OOT communities and special needs

eyima

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 5:20 am

I was talking to a friend who had a moderately special needs son (age 5) and a LD daughter (age 7). She is looking to move and said that she is limmited to NY because of her children's needs. That got me thinking about all of the OOT communities. Are there really no schools that have dpecial ed programs in the OOT communities? or are the options just more limited?

amother

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 5:30 am

Depends how OOT, and also if commuting is an option.

We live OOT, there is currently nothing to cater to significant special needs. The nearest places are realistic in terms of commute (although commuting is never ideal).

the world's best mom

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 7:27 am

If she wants her kids in a Jewish school that caters to special needs, then I think she's right. If public school or other non-religious schools were something to consider then she could live whereever she wanted.

Ruchel

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 8:09 am

Depends how OOT, but they may struggle to find even a non Jewish school for this! I used to live OOT (not very) and there were several families, Jewish and not Jewish, with special needs children, and some were into a non fitting regular school, some were in dorm setting from very early on... it's hard.

amother

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 10:18 am

I have worked with special needs children in NY and elsewhere in the US. If I had a child with special needs, I would very likely move back to the NY area. There is really no comparison in terms of options when it comes to therapists and schooling. Two different worlds. Yes, there are options outside NY sometimes, but it's kind of like comparing a mega shop rite to your corner grocery.

thatgirl

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 12:36 pm

Detroit has a beautiful program here called JARC school inclusion program. They assign teacher aids to assist speical needs children in the classroom. They are completley part of the classroom experience thanks to these aids.

Peanut2

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 2:11 pm

There are definitely SN programs outside of NY.

I don't know anything about what happens in NY. OOT there are programs that are Jewish but not Orthodox (but Orthodox frum kids go), or Orthodox but for the whole spectrum of the Orthodox community. There are also regular schools that accommodate kids with special needs, including kids with very complex needs.

Learning disabilities are common and schools everywhere deal with kids with LD. It's not some exclusive NY issue.

ElTam

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 2:54 pm

In my community, the schools can support students who have some special needs, but not all situations. From what I have seen, they are good about availability for learning disabilities, mild sensory issues, on the milder end of the Asperberger's spectrum or ADD/ADHD, but if you had a child with Downs or autism, they would have to be in a public school.

amother

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 3:02 pm

other places have but not to the same extent as NYC.

In chicago there is are a few special needs programs. all are for either all spectrums of orthodoxy (chassidish to mothers that wear pants and dont cover their hair) or for all spectrums off Judaism (reform to orthodox). some children still end up in public schools.

There is also ptach which is in the other schools and they are mainstreamed for some subjects and more involved in school activities.

However much less is govt. subsidized. in NY it is much easier to get grants. but here thats not the case. I worked for one of the schools and believe me they tried and tried.... but it just never happened.

There are not as many EI programs either. and they tend to cost much more then in NYC. but they are there.

Rubber Ducky

Thu, Nov 22 2012, 4:43 pm

I am not a education professional but the following is my personal experience and that of a few friends here in Baltimore:

There is a lot of support for LD and ADD kids. My foster son, who is both LD and ADHD, after years of pull-out tutoring in his school's resource room, is now reading English at grade level. I think that the resource rooms for the local day schools are all run by or coordinated by Shemesh: shemeshbaltimore.org. DS's school has been extremely supportive and helpful in working with his special needs.

My neighbor's Down Syndrome son is now in a local day school, but most of the Down's kids here are in public schools.

Similarly, most of the kids on the autistic spectrum are in public or other non-Jewish schools, but I know of at least 2 "on the spectrum" kids in local day schools. There used to be a special class of about half a dozen autistic spectrum kids here. My friend's son was in that class and was ultimately mainstreamed, but the others are no longer in Jewish schools.

amother

Sat, Nov 24 2012, 10:17 pm

amother wrote:

there is also title 1 in the different schools for LD. also, while keshet is for all streams, the keshet program at bais yaakov only has frum families. you would not get a mom who wears pants sending her daughter there.