Help! Have SPECIAL NEEDS child & Moving to Chattanooga area.. (Signal Mountain: daycare, public schools)

[jenijenjeni]

My family maybe moving to TN very soon. We hear Chattaonnoga is great.... so we will be moving there or near there.

My question is do they have any special needs schools or classrooms in the regular schools that are state run for our special kids? If so where?! I need to pick a town to move to and it is so hard when I have never even been there! LOL!

Are daughter is 6 years old and has Cerebral Palsy. We also have an 8 year old son who is in the 3rd grade. So we need a town with good schools, but also good for our disabled daughter too.

PLUS just to add to the confusion, I prefer to live somewhere there is close to shopping centers. I don't like driving 20 minutes to just go grocery shopping LOL! So I hear Signal Mountain is not in the running for us then

I live in Connecticut now by the way. Thank you SO MUCH!!!
Jeni

[basco]

I visited this past Thur & Fri for a job interview and love the city (at least so far) and noticed a building in the city with a sign that read children with special needs. I don't know if that was a school or a hospital or therapy center. I take notice of those things since my little nephew has autism.

[nannie_banannie]

If your child requires special ed, or multi-handicapped schooling, TN is not the best state for a move. I live just outside Nashville. I have lived her almost 9 years. The entire system, school, educational, state, is at minimum 20-30 years behind the state I moved from (Ohio). If your main care and concern is finding an outstanding geographical area for your special needs child to grow up in, this is NOT the state for you; however, they are trying to make improvements with the help of those like myself who have already witnessed what is federally, state, and locally available. This state hasn't had aggressive, advocating parents push for anything, as it seems. Hope this helps!

[kamoshika]

You might want to contact the Siskin Children's Institute in Chattanooga. Even if the school itself isn't a viable educational option for your daughter, perhaps they can provide you w/ some useful info:
Siskin Children's Institute - About Us
Siskin Children's Institute - Admissions
Video: Kids Like You, Kids Like Me - Chattanooga Times Free Press - Breaking News in Chattanooga, TN. Classifieds and Top Stories (http://www.timesfreepress.com/absolutenm/templates/local-video.aspx?articleid=21928&zoneid=175 - broken link)

[LWClark]

There are schools in the Chattanooga area that provide for special needs children. My daughter worked as a teacher's aide and worked with a special needs child in a regular classroom setting.

You might check out the following web site: Hamilton County Department of Education

This is a direct link to the Hamilton County Department of Education. Hope this helps!

[LoneStarGirl]

DO YOUR HOMEWORK. I moved back to Chattanooga a year ago and thinking about heading back to Texas. Since you have a special needs child, I would check with Siskin's Hospital. They are wonderful. I have a special needs kid but all his education was in Texas and I can't really say what kind of education you would receive here. But Siskin could help you. GOOD LUCK!

[acclarke]

We are looking for somewhere for our child to go since she is 7 and is special needs with mild autism. Since she is in public school, she has had some improvements but she is still having difficulty moving forward. She is placed with kids with other types of disabilities and is reverting backwards sometimes. Summertime is wretched with daycare in public schools because she is not learning or getting the individual attention children with her disability needs. While Chattanooga has facilities for special needs children, they are only for children under the age of
6. There is a school called Orange Grove that specializes with children who have Down Syndrome and children with Autism, however, you have to be reffered to them by the public school system before your child is allowed to go there. This is a long proccess and a big headache. I would suggest you do your homework also before moving here. It is difficult for the child and you to have to place them somewhere after age 6. We are planning to move to Georgia in the next couple of years and are in the same oat to look for a school for our child. Good luck in your journeys!