Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Let me retract the former statement about the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf. It is a great school, but for autism, it all depends on your location of course. What county are going to? Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Let me retract the former statement about the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf. It is a great school, but for autism, it all depends on your location of course. What county are going to? Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Let me retract the former statement about the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf. It is a great school, but for autism, it all depends on your location of course. What county are going to? Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I will check it out - but our son is neither deaf or blind. I guess we can see if they have ABA/AVB there - it doesn't seem very likely though. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES [sarallanes@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I will check it out - but our son is neither deaf or blind. I guess we can see if they have ABA/AVB there - it doesn't seem very likely though. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES [sarallanes@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I will check it out - but our son is neither deaf or blind. I guess we can see if they have ABA/AVB there - it doesn't seem very likely though. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES [sarallanes@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 , My son Noah was non-verbal until about age 6. He learned both sign language and PECS at the Baudhuin Oral (Pre)School here in Davie, and when both of these became too limiting, we got him a voice output device (paid for by the district). We did a home ABA program in addition to school. If you're looking for a verbal behavior program you're probably looking at a private school. The Victory School in Miami-Dade has an excellent program; also the Renaissance school in Palm Beach County. Not sure about the sign language component, though. Regarding Medicaid and insurance options, as was posted here recently, the Medwaiver program has a waiting list several years long at a minimum, and the private insurance bill that passed was pretty limited. Folks don't come here for the services for their kids, that's for sure, they come for the weather. > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info.. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 , My son Noah was non-verbal until about age 6. He learned both sign language and PECS at the Baudhuin Oral (Pre)School here in Davie, and when both of these became too limiting, we got him a voice output device (paid for by the district). We did a home ABA program in addition to school. If you're looking for a verbal behavior program you're probably looking at a private school. The Victory School in Miami-Dade has an excellent program; also the Renaissance school in Palm Beach County. Not sure about the sign language component, though. Regarding Medicaid and insurance options, as was posted here recently, the Medwaiver program has a waiting list several years long at a minimum, and the private insurance bill that passed was pretty limited. Folks don't come here for the services for their kids, that's for sure, they come for the weather. > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info.. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 We did VB with my son when he was little. Our school district just so happened to have a behaviorist who went to some VB training and then trained some teachers in it and some parents. We then pursued it further with Dr. Pat McGreevy, a psychologist, in Orlando. He trained some people in the district here (Lee, don’t recommend it though despite this )He taught us more VB. He is VERY good. Don’t know if he is still practicing. You may even want to locate him and have a telephone consult, he may be able to give you info on areas and school districts that do VB. You may also want to contact some school districts and ask if they have had any VB training, some may have, and then if they have any classroom where they use VB throughout the day. Also if you go onto the McKay scholarship web site and print out a list of all the mckay school and start calling and asking if they do a VB program. By the way, I think it’s a great idea to pursue VB - it got my son to communicate and he wouldn’t say one word prior to that. McGreevy is sooo good with it. I know that each school district varies so much, even each school, so I would call around to prospective cities and start asking them how long they’ve had autism programs, what they use (I.e., ABA, VB, floortime etc). As for areas well populated with doctors, therapists, and private schools, it would be just that - the more populated cities rather than the more slow, rural type areas like southwest where we are. The southeast is loaded with schools and professionals as is Orlando area. Don’t know much about north but unless you found something special I would stay away from small towns, you will simply have less to choose from. From: Brittain, J Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:50 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida I will check it out - but our son is neither deaf or blind. I guess we can see if they have ABA/AVB there - it doesn't seem very likely though. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES [sarallanesoptonline (DOT) net]Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AMTo: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and "self insured" plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 We did VB with my son when he was little. Our school district just so happened to have a behaviorist who went to some VB training and then trained some teachers in it and some parents. We then pursued it further with Dr. Pat McGreevy, a psychologist, in Orlando. He trained some people in the district here (Lee, don’t recommend it though despite this )He taught us more VB. He is VERY good. Don’t know if he is still practicing. You may even want to locate him and have a telephone consult, he may be able to give you info on areas and school districts that do VB. You may also want to contact some school districts and ask if they have had any VB training, some may have, and then if they have any classroom where they use VB throughout the day. Also if you go onto the McKay scholarship web site and print out a list of all the mckay school and start calling and asking if they do a VB program. By the way, I think it’s a great idea to pursue VB - it got my son to communicate and he wouldn’t say one word prior to that. McGreevy is sooo good with it. I know that each school district varies so much, even each school, so I would call around to prospective cities and start asking them how long they’ve had autism programs, what they use (I.e., ABA, VB, floortime etc). As for areas well populated with doctors, therapists, and private schools, it would be just that - the more populated cities rather than the more slow, rural type areas like southwest where we are. The southeast is loaded with schools and professionals as is Orlando area. Don’t know much about north but unless you found something special I would stay away from small towns, you will simply have less to choose from. From: Brittain, J Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:50 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida I will check it out - but our son is neither deaf or blind. I guess we can see if they have ABA/AVB there - it doesn't seem very likely though. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES [sarallanesoptonline (DOT) net]Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AMTo: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and "self insured" plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 We did VB with my son when he was little. Our school district just so happened to have a behaviorist who went to some VB training and then trained some teachers in it and some parents. We then pursued it further with Dr. Pat McGreevy, a psychologist, in Orlando. He trained some people in the district here (Lee, don’t recommend it though despite this )He taught us more VB. He is VERY good. Don’t know if he is still practicing. You may even want to locate him and have a telephone consult, he may be able to give you info on areas and school districts that do VB. You may also want to contact some school districts and ask if they have had any VB training, some may have, and then if they have any classroom where they use VB throughout the day. Also if you go onto the McKay scholarship web site and print out a list of all the mckay school and start calling and asking if they do a VB program. By the way, I think it’s a great idea to pursue VB - it got my son to communicate and he wouldn’t say one word prior to that. McGreevy is sooo good with it. I know that each school district varies so much, even each school, so I would call around to prospective cities and start asking them how long they’ve had autism programs, what they use (I.e., ABA, VB, floortime etc). As for areas well populated with doctors, therapists, and private schools, it would be just that - the more populated cities rather than the more slow, rural type areas like southwest where we are. The southeast is loaded with schools and professionals as is Orlando area. Don’t know much about north but unless you found something special I would stay away from small towns, you will simply have less to choose from. From: Brittain, J Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:50 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida I will check it out - but our son is neither deaf or blind. I guess we can see if they have ABA/AVB there - it doesn't seem very likely though. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES [sarallanesoptonline (DOT) net]Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AMTo: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and "self insured" plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 , Just spoke with ABC School House in Orlando and they accept insurance (written in FL, company mnore than 50 employees etc..) which covers 100% of year round school tuition which is 100% verbal behavior and sign language supportive for non-verbal children. Sign language being the 3rd most common language in the US and like I posted earlier - any good Verbal Behavior program will support it - not PECS. I did come across the Victory School and Renaissance School online and will look into the furhter. Thank you for the info. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of Karp [deniseslist@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 12:05 PM To: sList Subject: Re: Re: Moving to Florida , My son Noah was non-verbal until about age 6. He learned both sign language and PECS at the Baudhuin Oral (Pre)School here in Davie, and when both of these became too limiting, we got him a voice output device (paid for by the district). We did a home ABA program in addition to school. If you're looking for a verbal behavior program you're probably looking at a private school. The Victory School in Miami-Dade has an excellent program; also the Renaissance school in Palm Beach County. Not sure about the sign language component, though. Regarding Medicaid and insurance options, as was posted here recently, the Medwaiver program has a waiting list several years long at a minimum, and the private insurance bill that passed was pretty limited. Folks don't come here for the services for their kids, that's for sure, they come for the weather. > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info.. