Post #11 Just a few things I wanted to share

There are a couple more things that I learned about Eli that I would like to share.  Part of Eli’s therapy is sensory integration.  Part of this therapy consists of Eli listening to what most people would call chaotic and dissonant music.  It stimulates parts of his brain that are stimulated naturally in typically developing children.  All children need time to run around but time in the large muscle room/gym is also part of Eli’s therapy.  He loves to swing from a rope into a large foam pit.  His favorite is rock climbing.  His mom said that he’s do dare devil but he’s not afraid to try new things.  Part of Eli’s OT (occupational therapy) is getting him “regulated”.  This would be like jumping on a trampoline with a big ball and then sitting down to write.  It reminds me of a song we sang at Arlitt “shake my sillies out “. 
I really enjoyed learning so much more about my friend’s son and how they came to their decision regarding his education.  After hearing about their experience I am more prepared to help parents in similar situations when I teach. 

Post#10 Making the right decision for Eli

After realizing all the progress Eli has made at the public preschool for children with Autism they decided to look further into what Eli’s future education would be like if he stayed there.  The school will be a consortium, which means it will be receiving financial support from the Kelly O’Leary Center at Cincinnati Children’s and the University of Cincinnati, in order to continue meeting the needs of the children with Autism in that specific district.  Currently children from other districts are also being bussed to this school.  Pat has told me Eli’s school is now a model for other districts.  The goal of these schools will be to see what modifications are needed so that more children with autism can be taught in a regular classroom.  The idea is that the children with less severe symptoms will only be at these special schools for one or two years before the modifications are made and they can make their way into the regular classroom.

Eli is 4 now.  He will be attending the same public preschool all of this coming school year.  In the coming school years of 2010 and 2011, at least as far as Pat can tell for now, he'll be in the kindergarten consortium program, which is run by Hamilton County.  Pat is glad that she and Dan reached out to surrounding schools to see what options were available. Pat and Dan are lucky that the school that is 2 miles away from their home happened to fit Eli’s needs the best.  Fortunately, the professionals Pat and Dan have grown to really trust will run the school.  After getting to know the people who will run the consortium for 2.5 years Pat and Dan feel secure. “Eli can do what he wants and we can create what we want for him”(IEP).  They know Eli will never be put in a situation where hell be ignored.  Eli is lucky that as he moves on the consortium will grow with him, if happens to need it.  The school will eventually be teaching grades 4-8 as well.  He may not be in a special education school at that point but it is nice to know the consortium will be for him.

 For the record I never heard back from the principal at Crosby Elementary.

Post #9 Two more schools on the list

After being discouraged by St. W, Pat and Dan visited Linden Grove, another school on the Autism Scholarship list.  They had a good sensory integration program, like doing 10 pushups before doing an activity, but they were not focused on academics, which is one of Eli’s strengths.  The children at Linden Grove were a few years older than Eli, and had much more severe symptoms.  Pat said she saw lots of stemming and she did not want her son to become accustomed to that and think it was normal or a way to express himself.  The Next school on the list was Queen of Angels.  The problem that Pat and Dan had with this school was that all of the money from the scholarship would be used, with out providing any services (much different than the current situation at the public preschool).  There was not much of an art program at Queen of Angels.  Even though Eli didn’t like it at first, art has helped greatly with his fine motor skills.  To Eli, art used to be drawing a number, but he started getting that art is social, and that has been so beneficial to his social development.  When he comes home from school now, he draws sometimes.  It is so great to see Eli doing something creative!  He is beginning to get that it is all about functioning in a group, and he has made all this progress at the public school he started at.  Maybe it was the best fit for Eli. 

