Any schools in Mass for Autistic children?

Question

I have a 7 year old daughter in a mainstream public school she has been there since preschool. She is very far behind and the school is not helping. I am willing to move to make it better for my child. Over the summer she was placed in a collabrative program in which she made incrediable strides. I wanted her to stay there and they would not let her, saying they had a appropriate program for her. She is no longer mainstreamed and is in a class by herself.

Answer 1

Well, for starters, in Sheffield there is an autism treatment center (Son Rise). We will be enrolling our daughter in a couple of years -- as soon as we can get off of the W. Coast (there is NOTHING here for autistic children). It's expensive but in my opinion such a better program than the tradition ABA approach...which is the standard for public schools. It's meant to work in groups and tends to treat autism like a behavior rather than syndrome it is. Makes me very angry.

Public schools and autism don't seem to mesh. I'm a writer so for us, I will be able to work at home (in the evenings) and homeschool our daughter. Actually, for the record, we are so disenchanted with the lack of learning that actually takes place in public schools that we are pulling our 'normal' child out next year and homeschooling him as well.

Our daughter has one more year in her preschool classroom. However, I say that with some trepidation. They have recently hired a woman who makes my skin crawl and I don't really want her anywhere near my daughter. When I told her that we used the Son Rise program she became angry with me. She used ABA on her own child. It didn't work. He's actually in prison now...not that I blame ABA but I can tell that she's very angry. I'm afraid that she could take it out on our child or one of the other children in the classroom.

For us, because there are communication issues with our daughter, we know that left in the public school setting, she is likely to be abused at some point. This thought makes me sick and our goals are to not put limits on her mind or abilities (she's very bright) and to protect her.

I'm sorry. I know that I went off but my husband and I are still learning and it helps just knowing that we are not the only family experiencing these issues.

Bottom line -- public schools and special children are not a good combination. It's difficult because so many families simply do not have a choice.

Be your daughter's advocate and be the expert. Tell the school how it is going to be. Don't give them options.

We have a friend who has a Ph.D. in Education. In his words regarding public schools and teachers: "A little fear on their end is always a good thing."

Answer 2

Have you considered home-schooling? I have Asperger's, and I learned much more when I learned it at home. School is stressful to the autistic mind. In fact, you could even take whatever therapy she gets and turn it into a school subject.

Highly recommended is that, when you design or buy her curriculum, you add a subject like "Social Interaction" to specifically study the things she won't pick up on when it comes to connecting with others.

Also, find a home-school group to participate in. The benefits of this are endless: Meetings with other kids, to practice social skills; access to other parents' special knowledge (such as having a parent with a biology degree teach the kids science); and group rates on things like museums and other field trips. The HS group is especially important with an autistic child; and in my experience, home-schooled children are less likely to pick on kids who are "weird" because they themselves are "weird" just for being home-schooled.

Incidentally, you want to check if your state has a voucher program; and, if so, whether you can transfer that to home education. Some curriculums are expensive, after all.

Answer 3

My top picks would be:

Melmark New England

New England Center for Children

Nashoba Learning Group

Answer 4

I'm assuming your daughter has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) which leads to the question, why didn't you speak up during that meeting if you were dissatisfied with the educational plan?  If you don't feel the school is doing enough then ask for a meeting with her teacher(s) and the principal.  Mainstreaming her would depend on several factors and all that would be in her IEP.  You also have to consider whether your daughter would benefit from being in a classroom environment, although I don't think she's benefitting from being in a classroom by herself, she needs to be around her peers.  Only you and the teachers can determine what would benefit her the most, in my experiences with autistic children they don't do well in a classroom setting for long periods of time but every child is different.  If she is willing to go into a classroom they can try it for short periods of time and build up to longer periods as she gets older or maybe she really enjoys a particular subject, if that's the case I don't see a reason why she couldn't go into the classroom during that subject.  All this depends on the severity of her autism but she deserves to be in the least restrictive environment, both socially and academically, keeping her specific needs in mind!  Good luck!

Answer 5

Pathways Academy in Belmont, MA

Corwin Russell (But your daughter isn't old enough yet)

There's also the YouthCare program in MA. It's a camp style environment to help autistic/autistic spectrum kids.

I think that some of the medical teaching hospitals in MA offer programs, too. I would check out one close to you.

Answer 6

You are entitled by law to the least restrictive educational environment for your child. If the collaborative program was working  - insist that she be educated there. Being in isolation in a classroom is not right by law or by her best interests.

PLEASE at 7 keep her in inclusive settings. I can tell almost instantly when I meet a child if they receive inclusive or segregated education.  The child with the segregated education might have learned more, but they stand out socially as inept.

At 7 social skills are far more important than academic ones. She can catch up academically - she can't catch up on social skills. Without social skills, especially since she has autism, her better quality education is going to be useless.

I feel so sad when I see some of my sons peers who were educated in segregated settings and can read and do math, but cannot carry on the briefest conversation with me or have any ability to make independent decisions. If I could do anything for my son it would be to magically  make him read  (he is 24), but his social skills outshine most adults I know and if it meant his losing that - no thank you.