Best school district for middle school child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Portland: home, design)

[almondtree2010]

My eldest son is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He started attending public middle school in Charlotte, NC when we moved here last January. He attended small private schools in Texas so far. For financial reasons, we could not continue sending him to private school.
His refusal to go the public middle school is so strong. He has been staying at home for four months now.
Home schooling or private school could be a temporary solution, but I want him to be treated for his ASD thinking about his future. He is sometimes aggressive and violent toward his siblings, he is also isolated with minimum interactions with outside world. I am worried about him.
Since we don't have enough funding, I am looking for public school or school district with good support for children with high functioning autism.
We are willing to relocate.

I hear some people here mention about PA, NJ. Mostly the posts here are about elementary school. I would like to know if those states are good for middle school child with ASD too. I also would like to know how difficult it is to be able to get into a public/charter school that has programs for special needs children?

Thank you very much.

[Nell Plotts]

For resources in Oregon I suggest you contact: Autism Society of Oregon :: Home read Autism Oregon | Connecting parents and information and Oregon Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorder and Autism Program | Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland Oregon | OHSU

Best wishes to you and your family.

[Yankeemama]

Our contained classrooms for spec ed go to fifth grade, I believe. The schools in PPS gave many K-8 schools now so at our school there are less than 70 7th graders and less than 70 8th graders. PPS is talking about changing the k-8s but for now...you could come to a k-8 and have your son receive an IEP. We gave several high functioning Autistic students at our school. I think Jackson Middle a School has a high number of Spec Ed students and it's located in the SW. My son is in a contained classroom/main stream for kinder. Message me if you like.

[oldtintype]

DaVinci and Woodlawn both have a 6-8 Team CB which is a great program--special ed with as much gen ed as your child can handle. Geared towards high functioning and/or Aspy kids.

[eabcan]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

I think Jackson Middle a School has a high number of Spec Ed students and it's located in the SW.

Yankeemama is right about Jackson. They do have a high number of students in their Life Skills program (self-contained classrooms). From what I've seen they have a fairly good ratio of aides to students in the program as well and most of the students are somewhat mainstreamed (they have one or two regular classes). The school is in SW near the Capitol Hwy./Barbur intersection and feeds into Wilson High School. I'm not sure what kind of programs Wilson offers if you are looking to the future.

[Yankeemama]

Thanks Oldintype for the info. Clad to hear there is a 6-8 program at DaVinci. Eabcan- thank you for your info about Jackson, as well. I think Wilson has a high percentage of Spec Ed so that is encouraging. I would recommend the OP investigates Beaverton public schools. There is also a good deal of affordable housing in the suburbs and several regular posters here seem to be familiar with Beaverton.

[almondtree2010]

Thanks for the answers. I am new to all of this. I am curious about what CB and SW are.
Is Spec Ed at PPS part of the mainstreams or is it a special separated class?

Thanks again

[eabcan]

Originally Posted by almondtree2010

Thanks for the answers. I am new to all of this. I am curious about what CB and SW are.
Is Spec Ed at PPS part of the mainstreams or is it a special separated class?

Thanks again

SW means Southwest and refers to that area of Portland. Not sure how to answer your other questions so I'll leave those to others more knowledgeable than myself.

[Yankeemama]

I think CB is contained classroom so there are designated campuses in different high school clusters like Wilson in The SW quadrant. I believe Capitol Hill (k-5) has a contained classroom. Schools without designated contained classrooms would offer Spec Ed in a mainstream situation. The thing is contained classroom situations usually include mainstreaming which varies per student needs.

[oldtintype]

CB stands for communication behavior class. Basically it means that a child has potential behaviors related to communication, hence most of the classes are designed for kids on the autistic spectrum as opposed to a behavior class room which is designed more for kids with mental health disorders. In addition to classes that would be referred to as life skills there are functional CBs for kids who are below grade level (or more impacted), academic CBs for kids who are at or near grade level (less impacted but with behaviors) and the Team CB which is for kids who do well in gen ed but need extra support (and are in grades 3-8). Then you have kids who are in gen ed but access the resource rooms, etc. It really depends on your child and their needs and how your IEP is written in terms of what supports your child needs. There are ASD kids in gen ed and there are ASD kids in special education. Your IEP dictates placement. PPS is however awful about providing one on one aides which is why a lot of parents opt for the academic CB classes if their child needs extra support. Kids in CB classes spend time in general education based on their ability to. There are very few contained classrooms where kids can't participate in general education classes as well.