Public schools: any success stories?

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I'm planning on relocating soon, and my line of work makes it relatively easy to go to any major metropolitan area. Family are mostly in the western US, so any city in or west of the Rockies is an option.

What I'm looking for is somewhere with a school district that has a decent program for aspie/HFA kids. I don't know that any such place exists, but I am hoping that one may.

Has anyone had really positive results with a public school that they'd like to relate? Or heard of a good program second hand?

The school for our 6-year-old son is (so far) doing great with him. They have a fabulous TAG (talented & gifted) program because he's an amazingly advanced reader, and what seems like a well-organized special ed department, and also a couple of OTs on staff. As soon as we get our diagnosis we can more fully utilize the OTs for sensory issues. The special ed people have already started getting involved. All-in-all we're very impressed so far. We're in the Boulder Valley School District in Colorado, which encompasses Boulder and some of the surrounding communities.

I can give you a brief breakdown of our experiences, state by state --

Utah -- lived there when son was 18 months to four years. I began to suspect autism towards the end of our stay in Utah, but did not have experience with the schools. Later on, did some research and realized that Utah would be an awful place for a kid on the spectrum. I realized, looking back, that whenever I was volunteering for one of my other children at the elementary school, they tended to separate the special ed kids from the mainstream kids, and weren't overly concerned with how said special ed kids were educated -- i.e. they put an adhd kid with blind children, expecting their needs to be met by one teacher who had limited education.

Since that time, I've talked with others who have had children on the spectrum in Utah, and I think that most people band together to find appropriate education privately.

California -- We moved here right after our son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at age five. I think California can be very helpful or not helpful at all, totally dependent upon your school district. State services providing behavioral therapy were wonderful, but obtaining services through the school district was a constant battle. We were near Sacramento, in the Rocklin School District. Stay very far away from this district, as we spent the entire year fighting for services. In the end, our son would have been separate from the mainstream kids for at least 50% of the time, mixed in with kids with varying diagnoses, and I always felt that it was a battle based on the district's need to not spend money. We had moved FROM Pennylvania, and after much research realized that Pennsylvania was where we needed to return.

Pennsylvania -- This is where our son was diagnosed, and where we have found the best services, both through the State (for social skills classes, behavioral therapy, etc.) and the school district. All the things that we were fighting for -- inclusion, aides, preferential seating, more time on tests, etc. -- came automatically here, with no fight at all. As a result, our son has gone from needing a full-time aide in first grade, to being fully mainstreamed in middle school. He's doing well academically and socially. He still has some needs, and they are met, no questions asked.

I think that the best thing you can do is research by joining parent support groups in the areas that you are thinking of living in. While in California, I joined a parent support group, and found out that the Folsom school district (right next to Rocklin) would have been the place to go. I could never have found that information out in any other way.

Good luck with your move!

Kris

I live in North New Jersey and have been so happy with the public school in my town, my son is in a classroom with "typical" children (something I felt very strongly about for my son) he also has ABA at home 6 hours per week in addition to what he gets at school. My town has half a day preschool and at age 3 after EI he went to preschool until 2pm last year and this year he attend both sessions and gets out at 3:15, they also gave me extended programs for the summer and I am so happy when I drop him off in the morning since I know he is in great hands (he is also very happy walking into school) I wanted to move to a warmer climate state since I have several children but we have decided against it since he is doing so well here. Try to visit schools if you can. I did. Follow your heart and I wish you all the best!!

I'm not a parent, but I've got advice just the same. I went to high school at Grayson High School in the Atlanta area. They had an excelent program, and I made a lot of progress there. I doubt I would be in collage now if it were not for it. I know that they had a change in staff, but I'd still look into it.

I have lived in Indiana (Hamilton county), Northern California (Butte County, and now in Tucson, AZ. I haven't had any "optimal" situation. The very best accomodations were in Chico Unified School District where they have highly trained Special Ed teachers and aides. However, the region is not known for their acknowledgement of Asperger's (as of 2005).
Tucson has no central control over their schools, they are really loosely governed. So, the schools have varying budgets, attitudes and a wide variety of accomodations. Our "home school" had no special ed at all, my son wasn't accomodated. He's now in a decent situation, with tolerant school staff but we're not really satisfied with it. We're looking into homeschooling still.
There is a private school here that has a program for Aspie kids. There's also a really highly regarded public school that has 50% special needs 50% NT kids with an emphasis on integration. But you can't even get on a waiting list to get in.

Ben_Cardwell what was it about the program that helped you? Do you know why they had a change in staff?

geek --

You're absolutely right about Utah. I'm a Mormon, lived there for three years (not including my college years), and I almost died of culture shock . . .

Which is why we high-tailed it right back to Pennsylvania!

Very good to hear about this lady in Folsom -- if there's anyone who might know about these things, it would be her. Good luck, I hope you get lots of good information about that area. And ask about Rocklin if you get the chance -- I'm wondering if that place is still as awful for kids on the autism spectrum as it was when we were there six years ago . .

Kris