recommendation for good school district?

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone; I'm new to the list, and hopefully you Texas experts

can help me with some information. My oldest son who will be 6 in

December is HFA, with Aspergers/ADHD symptoms. He had in-home

speech therapy since age 2 1/2 (thanks to a saavy pediatrician with

her own Asperger's son, who decided that our Connor's speech delay

was more than just being a " late talker " ), and in the school

district since then. He has had wonderful schooling (we are in New

Jersey), and now is in a self-contained classroom at one of the

local elementary schools, with opportunities for peer modeling and

integration. One of his classmates actually gets to spend half the

day in the " regular " kindergarten class, and they share the

playground with those kids. He has had great success with ABA and

discrete trials.

We hate to leave this system, but we need to be moving to Houston in

the next few months, and our exact location will be determined by

which school district offers some good programs for autism. We've

heard good things about the Cy-Fair ISD, but I thought I'd come here

to see what the real story is regarding schools in the Houston

area. He has made such tremendous progress, but I know he still

needs services and hopefully we can find a good place for him.

Thanks in advance for any assistance! Hopefully we can add

something to the list ourselves!

e (and Connor)

[Guest guest]

If you are happy there, stay. New Jersey is so advanced. You will most

likely be disappointed in Texas

in Austin

recommendation for good school

district?

Hi everyone; I'm new to the list, and hopefully you Texas experts

can help me with some information. My oldest son who will be 6 in

December is HFA, with Aspergers/ADHD symptoms. He had in-home

speech therapy since age 2 1/2 (thanks to a saavy pediatrician with

her own Asperger's son, who decided that our Connor's speech delay

was more than just being a " late talker " ), and in the school

district since then. He has had wonderful schooling (we are in New

Jersey), and now is in a self-contained classroom at one of the

local elementary schools, with opportunities for peer modeling and

integration. One of his classmates actually gets to spend half the

day in the " regular " kindergarten class, and they share the

playground with those kids. He has had great success with ABA and

discrete trials.

We hate to leave this system, but we need to be moving to Houston in

the next few months, and our exact location will be determined by

which school district offers some good programs for autism. We've

heard good things about the Cy-Fair ISD, but I thought I'd come here

to see what the real story is regarding schools in the Houston

area. He has made such tremendous progress, but I know he still

needs services and hopefully we can find a good place for him.

Thanks in advance for any assistance! Hopefully we can add

something to the list ourselves!

e (and Connor)

Unlocking Autism

www.UnlockingAutism.org

Autism-Awareness-Action

Worldwide internet group for parents who have a

child with AUTISM.

Schafer Autism Report

News and information on Autism

To Subscribe http://home.sprynet.com/~schafer/index.html

Healing Autism: No Finer Cause on the Planet

[Guest guest]

It's interesting; I've searched the archives here, going back a good

two years. What I've noticed are the differing opinions, depending

on whether or not one has received good services for their child.

It's the same here in NJ, believe me. We are in a township that is

sort of creating a program for the kids as they move along, and it's

been wonderful so far...but keep in mind that there hasn't really

been anything for kids before this, except for the disabled

preschool program (which was fantastic). Yet I know of people in

more affluent towns than mine whose child is bussed out of district

because their town's schools don't have anything for autistic

children. I have friends who moved here from North Carolina with

their Fragile X son, and they have been very disappointed in New

Jersey. So, it really seems to be a matter of your own personal

experiences and the individual districts themselves, rather than the

state as a whole. I have to say that there are TONS of resources

here in NJ and our schooling experience has been outstanding, but

there are as many districts here in this " center of autism " state

that do not do much for autistic kids. So, it's the same story here

for some people! I would recommend our town's schools to anyone

with an autistic child; my friends would not recommend theirs and

they probably wouldn't recommend NJ at all...different experiences,

different opinions.

Thanks again for the input I've already received. So far I've read

that Cy-Fair, Katy and Conroe (lauded by one, panned by another)

have programs in place. Our house is still on the market, no

buyers yet, so we have time to keep looking. We would love to stay

here, but we need to head south.

e in NJ (for now)

> If you are happy there, stay. New Jersey is so advanced. You

will most

> likely be disappointed in Texas

> in Austin

>

> recommendation for good school

> district?

