Schools for special needs child (Oklahoma City, Edmond: zoning, jobs, home)

[shadow42]

We are considering a move from Socal to Edmond. My husband works for Boeing and we have been applying to various jobs in the state. My 4 yr old son has a mild form of asperger's syndrome and we have been advised to hire a "shadow" to help him through his difficulties in school with focussing and socialization. I am wondering if anyone can tell me how are the services in the OKC area for children with special needs. He also will need some occupational therapy, speech and social skills training. If anyone has any experience with this as related to the public school system, I would appreciate hearing from you. We will base our decision to move on the level of services available to us in the area. Thanks.

[Jammie]

Does anyone have any info that will help this family?

[Melissa529]

Edmond has a fantastic public school system. check out Edmond Public Schools the tabs on the left hand side are clickable. It might be able to give you more information about the special programs at Edmond public schools.

[shadow42]

Thanks, Melissa. I am very familiar with the quality of public schools in Edmond. What I am really interested in hearing is the experience of parents who have a special needs child. The web sites are great, but the human experience is a better indication of a district, I think. Anyway, that is what I am trying to gain by this post. Someone told me that Oklahoma has good programs....just trying to gain knowledge through others first hand experience.

[peggydavis]

Hi Shadow

I can only give you some second hand information but I will try anyway.

I was a teacher in Oklahoma public schools for 12 years, elementary and junior high levels. The schools are required by law to provide for your child's needs. All of the services you listed in your first post will have to be provided to your child, and if you are willing to pay for a shadow I'm sure most schools would really appreciate that. You sound like the type of parent who be will be working with the school to address your child's needs, and that is the key to getting those needs met.

[JCLMAU]

I am not quite sure I can help as we are just entering the public school system here in Edmond. I am originally from SoCal as well (Laguna Niguel). We have lived in Edmond for a few years. Our dd, who is 3 has been diagnosed with autism. We actually moved within Edmond this year to another school so we could get her the best (in our opinion) special needs program within the city. I believe there are schools that are just geared for special needs, and that's why we decided to move from one zoning area to another. I understand what a big decision moving is. I would love to help you out more. I can tell you that there are great resources here. I would give the schools a call, they can go into much better detail. Take care

Sara

[Suzanne-ABA]

Shadow42- I work with children diagnnosed with Autism and we shadow students. We have many that we design specific DTT programs and INclusion with a shadow in typical clasrooms. There are services and support groups in the area. I would recommend making sure a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) is setting up plans for socialization and focus because I have worked with quite a few public school shadows and, let's just say, I am not impressed.
You can find some support at www. Making Connections - HOME I'ts founded by mother of children with special needs. If you need a list of BCBAs in your area you can go to www. bacb.com and you can do a search for your area. My companies website is www. appliedbehavioralconcepts .net Applied Behavioral Concepts, Inc. Huntsville, AL but you can get more resources at making connections.

[mytwoboys]

Originally Posted by JCLMAU

I am not quite sure I can help as we are just entering the public school system here in Edmond. I am originally from SoCal as well (Laguna Niguel). We have lived in Edmond for a few years. Our dd, who is 3 has been diagnosed with autism. We actually moved within Edmond this year to another school so we could get her the best (in our opinion) special needs program within the city. I believe there are schools that are just geared for special needs, and that's why we decided to move from one zoning area to another. I understand what a big decision moving is. I would love to help you out more. I can tell you that there are great resources here. I would give the schools a call, they can go into much better detail. Take care

Sara

JCLMAU - can I ask which school you moved from? My son goes to CT elementary. I am trying to have him evaulated to see if he qualifies for help from the school. He has SPD, which is on the Autism Spectrum, but milder. We seem to be meeting some resistance... they are hoping to have him tested by "the end of the semester." They want me to wait to sign consent forms so they don't have to stick to the 60 day rule. (Pretty sketchy) I'm concerned that his school is treating this lightly and worried they won't take good care of him. Any info or advice you can give me on Edmond Schools and the Special Ed system would be helpful.

[nrmom]

Originally Posted by mytwoboys

JCLMAU - can I ask which school you moved from? My son goes to CT elementary. I am trying to have him evaulated to see if he qualifies for help from the school. He has SPD, which is on the Autism Spectrum, but milder. We seem to be meeting some resistance... they are hoping to have him tested by "the end of the semester." They want me to wait to sign consent forms so they don't have to stick to the 60 day rule. (Pretty sketchy) I'm concerned that his school is treating this lightly and worried they won't take good care of him. Any info or advice you can give me on Edmond Schools and the Special Ed system would be helpful.

moving to Edmond from Oklahoma City was the best decision we ever made for our family. We found the Edmond Public School System extremely helpful. We moved mid-year and the school that was in our district did not accomodate my sons needs who has been diagnosed with AS (mild) so they let us pick between the 2 schools who could accomodate our sons needs, with the exception of we would have to take him and pick him up if it wasn't the 2nd option school (closest to our area). We chose Charles Haskell and we couldn't be happier - Tammy Atkinson is the SE teacher and she is great!
I would highly recommend Haskell.

[urvashi]

Hi,

We are considering a move to OK city, my husband is here in Wichita KS Boeing, and he is getting a good projest at Boeing in OK city. We have a 7 yr old autistic daughter who is going to full time private special ed school. I had been wanting wanting to mainstream her anyway. But I just needed to know if there are good provisions and really good public schools?
Pls help
Urvashi