family with blind and autistic child moving to jersey city area (Morristown: home, school)

[Ruz]

Hi,
My son (11 years old) is blind, intellectually deficient and has behavioural problems.

We are thinking of moving to New Jersey, somewhere in the Jersey City area. I'm looking for the following information:

1. What would be a good school for him? I've seen the website for St. Joseph's school for the blind. Would their multi disabled section be the right place for such a child or should I be looking elsewhere?

2. How do I find out about day camps (during school holidays) and weekends for handicapped kids? My son absolutely loves to go out for recreational activities with groups (staying at home is boring), so this information is absolutely vital. The only problem is that since he is blind, whoever is with him will have to take that into consideration, and yes, he needs one-on-one support.

3. Also, if anyone has firsthand experience of what it is like living in this area, please share.

Thanks in advance! We live in Europe, never lived in the U.S., so any pointers will be greatly appreciated.

[Honeycrisp]

Given your son's special needs, your best bet would probably be to directly contact St Joseph's. Surely they would know about camps to fit his needs as well.

You might also want to contact NJ Foundation for the Blind in Denville, they deal with adults but probably could help - same w/ The Seeing Eye in Morristown. Here's some links that may help too

http://www.njlbh.org/bhorgvs2.htm
http://www.njffb.org/about.html
http://www.dexknows.com/local/govern...ris_county-nj/
AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND (http://www.acb.org/resources/guidedogs.html - broken link)

Good luck.

[Ruz]

Thanks Honeycrisp, I've e-mailed several other organisations, including St. Joseph's, after following the links that you had posted. Hopefully some of them will respond.

[Honeycrisp]

I believe there's some kind of camp for blind children in the summer, maybe in Warren County, but Im not sure if it's still in existence, am sure the other groups would know though, offhand I don't remember if it was a day camp or sleep-away camp but I remember seeing pictures of kids in the pool having a great time, I wish I could remember more about it though, am almost sure they were blind. Anyway, am sure you'll get some responses soon and I hope it all works out should you move across the pond ;-)