Is it better to send an autistic child to a school for autistic children or get a child specialist?

Question

My sister is thinking of getting a child specialist who deals with autistic children to come over to the house several times a week to work with her son 3-year-old who has autism. The school for autistic children doesn't have a vacant place for my nephew. Should my sister wait for a place in the school or start off with the private specialist right away? Also I'm worried that my nephew might get bullied if he goes to this school? Does bullying occur in schools for autistic children?

Answer 1

Hi! I am not sure what country you are in but in the United States it is not legal for a district to withhold placement from a child that they do not have room for. They have to find room which means that they either have to pay for staff to come to the house for up to 10-15 hours a week or the district has to find a private school for your nephew to attend. Free Appropriate Education means just that Free - Appropriate placement and the other piece is LRE in the least restrictive environment. So being on home bound instruction is not appropriate unless there is a medical reason as to why he/she cannot go to school.

I would suggest your sister get in touch with an advocate. Since i am not sure what state you are in, I would start with the Dept of Human Services in NJ we have educational Advocates under the Division of Developmental Disabilities. Each state is a little different but every state had educational advocates to support parents through the issues of educational concerns. If she is getting the run around with the state pieces, Google your state and Autism advocates or Autism support groups.

With the ratio of Autism being as high as it is. More and more schools are struggling to keep up with placements and services for this specific population of unique learners. That does not mean that the school district gets a free pass. They are required by law to have an appropriate placement.

It has been my experience that bullying typically doesn't happen at this young age. Children are accepting of all differences until parents or educators make a big deal of it.

It is important to make sure that the parents, educational team make an effort to explain the disability and answer questions or concerns that may pop-up. Many of the concerns are that is my child going to start those behaviors or how is this child's education going to impact my child learning. As for children questions they are typically innocent questions that can be answered honestly. Why does Sammy repeat everything that I say? You can say something like: Sammy is echoing you - he is practicing what he hears because sometimes he likes the way the words sound or is trying to figure out what you want him to do.

I have many children on the spectrum that have never been bullied. A few are older student graduating from High school this year; they were the trend setters for inclusion and debunking the myths of Autism. They managed to get through without major incidents. We always had a watchful eye. When they were younger we did a ton of educational lessons on accept differences, disability awareness and making sure we answered ALL questions no matter how illogical it seemed at the time.

Best of Luck. Please feel free to contact me privately if you need some clarification on something I wrote.

Answer 2

I think in the case with children that have autism, early intervention and therapy at the earliest stage is crucial.  I actually use to do discrete ABA style therapy with children that fell into an ASD diagnosis.  

Your sister may actually want to check with the local school districts to see if they have an Early Childhood Special Education program.  They may offer some sort of program for children with Autism.

Typically in a school setting where children are ages 3-5 bullying does not usually occur.  Children at this age level are very accepting, if not helpful.  Children do tease at this age, but I highly doubt it will be any different for him than it is for any other child.  They all tease and get teased from time to time.

Also, one of the main components of Autism is a lack of social skills.  Typically children with this disorder avoid contact with others.  If they are contemplating sending him to a school that specializes in helping children with Autism, bullying will more than likely not be an issue.  They will be focusing more on socialization, which these children tend to not do.

I truley hope that your family is able to find the help it needs.  Autism can be very difficult to deal with depening upon the severity of the issues this child has.  It is always nice to have a network of support from parents, educators and family.

Best of luck!

Answer 3

My son has autism and he goes to public school! It's better to interact with everyone than to be single out. Bullying does not go  on My sons teacher never leaves them alone all day long!

Answer 4

First: Early intervention is critical---DO NOT DELAY; BEGIN THERAPIES IMMEDIATELY!!!

Second, your sister needs to contact Early Intervention services; (here in Virginia it is also called the infant and toddler connection). The child will be evaluated and a service plan implemented.

Next, your sister needs to become educated in autism, in order to get the best services and advocate for her child.  She also needs to familiarize herself with education law and what she is entitled to.

If you live in the United states, your sister is unequivocally entitled to special education services under the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). If the school district or early intervention does not provide this, THEY ARE OBLIGATED BY LAW TO PAY FOR A PRIVATE PROGRAM. I really am not sure of the legalities in Canada but the evaluation procedures should be quite similar.

Some questions:

1)Who referred her to the school for children with autism?

2)Who made the diagnosis?

3)Has the child been evaluated by an early intervention or other special education team?

4) Is the school you are referring to a private school or through the public school system?

It should never be that a parent of a child with autism is told, "sorry, we don't have an opening and sent home", unless you are referring to a private school. Something is wrong there.....

I hope this helped. As for the bullying, it is really a non-issue at this age; plus if the school is specifically for children with autism, these children are gentle by nature and not at all given to this type of behavior.

Diana  (mom of a child with a neuro-developmental disorder, a Registered Nurse and one course away from a Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders)

Answer 5

If she can get someone to work with him now that would be much better than waiting for an opening in the school. You don't know how long it will be for the opening.

If it's a school for autistic children, there will be other autistic children there. They usually are not bullies. Most of them keep to themselves.

Answer 6

Early intervention is always a good thing and if your sister can afford it it is always worthwhile. It is worth waiting for a place in a specialist autistic school. Why should your nephew be bullied at school? If he has autism and so do the other children then he won't stand out as being different in any way. It is quite rare for autistic children to be bullies as usually they are too engrossed in their own world to bother what others are doing. If is a good specialist school there will be a higher ratio of staff to pupils and the staff will be specially trained.

Answer 7

it depends on the particular child