Possibly relocating to Scranton area w/ special needs child -- lots of questions

[colorfulchic83]

Bangkok mom, I urge you to do a search of this forum about healthcare, and search other sites, too.
Everyone I know who wants a good doctor, especially for complex health needs, goes to Danville or Philadelphia. The Lehigh Valley is also another place many from this area go to for their health care, as they have great doctors and a magnate hospital.

My friend has an autistic son, and she left the area because the very few services that were available here were inadequate. I have a neighbor with special needs kids, ADHD, ODD, and some mental illness. She too is planning to move out for better services, and she has lived here her entire life. She even quit treatment for her PTSD because of the unethical way she was treated. Sadly, there is a gross lack of compassion in many providers here, and many violations. There are a few good doctors, but they are rare to find. My sister is a nurse, and she quit her job here because the psychiatrist was over medicating her patients, nearly killing some. She did the right thing and reported it, but nothing came of it. If you research Pa's record on disciplining provider misconduct, it's not good. She works in NJ now, and says it is a world of a difference compared to the providers here.

Another neighbor of mine has a child with cancer and other physical ailments. Her family also goes to Philadelphia for treatments & therapies. They too have lived in the area their entire lives, and when I 1st moved, they told me, "If you ever have more than the flu, go to Philly or Danville".
I'm just being honest about the health care here. Services for special needs is even worse.
Please, do extensive research before bringing your child to the area. I wish you the best.

[Three Ducks]

Originally Posted by lorac07

The special needs child will be catered to, made adjustments/accommodations for, class lessons in general will be slowed down for everyone in order to address an issue with a special needs child, teachers aides/assistants/learning support people will either be in the class with the special needs children OR will pop in and out when the need arises and will thus interrupt class lessons in a variety of ways in order to help the special needs child/ren.

Computer rooms will be tied up with special needs children in order to give them math/reading/extra help; however, long lines of classrooms will then not be able to get into those computer rooms (though state standards in every subject dictate that regular ed teachers all should be teaching via technology).

Special needs kids, sometimes, can disrupt education just by behaviors; too often, those behaviors cannot be addressed with the usual measures because by law, special needs kids cannot be disciplined in certain ways and/or cannot be suspended for more than _x (usually 11) amount of days.

Now, Original Poster, please do not be offended by my post. I am NOT saying that your special needs child would or does in anyway disrupt class OR others' educational processes. And it's not your child's fault (or yours) that the educational system is set up the way that it is. Were I the parent of a special needs child, I would want to avail my family of every accommodation and opportunity for my child. On the same token, were I the parent of a regular ed child, I would be completely taken aback by what happens in many classrooms----NOT through the fault of the teachers, the principals, etc....but through the direct result of the laws spawned by IDEA.

Implementation is everything. I've personally seen IDEA done two ways. In one area the special needs students were cash cows. Parents were encouraged to allow the district to assign labels that offered a higher federal payout. If the students were too troublesome parents were badgered to pull the child out and homeschool or pay for private placement. Where I am now the success of the program hinges on Medicaid providing supplemental help. This setup has a much better outcome and special needs students are very visible and thoughtfully included, but if medicaid retracts and refuses to fund (which happened recently) there's no backup in place (as far as I am aware) and the system will collapse on itself.

I have family members who are teachers. IDEA implementation included something similar to your claim where the teacher is expected to teach a class while helping an otherly abled child cope and function in the environment, to the children being pushed into contained classes based solely on the diagnosis they walked in with. All four of these systems are inappropriate for different reasons. IDEA like many things is open to interpretation and there is no easy answer. My advice to any parent who is moving to a new area is to investigate the individual district for the programs and supports they offer because they do vary wildly.

All of these systems were designed by the individual districts. The children who need the help and their parents have no say. I find it to be perplexing that you would resent the children for a variety of things, none of which they can control and particularly when you suggest you have no children impacted by any of this.

[NEPAhopeless31]

[quote=Bangkokmom;30985226]

3) How does Scranton area compare to Binghamton area with regard to weather? Is it cloudy at least half the time like up there? Is there about the same amount of snow? We were noticing some nice little towns outside of Scranton, but wondering if snow would be an issue for commuting.

-Scranton is very cloudy like it is in Binghamton. Below nationwide averages for sunshine just about every single month of the year. Summers come close, but it's pretty grey here most seasons. Snowfall is slightly less but if you live in higher elevations, it can be worse. I would recommend living closer to a main road or interstate if you decide to live in the highland areas of NEPA.