Post # 8 : Visiting a School from the Scholarship List

There were a few schools that Pat and Dan went to visit to get a feeling for, in order to see if the Ohio Autism Scholarship could provide a better fit for Eli than the public school preschool for children diagnosed with Autism in his district.  According to Pat, there is never enough information in pamphlets or websites to really let you know what the school is like.  The schools provided Pat with a list of parent contacts with children currently enrolled when she asked, but she knew that none of the parents would probably be sharing anything but positive experiences given that the school was supplying her with the parent list. 
St. W is one of the places Pat and Dan visited after reading an impressive article about the school in the Cincinnati Enquirer and seeing that it was on the list of approved schools for the scholarship.  Pat and Dan felt that the staff was very knowledgeable.  But the school didn’t have a place to play outside.  Eli needs to be outside.  All children benefit from being surrounded by nature.  At the public preschool Eli had a huge jungle gym and play ground.  He could play there for 30 minuets everyday.  Eli had been learning to play through going outside.  The only equipment outside to play on was meant for babies at St. W.  There was no green space there either, just an alley way.  Lots of the children at St. W had severe symptoms.  Pat and Dan felt like Eli needed to be around the kids who were more “normal”.  Being around a group of children, where the majority rock and tic would not be a great environment for Eli who they hope never has such symptoms.  Eli seemed to be on other side of the spectrum that most of the children at St W.  That fact, and the lack of outdoor play room which had been so good for Eli ruled out St. W.  

Post #7 Autism Scholarship

In the beginning Pat and Dan just wanted to get Eli in some kind of program so they sent him to their local public school special education preschool.  Eli’s dad is a special education teacher and found out about scholarship through Children’s Hospital.  The scholarship allows parents to visit a list of approved schools where the school district will send twenty thousand dollars for your child to attend, instead of public school.  According to Pat, Dan, being a teacher, is conditioned to be more aware of other options.  Dan is very academic oriented and he wants the kids to be smart.  Eli’s occupational therapist says he’s gifted and Dan loves that. Being a teacher has made Dan more optimistic about what Eli will be able to do.  Dan sets high goals and wants both of the children to be highly educated.  So he was very motivated to find the best possible fit in a school for Eli.  Dan has strong opinions and understands the ins and outs of IEPs and getting what you want.  So the next step was going to see what these approved schools were like compared to the public preschool Eli started right when he turned 3 in December 2007.

Post #6: Private Speech Therapy

Pat and Dan did not want to wait to start helping Eli.  Instead of waiting they started private speech therapy for Eli.  At this point he was 2.75 years old. No results came from the private speech therapy because Eli wouldn’t interact with the therapist. He could look at calendar and the therapist would try to put meaning to it but all Eli cared bout were the numbers. The therapist did show Pat and Dan how to try engaging Eli in imaginative play instead of repetitive play. They stared making turn taking a regular thing around the house along with other interactive “games” but he was not interacting.  Eli just didn’t hear private therapist.  She (the therapist) knew he needed more help.  It wasn’t just a speech issue.  Eli could literally count to 1000 out loud if he wanted to.  He just didn’t want to talk most of the time. 

When Eli turned 3 in December he was no longer eligible to receive services from Help Me Grow though he was still on the waiting list to receive speech therapy. Once he turned 3 Early Intervention was the name of the county run agency working Pat and Dan.  Eli started preschool right away with an IEP. 

Post #5: The beginning of a Families Experience

In order to fully understand the steps and the process that Pat and Dan went through in deciding what school is best for Eli I needed to start at the beginning.  I asked about Eli’s diagnosis.  Pat told me that after Eli’s first 1-2.5 years he didn’t notice when people were around him one way or the other. By his 2nd year, Eli still did not respond to name his name, so Pat knew something was wrong. 

When Eli was about 2.5 years old Pat and Dan had him evaluated to see if he had a disability.  This evaluation is official the beginning of this families interaction with the support system (public services) provided by Hamilton County.  Though administered by the county, the organization is federally run.  It is called “Help Me Grow” and provides services for children from birth until they turn three. According to Pat, parents refer themselves through their county and report that their child could be at risk.  Then the appropriate professionals come to your house to evaluate your child.  Pat told me that the evaluation service of “Help Me Grow” was very efficient.   Within a month of contacting Hamilton County, the evaluation had taken place.

