One Size Does Not Fit All: Three Different Autism Schools
May 25, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
New schools for autistic children are opening in Arizona (in the Prescott area; see story) and in British Columbia (see story). The schools are quite different and suggest how, as we learn more about how best to educate autistic children and foster learning, new school models, different curricula, and teaching methodologies must be considered.
Parents of autistic children—Angela Levin in Arizona and Nicole Kaler and Dale Petersen in British Columbia—are the forces behind the two schools, both of which seek to serve different age groups: In Arizona, ASCEND, or Autism Spectrum Center for Educational and Neurological Development, will base its curriculum on ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and will teach both children diagnosed with autism and also children diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. In British Columbia, Harmony House will first house a preschool and then an elementary school for autistic children and non-autistic children; the preschool now has four spaces reserved for autistic children, out of fourteen total spaces, and the elementary school will have spaces for 10 autistic children (that is, it seems that the majority of the children in Harmony House will not be autistic).
As both schools are private, there is tuition, $23,000 per year for autistic children and $16,000 for per year for children with Asperger Syndrome at ASCEND, and $450 per month for three days of instruction per week at the Harmony House preschool. As a comparison, the new public autism center, the Developmental Learning Center, that is opening in New Jersey in June, costs $67,000 per year for a 42 week program for 37 hours a week. (And, I should also note, many private autism schools in New Jersey have even higher tuitions.) I am not sure if it is really possible to compare these tuition figures, as the three schools are very different, intend to serve different populations of children, and are of different sizes.
One thing that can be gained from the comparison is to note that there is more than one way to set up an autism school. I have a sense of the kind of training and supervision that aides, teachers, and other personnel receive here in New Jersey, and also of the work needed to make materials and keep records of students’ learning: It is no small effort. Even within New Jersey, there are many different autism schools based on different teaching methodologies, with different teacher to student ratios, and a parent has to make a lot of school visits, do their research, and carefully discern just where a child is, in order to choose the right kind of school. And when a parent has found such a school, a parent most definitely will work—like the Winkelmans against the Parma School District—-to get their child into the school placement that seems the best suited to foster a child’s learning.
One more question remains to be asked: If your preference regarding autism education for a public program or for a private school (that a public school district pays for)? And what about home-schooling?
I would prefer the school that gets the job done. I know the assumption is that private schools are better, but my experience has been that there’s good, mediocre, and bad teaching at both public and private schools. Just because you throw more money at it, that doesn’t make it better. The best school for children with autism I’ve ever seen was in fact a public middle school, at which a man with autism taught a class of autistic kids. These private schools tend to pay less, and you don’t have to be a certified teacher to work at them. The ones I’ve seen hire 20-year-old kids to teach there while the kid pursues his masters at night, and consequently the turn-over rate is quite high.
Completely agree—-I’ve also been thinking about the issues surrounding public school placement vs. private school placement, and availability of these options for children. There are a lot of really good and well-known autism schools here in New Jersey but they only have so many spots, and it is not at all easy to get one’s child into them. I’ve thought that more attention can be given to making public programs the best for issues of oversight and supervision and (as I’m glad you mention) requirements for staff, pay scale.
$80,000,00-.00 to $90,000,000.00
gets allocated for the education of autistic children in Arizona. Problem is that because of ZERO accountability the money is put into the general (pork) fund and little goes to the the education of autistic children. In Arizona custodial care and babysitting classes are the norm for autistic students in most cases…
Read our story at AutismNews.com
Myself being a certified elementary teacher, my overwhelming desire is to see public school autism programs thrive. The problem in Arizona is multi-faceted. Funding for our students is in the 20-30,000 range, as opposed to eastern states in the 50-80,000 range. Also, I feel that our state education departments must begin to move outside the box. We are restricted to certified special educators as leaders of our programs, what about behavior analysts, speech therapists, occupational therapists, doctors, or parents. Often there are many individuals qualified to teach our students that are not “legal” to oversee a program. Also rural communities like ours have a very difficult time finding qualified staff and training opportunities. But as a parent, I believe it is my primary responsiblity to create the best educational opportunity possible for my son, and if others can benefit thats an added blessing.
I am a parent of an autistic child and would like to open a learning center for autistic children in my area. I have no idea where to start any info would be greatly appreciated. I agree that we need special people to teach special kids and sometimes the best person for the job is not necessarily a teacher.
My son is 5 years old. He attends a private school in california. It is called The Help Group. I will like to move to Arizona, but I want to make sure my autistic child will get the proper education. It is stopping us to move to a diffrent state because I would not want my son to regress.
Please note: The HELP Group schools promote traumatizing isolation rooms and also corporal punishment. Their primary objective is not education, but conformity — at [nearly] any cost.
thanks for noting this, hj.
Why do you want to move to Arizona other than the weather??? The schools are rated 49th in the nation. And thats for regular ed. If you fight tooth and nail with a good advocate you can avoid a one size fits all. But remember you must FIGHT, and be ready to be haressed and arrested if you are a parent or advocate in Prescott.
Visit PUSDinCRISIS.com to read the truth.
Check out Columbia Mo if you really want an appropiate education in which your child will learn and excel. Thats if you can handle the weather.:)
Good Luck!
@Araceli,
Hi—-are you thinking of moving to Arizona for your son’s educational needs, or for other reasons? (hope it is all right to ask). Is there a certain kind of program that you are looking for, in regards to his education and learning needs?
I will like to move to Arizona, but I am scared because I have been told that if I move to a diffrent state that it will be hard to find a school like The Help Group. It is very expensive to live in California if you don’t make good money. All of my family live in Queen Creek Arizona. They are very supported. They treat my 5 year old autistic boy the same way they treat my 3 year old typical boy. If you know of a good school in Arizona please let me know. I will really truely appreciated. At The Help Group my son goes monday thru friday from 9:ooam to 3:00pm. He gets home at 3:30 and at 3:45 his ABA therapiest arrives until 6:45pm. At his school he gets a an hour of speech and OT every week one on one. I love my child with all my heart and I love him the God send to me. It is very hard sometimes when he gets frastruated because he has no speech, not one word, but I try really hard not to show it. I want my son to get the appropriate education.
Try this site. Lots of good information on schools in AZ and a wonderful support group!
ArizonaAutismSupport.org
Good Luck!
@Aracell,
We have moved for the sake of our son’s education more than once—-it is scary, to say the least. Things have worked out but it hasn’t been easy (all the moving, the transitions). I found it helpful to join parent email groups (on Yahoogroups for instance) to find out more info—-there must be some for AZ? Very best wishes—