Autism services in elementary schools....

[lovethesunshine]

Hi Mama, Fellow Long Islander here also. Although after 14 years I'm considered a Floridian now.

My 8 year old was recently diagnosed with ASD. I don't know how the schools are in Sarasota but I know our pediatrician told us that Manatee county is one of the better counties to get services for your child. While it's not always perfect, I have to say I am very happy with the services my son receives here. We had him in another elementary school in Kindergarten, (which we school-choiced) and pulled him out as it was not a good fit and he wasn't receiving what we felt were the services he needed. We finally put him into his current school which was recommended to us by many of the therapist, etc. we spoke with because it had more services available than most. While it's not a top rated school, we're very happy with it. I personally feel any school you're going to have to work with your children to some degree academically, especially with this common-core crap now. (Topic for another thread I suppose.)

I personally don't put a lot of weight into the 'grades' of the schools in Florida because a lot of those grades were determined by the FCAT scores. And basically the FCATS were teaching memorization over and over. At many schools, the teachers didn't do anything extra for kids that excelled because all they cared about was making sure all the kids did well on the FCATS, as a school receiving an A rating, would receive a monetary bonus which would usually be distributed to the teachers. I say all this based upon friend's experiences at various schools in Florida and from having worked in a school myself.

You're going to need to see what specific services and environment your child needs and see which school offers that and talk to them, everyone -- the principal, therapists, etc. That's what I did. In Manatee county they have 'inclusion' classes so they're part of a regular classroom and pulled for services and may get extra help, etc. It's changed a lot this year due to budget cuts so it's not as hands-on as it used to be. The most important thing if you don't already have it, is to have an IEP. I'm amazed at how many parents don't even know about having one.

Also keep in mind that Florida is not like Long Island in that you're not required to go to the school you're zoned for. You can school choice to go to a school outside of your area. (You may have to provide transportation though.)

Don't know if any of this made sense but hope it helped a bit. Feel free to message me if you want to chat more. Good luck!

[devriendte]

I was wondering if anyone has any specific information regarding elementary schools with inclusion classrooms for special needs. We may also be relocating to the area and have read about Laurel Nokomis. Just fearful that all students with autism are self contained, regardless of level of functioning. My son is entering kindergarten and is very high functioning, so I want to ensure he is placed in a regular classroom setting. Since we haven't started school yet, he does not have an IEP...any advice on how to ensure whichever school we choose gets moving quickly with services for him if needed? Also, I would greatly appreciate any insight into particular schools that may be better for kids on the spectrum.

[devriendte]

Do you mind sharing which school your son attends now? We are navigating blindly and in the same situation. High functioning autism son starting kindergarten in the fall. Need to narrow search quickly so we end up in the right school zone for him. Thanks

[newyorkrich]

I live in Largo Florida, just north of Sarasota. My grand daughter is in Largo High and doing great. There are a lot of programs here in Pinellas County.

[logansam54]

My daughter was diagnosed with Classic Autism 2.5 years ago and has had an IEP since nursery school. She had services through the county until she turned 3 then we went through our school district and she was in a developmental pre-school for 2 years then went into a self-contained class at our home elementary school. She has progressed beautifully and we couldn't be happier, except for the fact that she will only eat tube shaped pasta with ridges, lol. She is reading boos independently and tested very well during the evals this year. She only receives speech therapy now and she is in a self-contained class and next year will be mainstreamed for some specials. She is very "self-directed" as they call it. Very stubborn! That's probably her biggest challenge right now. The school situation has me reeling because I hear so many different things from so many different people and what one parent loves, another rabidly says stay away from. My friend down there told me to avoid Manatee and only look in Sarasota school district which is the opposite of this thread! Very confusing. I don't know how i'm possibly going to be able to choose the best place for her from here. Or if I should just stay here and suffer through until she is out of school.

