Autism services in North Carolina ?

[wide awake]

We are thinking of moving to the Charlotte area...would the educational and social services be good for our 15 year old autistic DS ? TIA

 

[SueM in MN]

If you don't get any first hand accounts, try this website:
www.pacer.org
PACER is based in Minnesota, but is a nation resource for Advocacy for Educational Rights for people with disabilities. They have links to resources in each state.

 

[wide awake]

Thanks Sue !!!
We've always been in CA, and gotten what we needed...very scary to think of navigating a new system.

 

[SueM in MN]

I understand perfectly. It's very scary to think of moving away from what you know.

 

[DAG]

Thanks for posting the PACER website for everybody. We will be moving from Kansas this summer, so we'll need to be looking for new services, too.

 

[SandrainNC]

Hi! I live outside of Charlotte but we are still in the Mecklenburg County school system. My son is almost 5 and has Down syndrome. The only thing I can say right now (since he just started receiving services through the school system when he turnd 3) is that I am not very happy with them so far. My reasons (and of course your child is older) are that I was told by my son's coordinator through the school system that she did not believe he was ready or k-4 this year. So we kept him in the daycare he has been in (which is a daycare that has children with special needs and "normal" children too). We have not been happy recently with the daycare and wanted to move him to a "regular" daycare and were told last January that if we did, he would lose his services. We were also told 3 months ago that they still don't believe my son is ready for k-4 (we thought about starting him mid-year because he was injured at daycare and we didn't want him to go back there after he got better) and so we asked about regular daycare again. Which I was told again he would lose services. So I explained that I know other children with Down syndrome who are attending regular daycares and they still get services. To this I was told that possibly that child didn't have as many goals to meet as my son and so therefore, my son wouldn't get what he needed at a regular daycare and that other child would. (ok, his goals are wash his hands, hang up his coat, etc.). I have also stated that we really wanted to have him start k-4 next year instead of kindergarten (I mean, he is cognitively delayed - how can they expect him to go to kindergarten with children who are cognitively 5 years old??), however we were told this isn't allowed. So they say he isn't ready for k-4 this year, but he has no choice but to start kindergarten next year (and if we decide to wait another year for him to start kindergarten late, he will lose his services). So with this type of thinking from the school here, I am not very confident about this area.

I know, however, your child is older but just wanted to give you an example of what has been happening to me to give you an idea of how these people do not have a clue.

Anyway, hopefully somebody with an older child will respond and have more information for you. I am wondering if my coordinator just wasn't a real loser. My son has a new one now (which they didn't even bother to call and tell us - isn't that nice?) and his IEP is Thursday, so we shall see.

Sandra

 

[wide awake]

Sandra, thanks for the response. It could be your coordinator...I've had some losers in my time too...and lots of tantrums on my part !!! That is what makes me nervous...at this point my district knows that I won't accept anything other than 100% of what I want...of course I am reasonable, and they are very aware of how much we pay out of pocket...but still, our IEPs are cordial...and we get lots more than others I know. I just don't know about starting fresh. It would be great financially, which w/ a special needs child is vital. Anyone else ???

 

[barrie]

Wide awake - I work for the Council on Developmental Disabilities in Oregon and one of my colleagues is an autism specialist who used to live in NC. I forwarded your message on to her and here is her response:

http://www.teacch.com/

Barrie, the person can visit this web site to find the information for Charlotte. Like all school programs the teacher is often the ticket to success. I do know that the Charlotte TEACCH clinic was at one time excellent. As a state, NC has more going for it than most. Hope this helps.

I know it's not much - hopefully the folks at teacch can provide some good info/resources for you. Barrie

 

[MadisonMom]

Try contacting the Autism Society of North Carolina. http://www.autismsociety-nc.org/

 

[wide awake]

Thank-you barrie and MadisonMom...I'll check both out now that I'm finally on break !!!

 

[MBW]

We just spent two months in NC, with our close friends who just moved to Greensboro. They have a 10 yr-old son with AS (not HF) and have been really happy about the services. They also just got involved with the NC Autism Society, which is purportedly the largest state autism society in the country.

We had tried to find work in NC so we could settle there as well (we have two AS boys, five and seven), but my spouse got the best job offer from a company in Pittsburgh, so we're here instead.

Good luck (if you do decide to go for the move.)

 

[Tomskatt]

I have recently moved to the Charlotte area myself, and found these lists over on another board... I hope they can help you.
Good luck!
Posted on: 7:47 pm, Dec 07, 2005 Report inappropriate post

http://info.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/autism/pdd.html#north carolina
NORTH CAROLINA
Autism Society of North Carolina
505 Oberlin Road, Suite 230
Raleigh, NC 27605-1345
(800) 442-2762
(919) 743-0204
http://www.autismsociety-nc.org
Autism Society of North Carolina - Camp Royall Summer Camp
250 Bill Ash Road
Moncure, NC 27559
(919) 542-1033
http://www.autismsociety-nc.org/html/summer_camp.html
The Exceptional Children's Advocacy Center
P.O. Box 16
Davidson, NC 28036
(704) 892-1321
http://www.ecac-parentcenter.org
HarvestWorks, Inc.
891 N. Post Road
Shelby, NC 28150
(704) 487-7777
(704) 471-2088 (fax)
info@harvestworksinc.org
http://www.harvestworksinc.org
The Language & Learning Clinic
188 Claremont Drive
Elkin, NC 28621
(336) 835-8224
(336) 835-1549 (fax)
Meredith College Autism Project
3800 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC 27607-5298
(919) 760-8080
Talisman Summer Camp - SIGHT
Talisman Schools Inc
601 Camp Elliott Road
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828) 669-8639
http://www.stonemountainschool.com/program.htm

 

[Tomskatt]

I have recently moved to the Charlotte area myself, and found these lists over on another board... I hope they can help you.
Good luck!
Posted on: 7:47 pm, Dec 07, 2005 Report inappropriate post

http://info.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/autism/pdd.html#north carolina
NORTH CAROLINA
Autism Society of North Carolina
505 Oberlin Road, Suite 230
Raleigh, NC 27605-1345
(800) 442-2762
(919) 743-0204
http://www.autismsociety-nc.org
Autism Society of North Carolina - Camp Royall Summer Camp
250 Bill Ash Road
Moncure, NC 27559
(919) 542-1033
http://www.autismsociety-nc.org/html/summer_camp.html
The Exceptional Children's Advocacy Center
P.O. Box 16
Davidson, NC 28036
(704) 892-1321
http://www.ecac-parentcenter.org
HarvestWorks, Inc.
891 N. Post Road
Shelby, NC 28150
(704) 487-7777
(704) 471-2088 (fax)
info@harvestworksinc.org
http://www.harvestworksinc.org
The Language & Learning Clinic
188 Claremont Drive
Elkin, NC 28621
(336) 835-8224
(336) 835-1549 (fax)
Meredith College Autism Project
3800 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC 27607-5298
(919) 760-8080
Talisman Summer Camp - SIGHT
Talisman Schools Inc
601 Camp Elliott Road
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828) 669-8639
http://www.stonemountainschool.com/program.htm

 

[mmaddog56]

We now live in Missouri, but I can tell you that my experience with resources for Asperger's children when we lived in NC was not very satisfactory at all. We contacted many of the resources named above and were not at all pleased. We were told that it was because he was a HF, not LF Asperger's child.

mmaddog56
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