Re: Looking for a school or district

[Guest guest]

i would stay away from berea city school 4 a higher functioing child. i hear n

royalton is good

------Original Message------

From: starfish1995 <starfish1995@...>

< >

Date: Sat, Mar 3, 2007 03:33 PM

Subject: [ ] Looking for a school or district

Hello,

My name is Beth and I have an 8 year old son with autism. Due to my

husband's job relocating, it looks like we will be moving to the

Cleveland area sometime this spring.

Before we can figure out where to house hunt, I really need to figure

out the school situation for my son. I am hoping that I might find

some help here with school recommendations given my son's needs.

I would say he is somewhere between moderately affected and high

functioning. He has low stim behaviors (some verbal perseverations),

his language level is somewhere around a 4-5 year old level, and he

has few sensory issues. He is at grade level for math and a grade

level behind in reading (this is with 1:1 homeschooling support, not

regular classroom learning). He is a bright boy, and is able to

learn, but needs things presented visually and or kinesthetically

usually at a slower pace to learn. He does great on the computer.

His behaviors that impede his learning are mainly attention, internal

and external distractions, and a need for control. he demonstrates

anxiety and resistance when he is feeling not competent. I do

beleive he will not be able to learn academics in a regualr ed

environment, he will need 1:1 or very small group with a strong but

fun teacher to continue to learn math, reading and other academic

subjects. He could probably be mainstreamed for specials such as

art, music, gym, etc. He is very interested in being with other NT

kids, but I fear for his self esteem due to his deficits in social

skills and language. He can keep up with other kids physically, and

loves to bike, skate, swim, etc. and is learnign to play piano.

I am really grappling with what type of school placement would be

best for him. It seems that the private schools we have looked at in

our current state (not Ohio) are more suited for much more severe

autism and have few if any peers at his level. And the typical brick

and mortar schools usually have a life skills class or regualr ed,

and little in beteween. I suppose an autism support class with

higher funcitoning kids where he could get 1:1 or small group for

academics and social skills, with the opportunity for inclusion in

situations where he can feel competent might work. I would prefer a

smaller inclusive group rather than the usual 25-30 classroom size

for obvious reasons.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I am totally lost

moving to a new state and have no idea where to begin.

Thanks so much,

Beth