Best School Districts in the US for Autistic children (college, Asperger, schools)

[sucecm]

I live in Spring Branch as well, and have a 9-year old autistic son. The district mis-diagnosed him initially (they almost always miss the high-functioning kids) and we ended up pulling him out in Kindergarten and trying a private school. They weren't really equipped to handle him either, but gave us several referrals to specialist (neuro-psychologists, etc) who got a proper diagnosis for him.

Spring Branch ISD then accepted our private diagnosis as a basis for entry into their Austism Intervention programs. APPLE is the most restrictive, and exactly what our son needed. He's been in Apple for 3 years, and is now transitioning to AIM, a less-restrictive program.

It's great that the district has these programs available, but qualifying for them can be a trick. Thanks to Parish school for pointing us in the right direction, and our son's wonderful Apple and Inclusion teachers.

Bendwood is wonderful as well.

[Lancet71]

Originally Posted by Veekay

Hi Everyone,

Can anyone please suggest the best school districts/cities in the US for special education (ed. assistance for kids with autism)? We have a 7 yr. old high functioning autistic child. Currently we live in Michigan area and are looking to move to a school district area which will better support my son's special eductation needs.

We are willing to move anywhere in the US as I have a consulting job and I travel 4 days a week and I can do this from any major city/suburb in the US.

Any guidance or suggestions about resources where we can find such information will be highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Veekay

We moved from Long Island to Western,NY (Rochester area) and most of the western and eastern suburbs have EXCELLENT programs.My daughter is 5 and goes to the Brockport S.D. and it's great and she loves the teachers.She has mild autism but she looks forward to going to school everyday.

[Lancet71]

Originally Posted by miranova

we are looking for the same thing.

I've been looking in Chicago (has lots of private autism schools, from what I've found, the trick is moving to the right area to get your child referred). New Jersey (although they do not promote inclusion, I've been told) also has lots of public collaborative autism schools. Delaware Autism Program - I just found out about. It's a statewide program that is supposed to be good. Other than it, I'm not sure about the schools there though. I've also been told St. Louis. I've read about good things in NY and California, possibly Florida. I would avoid NC, SC, GA, AL, IN, OH. Those are my thoughts so far! Please feel free to share if you have any! I'm starting to stress about this decision

NY is strange. We came from long island where it was horrible but now in the rochester area suburbs(western) where it is exceptional.New Jersey is supposed to be very good as well.

[Lancet71]

Originally Posted by Sandyusa

I have 2 children on the spectrum who are both doing well. We live on Long Island, New York. For the most part I have been happy and feel supported by my district but have had some hurdles along the way (I think EVERYONE does no matter where you are). I think that is just being part of a special needs child. Anyway, from what I understand, and I am no expert, here in Long Island we tend to have good services (depending on what district you move to). I agree with the above poster who stated that NJ has great services. I had also heard that. I do not know which districts there are good. I am actually looking into the Toronto area which is a huge step and I a nervous about leaving here since things are going so well. Good luck in whatever you choose.

I live in the western suburbs of Rochester,about an hour from Niagara falls and the services here are night and day from long island.Long island was horrible compared to this.

[Chelsyn]

Stay far away from nevada! It is pathetic out here for autism, or any disability. I have two autistic children and am currently searching for best place to relocate asap.
I heard prescott, az was good, but now im hearing stay away from az.
So far my research shows wisconsin, new jersey, and mass., are the best. I know michigan, macomb county has a 'intermediate school district' just for autism, it is funded from the public school district. I know it used to be excellent, i am trying to find out how it is now.
If anyone knows about it please let me know.
Thanks
cn

[donegalsbest]

Originally Posted by alreed

We moved to Birmingham Mi, & I can say they have bent over backwards to help our now 7 yr old high functioning autistic son. I cannot say enough about their programs. He is mainstreamed and doing well. Every road has bumps but I can highly recommend Birmingham schools esp Beverly Elementary.
Not to mention if you like floor time, Easter Seals provides some PLAY therapy and Dr Richard Solomon, Ann Arbor, playproject.org is within driving distance as are his therapists. Excellent Dr. I like that he teaches the parents how to interact with their children. If you like a to the point behavioral specialist he is Awesome.

