NYC actually follows completely different laws.
I know an advocate who lives in Suffern. I'll email her to see if she has any suggestions for preschools. YOu'll LOVE being out of the city. I'm going to be starting a practicum working for an advocacy/law firm on W 72nd next week, so I think I'm going to learn A LOT about what you dealt with.
EI in NYC has been a dream- very easy for us to get services and our Service Coordinator is wonderful. But the Dept of Ed's CPSE offices are a different beast entirely. I really couldn't imagine the need for legal support until we started the transition to CPSE! The communication has been terrible. That's why I have been floored by the attentiveness and willingness to help from the South Orangetown staff. And I'm not even a resident yet! Thanks for any and all of your help! Hello all,EI in NY State is run by the Health Dept. 3 thru 21, by the schools. Mayor Bloomberg, who is in charge of running NYC's schools, reduced the number of administrative districts in NYC to 10. That means THOUSANDS of kids are served by every Committee. It's neigh on to impossible to even get a duly constituted IEP. Turns out the Mayor (a good businessman) discovered it was cheaper to pay for suits and for private schools than to pay spec. ed. administrators. Since private school teachers get paid a fraction of what public school teachers get paid and get few, if any, benefits, private school tuition is cheaper for NYC to pay than to actually have good public programs. Even considering the legal fees. Of course, parents have to be able to afford the legal fees to GET the decisions in the first place, so that effectively eliminates anyone who doesn't make a very good income (and most middle-income people as well).
It's a calculated risk on the part of politicians, but they generally don't care what poor people think since poor people rarely vote (of course some do, but most are running around trying to put food on the table to the extent that voting is low priority). Donald Trump has only one vote, the same number of votes as the poorest homeless person. But the Donald Trumps of the world ALL vote, so how they are likely to vote makes a difference to the politicos. Lesson learned for all of us -- VOTE!
Great to hear there's a good system where you are moving.
This organization is on Long Island and specializes in helping parents get the sorts of therapies you mentioned. YOu might want to contact them.
If you want the scoop on local programs, get in touch with the parent network there. They will hook you up with someone who can help you specifically. Also, the local autism society. That's what I've done with where I"m moving and people are extremely helpful already.
http://www.parenttoparentnys.org
Hello eveyone. I have recently began the certification process to become a certified Relationship Development Intervention consultant. I am located in the New York City area.Relationship Development Intervention is an individualized, family based, intensive program that seeks to remediate what is referred to as the core deficits of Autism. These include limited language ability, the inability to relate to and connect with other people, the rigid thinking, the fixation on certain topics and the inability to empathize and understand other people's perspectives. As a certified consultant, I will be working closely with families to create a program that is specifically tailored towards that family’s strengths and weaknesses.
Relationship Development Intervention is designed to empower parents to become their child’s best therapist. As a certified consultant, I will be walking parents through systematic, workable steps aimed at remediating the core deficits of autism. There is a great deal of information available on the RDI website; www.rdiconnect.com . Please feel free to contact me at Hynes15@aol.com with any questions or for more information.
Thank you, Laura Hynes, LMSW