How would you help aspergers and autism?

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I want to start a public autism school

I was the very first Asperger child to be brought to the State of New York board of education in 1979 by my teacher.
The State of NY refused to help, and abandoned us with our mother who was dealing with schizophrenia at the time and unable to care for us.

I want to open a school for autism.
actually my old elementary school, because it was recently vacated and still in great shape.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-uDrzZ9I3k

How would you go about getting publicity?
any ideas would be appreciated.

Last edited by jacked on 20 Nov 2012, 10:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Autism Schools NY

According to the link above, there are 14 schools for Autism in NY. Is another one necessary?

There might well be 14 schools, but probably none of them do it right.

A school run by people on the spectrum for people on the spectrum could potentially do a whole lot of good.

Just the idea of encouraging students to play to strength and be matter-of-fact about any deficiencies will be about three steps forward over most special ed.

And I love the idea of "anti-bullies" or at least teaching skills of "anti-bullying." Often, it is easier to stand up for someone else than to stand up for oneself, and the skills are transferable both ways. (But I think you have in mind something else, a critique of the school system as it currently stands, if you'd like to elaborate further.)

I definitely agree that there is benefits to have fellow spectrumites on the staff/faculty at such schools, but I don't think NTs should be completely excluded. There are some things about living in an NT world that other spectrumites would likely not be able to teach us since these are impairments for them too.

New york is a big place.

14 schools ? None are HFA/AS charter. The ones you have listed you need a state grant for.
New York State does not like to fund these programs.
They use a general facility and dump all of the kids together, unless your parents are attorneys and advocate.
I want to open a place for the children stuck in between like my brother and I. We both tested as genius but were failing school, high anxiety.
Don't get me wrong I failed every grade until 11th and new york passed us anyway because they didn't want to help us.

My mother had acute schizophrenia. That's why my brother and I have Asperger's syndrome.
if there is a child out there facing the same rough time I did. How are they to pay a 30K tuition bill???
That's why I want to start one, because for some reason god gave me just a little bit of empathy, go figure
mix a Schizophrenic mom and an Asperger dad and you get a sympthetic aspie!

I'm glad you're sympathetic and want to help others. You know, the only problem you might face is whether or not to help kids not on the spectrum but with other issues when their parents are asking for help and you have the resources and volunteers to help. That is, things might go smoothly first time out the gate. Or, it may take a number of forays and you learn with each endeavor. And both are perfectly valid ways to get something going.

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When I was a kid, say age 12 and beyond, I would have really liked meeting other people who could get as deeply into a topic as I could. And I would have liked doing something real, whether this was volunteer work, political activism, or entrepreneurial and trying to start profitable businesses. Or learning first aid and helping to educate people on common health issues.

Well, since I believe in engaging with the world, I do want people to have skills that help them do this. So, sure, some of the teachers can be neurotypical, or a bridge person so to speak (some aspie traits but not others).

But these teachers need to understand that the goal is to help the students become better versions of themselves, and not some pale shadow of 'normal' (no such thing as 'normal' anyway and how boring the world would be if there were! ).

I don't think I would be able to look away from a person in need of help.
I do think that we need to "reach" these children on their level in a "safe" environment.
There are many in the public system who are so helpful and wish they could do more. But...

For instance I read great from a computer screen and fall asleep in a book.
The light stimulating my eyes keeps me going. I recommended a kindle or I pad for my son but the school will not make an exception.
The special ed teachers understand, but they can't buck the system, they'll end up getting nothing at all.

Honestly you need a school dedicated to this type of teaching and a board that understands the issues at hand.

What are you going to do that no other school currently does?

They are not helping my son pass, actually they are frustrated with him most of the time.
NY does not pass out the help for AS lightly, and if you succeed with their help they pull it, because your all better.
They say they have a no bully policy, I watched a teacher bully my son.

I want a safe haven, that learns to teach based on their abilities.
we had much more AS success when there were one room school houses. Because that teacher would figure these children out year after year.
On our side ,we have a great neurologist that specializes in teaching children with disabilities from George Washington University.
we want to make a curriculum just for AS children.
It would start by grouping children with similar learning styles together.
Also it would be better to keep the same room same teacher every year. no class switching.
Graduates would have evening meetings for networking or assistance.
Families could have workshops to understand Autism.

So I am thinking of a school that is encompassing Autism on all sides.
and I'm thinking of a school that does not turn away children do to economic status.

I have yet to see one of these for highly intelligent autisic children. I know that none exist within my area.
but I have heard there are some great schools out there. But 20-30k per year would keep most from being able to attend.

I have seen a bunch of great special ed teachers, who are in charge of way too many children and have their hands tied.
IEP's don't help much if you can't change the focus of the subject to something practical for these children.
My sons brand new school has a tiny special ed class to serve 4 children with AS per grade, not to mention all of the other children with disabilities. It's a brand new school, how could they have done that? This just proves that they have no interest in disabilities.
They did build a brand new football stadium though!