Possible move to Greensboro NC | Autism PDD

Hi Jeannie,

I think we have spoken briefly about Guilford County schools... I am just south in Randolph County. I do think you will fare better if you stay in Guilford County (doesn't matter if you are inside Greensboro city limits as the city/county schools are all one now).

As Fred mentioned, TEACCH seems to hold the autism Bible (so to speak), so definitely become very familiar with their methodology. I know there has been a lot of changes being considered in what to do with children with autism (and other disabilities)... the school board is considering a self contained school which may or may not be a good thing. I'm not sure what has happened to Gateway, which was a school specifically for children with CP and autism. Just be prepared for some changes and confusion over the next few years.

As far as services being available... are you talking about in school or out? If out, it seems there are several facilities to choose from so finding availability may not be too bad. I can't speak from experience there, as Tony has not had much outside services other than CAP Medicaid (1:1 worker; we've crafted a home version of all therapies, if you will).

Medicaid waiver... yes, the CAP list is long. The state recently opened up 200 CAP slots, but that was the first time in about 4-5 years! I believe you can get the "basic" Medicaid through Developmental Disabilities, but I don't know what services that entitles your child to. In fact, I am trying to help Tony's one friend and his family get through this process. If I learn more, I'll let you know. Maybe it will be different in Guilford, but in Randolph the usual channels for Medicaid (Social Services or Social Security) don't have a clue about the eligibility for Medicaid because of the DD.

It has been years since I dealt with day cares... and back then, it was next to impossible. But then Tony was only 3 and was very different. I think if you are careful, you may find a good one. You may also check with UNCG... they have a degree program in child development and run a pretty good (from what I've heard) day care at the campus. This gives the college students hands on training and experience with the kids. Many parents speak highly of the program.

Have I hit on everything???

Mary

Even I read that UNC is the birthpace of TEACH
WIshing you luck
I love NC overall - great weather - Asheville is so great and I anyway had a romantic view of NC with the "Mitford Series"
Fred your new siggy is adorable - the girls are getting even cuter!
Thanks guys - I used to live there but much has changed in 12 years...I had read about Gateway, but I'm not convinced that I'd want that for Payne. I think DH & I have more less agreed to stay where we are and keep fighting with the schools - they are a known opponent at this point and the rest is comfy...ie daycares, jobs, etc. Thanks Fred...Payne's in a self contained now. I have been fighting with the schools here to get him placed in a autism specialized self contained class for months now. They want him promoted to 2nd grade and I want him to stay in 1st since he really doesn't know a lot of the kindy stuff still. His behaviors have gotten better and that is there main arguement for not putting him into a autism cluster class...he is verbal that's another strike against us too. The thing is the stuff that he does well at from pre-k is stuff that he learned in an environment like the one in the autism cluster - he retained it - so I will continue to fight. DH will work in Greensboro so I've been trying to stay close to it - I know the commutes can be awful up there if you get too far away. I used to live in Jamestown NC so I would like to move back - all 4 seasons and the schools could NOT be any worse than in Florida where we are now...even the autistic private schools are a joke. DH has the possibility of transfering to Greensboro, but I was curious if the schools are ok in Guilford County now (my dad had a hard time with my brother there - I was in AG and sis was in reg ed)? What about services (OT/PT/ST) and is there a waiver plan there? We have enrolled on the mediwaiver here - 8 YEAR waitlist! Are there daycares that can accomodate our kids?

I'm on the waitlist for CAP and the the estimated wait time is 5 years. Too many kids, not enough funds. Good ol' southern conservative politics. Anyways....

I leve in Wake County, considered the best county for this sort of thing in the state. It's a good place for kids who need to be in a self contained autism class, but not so great for kids who's LRE is the regular classroom. The latter kids tend to not get much in the way of services, at least not without a fight.

My daughters get 2X15 and 2X20 minutes/week language therapy and 30 minutes of resource teacher time/day in a regular kindergarten class (this is for next year). Not OT, no PT. Not deemed academically neccessary and the standards for what's considered neccessary are high.

Now, the self contained classes seem really good. They're TEACCH based, and being that UNC is the home of TEACCH, they are well supported and staffed. If your child would more likely be in a self contained class, than you might fare better.

Not sure how much of this applies to Greensboro - different county and all - but I think it's wise to check around.

I know I am jumping in here a little late, but we live in High Point, and my advice would be to stay as far away from here as possible. Guilford county is overloaded with special needs children, my son being one of them, and their way of handling it seems to be to ignore them and maybe they'll go away. It took us 6 months of calling and calling and calling again just to get a speech evaluation.

And now here I am again fighting to get him into a reasonable Pre-K program. They seem to think that placing an autistic 4-year-old on a bus for 3+ hours a day is perfectly acceptable. They aren't offering a Pre-K class in High Point this year because their request for a 0,000,000 bond for a "Gateway West" was turned down. As if approval of that bond would have magically made a preschool classroom appear out of nowhere. (Can you tell I am about to lose it over this?) So, they are busing all of the autistic preschool kids from High Point to Gateway, which is a 45 minute drive from our house.