Switching my son with autism from center-based to home therapy?

Question

My four year old has not made progress at his highly acclaimed center based school in the year he has been there. I have lined up a strong team of therapists willing to work with him at home--but I must ask the school district for 30 to 40 home hours. Does anyone have experience with this or have suggestions on how to present this to the school district. I know it will be more expensive to have him home than at school...something a district is sure to weigh. I just can't sit by and watch a boy with potential fail. Thank you.

Answer 1

I suspect that you will end up paying most of those hours yourself unless you can prove that the school district is not providing a free and appropriate public education, known as FAPE. I would definitely get out my Procedural Safeguards booklet and find out the process you will have to go through if you don't agree with the IEP team's placement decision. I'm not saying you're right or wrong, but be prepared for a battle royal.

Basically what you are asking for is Hospital/Homebound services, which is considered the most restrictive environment that a school district has to offer. Usually you can get from 2-4 hours of teacher instruction and 2 hours each of whatever related services he receives, per week. And those will be school district personnel.

You have to weigh some other things in your decision making, though I do agree that early intervention is very important. One is the social element, which is something that ASD kids already have great difficulty with. By bringing him home you are going to isolate him somewhat from other kids and the school environment. Eventually he is going to have to return to school, so that is something to consider in your decision making.

Though you don't discuss the problems you are having with the center school, I would caution you that ASD children are very slow to develop language and 1 year is not going to do it, especially at ages 3-4. Of course it would be nice to have private therapy, but given the fight you will have to go through to get it, you might want to use private therapy as a supplement.

Finally, I am not sure if you are aware of the McKay Scholarship which provides monies for your child to attend a private school. You may want to discuss this with your district if there are any ASD schools in your area.

Answer 2

I guess the question you have to be able to answer at the IEP when you make this request is why is he not making progress in the school program? Is there something they can do at school to help him make progress? and how the home program will uniquely meet his needs in a way that they are unable to be met in a center based program. Given the added expense of a home based program you have to be able to say with some certainty that he will make progress in that program. Your best argument is truly if your son has not made progress in this center based program then you have a stronger argument. You may also want to consider if there is a middle ground a half and half program or having the home people consult to the school or some other compromise that you could live with that you think would make a difference for your son. It sounds like you have the team already lined up for the home program and based on my experience it is doubtful that the school district will readily jump on board to pay for a home program if they have a "highly acclaimed" center based program. So your option at that point is to go ahead and fund the home program yourself out of pocket and take the district to due process hearing claiming a lack of progress and spending lots of money on attorney's etc. to try to get a favorable response, to pay for the program yourself without going to hearing or to try to compromise or strengthen the school district program in some way. It sounds obvious there needs to be a change to your son's program, but you need to think about the continuum of options or be willing and able to pay for your desired program in the meantime with a battle ahead of you. check out www.wrightslaw.com for many good resources.

Answer 3

There are a lot of questions that would need to be answered for me to give you a more certain answer...what other programs have you tried through the schools, is this a public program or a private placement, are you planning to withdraw from the public schools and then ask for home therapy??

The first thing you will need to do is challange the IEP as it stands. You can do so on any basis, but the fact that you have seen no progress in the year he has been in the program in a strong one to support any request you are making. As part of the process, be sure to ask for a detailed report showing any progress the school has seen and compare it to what you are seeing at home. I will say, often times children with autism will improve at school long before they bring these changes home. In thier minds, it is two different enviroments and what is needed at one may not be needed at the other! Also, you don't mention the developemental, comminication and social levels your child was at when he began the program. If you had a totally withdrawn child, who was non-verbal and having frequent tantrums, it is not reasonable to expect all of these things to vanish. Again, this is where talking to the school to find out what goals they are using and how they see your son's progress will be important.

Generally, offering home support is the last choice for the school. Before the school agrees, they may have other programs to offer, including placement in a private program if there are any in the area. Part of the push for that will be to keep the child in an enviroment with other students and to help them adjust to spending time away from the home. Children with autism need to be around peers, both children with autism and without, as part of their educational experience. In any case, the schools generally try every placement there is before going to in home services for this reason.

