Where is a good autism school in Ohio?

Question

I am looking for a school for children with autism. I have 2 boys 12 and 10 who have it and need information on where there is a school for them to attend in the Northeast Ohio area or better yet, an area that is children friendly and AFFORDABLE.

HELP!!!

Answer 1

The Oakstone Academy is in Columbus Ohio and covers ages 3- middle school. It is an inclusive school for children with autism and their typically developing peers. It is a public charter school so hypothetically is free depending on where you live.

http://www.ccde.org/oakstone.html

Unfortunately they typically have a waiting list.

Answer 2

I do not believe in autism specific schools except in pretty specific circumstances.  One way that students will learn is to model behavior of typical peers - too many schools SAY that typical peers are there to but they are not or not in sufficient numbers to be useful as models.

In order for students on the spectrum to be successful adults they need to have as many independent skills and experience of dealing with a variety of people.  It's not easy but the Social part of teaching students with ASD is almost more important than academics.

If you do go to a school that says they have typical peers - ask how many.  I know of one school whose ad matierals said 50/50 and at several class levels there were less than 2 typical peers in the classroom.

Answer 3

I am also the mother of two children with autism.  Although I don't live in Ohio I have been researching autism schools locally and I ran across this site (link in the source box).  There are three schools listed, unfortunately it looks like none of them would fall into the "affordable" range.  Perhaps they have scholarships or in some instances tuition can be paid for by the local public school district if the public school district doesn't meet the child's needs.  That gets pretty technical though.

Good luck!