Pat said that part of the evaluation seemed to be determining if she and her husband were providing a good home for their son, which they knew they were.  The other parts of the test were things that surprised Pat.  Since Eli was her first child she did not realize that he wasn’t doing things that other children do naturally.  One of the tests was giving Eli and picnic basket full of the appropriate accessories.  Eli would look at the plates and say, “circle” instead of setting up for a picnic.  Another test was giving Eli a baby doll and care-giving items.  At the time Pat felt that since she had never given Eli a doll to play with it made sense that he did not know what to do with it.  Now that Pat has had parental experience with a typically developing child, she realizes her naivety.  She told me that she knows Sally, her second child, would easily know what to do with a truck, for instance, even though she had never been given a truck to play with.  

After the evaluation it was determined that Eli could not communicate his wants and needs, a symptom of autism.  Pat said that up until this point they just anticipated what they thought Eli wanted.  Pat sees now how odd it was now that Eli never said “no” or refused to do anything.  Eli was supposed to receive 1 on1 speech therapy right away.  Instead Eli was placed on an 8mo. waiting list for the time being.

Post #4: Parents have the best information

Toady I met with my friend whose son has been diagnosed with autism.  For confidentiality’s sake I’ll refer to her as Pat and her son as Eli.  Eli and his family were the reason I decided I’d like to blog about what schools actually offer in terms of services.  I have talked to Pat in the past, as a friend and as a person studying to teach young children, about Eli’s situation.  I have babysat for him in the past and have tried to understand his motivations, likes, dislikes, and level of comfort in given situations.  From the time I can remember, Eli loves numbers and has always had a natural ability to understand them.  He dose interact socially, he makes eye contact, smiles, and laughs.  He even jokes!  He just happens to enjoy numbers more than most, and has a hard time around kids who are extremely loud, that’s just a part of his personality.  He has a little sister, who I’ll call Sally.  I think having Sally around, who is typically developing, has made a difference.  Eli has learned to tolerate a “louder child” in a way he never would have had he not had a little sibling.  In this case I would say that she is a form of therapy!    Luckily for Eli, his dad, who I’ll call Dan, is a special education teacher.  This post is a bit of background information before I discuss all that I have learned/am learning about finding the right school/community for a child with autism through blogging for this class, from Pat and her family.  I have already learned from this course that the family centered approach is the only way to go if you want to enable a child with a disability to have a future with options.  

 

Post # 3

I still have not heard from Crosby’s principal.  I feel like the Internet is not the best way to get concrete information about what schools can offer (at least the public ones).  I feel like lists of services are great references but that dose give any information about how the children are grouped or what the classroom environment is like.  These are important variable for children with autism.  I know that when I am parent all of the information I will have obtained as a student in this program will be useful, but what is best for my child will be the only thing that will matter.  I guess that is why the family centered approach is so important.  Dealing with a specific school district, with specific people responsible for informing me as a parent would be a lot different than Internet research, and a lot more meaningful.  On Friday when I meet with my friend who has a son who has been diagnosed with autism I will hear about how she first started finding information. 

I found more information about the services that are provided at the Kelly O’Leary Center for Autism.  An 10 page document titled “Resources for Families of Children Diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder”   This document is available to anyone who has the internet.  I found it very accessible.  It details the following categories of support.

Outreach/support services for families, School/community in-services and training, School/community consultation, Treatment, Sibshops, Conferences,  Classes for Families and Professionals

There is also a list of classes listed in this document.  There were ten classes, which range in topics from introduction to the Autism Center to a Behavior Management class for professionals.  I was also happy to see the following series of classes:

Next Steps: For Families with Children with ASD This is a series for families who want strategies for working with their child with ASD, including a focus on behavior management.

