services for special needs children in Columbia (Oakland, Smithton: rent, home)

[mbloom]

I am the mom of two autistic children - one high, one low functioning. We are considering moving to Columbia and I would really like to know if Columbia Public Schools has good services for special needs children. They will be in 2nd grade. I wondered if they have autism centers located in certain schools or if they keep them in their home schools. Which elementary schools have the best services? I also have a typical middle school age child, so I am interested in learning about middle schools. Lastly, I am a teacher so I am interested in learning about what it is like to teach for CPS.

[afk211]

I don't know much about Autism services in the Columbia district, but you might check out their website: http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us.

As far as middle schools go, you should look into Smithton - the kids in our neighborhood go there and the parents are extremely happy with it. I think Gentry would be okay as well, but steer clear of Lange Middle/Oakland Junior High. My husband is a teacher at Oakland and was (not so pleasantly) surprised by the apathy of the students there. The principal and teacher quality is excellent, but they can only do so much when such a large proportion of the students (and parents) don't seem to care if their children succeed.

My husband loves teaching in the district - Columbia is truly committed to paying their teachers well and he's had nothing but good things to say about his principal and the administrators in general. Get your application in early - apparently last year they got over 1200 applications for about 200 positions!

Welcome to Columbia!

[lisamarieslp]

I no longer live in Columbia but went to Mizzou for grad school (speech pathology) and worked at a pediatric clinic there as well. The services they have in the area are excellent. My friend's son has mild-mod autism and is thriving there. She is a speech-pathologist as well and has been happy with his services.

You can also get speech services at Mizzou through the clinic there; they also have a language-based preschool that has 1/2 normally developing children along with 1/2 children with special needs.

There is an autism center through the university as well.
genetics.missouri.edu/autismhome

When working with children with special needs at the pediatric clinic, I was so impressed with the case managers, physicians, and the resources of the town in general as opposed to other areas I have worked (in and out of Missouri, large and small towns). If I had a child with special needs, I would not hesitate to live in Columbia...

[scottdavis]

Columbia Missouri has one of the BEST programs for children with autism!

Visit AutismNews.com to read all about it.

Email me if you have any further questions.

SD

[kminenger]

I am moving to columbia, MD in two months. I have a 13 year old with very mild Autism and a 10 year old with moderate autism. My ten year old is non verbal and will require a specialized school?. I will be staying with a friend in the Wilde lake Villages, but have heard a lot of bad things about villages like the Berkshires. Can anyone give me some updated advice as to the best villages to move to. I will probably rent a towhome for a year and then buy. My max. rent price will be about $1600.