Ad

Hi All!

I am a social worker working with a 14 year old girl with learning difficulties similar to those of teens who are high functioning on the Autism spectrum. She is new to NYC and the public school system is not working for her. Her family has enlisted my help to find a good private high school that either focuses on special needs or is special-needs friendly. If anyone has any suggestions for schools that would be very helpful! Thank you so much!

-Meredith

You must be a member of this group to post a reply. Join

Parent Replies to "Social Worker needs suggestions for high schools..."

RSS View 2 replies: Newest-Oldest, Oldest-Newest
Display fewer replies
MSMomm
MSMomm November 25, 2008
Re: Social Worker needs suggestions for high schools...
Welcome to GreatSchools!

Have you tried using the "Research & Compare" feature here at GreatSchools? You'll find the link up above in the green bar.

There is a charter school for Autism in the New York City area that you might want to check out.

Good luck in your search!
therose
therose November 28, 2008
Re: Social Worker needs suggestions for high schools...
Hi, and welcome
Have you wonder why the school is not working with this girl? From what I have observe and experience, is the girl has fallen in the range of high function autism. Like other categories such as LD, children who fall into the mild to moderate groupings, are seen differently by educators as opposed to the severe groupings. Schools actually feel that providing help in areas of their learning problems, will not be worth the effort in terms of increase grades, since many feel that they have reach their potential. I call this BS, but it is a way for schools to keep down the costs of special needs children who fall into the mild to moderate groupings.
I would suggest, from a parent perspective that to look at schools that provide for learning disabilities. The reason why, is that high functioning autism children, often have some of the same learning weaknesses as LD children. This girl would benefit from taking specific and targeted therapy, that addresses the learning weaknesses. LD schools are known to target the weaknesses, and not just re-mediate the weaknesses. Well, the good ones do; so watch for this when looking at these schools. Depending on the problems of the girl, LD schools usually take on the high-functioning autism children because they often have learning problems that are the same as children with a learning disability.
Also check as to how many students go on to higher learning in post-secondary sector. A lot of colleges have found these students better adept at navigating college, as opposed to students who are coming out of public education.
Good luck in your search.

Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of GreatSchools. GreatSchools does not check for accuracy in community posts or verify the contributor’s identity. If you are searching for health-related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Community Guidelines for more details.
Local Q&A is brand new! What do you think? Give us your feedback in our feedback forum.
AD
Join the community or login
Join the community or
Read our community guidelines and FAQ
Community Moderator
Email the Community Moderator for help
tracker