What to do when they cut funding for special needs kids?

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Thanks so much foe your replies and insight.

Regarding getting a lawyer, it would take years for anything to really happen, and during that time, my son would be provided inadequet schooling which worries me.

As for the advocate, I will look into that. The fact that it is hit or miss when it comes to getting a good advocate is pretty sad.

I really like the idea of getting a private tutor. Ravenmom, is your tutor a special ed teacher? Ho many hours a week does the teacher spend with your child?

BobinPgh, what do you think would have made learning in school easier for you. Given the current conditions, what changes (class size, having a para, extra tutoring, etc) would have helped you keep up?

Thanks again for all your input.

Also, has anyone been successful with keeping their child in a specail needs school? He is in one now for preschool but I would love to keep him there for elementry school also.

Momofthree, I just pm'd you

If you have good insurance and some money, consider getting therapy privately. Copays are expensive, but if your insurance has a cap on your out of pocket expenses, maybe you are better off accepting that you'll have to pay a few thousand annually. I didn't, but I really should have. Get familiar with the laws in your state and at least get in contact with an advocate to get a feel for how things are run in nearby schools. If your area is really bad, you might consider moving to somewhere with a good educational model which also provides good services. Start looking into the private schools in your region, so you know your options(maybe even a regular Montessori would be a good fit for your child). I'd also look into homeschooling groups and resources in your area. Down the road it may be possible to get private school at public expense. Pick your battles...if you have to spend 100 hours fighting to get 10 hours of OT, you are better off paying out of pocket. I personally would work hard with my child before they hit elementary school, and then have an independent evaluator test them annually for academic progress (lots of people do this for homeschoolers). You have a very strong case for, private placement if you can show that your child isn't making progress in public school (especially if they were before they entered).

Finally, see if your state has some sort of voucher/scholarship system for ESE kids to attend private school. IF they don't you could lobby your state legislature to create one. It's cost effective....they could spend what they area already spending, and it also allows them to avoid a lot of litigation. Instead of suing when children are being neglected in public schools, many parents simply take the scholarship money and run.

Just playing devil's advocate, your child has access to OT,ST and PT at school? Not many people can say that...

Join the local chapter of the ASA (autism Society of America) and/or other local parent support groups and find a good advocate from other parents. As far as getting placement in the private school, typically it only happens if you can show that your child wouldn't make progress in the educational environment they have to offer him. You need to give them a chance. Chances are you're going to have to have your child attend the public school and have them fail him or her. Maybe if the private school is cheap enough, the school system will go for it but I doubt it. If the in school therapies interfere with their education, maybe you could provide some privately and demand they provide some after school.

My former county was pretty evil. In due process a parent was awarded private placement and Henrico waited until 2 days before the one year statute of limitations ran out to appeal the ruling. The private placement the parents were awarded was about $50,000 per year, so they not only had to worry about paying more attorney fees, but also about getting stuck with the $50,000 tab (and possibly paying for school while it was being appealed).

ScottAllen -
Thanks so much. You gave a lot of good ideas. Money is tight and we are financially tied to NYC for a while so we will have to try some of the other suggestions you made. My insurance specifically says it does not pay for therapies it if is Autism related. Homeschooling is not an option (I have to work) but luckily I work some days from home so I can help him work on some things. I am going to look into scholarships and see what they currently have. I am also going to follow your suggestion about finding a good advocate. The school district was giving me one of their advocates but I didn't feel comfortable with that.

Ravenmom-
Thanks. I was thinking that he would need maybe 10 hours a week in tutoring. But I am going to also look into getting a tutor for the amount of hours a week I can afford.


Bombaloo-
NYC is big but it is also more densely populated than most other cities. Because of that, you tend to have overcrowding in some schools. In spite of that, most kids still manage to thrive, however, if you have a child that has a hard time concentrating for whatever reason, a crowded class is a disaster. We have insurance (Aetna) but it specifically says it does not cover therapies related to autism. That is the only option my job provides.

Shellfish -
Yes my child currently has access to therapies through the school district and I am grateful for that. But that is why I pay taxes and my family payes taxes and my family before me, etc. The school district by law is required to educate my child and in order to do so, they first need to work on helping him with the very basics. I do not want them to abandom him because he turns 5.

They can chose to invest in him now to help him to hopefully become a productive member of society. Or, they can fail him now and take care of him for the rest of his life.

in the case of my son, he was in a GREAT special needs pre school, but for K they were going to place him in a reg class, no special class at all. He did so good in that pre school, they were ready to send him off to a class of 28 with one teacher. My academically advanced and socially/emotionally delayed child would have failed horribly. My options were few. Send him and let him either be a behavior prob, or fail, both of which he prob wouldnt...but he WOULD suffer. He would be picked on, he would be targeted, he wouldnt learn to his capabilities...all that added up to a disasterous waste of my sons time, education and mind. SOOOO, luckily I dont work and are able to homeschool. Kids like my son, who dont really fit into a special needs class, but also dont really fit into a reg class, are left to fend for themselves. It is very upsetting. We too pay taxes, and the fact that I homeschool doenst make us exempt form that. We get little to no help from the district. My son does get 2 hours a week services (speech and OT), but thats all. They REFUSE to acknwoledge his Aspergers diagnosis and therefore wont give him the help that he deserves. With that (autism) classification that his psychiatrist wrote was medically indicated, the district would have to provide parent trainer and autism consultant, social skills class, etc...but we get NOTHING!! ! If he were in the class, he would probably just be the kid that got picked on and was odd and quirky, I doubt he would be so off the wall that he would be removed from the class or school.

It is sad that more emphasis isnt placed on correctly helping our kids when they are young, in hopes that when they are adults they can function indapendently and be productive citizens...

Bombaloo -
Can you use the funding from then state health plan for a specialized school or just therapies?

I honestly don't know. We don't have any specialized schools out here so I don't have any experience with that. I just thought where you are there must be more options to choose from. Maybe someone else here can weigh in?

Sorry for the source, but it appears you'll have insurance coverage in a few months. Many states are passing legislation to cover our kids.

http://blog.autismspeaks.org/2011/11/01 ... insurance/