This morning we visited the Autism Academy on in Gilbert, AZ. We had a private tour guided by the Principal, Derrick Jamerson. He is very kind, and took a lot of time out of his day showing us around and answering the never ending questions that we had. It looks like Ezra misses the cut off date to start kindergarten by 10 days. So that means next year when he starts he will be one of the older kids in his class.
This school has only been around for 5 years. It started off with one campus and 22 kids, and now it has a few campuses; this Gilbert campus alone has 120 kids. The autism academy now goes all the way through 12th grade, which means the kids can graduate high school from here. As they try to accommodate the different ranges in the kids abilities (for those unfamiliar with autism, the ranges are endless), they do have 3 different groups within the same age ranges. In the first group, the children may still be struggling with matching letters or numbers and responding to simple questions. The third group the kids have a better grasp with socialization and excel academically (maybe gifted), the second group (those of you with a touch of autism just got annoyed that I went out of order) is everyone in between that is still working on socialization but have a good grasp academically. As the classes have a 4 student to 1 teacher ratio, the classes themselves can be divided up into different abilities. This was actually very nice to see as these children's capabilities can differ so much.
We had gone to an open house for the Autism Academy a few weeks ago and met Ms. Yvonne Hernandez and Ms. Taylor Bates. Ezra would most likely be in one of their classes. Ms. Yvonne teaches the higher functioning class, and Ms. Taylor teaches the moderate class. They were both very friendly, and they both seem to really love the children that they work with. When we walked into Ms. Yvonnes class this morning, the children were in a semi-circle watching an educational cartoon with music and captioned phrases across the bottom. Ms. Yvonne encouraged them to dance with the music, which some of them did, Ezra would have LOVED that. She waved and spoke to us as she remembered us from the open house. The lights in the room were turned off, but of course they were watching a video; but throughout all of the classrooms the lights were a little dim or turned off. They mostly relied on natural light or the lights were covered with a colored sheet lessen the intensity of the lights. At home a couple years ago we replaced all our light bulbs from the CFL bulbs that we had back to the old tungsten bulbs that are going out of style. It is said to be a myth that humans are affected by these lights since the CFL ones flicker 10,000 or more per second and the human brain can't recognize the flickers, but it seemed to help Ezra to have them changed. Ezra appeared to get irritated and get very distracted by those types of lights. Anyway, back to the Autism Academy. When we entered Ms. Taylor's classroom, the children were all divided up into groups of 3-4 and a teacher with each group. It looked like a couple of the groups were learning to draw or write. I saw one child drawing a stick figure on his desk with his marker. It was quiet, and if someone observed this room briefly they probably would not notice the children were autistic. But it seemed like the children were all being attended to and no one left out.
Principal Derrick made some comments which I would like to note:
Although he does not know if every child really understands what autism is, it is not hidden from them that they have autism. They embrace it there. He pointed out that it is the same as me having glasses, that it doesn't make me strange, it is just something that makes me unique, just a characteristic.
The children at this school appear to be a little more accepting of each other than maybe compared to a regular public school because they may have similar struggles, they all see each other have melt downs at some point, and their mannerisms are not looked at as weird or different.
Many children have come to this school because they did not fit in wherever they were previously. They may have been affected by bullying, being left out of groups, and even never invited to birthday parties.
They do not hold kids back grades. That is why there are different levels of capabilities that are divided up. They do not want to have older kids intermingled with younger kids mostly due to their self esteem. Some children academically may take a very long time to get past a typical third grade level, but that doesn't mean that they will be 21 years old and still in third grade.
Academically the children are across the board. With the different classes and different groups within the classes the children can progress more easily at their own level. That is one of our concerns as Ezra is behind socially compared to a typical peer, but academically he has been reading, writing, and of course his specialty, memorizing, ahead of what a typical peer could do.
All in all, we did like this school. We did see a couple meltdowns (very expected as this is a school for autistic children). For those of you unfamiliar with autism, a meltdown can come in different forms and the more apparent one is inconsolable screaming and crying. One meltdown was in the lower functioning classroom, it looked like the other kids just moved away and gave the child space to scream on the ground, didn't seem like anyone was giving any strange looks or looked panicky. This may be strange to those that do not know someone with autism, but these screaming bouts can happen when something (sometimes known sometimes unknown) triggers. This does not happen as much at our house as it used to as we know Ezra's triggers and we can mostly keep him from getting set off. We saw a child in one of the older classroom, maybe 4th grade that seemed to be crying about not knowing the answers to questions on maybe an exam he was taking. He was walked out of the classroom until he calmed down. The meltdowns seemed like they were handled as good as anyway that I could think of. The children seemed cared for and there seemed to be a place for everyone on the autism spectrum. We were pleased.
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Thursday, April 20, 2017
In Search of Schools
Ezra and Isaiah are currently attending Montessori International School. This is the school that I attended as a youngster all the way up through 7th grade. Ms. Therese is the Principal there, and I have known her pretty much my whole life. We are very grateful that they have allowed my two sons to attend there.
