Atlanta, GA and Autism Services

[DAG]

Hi everyone,
Can anybody recommend a good school district in the Atlanta area for autism services? It looks like we'll be moving there this summer. Our little one will be five. I know being in the right school district sometimes determines the quality of service you will receive.

thanks

 

[ugadog99]

I don't know what area you are looking into as far as a move. However, I live and work in Coweta county which is just south of Atlanta. It is a wonderful area and we do provide autism services in our county. We have several children in our school who are autistic. Newnan is a terrific place to live. Maybe you should check us out!

 

[DAG]

thanks for this info....we actually plan on living where ever we can get the best services for Jr in the Atlanta area...thanks.

 

[ugadog99]

I would definitely check out Coweta County, then. I'm sure Gwinett, Cobb, and several other counties around the Atlanta area have autism services. However, my concern with those counties would be in their size and having so many children to serve. While Coweta is in close proximity to Atlanta, we are a much smaller community and school system.

Try this link:

www.cowetaschools.org



PM me if you need names of those in Resource to contact and I'll find out for you.


Melanie

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

We just moved to the Atlanta area from Maine in October and boy, could I write a book. We ended up in Douglas County. We had some rough patches at first but we are now in a great school and our son is making great strides. We have found a great speech therapist and my son is even doing hippotherapy (horseback riding therapy). We are just renting and looking for a house to buy and looking around to see if there is any place better but so far we aren't finding it. Are you going to be putting your child into private school or public? Emory University has some great programs, but they can get expensive (they do have preschool if your child is not of school age).

Just know that your not alone, I was suprised just how many other people are in the same boat. I have made great friends with two women who have autistic children and they have been such a great resource for me. Please feel free to ask me more questions or to PM me,

Always here to help,

 

[DAG]

thanks for this info...We plan on using the public school system. Jr will start kindergarten in the fall. I read about the Emory program and I also heard about a program at the Marcus Institute. When we were in NY, some public school systems would send their autistic kids to private schools that focused on only autism. I think a school just for autistic children would be best for Jr.

thanks again for your help.

 

[SueM in MN]

This site is a useful resource for an ything to do with education:
www.pacer.org

It is based in Minnesota, but is a national resource for the whole country. There are links to other national and state sites.

Good luck in your search.

 

[bairdbeth]

There is a wonderful program in Cherokee county at Sixes Road Elementary(http://www.cherokee.k12.ga.us/sixes-es/programs.htm). We have had several of our students move in order to get services there. I teach in a very small districtand while we serve all are students well, we do not have a program specifically for students with autism as Sixes does.

 

[jaymie_g]

A word of caution concerning Gwinnett County. I am a former special ed teacher (MOID/SID/PID) with the county many years ago (early 90s). Now I have a child with special needs in the county. As a teacher so long ago things were very good. However, many years later and on the parent side it's a nightmare! I fight and fight and fight to get the services my child needs. My exhaustion in dealing with the system is near the breaking point. I'm not alone either. Several of my friends who have children with special needs have moved out of the county all together.

It's a large county and if your child doesn't fit into a predesigned box then you're in trouble.

That being said, I have friends who moved to Hall County and to Jackson County (both further north, quite a drive to the city) who have had good experiences.

I wish you the best. If you've any further questions about Atlanta don't hesitate to ask....I was raised here.....it's a great place.

Jaymie

 

[HopperFan]

Spent half my childhood here, left and when we came back we shopped Special Ed services before buying.

One think you absolutely have to consider is the horrendous traffic issues here. You could pick a location to live and while your job may only be 20 miles away it could take 2 hours each way. I would have to factor in the job location to the home. The stress of a commute is not healthy for a family.

That said, we are in North Fulton County and the services are excellent. My DS is aging out of high school, but his program is incredible, the teachers are incredible and I wouldn't change a thing about our decision. I have had differences of opinions and a few unpleasant meetings over the last 14 years, but I really have never had to fight for anything. The last couple were extremely difficult due to changes with him, and his school staffing went above and beyond to make it work for him.

We are also experienced going to the Marcus Institute for services. They do have children going to school there BUT they are few and they are there because they are self-abusive or a considerable danger to others. But the expanded services are great and you may find the need to use them, if nothing else but for evaluations. They are known nationwide.