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 , Just spoke with ABC School House in Orlando and they accept insurance (written in FL, company mnore than 50 employees etc..) which covers 100% of year round school tuition which is 100% verbal behavior and sign language supportive for non-verbal children. Sign language being the 3rd most common language in the US and like I posted earlier - any good Verbal Behavior program will support it - not PECS. I did come across the Victory School and Renaissance School online and will look into the furhter. Thank you for the info. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of Karp [deniseslist@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 12:05 PM To: sList Subject: Re: Re: Moving to Florida , My son Noah was non-verbal until about age 6. He learned both sign language and PECS at the Baudhuin Oral (Pre)School here in Davie, and when both of these became too limiting, we got him a voice output device (paid for by the district). We did a home ABA program in addition to school. If you're looking for a verbal behavior program you're probably looking at a private school. The Victory School in Miami-Dade has an excellent program; also the Renaissance school in Palm Beach County. Not sure about the sign language component, though. Regarding Medicaid and insurance options, as was posted here recently, the Medwaiver program has a waiting list several years long at a minimum, and the private insurance bill that passed was pretty limited. Folks don't come here for the services for their kids, that's for sure, they come for the weather. > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info.. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 , Just spoke with ABC School House in Orlando and they accept insurance (written in FL, company mnore than 50 employees etc..) which covers 100% of year round school tuition which is 100% verbal behavior and sign language supportive for non-verbal children. Sign language being the 3rd most common language in the US and like I posted earlier - any good Verbal Behavior program will support it - not PECS. I did come across the Victory School and Renaissance School online and will look into the furhter. Thank you for the info. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of Karp [deniseslist@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 12:05 PM To: sList Subject: Re: Re: Moving to Florida , My son Noah was non-verbal until about age 6. He learned both sign language and PECS at the Baudhuin Oral (Pre)School here in Davie, and when both of these became too limiting, we got him a voice output device (paid for by the district). We did a home ABA program in addition to school. If you're looking for a verbal behavior program you're probably looking at a private school. The Victory School in Miami-Dade has an excellent program; also the Renaissance school in Palm Beach County. Not sure about the sign language component, though. Regarding Medicaid and insurance options, as was posted here recently, the Medwaiver program has a waiting list several years long at a minimum, and the private insurance bill that passed was pretty limited. Folks don't come here for the services for their kids, that's for sure, they come for the weather. > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info.. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 :If you are considering the Orlando area, I suggest you contact Donna Lorman from the Autism Society of Greater Orlando and get on her email list as well. www.asgo.org.Good Luck!RosemarieSubject: RE: Re: Moving to FloridaTo: "sList " <sList >Date: Friday, February 5, 2010, 11:37 AM Steve, We're not positive on the area yet but we are weighing the areas based on School, career, services, location etc.. I understand that there is no requirement for teachers to be fluent in ASL, but anu good Verbal Behavior program uses ASL anyways. Our son is on ly 4 1/2 and is not fluent by far. He has 100 signs which are animated by pictures in a step-by- step fashion (from signingsaavy.com) and categorized in his own book for his teachers and therapists to review. As he learns new signs - we teach the teachers and file it in the book. As far as public schools go - that IS his form of communication and we would simply demand to have a 1:1 aide that can familiarize her/himself with the signs. I know that many VB Private Schools have staff fluent in ASL but our difficulty is the time we need to be in public school before being eligible for Mckay. We would prefer to have a school system that is onboard with our child's communication and not against. My wife has extensive training and experience in ABA/AVB home and school settings under the direction of Dr. Vince Carbone and his associates. So we are not afraid to make the schools do what they are legally obligated to, but again we want them to be onboard willingly. Some public schools already have AVB in their program but public schools usually don't advertise this. Looking for the inside scoops! I will not accept a job unless it meets the State requirements for the Autism Bill. I have a possibility in the Jensen Beach area, and I know the STAR Academy