>

> Hi everyone; I'm new to the list, and hopefully you Texas experts

> can help me with some information. My oldest son who will be 6 in

> December is HFA, with Aspergers/ADHD symptoms. He had in-home

> speech therapy since age 2 1/2 (thanks to a saavy pediatrician

with

> her own Asperger's son, who decided that our Connor's speech delay

> was more than just being a " late talker " ), and in the school

> district since then. He has had wonderful schooling (we are in

New

> Jersey), and now is in a self-contained classroom at one of the

> local elementary schools, with opportunities for peer modeling and

> integration. One of his classmates actually gets to spend half

the

> day in the " regular " kindergarten class, and they share the

> playground with those kids. He has had great success with ABA and

> discrete trials.

>

> We hate to leave this system, but we need to be moving to Houston

in

> the next few months, and our exact location will be determined by

> which school district offers some good programs for autism. We've

> heard good things about the Cy-Fair ISD, but I thought I'd come

here

> to see what the real story is regarding schools in the Houston

> area. He has made such tremendous progress, but I know he still

> needs services and hopefully we can find a good place for him.

>

> Thanks in advance for any assistance! Hopefully we can add

> something to the list ourselves!

>

> e (and Connor)

>

>

>

> Unlocking Autism

> www.UnlockingAutism.org

>

> Autism-Awareness-Action

> Worldwide internet group for parents who have a

> child with AUTISM.

>

> Schafer Autism Report

> News and information on Autism

> To Subscribe http://home.sprynet.com/~schafer/index.html

> Healing Autism: No Finer Cause on the Planet

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi e. I have heard both good and bad about Cy-Fair. Our old occupational

therapist was located in the Cy-Fair area, so I had lots of opportunities to

visit with moms about the schools in Cy-Fair. There was such a wide range of

opinion about the schools in Cy-Fair. A couple of the parents had pulled their

HFA kids out of public schools and enrolled them at Parish and Westview. One

mom of a child with CP was very happy. Another mom, who always struck me as a

little clueless, said her son did not have a diagnosis. He was 5 and starting

in a life-skills class in Cy-Fair. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a

kid with autism. I can't believe Cy-Fair would not have diagnosed him as such!

Overall, Cy-Fair schools have a pretty good reputation, but you definitely need

to visit the schools, and if possible, try to talk to some other parents of

special ed kids at those schools.

Katy ISD has a very good reputation. I have read a couple of negative comments

on this list about Katy, but I can tell you that Katy is leaps and bounds ahead

of other districts in the area of special programming for kids on the spectrum.

Katy started a special autism class at Schmaltz Elementary a few years ago. The

program uses a verbal behavior approach (VB is a type of ABA). Katy has also

done a lot to address the needs of kids with Asperger's. Maybe someone else on

the list would have some personal experience with the program, but I think Katy

has used some outside consultants to provide social skills training programs

after school and during the summer. Katy is so concerned with their TAKS/TEKS

testing, they are very quick to identify kids with learning differences - you

can imagine why. I know a few families who have moved to Katy just because they

believed their sped children would be better served in KISD's schools.

I live in Spring Branch ISD. We have our problems, but things have been

changing. This year our district created a special program like the one in Katy

at Rummel Creek elementary. The district is also creating a new program based

on the same model for PPCD students at Bendwood. The district has also created

a new program at Terrace Elementary to address the needs of kids with

Asperger's. This program is more along the lines of a resource class to support

inclusion, social learning, and specific issues related to Asperger's. Like

Cy-Fair, the quality of the schools varies widely from one school to the next.

If you decide to consider SBISD, contact me privately, and I can give you the

scoop on most of the elementary schools - I think I've visited 9 of them!

Those would probably be the best districts to consider. HISD is very spotty.

Ft.Bend has many good schools, but I think special ed families there are very

frustrated.

Geraldine

recommendation for good school district?

Hi everyone; I'm new to the list, and hopefully you Texas experts

can help me with some information. My oldest son who will be 6 in

December is HFA, with Aspergers/ADHD symptoms. He had in-home

speech therapy since age 2 1/2 (thanks to a saavy pediatrician with

her own Asperger's son, who decided that our Connor's speech delay

was more than just being a " late talker " ), and in the school

district since then. He has had wonderful schooling (we are in New

Jersey), and now is in a self-contained classroom at one of the

local elementary schools, with opportunities for peer modeling and

integration. One of his classmates actually gets to spend half the

day in the " regular " kindergarten class, and they share the

playground with those kids. He has had great success with ABA and

discrete trials.