- Advanced series for more experienced families or families who have completed the Getting Started series

- Requires a commitment to attend all sessions

- Limited amount of homework

- Series is offered several times a year. There is a fee to cover the cost of materials.

 

Continuing internet research

I have not yet heard from the Principal of Crosby Elementary, the school in the Southwest Local School district.  This would be frustrating as a parent.  The next place I thought a parent with a child diagnosed with autism would look for information on schools and what they can offer was an autism foundation of some kind.  I searched and found the Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati.  I was hoping to find parent comments on schools either from the Society’s site or a link from it.  The page had a statement that goes right along with the Family Centered Practice:

”The Autism Society of America (and Greater Cincinnati” promotes the active and informed involvement of family members and the individual with autism in the planning of individualized, appropriate services and supports. The Board of the Autism Society of America believes that each person with autism is a unique individual. Each family and individual with autism should have the right to learn about and select, the options that they feel are most appropriate for the individual with autism. To the maximum extent possible, we believe that the decisions should be made by both the parents and the individual with autism.” 

The page goes on noting that services and community supports should strengthen the family, also, that education is a part of individuals with autism reaching their fullest potential.  This gave me an appreciation for the society.  I then found a link to the “Kelly O'Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders” under the Education tab.  The other options were not related to the Education of people with autism.  The Center is focused on the diagnosis, and treatment of autism along with providing support services.  I’ll be writing more about this site later.

Post #1: Beginning as a parent with questions

To start my investigation into the options for a family with a child diagnosed with autism I did what I assume parents would do.  I went to some public school websites to see how this issue was addressed.  I started with CPS.  I clicked on “Academics” and then found a “Programs and Services” list.  I clicked on “Special Education”.  The pages opens wit the following statements: “We Believe that...  All children are equally valuable and have the right to achieve to his/her greatest potential.  Collaboration among families and other stakeholders enhances the educational outcomes for diverse learners.  Learning is the result of interactions between learners, teachers, parents, and community.  High quality education is important if all children are to achieve at the maximum levels of which they are capable. Appropriately planned/designed interventions delivered with fidelity are beneficial to all children.  All families want the best educational opportunities available for their children.”  This falls in line with the family centered practice the text describes.  As a parent of a child diagnosed with autism, these statements would please me.  I then clicked on the “Services” link.  This page began to describe the types of professionals who would be working with a child with “special needs” along with their responsibilities.  Described were: Speech-Language Pathologists, the School Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Audiologists, Intervention Specialists, Case Coordinators, and Supplemental Services Teachers.  Also listed was the “Autism Resource Center” with the following text: “The Autism Resource Center will provide instructional strategies, equipment, access to technology, and the resources needed for supporting students with an autism spectrum disorder. The center will provide these services to teachers, related service providers and families. Through on-going workshops and training activities, families will become aware of services offered by the Cincinnati Public Schools and its community partners.”  There is a “get more information” link, which I clicked on.  The page then describes the center and the team that will work with your child.  On the side of the page is contact info for the center along with “frequently asked questions” and “links”. 

To see how greatly CPS’s information would differ from a more successful district I visited the Southwest Local School Districts site.  The opening page dose not have an “Academics” tab but had a link: “Whose IDEA is this”, to the 74 page document “A Parent’s Guide to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)”.  I would be very overwhelmed and frustrated with this if I were a parent.  I then noticed the schools in the district were listed at the top of the page so I clicked on one of the Elementary Schools.   Once again no information was listed about “Special Needs” or “Children with Disabilities”.  The principal’s email address was listed, so I emailed her today.  Now I’ll wait for her response!

I have always been interested in autism.  It seems to be a condition that is not easily defined or understood, and as we all have learned is a spectrum disorder.  I have  a friend who's son has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum.  I have decided to look into answering these questions: "What options are there in the educational system for families with a child diagnosed with autism in the Cincinnati area?  How do parents go about making the right  decision  for  their child ?"  I plan to obtain a lot of information from my friend.  I will plan on calling schools, and using the internet.