Autism services? (Atlanta, Peachtree City, Decatur: insurance, school districts, live in)

[sak9210]

Hi, I have a son with high functioning autism in preschool. He will be starting kindergarten next year. We currently live in PA, but my husband has a job interview coming up in Atlanta. I've been researching online and came across Peachtree City which sounds really nice, but I don't know much about the autism services there in the public schools. Do they have special needs teachers in the classrooms? Do they try to mainstream? Are therapies outside of school covered by insurance? Are there support groups around for the families? Thanks.

[pinetreelover]

You might want to talk to some parents who have real-life experience with different schools. Services can vary greatly from school to school.

FOCUS (Families of Children Under Stress) is a support group for families of special needs kids. Their website is FOCUS - support for children with disabilities or medical needs They will be happy to help hook you up with a parent to talk to.

[roxyrn]

All public schools in the US are mandated by IDEA (the federal disabilities act) to provide FAPE (free and appropriate public education). The goal is to provide them in the LRE (least restricted enviornment).
Each child is given an IEP (individualized education plan) so it is difficult to determine which services your son would qualify for.
School districts set up special education departments in various ways with different names so you need to look at the individual websites. Generally, it seems that the best public schools also have the best special education services so I would look at all of the schools that people mention on the boards, here, and avoid the others.
Also, with all of the budget cuts to schools in the Atlanta area, do not expect to obtain more than the minimal services. When we came here from New York a few years ago, they laughed at some of the services listed on our IEP.

[ToucheGA]

Originally Posted by roxyrn

<snip>... When we came here from New York a few years ago, they laughed at some of the services listed on our IEP.

Good point. Just goes to show howa "universal," federally mandated program can be implemented differently at different schools.

[kykeyu]

I would look up the Autism society chapter that's there. Where I live they host support group once a month, it's a great place to meet others in similar situations.

[peachstatehomegal]

The Marcus Institute (in Decatur, I believe) is a big austism research/learning/etc center here in the area.

The public school systems have some classes set up geared towards that particular need - you'd have to check with each county and see what they offer for the age/grade and services you need.

I can't speak for any services in the Peachtree City area, but as for Gwinnett, their school system offers a wide variety of services for a wide variety of needs.

There's also a great therapy center in Snellville - Parkwood Farms Therapy Center - it's main focus is working with autistic kids, but offer a lot of different services, as well.

HTH!

[toiday]

In addition, you can also apply for the TEFRA/Katie Beckett program. This will help cover all the therapies for your child.

[lastminutemom]

Toiday

Have you actually received the Beckett waiver? If so, do you mind sharing the severity of your child's disabilities?

Thanks.