As this is a school geared towards typical kids, or in my mind muggles (non magic folk from Harry Potter), we are looking around at other schools to make sure that our kids are placed in the most ideal place for their situations. Prayers made and fingers crossed.
We have learned that there are very many strategies and options in our midst for our kids.
1. Public school - The kids are just integrated with typical peers.
2. Public school but in a special education program - Some of these programs have many children with different disabilities lumped in the same class, and some programs are specifically tailored towards children with autism.
3. Charter school - Still government funded, but independently run, so we may find a school that will go out of their way to work with our boys in a more flexible environment.
4. Public or Charter school with an aide - I was just speaking with a retired principal from a Mesa School District, and he told me that a school should be able to provide an aide to a child with disabilities, but you may need to fight with them to get one. He told me, unfortunately, there may be many battles with the school to be able to receive the assistance that the child should be entitled to. I also spoke to a teacher in a Charter school, and in her elementary class, she has a child with autism that has an aide with him all day. We have not gone through this process (yet), but this is the information that I have so far. I will verify, but if it is in public school, I believe an aide can be provided by the school, if it is a Charter or Private school the school may have an aide or one that the parents have through DDD (Division of Developmental Disabilities) can be used.
5. Private School with typical kids - This is a school that is not funded by the government. This could be good and bad. They have a lot of flexibility in tailoring to the needs of a child with disabilities, but have no obligation to do so or have any obligation in having a special ed program. As sometimes can be the case, an autistic child may be very advanced in certain areas and a school may be flexible in working with the child's individual strengths more than maybe a public school where there may be more stringent agendas for a grade level.
6. Private School for a specific disability - In our case this would be a school specifically designed for children with Autism. This could be good in that it provides a place where the child is being taught in an environment that assists children with disabilities. This could come in the forms of therapies being incorporated, lighting, more hands on work, or even workflow throughout the day. For example, in a typical school the days agenda may be told as the day goes on, things may change, or be impromptu. This would frustrate, and has frustrated my child beyond belief. At an autism school the children are provided an agenda for the day, everything is in order and preferably nothing is altered throughout the day. Little differences such as these things for an autistic child could be the difference between a happy and smooth day and hours of tantrums. The downside is that there are no typical kids, so habits that you may be hoping that will be imitated from observing typical kids may not exist. These schools typically have a very high teacher to student ratio. Sometimes as high as one adult per 2 children.
7. Hybrid Schools - I believe these can be found in public or private settings. Here there are typical kids mixed with autistic kids. One that we were familiar with was at a public school. We have also heard of Community School directed by SARRC (Southwest Autism Research & Resource). The focus is teaching kids with autism, but with the benefit of having typical peers. Parents of typical kids may want their children alongside autistic children due to the student teacher ratio, maybe a more highly educated staff, and possibly a more advanced curriculum. I'm sure that each school will differ slightly on what they offer.
8. Full time therapy - In our case, our kids are young enough for us to have a choice on getting them into a school in the morning and therapy in the afternoon, or just putting them into full time therapy. Many autistic kids will have one or more types of therapy outside of school. Therapies such as speech, ABA (applied behavior analysis), occupational therapies, etc. will help kids better adapt to typical living. Many of these therapies can be offered at schools with programs for autism, but outside school in a 1 on 1 setting will be much more intensive. There may be some social activities with other kids depending on where these therapies take place, but socializing will not be all around them like being immersed in a school setting.
9. Make our own school. I have no idea what that takes.
Ezra (4) and Isaiah (3) are currently enrolled at Montessori International School, a private school with typical peers (muggles). As we look into the different options, we will keep you up to date on what we find.
As this is a school geared towards typical kids, or in my mind muggles (non magic folk from Harry Potter), we are looking around at other schools to make sure that our kids are placed in the most ideal place for their situations. Prayers made and fingers crossed.
We have learned that there are very many strategies and options in our midst for our kids.
1. Public school - The kids are just integrated with typical peers.
2. Public school but in a special education program - Some of these programs have many children with different disabilities lumped in the same class, and some programs are specifically tailored towards children with autism.
3. Charter school - Still government funded, but independently run, so we may find a school that will go out of their way to work with our boys in a more flexible environment.
4. Public or Charter school with an aide - I was just speaking with a retired principal from a Mesa School District, and he told me that a school should be able to provide an aide to a child with disabilities, but you may need to fight with them to get one. He told me, unfortunately, there may be many battles with the school to be able to receive the assistance that the child should be entitled to. I also spoke to a teacher in a Charter school, and in her elementary class, she has a child with autism that has an aide with him all day. We have not gone through this process (yet), but this is the information that I have so far. I will verify, but if it is in public school, I believe an aide can be provided by the school, if it is a Charter or Private school the school may have an aide or one that the parents have through DDD (Division of Developmental Disabilities) can be used.
