Best School Districts in the US for Autistic children (preschool, military, teachers)
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can any one suggest good school districts / towns in pennsylvania? I live in nyc and have a child with Autism. I am looking for a town that has good sp ed and programs for children with autism (higher functioning), also has extracurricular programs like music, soccer, or other types of socialization classes, affordable houses/townhouses, shopping areas, clean and safe environment to raise a child. Please let me know, I need help and dont know anything about which town to move into in Pennsylvania that would have all that I am looking for, especially for my son. Thanks all.
Trina,
I was born and raised in PA all my life. As time has changed so has the people. No matter where you go today safety is always an issue. Even in the small rural communities where I was raised back in the 60's and 70's.
Cumberland county has some good programs for children with challenges. My son used to be on a "Challenger" baseball team. Many challenges were represented including; Autism, MS, CP and other more unique issues.
The job market is bad everywhere. Pa still doesn't have a balanced budget almost a month after the previous budget expired. Being a national issue it doesn't matter what state you move to if finding a job was the only issue.
Onto the bigger issue of autism and school districts. Does your son actually have aspergers? How old is he, what grade is he in, AND what are his passions? A little more info and I may be able to pinpoint an area for you.
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)
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.
I lived on Long Island and our district SUCKED for special ed. Plain and simple...they never diagnosed my son, they made us beg for services, it typically took four months till he got services...
Thanks to their poor services my son has issues today, specifically physical ones, that they could have addressed and worked on so he wouldn't be so behind today.
I won't name the district but it was between Bay Shore and East Islip...put 2 and 2 together...
Fast forward to our schools here in VT...now you hear a lot of negatives about schools here...depends on the district. Ours is WONDERFUL for special ed. The first year we were here, they diagnosed him as Asperger Syndrome...a top notch psychologist saw him a few months ago and we got a detailed report...He gets the services we agree on with the IEPs and they start on day one in August...not in November.
He has had some wonderful teachers. He went to a free summer school program this year and last.
The only thing keeping us in this area is the school district. If we leave, I have to find a place as good or better than our district.
Where would you suggest me moving to for a great autistic school thats been around for a while. I would like the teachers who are very experienced and not straight out of college. My son is 11 years old with high functioning autism. MOM from Pa
I live in Chambersburg, PA, and there is an autism school here in town. My son has Aspergers and is very high functioning. He attended a program called Stepping Stones all summer. It was 3 hours a day, 4 days a week, and it started the week after school got out and ended the Thursday before school started. They also provided transportation. Now that school is back in session, he attends the program one night a week for 3 hours. There is also a local therapeutic riding program and a special ed playgroup.
We moved to PA almost 2 years ago, before my son's diagnosis, and thank God we did. We would still be on a waiting list for services in MD, and probably paying out of pocket, too. In PA, everything is covered by the state insurance. We also have a behavioral specialist and a therapeutic support person who come to our home. The improvement in just a few months is wonderful. I can't say enough good things about PA!
PDDNOSMomma - Why are you thinking of moving?? You seem to have fantastic services. My son has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS in New York City, and we have had to fight to get from 2 (!!) to 10 hrs of ABA SEIT time weekly, school-only and no extended services during breaks. Now we have resorted to hiring a lawyer to increase his hours, but it has been an uphill and expensive battle all the way. There are some great programs in this city, but you have to educate yourself about the process or they will steamroll over you.
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