Hello. My family recently relocated to Nassau County to help care for my husband's mother. I am looking for some child care/day care camp places that are "autism friendly" that my son could go to until school starts.
How old is your son? Where is he on the Spectrum? I'd try contacting the YMHA's in Nassau County. They often have really good disability programs, much more so than the YMCA's. They run Camp Kehila, which all the YMHA's have access to. YOu don't have to be Jewish. I believe this camp goes until age 14. However, it's probably full now, but you might be able to get a space if someone drops out.
jeeze i was born in a hospital on long island, just b4 my mom, dad and new me moved to NJ for 8 years, heh. sorry i cant help with info... just addin a fact... NYS has programs (i lived in ny from 8-present) and now days kids have it much better then I did. Im sure u will find a suitible program.Hi! I would get in touch with the local parent to parent network right away. They've already been very helpful to me in answering my questions about my move to NYS. Good luck!
http://www.parenttoparentnys.org/Regional/longisland.htm
Also the high functioning autism group on Long Island: http://www.ahany.org/ Email Pat on that site and ask her your questions directly. She'll have plenty of contacts.
Where is your child going to go to school in the fall?
Thank you everyone for their help. I don't know as of yet where my son is going to school because we just moved in to my mother in law's house and she is in the hospital so it is hard to get her to sign residency forms and get them notarized while she is there trying to recover and get treatment from a brain tumor that is canerous. I did call parent 2 parent and no one has gotten back to me yet. I would like for my son to be in some sort of summer program during the day before the mother in law comes home in about a week and I have to start driving her from the Seaford area to Glen Cove every day for Chemo and Radiation. Go to the school disrtrict and tell them your situation. If your son is of legal school age (6 in NY), you have no option but to do that. If your MIL can't sign and get something notarized, a bill that comes to her address in your name will do. Push the school to come up with an option. You MUST get your son registered. It's too late for summer school. Those programs are nearly ended at this point. School in NY starts immediately after Labor Day. You must have your son registered and have the IEP meeting before Sept. 1. Do you have all the school records from his last school? If he is of preschool age, your district will have to place him in a private special ed preschool since districts don't have preschool programs in-district on LI (at least none I know do). All if this is an administrative nightmare at the last minute, so you MUST get residency established soon. TODAY, if possible. If it means your husband has to take the day off from work to take his mother for her treatments so that you can get everything squared away, that's what needs to be done. Ask at the hospital where she gets her treatments if they have a notary. Bring the affidavit of your residency with you for her to sign while she's at the hospital with their notary. I would be shocked if a hospital didn't have a notary.Tzoya, we aren't moving to Ulster Co. NY until August 20th. What can I do long distance that will help the process go more smoothly once we get there? We already have a current IEP from February so can we just use that until a meeting is set up?Where are you moving from? If you are moving from out of state, they HAVE to have an IEP meeting (called a CSE (5-21) or CPSE (3-5) for your child as immediately as possible. If you are moving from within NYS, they have to immediately implement the current IEP, as closely as possible. They can have another CSE/CPSE to amend the IEP, or they can simply implement what you bring them. What you need to do as soon as you can (meaning TODAY, if you can) is show your new school district proof of residence so that you can register your children in the District. They will tell you what you need to do so that they can get your child's old records (you don't need to sign if one district is sending directly to another district). If it were me, I'd get my own copies of my child's current school records. You can request seeing your child's entire file and then ask them to copy it for you. They can charge up to 25 cents per page, but if you say you can't afford it, they have to copy it for free (at least in NYS). So contact the new district today and ask what sort of documentation you need to bring with you in order to register your kids in your home district.Thank you tzoya. My son is 5 and will be going to kindergarten. I have plenty of records from his Jersey special ed preschools from age 3 and 4. The supervisor from the MIL job is a notary and is going to meet her at the hospital after work so we can get back on track. The old school district in Jersey is even helping. They sent a letter to the Massapequa school to notify them in advance of my son's arrival and they are expecting a transfer request any day now. Believe me, he WILL be registered before the end of next week. Thanks again! You're welcome. Once he's registered, write a letter to the CPSE Chairperson in Massapequa. Make sure it's dated. Ask for a CPSE to determine placement for you child (it may not be NECESSARY, but it's always good to have an official meeting) . You might even want to give the CPSE Chairperson a call now to tell her that your son will be coming into the District and to ask about possible preschools you can visit NOW, while they are still in summer session. If you wait until the middle of August, all you'll see are empty classrooms. Good luck.Hi, I just came across your thread and was hoping I can help. I'm a Special Education Intinerant Teacher for various districts on LI (through a special education agency). I'm very familiar with Massapequa's program for Autism (Eagle Program) and could provide you with some names and numbers for people you can contact. I know this thread is from a few weeks ago but if you're still having trouble with getting him in school and ABA/SEIT services, please let me know.
Tara