5. Private School with typical kids - This is a school that is not funded by the government. This could be good and bad. They have a lot of flexibility in tailoring to the needs of a child with disabilities, but have no obligation to do so or have any obligation in having a special ed program. As sometimes can be the case, an autistic child may be very advanced in certain areas and a school may be flexible in working with the child's individual strengths more than maybe a public school where there may be more stringent agendas for a grade level.
6. Private School for a specific disability - In our case this would be a school specifically designed for children with Autism. This could be good in that it provides a place where the child is being taught in an environment that assists children with disabilities. This could come in the forms of therapies being incorporated, lighting, more hands on work, or even workflow throughout the day. For example, in a typical school the days agenda may be told as the day goes on, things may change, or be impromptu. This would frustrate, and has frustrated my child beyond belief. At an autism school the children are provided an agenda for the day, everything is in order and preferably nothing is altered throughout the day. Little differences such as these things for an autistic child could be the difference between a happy and smooth day and hours of tantrums. The downside is that there are no typical kids, so habits that you may be hoping that will be imitated from observing typical kids may not exist. These schools typically have a very high teacher to student ratio. Sometimes as high as one adult per 2 children.
7. Hybrid Schools - I believe these can be found in public or private settings. Here there are typical kids mixed with autistic kids. One that we were familiar with was at a public school. We have also heard of Community School directed by SARRC (Southwest Autism Research & Resource). The focus is teaching kids with autism, but with the benefit of having typical peers. Parents of typical kids may want their children alongside autistic children due to the student teacher ratio, maybe a more highly educated staff, and possibly a more advanced curriculum. I'm sure that each school will differ slightly on what they offer.
8. Full time therapy - In our case, our kids are young enough for us to have a choice on getting them into a school in the morning and therapy in the afternoon, or just putting them into full time therapy. Many autistic kids will have one or more types of therapy outside of school. Therapies such as speech, ABA (applied behavior analysis), occupational therapies, etc. will help kids better adapt to typical living. Many of these therapies can be offered at schools with programs for autism, but outside school in a 1 on 1 setting will be much more intensive. There may be some social activities with other kids depending on where these therapies take place, but socializing will not be all around them like being immersed in a school setting.
9. Make our own school. I have no idea what that takes.
Ezra (4) and Isaiah (3) are currently enrolled at Montessori International School, a private school with typical peers (muggles). As we look into the different options, we will keep you up to date on what we find.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
PUZZLED POST BEGINNINGS
My name is Brian Golladay, I live in Mesa, Arizona. I am not a professional writer, rather I am far from it. I am very fortunate to say that I am happily married, my wife and I have 3 boys, we are very active in our church, and we live a life like most people with its ups and downs. The names of my boys are Ezra, Isaiah, and Ammon, and at the time of this post, they are of the ages of 4, 3, and almost 1. The two older ones, Ezra and Isaiah are diagnosed with Autism, and as I will note in more detail later on, each of the three boys are completely different from each other as many siblings are.
I wanted to create this blog for a couple reasons. The first is to provide a means of communication for those that assist my autistic boys through their triumphs and challenges in life The assistance provided to them by others come in many ways such as therapies, education, church, family support, and donations for their area of education. None of these are overlooked by us, and we are so grateful for the assistance, we really could not have success without the help of others. Support provided financially, emotionally, and time of day, is what gets us over life's challenges.
The second reason for this blog is to inform others that may be in similar situations as us, know others in situations such as us, assist families in situations such as us, or just want to be familiar with the things encountered by a family that has autistic children.
The experiences that I blog about are ours, and may be very different for another family in a similar situation. Anyone is free to comment on experiences that they have, although this blog is not intended to degrade any organization or style of parenting. What I have learned is that none of us are put in identical situations and in the end we all just want to do what we believe is best and we should have the right to do that. I am writing about the experiences that we have in my family so that others may see our trials and triumphs and possibly use it to their advantage.
I wanted to create this blog for a couple reasons. The first is to provide a means of communication for those that assist my autistic boys through their triumphs and challenges in life The assistance provided to them by others come in many ways such as therapies, education, church, family support, and donations for their area of education. None of these are overlooked by us, and we are so grateful for the assistance, we really could not have success without the help of others. Support provided financially, emotionally, and time of day, is what gets us over life's challenges.
The second reason for this blog is to inform others that may be in similar situations as us, know others in situations such as us, assist families in situations such as us, or just want to be familiar with the things encountered by a family that has autistic children.
The experiences that I blog about are ours, and may be very different for another family in a similar situation. Anyone is free to comment on experiences that they have, although this blog is not intended to degrade any organization or style of parenting. What I have learned is that none of us are put in identical situations and in the end we all just want to do what we believe is best and we should have the right to do that. I am writing about the experiences that we have in my family so that others may see our trials and triumphs and possibly use it to their advantage.
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