How to Enroll an Autistic Child in Public School

Enrolling a child in school is a milestone for any parent. However, the process of finding the right school can be difficult. Parents of autistic children find that public school systems often do not have adequate resources to properly enrich their child's educational process, leaving the child underdeveloped and frustrated with the lack of trained personnel. However, parents of autistic children can follow some steps to ensure a positive educational experience.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Determine which public schools are in your area. Usually, children who live within a given radius of a school are required to attend that specific public school. Talk to other parents in the area whose children attend the public school in your district to get a feel for how the school operates.

2. Obtain a public school report card from your cities Public School Board. These report cards can usually be obtained through going directly to the school board or going online to the public school systems website. Check for any information regarding special needs children, including the number of teachers qualified to educate children with autism.

3. Visit your child's future school after researching the school report card. Talk to the principal and special education staff to ascertain the method of education used to teach autistic children. Ask questions about whether the students are removed from the general population all the time or for certain blocks of the day. Also inquire whether or not you will be given progress reports on the child.

4. Observe the special education teachers in their element by sitting in on a class. It will give you a good idea of what kind of environment your child will be engaged in. Make sure that the autistic children are not grouped together with other challenged children whose needs are not similar to the autistic. Many public schools lump all special needs kids together, causing students who are not necessarily learning disabled to be held back academically.

5. Inquire about whether your school district uses Applied Behavioral Analysis, which is a treatment method used to educate and integrate autistic kids into the standard school environment. Discuss your public school decision with other parents of autistic children in your district and find out whether they are pleased with their child's education.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask for weekly or monthly progress reports on your child's development to get a feel for how involved the teachers are in the students learning.
• Feel free to switch schools or look for educational needs elsewhere if the school is not meeting your expectations and you don't feel as though your child is being adequately educated.
• Be aware of where your child falls on the Autism spectrum before accepting a classroom assignment. Children with Asperger's requires less stringent educational modifications than standard autism and they can often function and thrive in a standard classroom.

Resources

• Here is a site dedicated to autism education.
• Visit the Autism Society of America website.