Ohio information

[Guest guest]

Just curious as to who is in OH and what types of services are out there for our

kids. Specifically the Akron area.

Thanks

Holly

[Guest guest]

Holly, what kind of services are you interested in? Any parameters

you can give me could help me hone in on specifics.

We live in Westerville, one of the suburbs of Columbus, the state

capital, largest city and (I think) largest metro area.

Ohio has 88 counties and each county has a separate MRDD funding

board, so there is NO equity across counties, even if state funding

is " available " to all.

The way early childhood services are dispersed is totally different

than the system we accessed 18 years ago- I haven't kept up with

those.

There are a lot of small private schools for kids on the spectrum

springing up. Problem is, the funding for them is cobbled together

and precarious, and so is the staffing. There are a lot of folks who

are getting their degrees as ABA -certified providers, and training

other people to become providers. A lot of them are not trained in

education, let alone special ed. So a lot of what we have all come

to learn about as " best practices " is not being used in some of these

schools or ABA training programs. (Note- that is my biased opinion.)

There is an autism scholarship available to those who have a dx of

autism. This cannot be used in the public schools- it must be used

to pay for attending a private school or for an individualized home

program. It's around 20 K . Trouble is, it has only eroded the

necessity for public schools to " get it right " for our kids. And

parents are often still stuck with trying to find a well-qualified

program or provider- and it might mean (I repeat myself here) that it

is only paying for ABA support and not real schooling. And of

course, there are those not on the spectrum who feel that they should

have a right to the money as well. I cannot blame that thinking. I

still think that the public schools should do better.

There are also waivers- Individual Options Waiver (IO waiver) that

is administered through the state office of MRDD is the most common,

with some varying levels based on need. My son Pete has the

transition waiver which is administered through the state office of

Jobs and Family Services. This waiver was cut off for new enrollees

about 8 years ago. I do not know how difficult it is to get one of

the IO waivers around the state, since follow-along has to do with

the county MRDD boards.

And so it goes.

Akron has, I think, access to some very talented people at Kent State

University. ( Audet is one who comes to mind. ) I also think

that there is a Greenspan-type program that is being run out of Kent

State.

used to be on this list- she would know more specifics.

I don't know who else on the list is farther north in Ohio- I know

there are more folks south of here.

There are many active Down syndrome associations throughout the

state. Don't know about Akron specifically.

Um, I do think that Akron has been hit pretty badly by the economic

downturn. As in most places, rural areas have a very difficult time

accessing services- even if a family gets access to some funding,

finding qualified providers is a huge challenge.

I think overall Ohio does better than many areas of the country-

certainly better than Illinois, if that article about Louie is

correct. Then again, " the devil you know is better than the one you

don't " . LOL!!

Let me know any specifics and I will see what I can find. You might

want to contact me off the list if it's really specific.

Beth, 18 y/o Pete's Mum