Just curious what you think of this school now. For others in the audience, this school , with a pretty decent setting for AI kids, decided overnight to remove the AI program from the school. This was a low budget move by administrators who have NO concern for the kids , and is strictly motivated by $$$$ , which is ironic since the special ed kids do garnish quite a bit of $$ themselves through the state.
The district director of special ed, who is even more desensitized to these kids in the district, is your typical hired gun to budget crunch and stay removed from the real battles, and hide behind lies and the team staff. What was once a wonderful district and environment for AI kids, is now seen as a origination for lawsuits instead of a destination for progress. Sorry to vent, but stay away from Birmingham , Michigan........for now.

[PDDNOSMomma]

Ok, I'm originally from Boston MA but moved to NH 5 years ago. My 4 year old son was diagnosed with PDD NOS at 3. We originally were going to move back to MA as we've been told by many that their programs are phenomenal. After researching it more, you should only move to certain towns in MA (Wellesly, Newton, Lexington & Acton) and even in those towns I've met parents that are very unhappy with their programs. We hired an Advocate and lucked out with our school district. My son only gets 23 hours weekly but the entire program is ABA based, he gets 15-20 hours of straight ABA, 1 hour of OT, 2 hours of Speech and 1/2 hour of PT. He is in a classroom maximum of 10, with 4 typical peers. There are 6-8 teachers so usually one teacher to 2 children. Also, my son has a paraprofessional shadowing him all day. He is considered high functioning, speaks fairly well for a kid with ASD, is funny and sweet. Only a trained professional would be able to pick up on his disability. Now my husband and I do supplement his therapies (since he only gets 23 hours at school). We add an additional 3-5 hours of weekly ABA, he is currently enrolled in a 1 hour long music speech therapy, we participate in RDI therapy and we see a DAN! doctor & GI SPecialist out of the LADDERS program in MA. We are right on the MA border so do have a lot of Drs and Therapists in MA. Anyway, my point is our district has been wonderful and are really on the ball. Our Advocate told us it is one of the better ones she has seen in NH and she feels we shouldn't move to MA because it is more likely the program won't be as good. That being said, we have still been considering moving. We've been told Wisconsin ASD kids get an automatic 35 hours of straight ABA? We've also been told CA & NJ & NC are good areas for children with ASD. Can anyone give specific towns and experiences? Although after reading everyone's posts I may just opt to stay here and keep supplementing. If we move, we'll likely pay it in mortgage anyhow...

Thanks for any input!

[froggin4colorado]

We recieve great reviews from parents here in Colorado Springs.

[teecherman]

Chester County, Pennsylvania, which is a Philadelphia Western suburb and also borders Maryland and is very close to Delaware, is supposed to have an outstanding program for autistic children. It's run by the county Intermediate Unit.

I have neighbors with 2 autistic children who moved to North Carolina, not knowing any better.

Within months they were looking to put their brand new home in NC up for sale and ultimately took a big loss in order to return to Chester County.

Here is an overview and contact information.

CCIU - Autism Support (http://www.cciu.org/SpecialEducation/autism.html - broken link)

[cbirken]

I am seeking the best High school districts in Long Island, Suffolk Co. We are moving from the Chicago area, where my 16 yr old autistic son went to a fantastic private school, Clare Woods Academy and is just now moving back to his home school Oak Park River Forest High. At the HS, he will be in a mostly contained lower academic classroom, but with access to the arts, sports and esp. the theater groups. The HS has a Best Buddies club and a Special Olympics Basketball team, where my son really blossomed ( enough so for us to want to bring him back to his home school, versus one 35 miles away). Any suggestions most helpful- so far I see that Commack, Oceanside and Wm Floydd has Best Buddies, and Special Olympics as well at Wm Floydd. I haven't seen any info on the ones noted in previous thread ( Dix Hills/Melville/ Wheatley) or Elwood,Rocky Point or Northport. I have found that the larger schools have more tolerance of special needs kids in activities like theater.