The Autism Education Site » Autism Schools

The Pathway School and Other Autism Schools in Pennsylvania

Melissa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:57:27 +0000

My most recent article at Suite101 highlights three autism schools in Pennsylvania: The Comprehensive Learning Center, The Pathway School, and The Vista School. Although the story only includes information about three Pennsylvania autism schools, there are several more in the state. If you’re in Pennsylvania and have experience with one of the state’s autism schools, I’d love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment below or contact me.

The Chase Academy in Florida

Melissa — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:43:22 +0000

Thanks to a comment on my post Autism Schools in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Utah, I have added a new Florida autism school to my site – The Chase Academy.

Located in South Daytona, FL (Volusia County), The Chase Academy held a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 5. The school is a private non-profit organization with a mission to “provide educational services specifically tailored to meet the individualized needs of students with high-functioning Autism or any of the related Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and to focus these services on maximizing the students’ potential for inclusion into mainstream society.”

For more information about The Chase Academy, contact the school at (386) 690-0893.

Autism Schools in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Utah

Melissa — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:14:41 +0000

In honor of back-to-school time, I’ve begun a series of articles on the Suite 101 website that focuses on specialized autism schools across the nation. The first three articles include Autism Schools in Arizona, Autism Schools in Colorado and Utah, and Autism Schools in Florida.

Although the list of schools I included in the article is by no means comprehensive, I chose to focus on a few select schools in each state.

Autism Schools in Arizona

ACCEL
Chrysalis Academy
Gateway Academy
Pieceful Solutions

Autism Schools in Colorado

The Joshua School

Autism Schools in Florida

Florida Autism Center of Excellence
Jacksonville School for Children with Autism
Peace by Piece
The Victory Center

Autism Schools in Utah

Carmen B. Pingree Center for Children with Autism
Spectrum Academy

Job Opening: Autism School in California Seeks a Director

Melissa — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:27:31 +0000

I received a message about this job listing and wanted to pass it on to the readers of The Autism Education Site.

Job Summary:

Directs the daily operations of a non-public school, assuring implementation of a California Standards-based curriculum, in compliance with all regulating, licensing and funding agency regulations and requirements. Performs the following duties personally and/or through reporting staff.

For more information, visit the Easter Seals Bay Area website.

New Jersey’s Stepping Stone School Added to Autism School Database

Melissa — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:47:18 +0000

I have just updated the New Jersey section of the Autism Schools database to include the Stepping Stone School in Bloomsbury. The school caters to children with emotional disorders, learning disabilities, Asperger’s Syndrome, and ADHD. The school was previously known as the Warren Glen School and was originally founded in 1978.

For contact information, visit the New Jersey Autism Schools page.

Choosing the Neighborhood School or an Autism School

Melissa — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:06:52 +0000

Choosing the neighborhood school or an autism school? This is a choice that many parents of children on the autism spectrum are faced with at least once in their child’s school career. The choice may need to be made more than once as your child’s needs change and as the school’s ability to meet those needs change.

Lisa Shulman, M.D., Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University addresses this question in a video segment that appeared on the ABC News website in October 2008. Here is an excerpt from the transcript:

Lets think through first the pros of the neighborhood school. There are clear advantages to being close to home: you don’t have to deal with the lengthy bus ride, the child often is on the same schedule as other children in the family, there’s an opportunity to interface with typically developing peers during the course of the day and the children that the child’s in class with are often other neighborhood children giving way to an opportunity to have playdates and other social opportunities outside the school day.

Read the entire transcript and watch the video here: What Are The Benefits Of Enrolling My Child In A Neighborhood School Versus A School Only For Students With Autism?

I’d love to hear from you, the readers of The Autism Education Site, does your child on the spectrum go to a neighborhood school or a specialized school? Are the pros and cons listed in the story what you’ve discovered?

