts you are considering and maybe even e-mail your son's current IEP to them and pointedly ask if they would provide similar or even more services for your son. I would let them know that you are "district shopping" so that they don't brush you off. If you are moving prior to the start of the school year, I would ask if they could have your son's transfer IEP meeting before school starts so that all of his support services are ready by that first day. Best of luck and please feel free to PM me if you have additional questions!

[asd_dad]

If you are still looking, you should definitely look at Franklin, WI. Our son is 6 and currently receiving excellent services from the Franklin Elementary Schools. The Middle and High Schools also have good reputations. Also, if you haven't already, you should look into the Wisconsin Medicaid Waiver Program for children on the autism spectrum. The waiting list is long (currently >2 years, I believe), but well worth the wait. We receive >30 hrs/week of intensive in-home one-on-one therapy for our son, with services provided by Autism Intervention Milwaukee (AIM) out of Brookfield, WI. Best of luck with your search.