Autistic child enrollment rights etc

[sane2punk]

We are from kentucky and just moved to indiana. we have a severely autistic kid. we moved because at his last school, the teacher was mistreating him and generally making our life hell in an effort to we think run us out, as we were new to the area. well it worked. now that we moved, the school we were going to enroll him in called her to find out about his IEP and basically about him. well she as usual had nothing but b.s. to say about us, and now they went from blowin us off that it would be "awhile" before they could enroll him due to not being "set up" for a child like him (same run around the last place gave us, where we had to fight for his right to be in school!) to "we dont muck around he needs to be enrolled immediately" they are already taking her side. and havent even heard ours. or the truth. between them saying it would 'be awhile" and his worsening behavior, we had planned on just putting him in a temp facility, to try and get better help with him in the meantime, as he is very violent and destructive. including to our other kids. here are my Qs. 1. how long do you legally have to enroll your child in a school before they can do anything legally? 2. are there any private schools he could go to that dont cost out of pocket? he has insurance thru ssi. 3. do you know of any temporary residential facilities in or near new albany indiana we can put him in to help get him sorted out, on proper meds and to give us time to deal with school issues? i have googled looking for them and yet to find anything. i guess im looking it up wrong? we need to get him somewhere immediately both for safety reasons and cuz of school enrollment issues. thanks.

 

[Ohiogal]

We are from kentucky and just moved to indiana. we have a severely autistic kid. we moved because at his last school, the teacher was mistreating him and generally making our life hell in an effort to we think run us out, as we were new to the area. well it worked. now that we moved, the school we were going to enroll him in called her to find out about his IEP and basically about him. well she as usual had nothing but b.s. to say about us, and now they went from blowin us off that it would be "awhile" before they could enroll him due to not being "set up" for a child like him (same run around the last place gave us, where we had to fight for his right to be in school!) to "we dont muck around he needs to be enrolled immediately" they are already taking her side. and havent even heard ours. or the truth. between them saying it would 'be awhile" and his worsening behavior, we had planned on just putting him in a temp facility, to try and get better help with him in the meantime, as he is very violent and destructive. including to our other kids. here are my Qs. 1. how long do you legally have to enroll your child in a school before they can do anything legally? 2. are there any private schools he could go to that dont cost out of pocket? he has insurance thru ssi. 3. do you know of any temporary residential facilities in or near new albany indiana we can put him in to help get him sorted out, on proper meds and to give us time to deal with school issues? i have googled looking for them and yet to find anything. i guess im looking it up wrong? we need to get him somewhere immediately both for safety reasons and cuz of school enrollment issues. thanks.

I take it this is a private school. Try enrolling him in a PUBLIC school. Your child if of age needs enrolled within DAYS or you can be seen as neglecting his education and face truancy issues. Try talking to his psychiatrist for residential facilities.

 

[mistoffolees]

I take it this is a private school. Try enrolling him in a PUBLIC school. Your child if of age needs enrolled within DAYS or you can be seen as neglecting his education and face truancy issues. Try talking to his psychiatrist for residential facilities.

I suspect it is a public school because of his question about private schools.

OP:

1. The only way to know if you can get a public school that doesn't require payment is to call around. It's very unlikely, but some private schools have scholarship programs that might help.

2. If you're thinking about a private school, think hard about it. Few private schools have the resources or skills to deal with troubled kids. There's a perception that kids get a better education at John Doe Private Academy, but that's not always true. Kids who are very far away from the norm can get neglected.

3. If you ARE dealing with a public school, ask to speak to the Principal. If that doesn't get anywhere, ask to speak to the Superintendant. if you've moved into their district, they are required by law to enroll your child.
[Originally, I said private in the bolded part, but I meant public, so I fixed it. Thanks, Stealth]

4. I don't have any idea what the other teacher said about you, but you're probably not going to get anywhere by fighting it directly. Furthermore, many times, complaints like that have a grain of truth. Consider it a wakeup call as to how you are being perceived by the school. Learn from it. And then approach the new school with an open, considerate perspective. If you're open, honest, and supportive of the school, they'll eventually come around. If you're aggressive and antagonistic, they'll realize that, too, regardless of what the previous school said.

5. Your last sentence bothers me. "we need to get him somewhere immediately both for safety reasons and cuz of school enrollment issues. " Safety reasons? You need to get him INTO school for safety reasons? Presumably that means that you are concerned about YOUR safety or the safety of other kids in your household? What about the safety of the kids in the school? If that's correct, you really need to re-think whether this child can handle a normal school. Talk to his mental health professional immediately to ask what to do. They can arrange for him to be placed into residential care if it is needed.

(As to #5, my sister is a teacher and has to deal with these disruptive kids on a regular basis. Even very violent kids are often allowed to remain in the school because the administration fears getting sued if they try to remove the child - and every other child in the class loses out. There are times when she spends 75% of her class time dealing with one disruptive child. Please don't do that to the other kids).

 

[Isis1]

OP, do you have a regional center in your area?

have you had an evaluator attend the class to see WHY the child is misbehaving? every public system has a protocol for special needs children. there is also a "therapist" that is like the child's individual teacher throughout the day so the teacher isn't spending so much time on one child. it's in the system, you just have to keep going up the ladder. we had to call in all sorts of admin in order to get authorization for 3 teachers instead of the normal two.

often with autistic children, misbehaving is a sign of a sensory assault. something the child cannot handle in his state. whether it be a ticking clock, an electronic hum...pencil sound of writing...overly bright lights...fidgety children. mine cannot handle ADHD kids too well. all that movement causes him to lash out. which was really a battle since his brother is ADHD.

 

[stealth2]

3. If you ARE dealing with a private school, ask to speak to the Principal. If that doesn't get anywhere, ask to speak to the Superintendant. if you've moved into their district, they are required by law to enroll your child.

Misto - do you REALLY mean "private"? I don't think they are required to enroll the child. Public school, yes.

 

[mistoffolees]

Misto - do you REALLY mean "private"? I don't think they are required to enroll the child. Public school, yes.

You're right. I should have said public. Private schools don't have to enroll anyone they don't like - as long as it's not for illegally discriminatory reasons.