Looking for High School Programs for Autistic Children (Virginia Beach, Chesapeake: health insurance, attorney)

[KeithIR]

I moved here to help raise my nephews my oldest nephew has autism and I am seeking programs to to get into. Any referrals for government programs or programs for Autistic children.

[TN Lily]

NHREC | Center for Autism

[Spazkat9696]

Where are you located? Are you looking for extracurricular programs or school placements?

[froggin4colorado]

Last I was at Wburg schools, don't go up there. I don't believe they have changed much based on some teacher friends of mine.
I am hoping to get into York schools this coming school year. (I am an ABA therapist.) I have been welcomed into Magruder, Mt. Vernon, and York Elementary but haven't visited any middle or HS. Next year, I plan on visiting the Grafton Middle and HS though as both of my kids will be enrolled there and it will be an easy way to volunteer.
I have taken a client to York Lanes (bowling) off of Hwy 17 on Wednesday afternoons where Special Olympics bowls. What a fun crowd and not what you would expect with the diversity there.
I wish there were more teen programs around, I have thought about creating more activities but the lack of "enrollment" stops me. I would also want more typical peers involved for models, not just a group with needs.
WEC has a teen night every Sunday and Wednesday that meet and hang out but not sure if you are interested in going down that route. (WEC= Waters Edge Church in either York or Hampton)
Otherwise, I am not sure of any other group.
I am keeping my eyes on myactivechild.com as they have some activities too but seem to be geared to the young kids.
Good luck and I as find things, I can email them to you (if you are interested in doing so).

[KeithIR]

Originally Posted by froggin4colorado

Last I was at Wburg schools, don't go up there. I don't believe they have changed much based on some teacher friends of mine.
I am hoping to get into York schools this coming school year. (I am an ABA therapist.) I have been welcomed into Magruder, Mt. Vernon, and York Elementary but haven't visited any middle or HS. Next year, I plan on visiting the Grafton Middle and HS though as both of my kids will be enrolled there and it will be an easy way to volunteer.
I have taken a client to York Lanes (bowling) off of Hwy 17 on Wednesday afternoons where Special Olympics bowls. What a fun crowd and not what you would expect with the diversity there.
I wish there were more teen programs around, I have thought about creating more activities but the lack of "enrollment" stops me. I would also want more typical peers involved for models, not just a group with needs.
WEC has a teen night every Sunday and Wednesday that meet and hang out but not sure if you are interested in going down that route. (WEC= Waters Edge Church in either York or Hampton)
Otherwise, I am not sure of any other group.
I am keeping my eyes on myactivechild.com as they have some activities too but seem to be geared to the young kids.
Good luck and I as find things, I can email them to you (if you are interested in doing so).

Yes please do keithrobinson@gmail.com

[KeithIR]

Sorry I meant krmarketingservices@gmail I dont remember the other ones password

[KeithIR]

Originally Posted by Spazkat9696

Where are you located? Are you looking for extracurricular programs or school placements?

I am located in Hampton VA

[artistatheart]

I remembered this article and thought some parts of it might be helpful to you:

Autistic children's school: Newport News families opening special school geared to needs of autistic children - Daily Press

[artistatheart]

Ugh! If you can't get the story from the above link, here's the full text:


Autistic children's school: Newport News families opening school geared to needs of autistic


June 08, 2011|By Joe Lawlor, jlawlor@dailypress.com | 247-7874


NEWPORT NEWS — Chad Lenz stared intently at his fingers while they pressed on the piano keys, as he played Kermit the Frog's "Rainbow Connection" and music from the Super Mario video game.

He's also a math whiz who can instantly tell you how old you are if you say the year you were born.


Chad, 13, has autism, and his mother, Laura Lenz, wants her son to get the kind of individual attention that she believes only a private school could provide.

So Lenz, of Newport News, and local Newport News attorney Nosuk Kim, who also has a child with autism, are starting a year-round private school for autistic children.

