School I am always interested in what works best for different autistic kids as far as education goes, so if you will be so kind as to indulge my little poll......
Thanks.
Ok, so I voted in my own poll. In pre K my son was in a special class full time for three years. That was a disaster which maybe I will go into at another time but it wasn't an autistic program, just a hodge podge of DD kids and I don't think he thrived there. Last year he started Kindergarten (half day) and except for pull out services (OT & Speech) he was full time (well 1/2 day class) with a full time aide. Also not such a great year but there's not a lot of options here.
Next year he will be repeating Kindergarten in the whole day class this time, again with a full time aide.
Re: School
For my 2 clients, both age 4, they have done really well with going to a "regular" class with a therapist attending with them. They are both high functioning, and are now verbal, but were both non-verbal before they began intensive thereapy. Of course, this is preschool, and they only attend part-time.
I will be going this fall with the little girl. I think that this depends on the child because the spectrum is so wide.
I do not believe that a diagnosis of Autism should lable a child to be confined to a special ed class, if there is hope of at least some improvement.
For those that believe in ABA Therapy, I wish that it was more availiable to those families and did not pose such a financial burden.
Personally speaking, I know that if my child were Autistic there would be no way that I could afford to provide these services for my child. Yes, financial help is avaliable sometimes, but it extremely difficult to get....at least here anyway.
Re: School
One of the problems is that schools are so tapped for money that they will deny services you are entitled to. A parent has to know what they want and basically threaten the school with a hearing before they will agree to services. That's really the only way I've gotten anywhere.
State assistance is even harder to get. You have to be classified as "working poor". Most middle class families don't qualify and they are the ones who need it most. The lower income families have medicaid which will cover most services but middle class families generally have private insurance which won't cover services and they can't afford service on their own.
My insurance will not cover speech at all and will only cover 24 visits for OT and a combined 24 visits for behavior therapy and med checks a year. Typically by July my insurance has tapped out for the year. This leaves me to rely on the schools.
It's a nightmare really. It's why I have to strongarm the schools so much...It's a vicious cycle really....
school
We started out homeschooling, which I still see as the best choice in our situation. However, the burden of private Speech and OT drained our every resource and our insurance denied services...
So, I turned to the local public schools. At first, we were told that the school system didn't have to offer services to homeschoolers. Although that answer eventually "changed" as I contacted the state's dept of education, we decided to make the leap (of faith) to public school. Although I'm continually working to have a stronger, more specific IEP written for each (I detest the waltzing that must be done through this process), my eldest (2nd grade) is now receiving social skills group sessions 2x week, OT - one session of fine and one session of gross motor, and speech. My youngest will enter 1st this year. Although he has an IEP in place, I have a lot of work ahead of me to get appropriate services for him.
As for the frustration of getting assistance... it truly is a nightmare. We live paycheck to paycheck, sacrifice a lot, yet still don't qualify for SSI, or other assistance. It's simply not right...
Best of luck to everyone!
Quote:At first, we were told that the school system didn't have to offer services to homeschoolers.
That's completely un true. A child that is homeschooled or goes to a private school is still eligible to be evaluated and recieve services from public school.
School
but there's not a lot of options here.
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