There was just an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution a few days ago regarding Gwinnett county and their services for Autism and how they have set up a school to service the population. It would mean no mainstreaming. Go to www.ajc.com and do some research there. There are pro and cons to the sizes of some of our school districts. Larger school districts have more money and resources, especially if they are in a higher tax district. One thing the article said as the special population, especially autism, is growing at a rapid pace in Gwinnett and resources are stretched. Look for the article.

If at all possible get down here to sit and observe the different programs and see what you think is best. I assure you there is a wide variety of what is offered in the different systems.

ps I was very surprised to see Gwinnett has established a separate school. Not the trend. Don't plan on your school district sending your child to private school. I lived in the NYC area as well and know what you are talking about. Here the districts are county wide, big and they service their own special population. That is why you need to see the classrooms, how they are run, the sizes, makeup, teaching styles etc. before you make a decision on what is right for you.

 

[DAG]

We just wanted to thank everybody for all of the detailed replies. We realize that we need to do a lot of research prior to this move, especially since we plan on buying a house in the Atlanta area. We'd hate to make a mistake and buy a house in a not so good school district.

I'll be working near the East Point area at Fort McPherson, but don't feel like we need to live that close to my job. I really didn't realize that it could routinely take an hour to drive about 20 or 30 miles.

I'm sure we'll be PMing a bunch of you as we have more questons and get closer to our moving date.

thanks.

 

[HopperFan]

You do not want to commute through Atlanta. Look at school districts/counties that arc south of the city.

ps My school system is actually Fulton County, it is huge, half above the city and half below. I would imagine you would get good services in South Fulton area.

 

[DAG]

Hi everybody,
We are about two months away from moving to Atlanta now. If anybody else has any more comments I'd definitely appreciate it.

Thanks for all of the help.

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

I have heard alot of good things about the Lionheart school in alpharetta. It is a private school at www.thelionheartschool.com they are for mid to high functioning autism students and they follow the floortime method which for my son has been HUGELY successful. The method basically took my non verbal, non funtioning son and gave me back a bright well adjusted verbal child, who spends more and more time in our world, than in his "autistic world". We have him in a public school non and he is making his way towards mainstreaming but that is do to his hard work and a very involved special ed teacher who uses this method in her teachings (even though technically she is not supposed to because the school board only supports ABA -not bashing ABA, just didn't work for us). I will warn you it is expensive, tuition just went up to $19,000 a year and for us, living on one income and it being a cops salary..there was just no way we could do it.

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

 

[cesarb]

I am also planning on moving to the Alpharetta area with my 7 year old Autistic son. I will be looking into The Lionheart School. Did your son attend this school or just exposed to floortime through the public school. Can you tell me which public school is he in and if their program is still good? Will I have to live within certain boundaries to be accepted into this school? I ask because my experience in that past is that not all schools in the same district serve Autistic children the same. We are planning on visiting the area withing 2 weeks so I would appreciate a reply.

Does any know if the system in Forsyth county is any good? It appears we would have a better choice for a house there.

 

[HopperFan]

When we moved to Alpharetta 14 years ago you could more or less choose your program. We chose which elementary and middle school program we wanted. You are correct in that while they were the same school system, very often the programs are run different. Now in middle school I did have to give up some therapy because I did not want to attend the "center school" that provided all the therapy. No regrets. Two years ago they built a new high school and began a districting system. Not sure how far down the ranks they go with this, but basically they look at your home school and determine where you will go. All on a feeder system. We would not move our child, so we were considered "hardship" by choice and therefore transportation does not have to be offered. I then drove for two years.

Yes, you will find the housing prices are better in Forsyth, but it is all relative. You need to go look at those schools and programs and find out their special needs policies. If you have typical children you need to look at their schools, their test scores and their overall programs. Also check out the community services available to your family. You also have to factor in our horrible traffic to your work commute. While you visit be sure to get out and drive (or try to drive) during rush hour to get a good feel for it.

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

I am also planning on moving to the Alpharetta area with my 7 year old Autistic son. I will be looking into The Lionheart School. Did your son attend this school or just exposed to floortime through the public school. Can you tell me which public school is he in and if their program is still good? Will I have to live within certain boundaries to be accepted into this school? I ask because my experience in that past is that not all schools in the same district serve Autistic children the same. We are planning on visiting the area withing 2 weeks so I would appreciate a reply.

Does any know if the system in Forsyth county is any good? It appears we would have a better choice for a house there.

Cesarb,

I am not sure who you were addressing me or not but I will try and help.

