How to connect to special needs recreational services for a child with autism with good social skills?

Question

we are in the philadelphia pa. area we are grandparents trying to raise a child with autisum. He is 9years old He is in a regular public school and needs to connect to recreaional services. maybe the special olimpics. He learns well he follows instructions well. we are willing to pay for good service. he is afro-american form a college background family, but because we have never had any one in the family with his needs we just don't know where to go for help

Answer 1

Hi there.  I live about 25 miles outside of down town Philly.  My son is almost five (next month) and is HFA.  The township of Warminster had an excellent summer program for children.  My son does not have extreme behavior problems and generally fits in well with "statistically normal" children.  He was mainstreamed for summer camp with other children his own age who were not autistic.  Also try your local YMCA.  They have (at least in our area) special olympic training.  However, we have put our child in several programs and they have always gone out of their way to make sure my son was mainstreamed with other children.  My son really doesn't require special olympics - just an understanding instructor.  We live in a small town but our local Y still has swimming, soccer, gymnastics, dance class, t-ball  . . . a whole range of sports and again based on my experience they have no problem making sure your son is included.  Please feel free to email me - see my profile.  P.S.  Sports programs at the Y usually run about $80.00 plus a small joiner fee.

Answer 2

Does he need special Olympics? Or would he be able to participate in a regular park and recreation program. Public programs are suppose to (if reasonable) accommodate children with special needs. You could call your local park and rec. department and talk to them about your grandson. Based on your very brief description it seems he might benefit from a typical environment with typical kids with the leader/ instructor was sensitive to his specific needs. Otherwise just google special Olympics and search for your local chapter. They are everywhere and are awesome.

Answer 3

I highly recommend Special Olympics.  You can find out where a group is nearest you by going to:  http://www.specialolympics.org and click on "Find a Location".

There is no cost for an athelete to participate in Special Olympics.

You may also want to connect with other parent/support groups for children with special needs.  I found that networking with parents (who are the experts) can give you lots of support, advice and good information about things related to raising a child with a disability.

Answer 4

The school should be able to help you connect to social services for him or see if you can contact a YAI program they are nation wide and they are for children with developmental disabilities including Autism.  Look them up in the phone book.  Also see if the mayor's office has a office for the disabled they might have some idea of where you could find services for you grandson.  And don't feel bad I have several people in my family with advanced degrees and they have children with LD's so the fact that you have highly educated people in your family does not mean that you won't have a child with learing disablitlites.

Answer 5

In addition to contacting the Special Olympics, look into the National Ability Center. It is located in Park City, UT, but they may be able to put you in touch with similar programs in your area.  Plus, they also do "sleep away" summer camps, river rafting trips that include the non-disabled family members, etc.  It's a really neat program.  Here's the link:  http://www.discovernac.org/index.htm

Hope this helps - good luck!