Public School districts for child w/ High Functioning Autism (Houston: appointed, home) - San Antonio - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

fightingirish2321 · 09-30-2010, 10:41 AM

What a great forum I have stumbled upon. I have searched in many spots and find good information, but I wanted to see if I can get some direct feedback.

We have a 9 your old son w/ high functioning Autism. We have a great support structure currently with his therapy group as well as the school he attends. He currectly attends a public school in a mainstream classroom. He gets some pull our services throughout the week and has an aid as well throughout the day.

There is a chance of our family of relocating to Texas. Specifically the Houston , San Antonio , or Austin region. I will be working from home so I don't "need" to live in a particualr spot. Our budget is around 250k give or take.

I am just starting to do leg work in terms of schools/districts that are best in working with Autistic children. We already have an IEP for him. Do you know where I might find information or someone to talk with about services that are offered in those locations (and surrounding areas), how their funding looks, school districts that are better than others for him, etc?

Thanks in advance for all the help/comments/suggestions

Mom2Feebs · 09-30-2010, 11:03 AM

I'm not sure what to tell you...we are in NISD, we have a 5 year old with autism, and I'm really only slightly disappointed, not much but enough to start thinking about private school (oh, that is, if there WERE ONE.). I have heard wonderful things about NEISD's special needs, but then I also heard they're having budgetary problems.

With us it's been more teacher and class related. It seems rather chaotic and hectic and the teachers--as sweet as they are--have seemed to be so busy because of the student-teacher ratio that sometimes I feel like my daughter is not getting the attention she needs. Other times she seems like she is doing well. We have her annual ARD in November so I will probably have a better idea of where we are at that point.

I also have to remember that when we moved here to SA, we were coming from an AMAZING school district as far as autism goes--they have a special needs school for kids 3-6 that is just incredible! Our daughter had lots of one-on-one attention and only had 5 other kids in her class. So...this is different.

I know there are great teachers and resources out there, I just don't know if they're being used to their fullest potential.

I also know that other people might have had better experiences that we have, and I wouldn't even go so far as to say we've had a bad experience, just not as good as we had hoped.

majormadmax · 09-30-2010, 11:07 AM

We have a 10-yr-old son who has high-functioning austism, and we have also been very impressed with the services offered by NISD. He's been in two elementary schools, and at both the amount of support he was getting from the staffs has been very good.

There have been a few threads about this already, try searching the forum and see if you can find more information on which to make your decision.

Cheers! M2

fightingirish2321 · 09-30-2010, 12:58 PM

Major- can you specify which schools those were? And you mentioned he was in 2. Did you move and that was the reason for him attending 2 or some other reasons. I am searching the threads and found quite a bit of good information, but some was older postings and I wanted to capture recent information.

thanks for the input

cwcavazos · 09-30-2010, 05:54 PM

Also, keep in mind what you are expecting from the district. You have to be realistic and patient. Each child with Autism is so different and some staff members "get it" and some are just clueless no matter what training they receive or years of experience. With in the same school, you may have a bad experience because of different teachers. You also mentioned that he has an aid with him. Is he assigned an assistant in ARD or does it say that he will receive special ed support? There is a big difference. In NISD, you will not be handed a 1:1 assistant, and I'm sure that's the same in other districts.

mamatotex97 · 09-30-2010, 08:59 PM

I work in spec. ed. feel free to dm me with any questions.

VA DIVA · 10-01-2010, 09:48 AM

I second everything Mom2Feebs has to say! My son is 5, and is very high functioning, but he's nonverbal. He is super smart. His teacher is a first year teacher, no experience working with kids with autism and we are continually having to tell him what to do, things that work, etc. We are very involved parents and the school does not like this. They feel because we want to make sure everything is going well and we ask questions, we are being difficult! He is in a Northside school, that is rated explemary.

majormadmax · 10-01-2010, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fightingirish2321

Major- can you specify which schools those were? And you mentioned he was in 2. Did you move and that was the reason for him attending 2 or some other reasons. I am searching the threads and found quite a bit of good information, but some was older postings and I wanted to capture recent information.

thanks for the input

They were Krueger and Nichols. He moved because the latter had a better program, and the young lady who taught him (and who we loved) at Kruger was leaving. Plus, he now rides a bus to school, which helps with his independence.

NISD has been great, there have been some small hiccups on ocassion; but for the most part we have been very happy with his progress. We are very involved in his education, and have no qualms about going to the principal or higher if there's any issues. There was a small one at the beginning of the year, they wanted to move him again because of a new ALE program at Ward, which is technically closer to us but we were very happy with the program at Nichols; but that got quickly resolved to our satisfaction.

Hope that helps! My wife is actually more knowledgable on his situation than I, so feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions we can answer.

Cheers! M2

Mom2Feebs · 10-01-2010, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VA DIVA

I second everything Mom2Feebs has to say! My son is 5, and is very high functioning, but he's nonverbal. He is super smart. His teacher is a first year teacher, no experience working with kids with autism and we are continually having to tell him what to do, things that work, etc. We are very involved parents and the school does not like this. They feel because we want to make sure everything is going well and we ask questions, we are being difficult! He is in a Northside school, that is rated explemary.

Ours too (exemplary). Last year we had a 2nd year teacher, and though she was as sweet as she could be, I had to show her what a daily communications folder looked like. I was glad we only had half of a year with her.

This year, the teacher is more experienced and seems to know more about autism, but again, it's really hectic in there and I am not confident she is able to give the one-on-one attention she needs to, even though she has two assistants...when you have 12 kids and you share the classroom with the ECC kids...well...with inclusion you pay a price, I guess. Not sure it's entirely worth it.

helpmominsa · 11-19-2010, 07:14 AM

I am looking for a middle school for my son who was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. The school he is currently in is not able to provide the attention he needs and is constantly getting into trouble(according to the teachers)where can i go to help him get help coping with this syndrome please help !