The Peninsula School for Autism is expected to open this fall in Newport News, and it appears it would be the first private school on the Peninsula specifically devoted to autistic children.

While Chad still has a long way to go, his mom said if it weren't for teaching techniques that the new school will also employ, he wouldn't have made dramatic progress in speaking and social skills. Chad didn't speak until age 6.

"He would get so frustrated (because he couldn't communicate), he would start screeching and running around the room, banging his head on things," said Lenz, a single mother.

Lenz said at the time, there weren't the kind of resources for autistic children that are now available. But when Chad turned 6, she found a therapist trained in applied behavior analysis, a technique to help autistic students, and within weeks he started speaking. Now he can speak sentences, and they can generally go places as a family — mom, Chad and Chad's two older sisters.

"His level of communication has developed and so has his social interactions. He's learned how to focus and participate," Lenz said. "It's been a long journey."

She said they could not find a school geared specifically for autistic students on the Peninsula, so they would drive to Richmond, and later, Suffolk, to give Chad the education that he needed.

Now Lenz and Kim are planning to bring the kind of service that they say is lacking on the Peninsula to Newport News. They are sharing a building with the new Crossroads Village Boys & Girls Club off of Nettles Drive.

New executive director Sydney Mrowiec is working on securing a license from the Virginia Department of Education, which she said is expected to be finalized by July.

Mrowiec said they will use the applied behavior analysis for the school, a one-on-one teaching method that has been scientifically proven to work with autistic children. She said they will hire a teacher, and each student will be assigned a paraprofessional. Mrowiec said the school could end up with eight students during the first year, although it's difficult to predict enrollment. The school will partner with the Boys & Girls Club and the Hampton Roads Montessori School for social activities.

"That exposure to the typical (school) population is really valuable," Mrowiec said. "For a start-up space, this is ideal."

Lenz said she has big expectations for the school, because she's seen the autism schools in Richmond and Suffolk undergo substantial expansions once parents became aware of the services.

"It's going to explode," she said. Chad currently attends Gildersleeve Middle School, but would move to the private school once it opens.

Kim said she doesn't know what the private investment in the school will end up being, but so far it's "six figures" and could reach over $1 million. The school is set up as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and is intended to become self-sufficient, Kim said.

Tuition will be $35,000. In some cases, health insurance would cover the cost of tuition. In other cases, if it could be proven that the public schools can't serve the autistic student, public money would cover tuition. Or, parents could pay out-of-pocket.

Meanwhile, some autistic public school students attend the Center for Autism, a collaboration among all Peninsula school districts and Gloucester County schools under the umbrella of the New Horizons Regional Education Center.

Kelley Wood, special education director for New Horizons, said the Center for Autism accepts students recommended from the home district, often students with more moderate or severe cases of autism. Many of the students can't speak, she said. Some autistic students go to school in their home district.

"There are a lot of great public services available," Wood said. "We don't ascribe to any one teaching technique. We use a toolbox of different strategies."

The founders and director of the new Peninsula School for Autism say that the public schools do a good job, but they simply can't address the needs of the entire autistic population.

"I don't fault the public schools at all," Mrowiec said.

The new private school would also eventually offer an early childhood education program, Mrowiec said. Gov. Bob McDonnell recently signed an autism bill guaranteeing early childhood education for autistic students.

Kim said she believes that while there's no cure for autism, the methods for dealing with autism and helping students cope and learn keep improving. Kim said she envisions a day when her autistic son Ben, 16, can live independently as an adult.

"There's no such thing as 'can't' or 'impossible,'" Kim said. "The possibilities are endless."

The Peninsula School for Autism is expected to open this fall off of Nettles Drive, sharing a building with the new Crossroads Village Boys & Girls Club. The school will likely be the first private school geared specifically for autistic students on the Peninsula.

[ajwhite]

Here's link to Chesapeake Bay Academy on Baker Road in Virginia Beach. Give them a call to see if they are suitable.
School for learning and attention disorders | Chesapeake Bay Academy