is not too far from there, but it seems the Private Schools that are ideal may be in the Orlando area (Quest kids, ABC School House, Applied Behavior Center, etc..) Thanks for the help and the link! From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of mainshipper34 [ssmoyer@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 10:23 AM To: sList Subject: Re: Moving to Florida Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and "self insured" plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 :If you are considering the Orlando area, I suggest you contact Donna Lorman from the Autism Society of Greater Orlando and get on her email list as well. www.asgo.org.Good Luck!RosemarieSubject: RE: Re: Moving to FloridaTo: "sList " <sList >Date: Friday, February 5, 2010, 11:37 AM Steve, We're not positive on the area yet but we are weighing the areas based on School, career, services, location etc.. I understand that there is no requirement for teachers to be fluent in ASL, but anu good Verbal Behavior program uses ASL anyways. Our son is on ly 4 1/2 and is not fluent by far. He has 100 signs which are animated by pictures in a step-by- step fashion (from signingsaavy.com) and categorized in his own book for his teachers and therapists to review. As he learns new signs - we teach the teachers and file it in the book. As far as public schools go - that IS his form of communication and we would simply demand to have a 1:1 aide that can familiarize her/himself with the signs. I know that many VB Private Schools have staff fluent in ASL but our difficulty is the time we need to be in public school before being eligible for Mckay. We would prefer to have a school system that is onboard with our child's communication and not against. My wife has extensive training and experience in ABA/AVB home and school settings under the direction of Dr. Vince Carbone and his associates. So we are not afraid to make the schools do what they are legally obligated to, but again we want them to be onboard willingly. Some public schools already have AVB in their program but public schools usually don't advertise this. Looking for the inside scoops! I will not accept a job unless it meets the State requirements for the Autism Bill. I have a possibility in the Jensen Beach area, and I know the STAR Academy is not too far from there, but it seems the Private Schools that are ideal may be in the Orlando area (Quest kids, ABC School House, Applied Behavior Center, etc..) Thanks for the help and the link! From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of mainshipper34 [ssmoyer@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 10:23 AM To: sList Subject: Re: Moving to Florida Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and "self insured" plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Hello , re this statement: " So we are not afraid to make the schools do what they are legally obligated to, but again we want them to be onboard willingly. " With all due respect to the 67 School Districts in Florida, you may spend more time and money making them do what they are leaglly obligated to do than what it's worth in the end. As said so simply, " People don't move here for the services " Now with that said there are some parents that are very pleased with what the public schools proivide. My personal opinion of this is that their children just happen to fall into the range of disability that the schools are good at teaching in. My son is severely affected and what they initially brought to the table at our first IEP after being " out of system " for 7 years was insulting. regarding this statement: I will not accept a job unless it meets the State requirements for the Autism Bill. Even children that qualify are finding it hard to get services. The office of insurance regulation has told me that some of the tricks the insurance companies are using are legal such as requiring high deductibles or limiting to " in network " and then having only a small network that is overburdened. That insurance bill was written by insurance company lobbyists. Steve > > > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > > > Thanks for your time. > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Hello , re this statement: " So we are not afraid to make the schools do what they are legally obligated to, but again we want them to be onboard willingly. " With all due respect to the 67 School Districts in Florida, you may spend more time and money making them do what they are leaglly obligated to do than what it's worth in the end. As said so simply, " People don't move here for the services " Now with that said there are some parents that are very pleased with what the public schools proivide. My personal opinion of this is that their children just happen to fall into the range of disability that the schools are good at teaching in. My son is severely affected and what they initially brought to the table at our first IEP after being " out of system " for 7 years was insulting. regarding this statement: I will not accept a job unless it meets the State requirements for the Autism Bill. Even children that qualify are finding it hard to get services. The office of insurance regulation has told me that some of the tricks the insurance companies are using are legal such as requiring high deductibles or limiting to " in network " and then having only a small network that is overburdened. That insurance bill was written by insurance company lobbyists. Steve > > > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > > > Thanks for your time. > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Hello , re this statement: " So we are not afraid to make the schools do what they are legally obligated to, but again we want them to be onboard willingly. " With all due respect to the 67 School Districts in Florida, you may spend more time and money making them do what they are leaglly obligated to do than what it's worth in the end. As said so simply, " People don't move here for the services " Now with that said there are some parents that are very pleased with what the public schools proivide. My personal opinion of this is that their children just happen to fall into the range of disability that the schools are good at teaching in. My son is severely affected and what they initially brought to the table at our first IEP after being " out of system " for 7 years was insulting. regarding this statement: I will not accept a job unless it meets the State requirements for the Autism Bill. Even children that qualify are finding it hard to get services. The office of insurance regulation has told me that some of the tricks the insurance companies are using are legal such as requiring high deductibles or limiting to " in network " and then having only a small network that is overburdened. That insurance bill was written by insurance company lobbyists. Steve > > > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > > > Thanks for your time. > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 If you are happy with the services you are getting where you are now I would strongly rethink moving to Florida. Shirly Gilad Shirly Gilad BCBA,RN, FNP, MS Behavioral Therapy and then some. Work: Fax: shirly@... www.shirlygilad.com From: sList [mailto:sList ] On Behalf Of wjbrittain Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 8:36 AM To: sList Subject: Moving to Florida Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! Thanks for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 If you are happy with the services you are getting where you are now I would strongly rethink moving to Florida. Shirly Gilad Shirly Gilad BCBA,RN, FNP, MS Behavioral Therapy and then some. Work: Fax: shirly@... www.shirlygilad.com From: sList [mailto:sList ] On Behalf Of wjbrittain Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 8:36 AM To: sList Subject: Moving to Florida Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! Thanks for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I believe Loxahatchee Grove out in Loxahatchee (western community of West Palm Beach) also has programs specifically set up for both Autism and special needs related to hearing. Actually, I think they are set up as a school to assist with many different special needs. Our son does the preschool program there and we have been very happy. He is developmentally delayed. Worth a phone call to fins out more specifics. The number is 561 904-9200. This area is not as rich in resources as Broward County but there are resources available. I have been much happier here than in Broward with my school experience for both of my children. If you are interested in the resources specifically in this area, you can contact at the Arc. She should have a packet that lists this. She can be contacted at info below (hope you don’t mind ). Sandquist Family Support Services Coordinator The Arc of Palm Beach County 1201 Australian Avenue Riviera Beach, Fl. 33404 W x110 F Good Luck! Cohane, LCSW creating connections and strengthening families by providing developmental-behavioral interventions and psychotherapy services Cohane@... From: sList [mailto:sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 10:23 AM, mainshipper34 wrote: Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2665 - Release Date: 02/05/10 07:35:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I believe Loxahatchee Grove out in Loxahatchee (western community of West Palm Beach) also has programs specifically set up for both Autism and special needs related to hearing. Actually, I think they are set up as a school to assist with many different special needs. Our son does the preschool program there and we have been very happy. He is developmentally delayed. Worth a phone call to fins out more specifics. The number is 561 904-9200. This area is not as rich in resources as Broward County but there are resources available. I have been much happier here than in Broward with my school experience for both of my children. If you are interested in the resources specifically in this area, you can contact at the Arc. She should have a packet that lists this. She can be contacted at info below (hope you don’t mind ). Sandquist Family Support Services Coordinator The Arc of Palm Beach County 1201 Australian Avenue Riviera Beach, Fl. 33404 W x110 F Good Luck! Cohane, LCSW creating connections and strengthening families by providing developmental-behavioral interventions and psychotherapy services Cohane@... From: sList [mailto:sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 10:23 AM, mainshipper34 wrote: Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2665 - Release Date: 02/05/10 07:35:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I believe Loxahatchee Grove out in Loxahatchee (western community of West Palm Beach) also has programs specifically set up for both Autism and special needs related to hearing. Actually, I think they are set up as a school to assist with many different special needs. Our son does the preschool program there and we have been very happy. He is developmentally delayed. Worth a phone call to fins out more specifics. The number is 561 904-9200. This area is not as rich in resources as Broward County but there are resources available. I have been much happier here than