We hate to leave this system, but we need to be moving to Houston in

the next few months, and our exact location will be determined by

which school district offers some good programs for autism. We've

heard good things about the Cy-Fair ISD, but I thought I'd come here

to see what the real story is regarding schools in the Houston

area. He has made such tremendous progress, but I know he still

needs services and hopefully we can find a good place for him.

Thanks in advance for any assistance! Hopefully we can add

something to the list ourselves!

e (and Connor)

[Guest guest]

Hi e. I have heard both good and bad about Cy-Fair. Our old occupational

therapist was located in the Cy-Fair area, so I had lots of opportunities to

visit with moms about the schools in Cy-Fair. There was such a wide range of

opinion about the schools in Cy-Fair. A couple of the parents had pulled their

HFA kids out of public schools and enrolled them at Parish and Westview. One

mom of a child with CP was very happy. Another mom, who always struck me as a

little clueless, said her son did not have a diagnosis. He was 5 and starting

in a life-skills class in Cy-Fair. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a

kid with autism. I can't believe Cy-Fair would not have diagnosed him as such!

Overall, Cy-Fair schools have a pretty good reputation, but you definitely need

to visit the schools, and if possible, try to talk to some other parents of

special ed kids at those schools.

Katy ISD has a very good reputation. I have read a couple of negative comments

on this list about Katy, but I can tell you that Katy is leaps and bounds ahead

of other districts in the area of special programming for kids on the spectrum.

Katy started a special autism class at Schmaltz Elementary a few years ago. The

program uses a verbal behavior approach (VB is a type of ABA). Katy has also

done a lot to address the needs of kids with Asperger's. Maybe someone else on

the list would have some personal experience with the program, but I think Katy

has used some outside consultants to provide social skills training programs

after school and during the summer. Katy is so concerned with their TAKS/TEKS

testing, they are very quick to identify kids with learning differences - you

can imagine why. I know a few families who have moved to Katy just because they

believed their sped children would be better served in KISD's schools.

I live in Spring Branch ISD. We have our problems, but things have been

changing. This year our district created a special program like the one in Katy

at Rummel Creek elementary. The district is also creating a new program based

on the same model for PPCD students at Bendwood. The district has also created

a new program at Terrace Elementary to address the needs of kids with

Asperger's. This program is more along the lines of a resource class to support

inclusion, social learning, and specific issues related to Asperger's. Like

Cy-Fair, the quality of the schools varies widely from one school to the next.

If you decide to consider SBISD, contact me privately, and I can give you the

scoop on most of the elementary schools - I think I've visited 9 of them!

Those would probably be the best districts to consider. HISD is very spotty.

Ft.Bend has many good schools, but I think special ed families there are very

frustrated.

Geraldine

recommendation for good school district?

Hi everyone; I'm new to the list, and hopefully you Texas experts

can help me with some information. My oldest son who will be 6 in

December is HFA, with Aspergers/ADHD symptoms. He had in-home

speech therapy since age 2 1/2 (thanks to a saavy pediatrician with

her own Asperger's son, who decided that our Connor's speech delay

was more than just being a " late talker " ), and in the school

district since then. He has had wonderful schooling (we are in New

Jersey), and now is in a self-contained classroom at one of the

local elementary schools, with opportunities for peer modeling and

integration. One of his classmates actually gets to spend half the

day in the " regular " kindergarten class, and they share the

playground with those kids. He has had great success with ABA and

discrete trials.

We hate to leave this system, but we need to be moving to Houston in

the next few months, and our exact location will be determined by

which school district offers some good programs for autism. We've

heard good things about the Cy-Fair ISD, but I thought I'd come here

to see what the real story is regarding schools in the Houston

area. He has made such tremendous progress, but I know he still

needs services and hopefully we can find a good place for him.

