Ranking of the states and services for autistic kids (schools, therapy, child)

[nana053]

This came up at a meeting of an autism support group locally and the President of the organization compiled this list of the rankings. I thought some people might find it helpful.

Hello All:
To follow up on our conversation last night....
Here's the list (rating) for states with the best services for children with autism. Notice where Texas is! (we are in Texas)

1. Vermont
2. Arizona
3. Michigan
4. New Hampshire
5. California
6. Washington
7. Delaware
8. Nevada
9. Massachusetts
10. Connecticut
11. New Mexico
12. Colorado
13. Hawaii
14. Minnesota
15. Pennsylvania
16. South Carolina
17. New York
18. Idaho
19. West Virginia
20. Wisconsin
21. Wyoming
22. Georgia
23. South Dakota
24. Montana
25. Kansas
26. Oregon
27. Florida
28. Missouri
29. Maine
30. Alaska
31. Maryland
32. Alabama
33. Kentucky
34. Rhode Island
35. Iowa
36. North Dakota
37. Louisiana
38. Virginia
39. Ohio
40. New Jersey
41. Tennessee
42. Indiana
43. North Carolina
44. Utah
45. Oklahoma
46. Nebraska
47. District of Columbia
48. Illinois
49. Texas
50. Arkansas
51. Mississippi

[Penguin_ie]

What is this based on?
I live in Arkansas and our experience has been excellent so far- though admittedly we went private to get the official diagnosis, as the public waitinglist was 1+ years. But once we had a diagnosis to show, services were available no problem and our son (4.5) is now in an excellent SN pre-school.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by Penguin_ie

What is this based on?
I live in Arkansas and our experience has been excellent so far- though admittedly we went private to get the official diagnosis, as the public waitinglist was 1+ years. But once we had a diagnosis to show, services were available no problem and our son (4.5) is now in an excellent SN pre-school.

I'm not sure where she got the list actually as I was not at the meeting.

We actually are getting good services from the school district in Texas, but other districts nearby are terrible. Early Intervention can be very spotty in different states too.

Do you get ABA in Arkansas? We had to pay privately for that in Louisiana and in Texas. So if your child needs ABA, you can be out of luck as it is very expensive.

[Penguin_ie]

We don't feel ABA would suit our boy. I know it is available but I am not sure ho9w easy it is to get.
You have a good point about variations in district/ counties, there are huge variations here too.

[germaine2626]

Whenever I see lists like that I always wonder about what they are based upon.

What is "great service" for one child may be what another parent would consider grossly inappropriate for their child.

Yesterday, I was a substitute teacher in a school district which has full inclusion of their special education students.
I spent about half of the day in a 4th grade regular education classroom working with a sweet child with autism. He was totally non-verbal and probably functioned at about the 12 month level "academically". While the other students worked on math problems like 346 times 53 he was listening to stories on an IPAD. Even his speech therapy was totally in the classroom. It appeared hard to get and keep his attention with all of the noise and other activities going on in the room with 25 or so other children. Although, the other students treated him with respect and care he did not even appear to notice that there was anyone else in the room with him (except that it was hard to get and keep his attention).

And, how much did he gain from listening to the classroom teacher read a chapter out of a book about Greek Gods? And was the twenty minute video on stored energy and kinetic energy the best use of his time at school? Yes, he was sitting next to his age level peers but he never really appeared to notice them, or the teacher or the screen. Could that time have been better used learning something else, perhaps a Picture Communication Exchange System, if he was ready for that or some type of "functional" or daily living skill?

Now, some parents would think that was an outstanding program/environment for their autistic child while others would consider it not approprate at all. My thoughts were "I wonder how much more success the speech therapist would have in a quiet 1 to 1 session in a real speech room?" and "Wouldn't the Physical Therapist rather work with him in the PT room with standard therapy equipment rather than just modify playing floor hockey in his 4th grade gym class?" and many more questions. As it happened, his mom came to have lunch with him at school and she just raved and raved to me about the schools "amazing success" with her son and their "fabulous special education program". I just smiled and nodded.

As a substitute, I just followed what the special education wrote for me to do with him that day. But as a special education professional I had some serious doubts about the long term education and needs of that child.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by Penguin_ie

We don't feel ABA would suit our boy. I know it is available but I am not sure ho9w easy it is to get.
You have a good point about variations in district/ counties, there are huge variations here too.

Why don't you feel it would be a good fit?

There is good ABA and bad ABA, btw. So, I can understand the feeling that ABA is not the best therapy. For autistic kids, though, it often does wonders when done properly. I am not a big fan of discrete trials, but NET training and verbal ABA have both been good for my grandson.

ABA is often very expensive and not available as a free service.

[nana053]

As for the states list, I think that the idea is that some states are much harder to get any services in than others.

Appropriate services are different depending on the individual child, but states that autism scholarships which allow parents to CHOOSE the services their child needs without having to worry about the cost are the states that are best.

[H00rah]

Washington State? LOLOLOLOL...no way man! I moved from that state. They offered us NOTHING for our kids. Unless Bill Gates all of a sudden just donated tons of cash...no way!

If this is true..please show me documentation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I am still tripping on this post. What actually allocate a state being ranked? I lived in Mesa, Az and it was horrible. I moved to Gilbert, Az and was amazed how much better the school district changed. Those are aweful broad strokes. We left Washington state years ago because they had nothing for us. I know of another couple that recently moved out of there because of the same reasons. They left only 3-6 months ago. So I am really confused now!

[Spazkat9696]

I think to lump a whole state is too much. Services range from city to city.

[DeeDee1000]

Is this best to worst or worst to best? I live in Arkansas and I'm looking for a good school for my nine year old. He has medium autism and adhd. They don't apply ABA much at all in their learnings in the regular schools. They are strict and I have seen a couple of things that I don't care for where I have had to go to somebody. I would like to get him in a charter, all autism, school.

Originally Posted by nana053

This came up at a meeting of an autism support group locally and the President of the organization compiled this list of the rankings. I thought some people might find it helpful.

Hello All:
To follow up on our conversation last night....
Here's the list (rating) for states with the best services for children with autism. Notice where Texas is! (we are in Texas)

1. Vermont
2. Arizona
3. Michigan
4. New Hampshire
5. California
6. Washington
7. Delaware
8. Nevada
9. Massachusetts
10. Connecticut
11. New Mexico
12. Colorado
13. Hawaii
14. Minnesota
15. Pennsylvania
16. South Carolina
17. New York
18. Idaho
19. West Virginia
20. Wisconsin
21. Wyoming
22. Georgia
23. South Dakota
24. Montana
25. Kansas
26. Oregon
27. Florida
28. Missouri
29. Maine
30. Alaska
31. Maryland
32. Alabama
33. Kentucky
34. Rhode Island
35. Iowa
36. North Dakota
37. Louisiana
38. Virginia
39. Ohio
40. New Jersey
41. Tennessee
42. Indiana
43. North Carolina
44. Utah
45. Oklahoma
46. Nebraska
47. District of Columbia
48. Illinois
49. Texas
50. Arkansas
51. Mississippi