[logansam54]

Originally Posted by devriendte

I was wondering if anyone has any specific information regarding elementary schools with inclusion classrooms for special needs. We may also be relocating to the area and have read about Laurel Nokomis. Just fearful that all students with autism are self contained, regardless of level of functioning. My son is entering kindergarten and is very high functioning, so I want to ensure he is placed in a regular classroom setting. Since we haven't started school yet, he does not have an IEP...any advice on how to ensure whichever school we choose gets moving quickly with services for him if needed? Also, I would greatly appreciate any insight into particular schools that may be better for kids on the spectrum.

Our daughter was referred to our county's Early Intervention program at 18 months due to her speech delay and had an IEP pretty much since she started nursery school. Has he received any therapy at all? Our Social worker from her pre-school, who I love, always told us that she shouldn't be the highest or lowest functioning in the class. She is not ready for a mainstream class yet, she is in a self-contained Kindergarten but she is grouped with 9 kids who are functioning at a similar level. The next step is self-contained with mainstreaming for specials, then an inclusion class, the mainstreaming maybe with a 1 to 1. She is easily distracted from her task so she would not do well at this time in a completely mainstreamed class. And while some skills test at 99.7, others, mainly related to expressive and receptive language, are average or slightly below as she has a speech delay which is largely improved but still there. She really blossomed this year and the testing was only done about 2 months ago. She is mainstreaming for specials next year in first grade.

He is going to have to be evaluated by whatever school you enroll him in and given an IEP. That's going to influence where he goes...what services he requires vs what they can offer him. Schools operate differently there than they do up here for us and we are having quite a time deciding what to do.

[logansam54]

Originally Posted by lovethesunshine

Hi Mama, Fellow Long Islander here also. Although after 14 years I'm considered a Floridian now.

My 8 year old was recently diagnosed with ASD. I don't know how the schools are in Sarasota but I know our pediatrician told us that Manatee county is one of the better counties to get services for your child. While it's not always perfect, I have to say I am very happy with the services my son receives here. We had him in another elementary school in Kindergarten, (which we school-choiced) and pulled him out as it was not a good fit and he wasn't receiving what we felt were the services he needed. We finally put him into his current school which was recommended to us by many of the therapist, etc. we spoke with because it had more services available than most. While it's not a top rated school, we're very happy with it. I personally feel any school you're going to have to work with your children to some degree academically, especially with this common-core crap now. (Topic for another thread I suppose.)

I personally don't put a lot of weight into the 'grades' of the schools in Florida because a lot of those grades were determined by the FCAT scores. And basically the FCATS were teaching memorization over and over. At many schools, the teachers didn't do anything extra for kids that excelled because all they cared about was making sure all the kids did well on the FCATS, as a school receiving an A rating, would receive a monetary bonus which would usually be distributed to the teachers. I say all this based upon friend's experiences at various schools in Florida and from having worked in a school myself.

You're going to need to see what specific services and environment your child needs and see which school offers that and talk to them, everyone -- the principal, therapists, etc. That's what I did. In Manatee county they have 'inclusion' classes so they're part of a regular classroom and pulled for services and may get extra help, etc. It's changed a lot this year due to budget cuts so it's not as hands-on as it used to be. The most important thing if you don't already have it, is to have an IEP. I'm amazed at how many parents don't even know about having one.

Also keep in mind that Florida is not like Long Island in that you're not required to go to the school you're zoned for. You can school choice to go to a school outside of your area. (You may have to provide transportation though.)

Don't know if any of this made sense but hope it helped a bit. Feel free to message me if you want to chat more. Good luck!

Thanks!

[mamapajama54]

I just realized that I must have two user names on city-data...i am mamajama54 AND logansam54...gotta fix that!

[sak9210]

Are any of the Lakewood Ranch area public schools known as being better for kids with ASD? We will be moving to the area in a couple months, and I know there is school choice, but don't know where to start.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Laurel Nokomis has a self-contained autism unit -

Not sure how they are with autism but I know they are very intolerant for children with special needs - they are interested in children that can obtain high test scores. We took our son out of there and he is now in a wonderful Sarasota County school.