Moving to Phila. Child with Autism Questions about Schools (Philadelphia: townhomes, neighborhood)

[llrwlindgren]

Hi,

We are relocating from Atlanta, Ga this summer. I have two children, a son who is 8 and a daughter, who is 12. My daughter has High Functioning Autism, but has learning challenges. She has been in a specialized private school for 2.5 years because the public schools in Ga. weren't meeting her needs. Every school in the Greater Philly area has a 10 rating (on Greatschools), but I know that doesn't tell the whole story. My questions:

Which public middle schools/schools districts have the best supports, academics and resources for students on the spectrum?

Which public middle schools/schools districts have the most welcoming and understanding atmosphere for kids who are socially naive? Of course, I realize this is middle school and it is harrowing anywhere.

The places we have looked at homes so far are: Bala Cynwyd, Gladwynne, Wynnewood, Swarthmore, Media, Narberth, Havertown and in town we've looked at townhomes/apts in the Penn Alexander, Meredith and McCall catchments. Any insight into these and other areas would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[chessimprov]

Hilltop is a great private school which can help meet the needs of your daughter directly. Expensive, but they will get the job done well. I believe they do middle school as well as high school, but not sure.

The Crefield school is another good one.

Public is hit or miss as changes in personnel can occur.

Maybe consider cyber school too.

[Kukla65th]

As a teacher I would say that even in the suburban districts that are automatically labelled "great" schools even when people know nothing about them, you have to be careful that one of those districts' special education programs isn't overpopulated. This can make it harder for your child to get meaningful attention in support settings. If your child's diagnosis is very serious, of course, then specific individualized accommodations will be made for one-on-one assistance, etc. But there are some suburban districts with student populations that are perhaps 25% special education versus about 10% in most districts, and that presents special problems managing and assisting students. In Philadelphia, even if you were to use private schools, the school district would have to provide services for your child by law with documentation on-hand warranting it. This would be the same in any other district, though the counties outside Philadelphia have what in Pennsylvania are called 'intermediate units" which provide additional special education supports and other education programs for all districts in that county. In Philadelphia, everything operates through the School District of Philadelphia since the city is the only one to be consolidated with its county and its only school district. If you live in Philly, services would be obtained by enrolling at your catchment area school, having your child evaluated by someone from that school's special education department, and then going from there, even if you do not in the end use the district.

[toobusytoday]

The Pennsylvania Intermediate Units cover ALL of Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia. https://www.paiu.org/ius.php They work in public school buildings and have their own stand alone locations. Generally speaking they serve the most fragile kids and do pre-school evaluations and help students that have all kinds of physical, emotional and behavioral special needs. IU's are funded by the state and by individual districts.

Pennsylvania public schools are known to do a good job with special needs kids compared to many other states, but funding can vary quite a bit from district to district. Avoid Philadelphia schools.

[koalacares]

Hi! Can any special needs parents or caregivers speak about the autism services in the Philadelphia School District currently? We are considering moving to a Phila neighborhood and have teens with autism. Would love to hear anything about the supports in the high schools please! Thanks so much for sharing!!

[chessimprov]

Originally Posted by koalacares

Hi! Can any special needs parents or caregivers speak about the autism services in the Philadelphia School District currently? We are considering moving to a Phila neighborhood and have teens with autism. Would love to hear anything about the supports in the high schools please! Thanks so much for sharing!!

A school with a good reputation where students are known not to act like "wild animals" in general can focus more on your student. Where there are distractions in the environment and for the staff, the focus can't be there. I think if your children can get into a magnet and if you can consider them high functioning, as long as they are self-motivated, they should be fine.

Charter schools are worth considering too.

Cyber is a very viable option as there aren't the social situations to distract from quality learning.