Lionheart is a great school for high functioning autistics(HFA) from what I have heard from other families, however our son did not attend this school as the $19,000.oo a year price tag was just too much for us with me staying at home now. It would not matter where you lived, if you place your child in a private school, however if you attend public school it DEFINETLY Matters, we live in Douglas County and the school my 6yr old autistic (HFA) goes to is not his "home school" (the school district we live in), he had to change because the school he first attended was not set up to give him an appropriate education. Most schools have inclusive classrooms for low functioning autistics but high functioning autistics are put in MID (Mildy Intellectually Disabled) classrooms for "resource time" and are expected to go back and forth between their MID classroom and their "regular education" classroom. My son, while very high functioning, could not take the constant shifting in routine (as I had told them ahead of time but they insisted on putting him in a regular education classroom anyway). So we were lucky enough to change schools and he has a teacher who goes above and beyond for him and she is really trying to turn her classroom into one for HFA students. I will tell you that Floortime (at this point in time) is not reckognized my a vast majority of public school districts. They say that they have to go with what is "proven" and that usually means ABA. Again we have been lucky in that his teacher is learning about Floortime and she is using that with him as is the parapro in the room. You were right on the money when you said that not all schools in the district treat autism the same, I would figure out all of your child's strengths and weakness and call the school district and ask them what classrooms they have available that match your child. They will most likely try and tell you that they will have to see if your childs homeschool can fufill those needs but fight that. Tell them that given your child's diagnosis, that putting them in a potential environment that could upset or aggravate your childs condition is unacceptable (I liken it to let's cut someone open and do exploratory surgery and seem if something happens) My son was so tramautized by his first school being placed in a regular ed classroom for the majority of the day and being shifted from art, to library etc. He began to rock and cover his ears while in the classroom. Weeks went by while the school was trying to "work it out" and I had to take my son to the doctor's who said that he was beginning to show signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was pulled out the next day. I have heard good things about Cobb county - though they are one of the more expensive counties to live in but they also have a majority of services too, OT, PT and SP in addition to better hospitals and doctors (we have to drive there often)

Hope this helps (sorry that my view point is a little slanted but those weeks at his first school were HELL)

 

[HopperFan]

In reading "Disney Dreams" post I wanted to add something that may not be obvious is our posts from those who live in Metro Atlanta.....

We came from a State which school systems were "town" run and fairly small and personal. In this area most schools systems are county run. The metro Atlanta systems are very large. Fulton County has 80,000 students. Gwinnett's projected enrollment next year is 152,000. Not only does each county have their own way of teaching and their own priorities......this means there are lots of programs within a system. They vary in what they offer, and where you child will attend may be narrowed down to a few closest to your home. Very important to narrow down those programs before you chose a home. Also the typical programs within a county can have wide variations, so you need to look at those as well if you have typical children.

Once we narrowed down approx location to live we then looked at the school systems and then the actual programs within those systems. Also because our systems are so large and their services more plentiful, it would be unlikely a public school system would pay for your child to go to private school.

 

[cesarb]

Hi all and thanks for your replies. I had my heart set on The Lionheart School buy they do not have room for my son. This changes my plans since now I have to think carefully as to where I am going to live. My choices are as follows:

North Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, Forsyth, Cherokee

My strongest preference is Alpharetta and Marietta.

Can anyone share any positive experiences with the schools in any of the 5 counties listed above?

My son has been exposed to the ABBLS method and is open to any flexible method. He does not respond to brute force approaches like ABA.

Additionally, I would like to know if I still have time to make it into the new school year since this year is about to close. I am not shure if the schools would allow us to visit or even apply for services after the school year closes.

 

[HopperFan]

If you miss out visiting, even if you could get in the few days after during teach workdays, at least you can meet teachers and discuss their program and theories. The reason I picked my middle school was because the other choice was not acceptable to me - even though the same school system. School administration works all summer long, so there will be no problem with getting your paperwork in and ready to start in August. They would probably work with your old IEP until they complete their own testing and then it may be open to change. Even in the summer I would ask to visit a school, meet the administration (get a feel for their support of the special ed programs - I've seen extremes), ask questions, tour the school and see the specific classrooms. They may be packed up but you can get a general feel, like where they locate these classrooms.

You may want to check out this site for some groups in the area that may help you get specifics about the programs they participate in http://www.behavior-consultant.com/support.htm. We also have the Marcus Institute www.marcus.org which has a national reputation and affiliiated with the Kennedy Krieger group.