Photo by joey.parsons

The Palm Beach School for Autism in Florida

Melissa — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:06:27 +0000

I love Twitter. I just learned about the Palm Beach School for Autism after the organization followed me on Twitter. I’m adding the PBSFA to my Florida Autism Schools page and included a few notes about the school here. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, here’s my link: @MommyMellie.

The Palm Beach School for Autism is located in Lantana, Florida. It is a charter school that has both a preschool and an elementary school program. The school’s mission “is to provide a developmentally appropriate intense behavior intervention program for children with autism spectrum disorder and related disabilities.”

The school works with children on the autism spectrum, those with a speech and language delay as well as children qualifying for an IEP under the Other Health Impairment (OHI) category. Enrollment is on a first-come first-serve basis and students must be residents of Palm Beach County.

If you would like more information on the Palm Beach School for Autism, the school can be reached by phone at (561) 533-9917.

Autism Preschool in Texas Receives Startup Funds

Melissa — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:09:47 +0000

A woman wishing to open an autism preschool in Harlingen, Texas received a $3,000 check from a local benefit. Here’s the story from KRGV.com.

HARLINGEN – A Harlingen woman needing help to fix up an autism pre-school received a check today.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 has been following Cris Porras and her attempts to open up the pre-school.

Just two weeks ago, an organization called Fenix Autism Awareness held a bike rally benefit to help out.

Today, Porras received the check for $3,000.

The school is scheduled to open its doors by the end of this month.

Haugland Learning Center – Ohio

Melissa — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:57:25 +0000

I have just revisited the website of the Haugland Learning Center. The organization runs a summer camp program for children with Asperger’s Syndrome and children with autism. Additionally, the organization runs schools at several locations throughout Ohio – Columbus, Lancaster, Middleport, Portsmouth, and Fremont (opening Fall 2009). Prior to today, I only had the Columbus location listed.

The following is from the Haugland Learning Center website:

Haugland Learning Center serves students preschool through twelfth grade (ages 3-22). We serve students from five counties and most central Ohio school districts. We have several types of classrooms in order to meet the individual educational needs of our students. Our school day is from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM. Latchkey services are available before and after school.

In addition to low teacher/student ratios, we have additional support staff that are actively involved in the classrooms. Our program coordinators oversee the students IEP’s and curriculum development. Our behavior specialists work with teachers and students to develop behavior plans, reinforce appropriate behaviors, and address disruptive behaviors as needed. HLC has a school-wide reinforcement system with points that are redeemed for rewards or privileges. Individual classrooms and students also have additional motivation systems. Specific behavior plans are written as needed for students needing a more comprehensive support team.

The majority of our students use the Autism Scholarship Program as payment for the school year tuition. Some school districts pay directly for students to attend HLC.

If you are interested in having your child attend HLC, we encourage you to first tour the facility. From that point, a meeting is scheduled for us to answer additional questions and to assess your child to determine an appropriate placement. If we have an opening to meet his/her needs, scholarship paperwork must be approved and students are able to start within a few weeks. We are currently taking applications for the remainder of the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years.

I will be adding the contact information for the new schools to the Ohio Autism Schools section of The Autism Education Site.

Gateway Academy College Transition Program – AZ

Melissa — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 04:08:28 +0000

Gateway Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona has announced the details of its Spectrum College Transition Program. The Mission Statement provides more information about the program.

Providing a supportive, residential, post-secondary program for young men with Asperger’s Syndrome and High Functioning Autism, who need assistance academically, socially, and emotionally.

We collaborate with existing organizations to provide an alternative environment to accommodate the needs of young men with Aspergers Syndrome (AS) by facilitating academic tutorial services, social skills, and skill-building, small group sizes, and a sensory integrated environment. We encourage students with AS to feel comfortable with their uniqueness, while helping them learn the skills they need to develop meaningful relationships with others and cope with a variety of social situations in a safe, supportive environment.

For more information, call (480) 443-7331 Monday-Friday between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm Mountain Time.