Thanks in advance for any assistance! Hopefully we can add

something to the list ourselves!

e (and Connor)

[Guest guest]

In Texas, do the ASD kids automatically go to the Elementary school

they'd be assigned to if they weren't ASD, or is there one in each

district with a special needs program in place, and all the kids go

there? For example, we have an elementary school right across the

street from us, but Littleton school is the one in our school

district where the class for autistic kids is located, so they bus

Connor there (it's still very close and he loves the bus). It seems

like that consolidates the resources of the district rather than

forcing each elementary school to deal with it on their own, and

it's working very well here. It doesn't matter where you live

within the district, if your child qualifies for this special

program they will get him or her there. Sort of eliminates the

problem of trying to " choose " an elementary school within a

district. Sure hope I don't have to do that, but if we have to, we

will!

e

> Hi e. I have heard both good and bad about Cy-Fair. Our old

occupational therapist was located in the Cy-Fair area, so I had

lots of opportunities to visit with moms about the schools in Cy-

Fair. There was such a wide range of opinion about the schools in

Cy-Fair. A couple of the parents had pulled their HFA kids out of

public schools and enrolled them at Parish and Westview. One mom of

a child with CP was very happy. Another mom, who always struck me

as a little clueless, said her son did not have a diagnosis. He was

5 and starting in a life-skills class in Cy-Fair. There is no doubt

in my mind that this was a kid with autism. I can't believe Cy-Fair

would not have diagnosed him as such! Overall, Cy-Fair schools have

a pretty good reputation, but you definitely need to visit the

schools, and if possible, try to talk to some other parents of

special ed kids at those schools.

>

> Katy ISD has a very good reputation. I have read a couple of

negative comments on this list about Katy, but I can tell you that

Katy is leaps and bounds ahead of other districts in the area of

special programming for kids on the spectrum. Katy started a

special autism class at Schmaltz Elementary a few years ago. The

program uses a verbal behavior approach (VB is a type of ABA). Katy

has also done a lot to address the needs of kids with Asperger's.

Maybe someone else on the list would have some personal experience

with the program, but I think Katy has used some outside consultants

to provide social skills training programs after school and during

the summer. Katy is so concerned with their TAKS/TEKS testing, they

are very quick to identify kids with learning differences - you can

imagine why. I know a few families who have moved to Katy just

because they believed their sped children would be better served in

KISD's schools.

>

> I live in Spring Branch ISD. We have our problems, but things

have been changing. This year our district created a special

program like the one in Katy at Rummel Creek elementary. The

district is also creating a new program based on the same model for

PPCD students at Bendwood. The district has also created a new

program at Terrace Elementary to address the needs of kids with

Asperger's. This program is more along the lines of a resource

class to support inclusion, social learning, and specific issues

related to Asperger's. Like Cy-Fair, the quality of the schools

varies widely from one school to the next. If you decide to

consider SBISD, contact me privately, and I can give you the scoop

on most of the elementary schools - I think I've visited 9 of them!

>

> Those would probably be the best districts to consider. HISD is

very spotty. Ft.Bend has many good schools, but I think special ed

families there are very frustrated.

>

> Geraldine

>

>

> recommendation for good school

district?

>

>

> Hi everyone; I'm new to the list, and hopefully you Texas

experts

> can help me with some information. My oldest son who will be 6

in

> December is HFA, with Aspergers/ADHD symptoms. He had in-home

> speech therapy since age 2 1/2 (thanks to a saavy pediatrician

with

> her own Asperger's son, who decided that our Connor's speech

delay

> was more than just being a " late talker " ), and in the school

> district since then. He has had wonderful schooling (we are in

New

> Jersey), and now is in a self-contained classroom at one of the

> local elementary schools, with opportunities for peer modeling

and

> integration. One of his classmates actually gets to spend half

the

> day in the " regular " kindergarten class, and they share the

> playground with those kids. He has had great success with ABA

and

> discrete trials.

>

> We hate to leave this system, but we need to be moving to

Houston in

> the next few months, and our exact location will be determined

by

> which school district offers some good programs for autism.

We've

> heard good things about the Cy-Fair ISD, but I thought I'd come

here

> to see what the real story is regarding schools in the Houston

> area. He has made such tremendous progress, but I know he still

> needs services and hopefully we can find a good place for him.

>

> Thanks in advance for any assistance! Hopefully we can add

> something to the list ourselves!