in Broward with my school experience for both of my children. If you are interested in the resources specifically in this area, you can contact at the Arc. She should have a packet that lists this. She can be contacted at info below (hope you don’t mind ). Sandquist Family Support Services Coordinator The Arc of Palm Beach County 1201 Australian Avenue Riviera Beach, Fl. 33404 W x110 F Good Luck! Cohane, LCSW creating connections and strengthening families by providing developmental-behavioral interventions and psychotherapy services Cohane@... From: sList [mailto:sList ] On Behalf Of SARA LLANES Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:29 AM To: sList Subject: RE: Re: Moving to Florida If you are anywhere near the St Augustine/Palm Coast/ Daytona area, the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf is just awesome. On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 10:23 AM, mainshipper34 wrote: Hello , Where are you coming from? You may not be able to find what you describe in the areas of Florida I am familiar with. Even for deaf students there is no requirement for a teacher to be fluent in ASL. There is a years long waiting list to get medwaiver services. The autism/insurance Bill passed in 2008 is limited to company plans with more than 50 employees and " self insured " plans are exempt. It's suposed to cover ABA amd St and OT for up to $36,000 ANNUAL WITH A $200,000 LIFETIME CAP. There are many good private schools around the state that accept the McKay Scholarship. The amount IS BASED of the level of disability your son has and ranges from around $3,000 to $20,000 a year. There is a Bill in the Legislature that would reduce the enrollment qualification from 1 year to 3 months. http://www.floridas choolchoice. org/information/ mckay/ What area of Florida re you looking at? Steve > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > Thanks for your time. > > > No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2665 - Release Date: 02/05/10 07:35:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Hi Steve, I agree it can be a burden to take on the schools, but we've done it before without spending a dime and we'll do it again need be. Staying on top of LRE and FAPE laws and insisting schools deliver on their obligations is the only way to make a change in the system. And what it's worth in the end is what it's ALL about - our little boy. But it seems we've found a VB school in Orlando that processes all eligible insurance themselves and covers the tuition. Thing is we may need the public school system for a year under an IEP to be eligible for the McKay Scholarship and receive more services. Plain and simple - everyone wants to do what is best for their children. Not everyone knows what is available or persistent enough to obtain it. You can two families at the very same school with the same diagnosis of autism and one child may sit in a special education class all day with no progress while the other has a 1:1 aide in an inclusive environment (if decided upon by the parents) with an IEP full of measurable goals and services such as ABA, Speech, OT etc... and updated regularly. Florida has many good looking private schools and we may or may not end up there - but I will certainly research the heck out of it. From: sList [sList ] On Behalf Of mainshipper34 [ssmoyer@...] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 3:13 PM To: sList Subject: Re: Moving to Florida Hello , re this statement: " So we are not afraid to make the schools do what they are legally obligated to, but again we want them to be onboard willingly. " With all due respect to the 67 School Districts in Florida, you may spend more time and money making them do what they are leaglly obligated to do than what it's worth in the end. As said so simply, " People don't move here for the services " Now with that said there are some parents that are very pleased with what the public schools proivide. My personal opinion of this is that their children just happen to fall into the range of disability that the schools are good at teaching in. My son is severely affected and what they initially brought to the table at our first IEP after being " out of system " for 7 years was insulting. regarding this statement: I will not accept a job unless it meets the State requirements for the Autism Bill. Even children that qualify are finding it hard to get services. The office of insurance regulation has told me that some of the tricks the insurance companies are using are legal such as requiring high deductibles or limiting to " in network " and then having only a small network that is overburdened. That insurance bill was written by insurance company lobbyists. Steve > > > > Hello. My wife and I arfe moving to Florida with our beautiful 4 1/2 year old son who has autism. Will is mostly non-verbal but uses American Sign Language to communicate and does well with that. He attends a home & school based ABA/AVB program and has done so since he was 18 months old. We are rtrying to find out everything about Florida's autism services that we can. We are specifically looking for a Verbal Behavior program that utilizes sign language instead of PECS. We are interested in the McKay scholarship (but have to be in FL schools for a year; Medicaid options; insurance options; public school districts w/ verbal behavior, private schools with verbal behavior, and any other pertinent info. If you have knowledge about what we're trying to find for our son we'd love to hear from you! > > > > Thanks for your time. > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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