Our daughter is on the Autistic Spectrum and we are looking for any help finding a public school with a good special education program. Has anyone had good experiences? Advice? Warnings?
We are moving to Austin this summer and are desperate to find a good school not only for our 4 year old daughter who is on the spectrum, but our son (6) too.
She will be turning 5 in June and is expected to start kindergarten with some assistance.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/news/autism/
view the videos under "top stories" and watch the second video
view the video titled "poet defies autism"
I don't know the schools very well, but I know they do have a school that specializes with kids with Autism..sorry, I don't know the name of it , only that it exists
~ Tess
E.,
Unfortunatley I do not have any informatin on the public schools in Austin. However you caught my attention becaue I too have a 4 year old daughter that is also onthe Autism Spectrum. I wish you the best of luck in finding a school. I live in Stafford, outside of Houston,TX, and we were not succesful in sinding a suitable public program. We have had to enrol our daughter in a school for high functioning autistic children. It is quite costly. I hope and pray that you have better luck with the schools in Austin.
B. :0)
I have a son that just turned 5 - he just like your child is autistic. He has been attending Williams Elementary since he was a little over 3. They have been wonderful and he has improved so much the last couple of years.
http://resources.atcmhmr.com/poc/view_doc.php?id=1534&...
http://autism.meetup.com/cities/us/tx/austin/
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/...
http://www.utexas.edu/features/archive/2004/autism.html
Hi E.,
As a former OT in AISD, I believe that networking with other parents of autistic children is your best bet for gaining the knowledge you want (see the 2nd website listed above, which includes a posting from a local OT wanting to start a parent group). Great idea to start NOW. Although AISD is known for its quality special ed. services, I would also check out Round Rock ISD (if you live north) and Hays ISD (if you live south). Good luck!
I am a special ed. teacher in Austin ISD. AISD has an Asbergers/Autism unit on many campuses called SCORES. I work at Bedichek Middle School, and we have students bused here from all over south Austin for our SCORES unit. ###-###-#### would be the number to call for more information.
Hi,
There are several public schools within the Austin ISD that have special education programs to support children with a wide variety of learning needs. Our son attended Casis Elementary and benefited tremendously from the special education and speech support they were able to provide. He too is on the Autism spectrum, and has made great progress in large part due to their help. He is 12 now, and we are researching options for him for middle school. He still has issues with social interactions and organization, but he's made enough progress that he will be officially discharged from the formal goals & objectives used to determine and track his progress.
Good luck! The good news is that there IS support out there for your daughter.
I don't know much about Austin I.S.D. but Round Rock I.S.D. is one of the surrounding communities. They have programs for Autistic children. She would most likely be in an inclusion class, where extra help would be available.
Call the Capitol School of Austin. ###-###-####.
Good Luck!
D.
I have heard good things about Caraway Elementary School
(formerly North Oaks) in the Round Rock ISD. I have a friend who has a child in their program and is very pleased. She moved to the neighborhood specifically for the schools but chose Caraway over the attendence zone school she would normally have been sent to.
My nephew has Asberger's and they live in Round Rock. My ex-sister-in-law seems pleased with his services. It is worth checking out.
P. D
My 9 year old son has a diagnosis of ASD-PDD-NOS with ADHD. I moved to Pflugerville specifically to get him into the schools here. Brookhollow Elementary is phenomenal! The services available have helped a great deal and the medical professionals and therapists have made wonderful progress with him! I work in downtown Austin and the commute is only about 25 minutes!
We moved to the area last spring and I am VERY happy with Round Rock ISD. Our son is on the autism spectrum and is blossoming here. Round Rock is very family friendly. Please let me know if I can be of further help!
C. in Round Rock
____@____.com
Leander ISD is the #3 school district in the NATION for their special ed programs. Try looking for a home in Cedar Park, you will still be in the district but it is a little nicer area.
Leander ISD has the best program in the area if you are looking for a public school. Naumann Elementary has an exceptional program. The speech teacher there has helped to train the ELE/PPCD teacher and it is really working. There is a moratorium on that campus, so you will need to find a house that is zoned for it. Plus they are building a new school that will split the attandance zone for Naumann in a year or 2, so make sure you find a home that will still be in the attandance zone for Naumann.
S. M
I have a 9 yr. old son who is also on the spectrum. He attends Wells Branch Elementary in the Round Rock school district and I am very pleased with their program. They have been a blessing and he has shown a huge improvement both in academics and social skills. I wish you all the best.
E.,
I've heard that the Round Rock school district has a great program. I don't that much about it but I'm sure if you called the school district they can point you in the right direction.
Hope that helps.
Naiomi
I would definitely look into the Eanes School District. It has the best resources for kids with Autism. My son has been going to OT for sensory issues along with some speech work and a lot of the kiddos in there are autistic and the owner has a son with austism as well. She has had a lot of success with that school district. We tried to transfer in over there but it is hard. If there is any way that you can afford to live in that district, that's the way to go.
a little about me: I am a stay at home mom with two wonderful boys - 2 and 6 and have been married 9 years.
My son goes to Kocurek Elementary (1st year here)...they have a LifeSkills program at his school and I have heard that parents of special needs children go out of their way to send their kids there because it is the best in Austin. You should contact them and find out if this would be a good school for your daughter. It is a Title 1 school... so there is not a lot of money, but my experience with the teachers has been great so far.
Hi E.,
Do you currently live in Texas? If you haven't already done so, I would join the yahoo group "Texas Autism Advocacy" and post your question there. I'm sure you will get some good direction from the group.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Texas-Autism-Advocacy/
If you need direction to any other resources in Texas, let me know and I'll send you what I can.
P.
we no longer live in austin, but when we were there, we were very very happy with the eanes school district- one of the best (if not the best ) in texas! real estate is sometimes advertised as "eanes area" because it is so desirable. a friend of mine had a little boy in my son'w class, they were best friends, but anyway, he had asberger's, and he did great.