>

> e (and Connor)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Federal law requires that kids be educated in the least restrictive environment

possible and as close to home as possible. The assumption is that your child

will be educated at his or her home school (school which your child would attend

if not otherwise disabled). Generally, schools include kids with disabilities on

regular campuses - either in a mainstream setting (full inclusion) or a

combination of mainstream and special ed. Some kids, but not really that many,

spend their full day in life skills classes. There's a TEA guideline called the

125% rule. The TEA calculates a ratio for each district based on the number of

children in full-time special ed divided by the number of children who do not

spend the full day in special ed. If a district exceeds the ratio deemed by the

TEA to be acceptable by over 25%, the district can be assessed a penalty. So,

most districts have plenty of incentive to make sure that sped students have

opportunities for inclusion. For that reason, you really don't see too many

schools that serve only special needs students. The exceptions I know of are

Bendwood in Spring Branch ISD and T.H. in Houston ISD, both of which

serve a combination of special needs and GT students.

All that said...it's up to individual districts to decide how to address that

question. Some districts have specialized programs set up just at certain

schools to consolidate the resources. But, all schools must be able to

accomodate children of different abilities. If you don't want your child to be

bussed across the district, the district must make the services available to

your child at his or her home campus. In my opinion, though, the specialized

programs truly do allow for some special resources - like at my son's school

there's a very impressive sensory-motor lab. The district couldn't afford to

recreate that at every school. Because of the concentration of sped students at

this one school, it pays off to have this kind of resource there.

Geraldine

Re: recommendation for good school district?

In Texas, do the ASD kids automatically go to the Elementary school

they'd be assigned to if they weren't ASD, or is there one in each

district with a special needs program in place, and all the kids go

there? For example, we have an elementary school right across the

street from us, but Littleton school is the one in our school

district where the class for autistic kids is located, so they bus

Connor there (it's still very close and he loves the bus). It seems

like that consolidates the resources of the district rather than

forcing each elementary school to deal with it on their own, and

it's working very well here. It doesn't matter where you live

within the district, if your child qualifies for this special

program they will get him or her there. Sort of eliminates the

problem of trying to " choose " an elementary school within a

district. Sure hope I don't have to do that, but if we have to, we

will!

e

[Guest guest]

Federal law requires that kids be educated in the least restrictive environment

possible and as close to home as possible. The assumption is that your child

will be educated at his or her home school (school which your child would attend

if not otherwise disabled). Generally, schools include kids with disabilities on

regular campuses - either in a mainstream setting (full inclusion) or a

combination of mainstream and special ed. Some kids, but not really that many,

spend their full day in life skills classes. There's a TEA guideline called the

125% rule. The TEA calculates a ratio for each district based on the number of

children in full-time special ed divided by the number of children who do not

spend the full day in special ed. If a district exceeds the ratio deemed by the

TEA to be acceptable by over 25%, the district can be assessed a penalty. So,

most districts have plenty of incentive to make sure that sped students have

opportunities for inclusion. For that reason, you really don't see too many

schools that serve only special needs students. The exceptions I know of are

Bendwood in Spring Branch ISD and T.H. in Houston ISD, both of which

serve a combination of special needs and GT students.

All that said...it's up to individual districts to decide how to address that

question. Some districts have specialized programs set up just at certain

schools to consolidate the resources. But, all schools must be able to

accomodate children of different abilities. If you don't want your child to be

bussed across the district, the district must make the services available to

your child at his or her home campus. In my opinion, though, the specialized

programs truly do allow for some special resources - like at my son's school

there's a very impressive sensory-motor lab. The district couldn't afford to

recreate that at every school. Because of the concentration of sped students at

this one school, it pays off to have this kind of resource there.

Geraldine

Re: recommendation for good school district?

In Texas, do the ASD kids automatically go to the Elementary school

they'd be assigned to if they weren't ASD, or is there one in each

district with a special needs program in place, and all the kids go

there? For example, we have an elementary school right across the

street from us, but Littleton school is the one in our school

district where the class for autistic kids is located, so they bus

Connor there (it's still very close and he loves the bus). It seems

like that consolidates the resources of the district rather than

forcing each elementary school to deal with it on their own, and

it's working very well here. It doesn't matter where you live

within the district, if your child qualifies for this special

program they will get him or her there. Sort of eliminates the

problem of trying to " choose " an elementary school within a

district. Sure hope I don't have to do that, but if we have to, we

will!

e