Re: School District Statistics

[Guest guest]

The number now is about 1 in 68 kids.  If you take every district in the United States into account, then 450 in your district is rather high.  Remember that even within one county there can be many many school districts.  The concentration varies from state to state etc....so thinking that if there are 50,000 kids divided by 68 would yield 735 kids under the current ration.  50,000 divided by 100 equals 500 children and your school district's 450 is not far from that.  Schools is rural districts may have a far lower ratio which might give them the false impression  that the numbers are not that shocking, but some larger school districts may have a higher than 1:68 ratio just b ecause for families with ASD kids live there.

[Guest guest]

Clearly, my internal calculator isn't working properly these days. I went from

58,000 to 5,800, which is 10%, not 1%.

Still, I have more questions about district stats. Are they published somewhere?

Do I have the right to know how many autistic children are attending my

district, and how many of those kids are in each of their different special ed

programs?

Also, do I have access to the number of autistic children in my district who

receive ESY each year?

How about the costs for each program (LIFE Skills at one district versus

Communications in another district, for example)?

Serena

>

> The number now is about 1 in 68 kids. If you take every district in the

> United States into account, then 450 in your district is rather high.

> Remember that even within one county there can be many many school

> districts. The concentration varies from state to state etc....so thinking

> that if there are 50,000 kids divided by 68 would yield 735 kids under the

> current ration. 50,000 divided by 100 equals 500 children and your school

> district's 450 is not far from that. Schools is rural districts may have a

> far lower ratio which might give them the false impression that the numbers

> are not that shocking, but some larger school districts may have a higher

> than 1:68 ratio just b ecause for families with ASD kids live there.

>

[Guest guest]

Serena,I don't think they have to tell you how many have a specific disability -- they can hide behind HIPPA there, but they do have to tell you how many children receive special ed services in the district and how much in state and federal funds they receive for special ed, and you have a right to know how this money is being spent.  You would have to request this information under the FOIA.  the district should have a form for you to fill out.

It doesn't matter how many are getting ESY.  Most school districts develop crap ESY to run parents off so they can save money or they say there is no threat of regression (when half these kids have probably made no meaningful progress in years.  Under the law if your child NEEDS it either due to possible regression, a window of opportunity, the nature or severity of the disability, or lack of an alternative highly structured environment for the summer (for kids diagnosed with ASD) you can win ESY for your child if you are willing to do the work.  If you want help in learning how to do this, contact me off list.

I think one of the BEST ways to win a lot for our kids is finding out where all the 'graduated " special ed kids are now. If a parent can show that over a number of years the district they are in only educated to the point of SE kids having to be dependent or could not get a decent job, or could not get into even a junior college -- that would speak volumes that their SE program has not worked, and unless they've changed a lot I doubt it is working now.

[Guest guest]

It's too bad that they don't have to list program placement statistics for

special education students. I really want to know how many of those 450 autistic

students in the district are in LIFE skills classrooms. That information would

help me.

As far as ESY goes, we got ESY services for this summer. I wasn't

leaving without them. has serial regression issues, and it was ludicrous

that they fought us in the first place. It's the number ONE recommendation in

the autism supplement. Someone at some point told me that there were only 30

something students at the districts on campus ESY program. Seems as though

unless there were lots of other kids getting those services at home or in a day

care environment (like we did), a point could be made that they were not doing

right by their autistic population.

Serena

>

> Serena,

>

> I don't think they have to tell you how many have a specific disability --

> they can hide behind HIPPA there, but they do have to tell you how many

> children receive special ed services in the district and how much in state

> and federal funds they receive for special ed, and you have a right to know

> how this money is being spent. You would have to request this information

> under the FOIA. the district should have a form for you to fill out.

>

> It doesn't matter how many are getting ESY. Most school districts develop

> crap ESY to run parents off so they can save money or they say there is no

> threat of regression (when half these kids have probably made no meaningful

> progress in years. Under the law if your child NEEDS it either due to

> possible regression, a window of opportunity, the nature or severity of the

> disability, or lack of an alternative highly structured environment for the

> summer (for kids diagnosed with ASD) you can win ESY for your child if you

> are willing to do the work. If you want help in learning how to do this,

> contact me off list.

>

> I think one of the BEST ways to win a lot for our kids is finding out where

> all the 'graduated " special ed kids are now. If a parent can show that over

> a number of years the district they are in only educated to the point of SE

> kids having to be dependent or could not get a decent job, or could not get

> into even a junior college -- that would speak volumes that their SE program

> has not worked, and unless they've changed a lot I doubt it is working now.

>

[Guest guest]

Bravo for you!  It it is a wonderful feeling to win outside ESY placement for your child.  You hit the nail on the head: do not back down.  They either come up with an appropriate ESY placement or pay for it elsewhere.  I think MOST ASD kids need year round school with breaks that last no longer than two weeks.  My son is HF but if I let him have more than that long of a break, .....he would get soooo lazy, and he would regress in areas.  In home school, we don't break for more than a week.

Yes it is a shame that districts don't have to be openly forthcoming aobut statistics.

[Guest guest]

It was recently announced by a special ed administrator in Katy that the rates she's seeing here are more in line with what they're reporting in the UK but I don't remember what that is. Hopefully someone else can chime in. She also pointed out that many people are moving to Katy for their good reputation as being special-ed friendly, so that number may be skewed.

Diane.