Keep in mind, if home based therapy is approved, it will be done with school district personnel, not the ones you have chosen or enlisted. This is done for many reasons...simplifying payroll, having specialists familiar with the record keeping and documentation process of the school, etc. It is very, very unlikley they will pay for the specialists you have chosen unless these professionals also have worked for the school system. It may sound unfair, but there are simply some things most schools will not budge on. You mention money and yes, in this case, that is a huge issue...the school therapists would almost certainly cost the system less than the hourly fees for the others you have lined up.

Finally, you need to know the school will not continue home base therapy indefinitely, especially once the child reaches school age. At that point, there will be educational concerns as well and quite honestly, seeing an in home tutor a few times a week will not provide the structure or exsposure most kids on the spectrum need. You can consider homeschooling, but in most states that will mean you loose any and all access to therapy or services and would have to take the cost of those on yourself. Some states do have rules that allow homeschoolers to work around that, but it is not the norm. I know many parents of children on the spectrum who do homeschool and while it was the best choice for thier child, getting therapies covered by insurance or state programs can be tough.

All in all, there is a lot to look at before making the move to home therapy. Set up the meeting to talk with the teachers and admin at the current school. Check the state laws on homeschooling (just in case) and then talk with your insurance company as well to see what they will or won't cover. It may be that the best option is to leave him in his currnet setting, but get additional therapy from the people you have found using your insurance to pay for it.

Answer 4

I just wanted to give you another option. I'm not sure where you live, but in the United States each state has a Department of Human Services. It is possible to receive respite care hours from this department for a child with a disability. I worked as a lead therapist in an ABA program, and the little girl I worked with (3 1/2 at the time) started out going to an autistic program at her preschool and having about 30 hours of home therapy a week. She had sessions before school from 6:30-8:15am Monday through Friday (she was a really early riser- I know this wouldn't work for a lot of kids!), then from 5:30-8:15pm Monday through Friday, then Saturday 9am - 12pm and 3pm - 6pm. She had Sundays off. We kept up the intense schedule and made therapy seem like playtime to her and she thrived in this environment along with at preschool. We saw such an improvement in social and academic skills. We kept up this intense schedule until she was 5 1/2 and started Kindergarden. We then dropped down to about 15-20 hours a week (6:30-8:15am and 5-6:30pm Monday through Friday with weekends off)which they are still doing. They got most of their hours covered by the department of human services in Illinois. She is currently in a general education 2nd grade classroom with a personal assistant and doing very well. I definitely would not reccomend pulling your son out of school because socialization with other kids is so important at that age, especially for a child with autism. There are no miracle programs or cures that will be instant fixes for your son and you won't necessarily see improvement overnight, but with hard work and intense intervention he can definitely make improvements. Good Luck!

Answer 5

He is only four you need to give him more time they cannot do everything within a year, my twin son Thomas is nine and has severe autism nonverbal also, he has been at a special needs school since he was 4/5 years and in that time say four years he is getting out of nappies slowly and can say a few words more and more each month, you need to give him time, not sure about home school for a child with autism surely he will need to be among other kids its done my son wonders !
best of luck

Answer 6

You have been given some very good advice. I would just like to add that a home based therapy can consume your whole life. I have witnessed the stresses and strains that this can cause to family life and marriages. Children with autism have very different learning curves to that of ordinary children/ You may find that your son will progress, just not when you feel he should. If your son is in a highly acclaimed centre, give yourself a break and speak to them about your concerns before you turn your life upside down.

Answer 7

My 5 year old son is autistic and we have had help from the school district. Talk to your school's principal and have the school test your son for autism. Once the school knows where he is at they by law have to have an aid for him and will have autism specialist come and help him in school. Please send your son to school it really helps him just being around other children his own age. If you have any other questions please post them.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

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