Lets get this party Started!

The reason I posted the newspaper article is mainly because this the place we are now with Xavier. This is his last year of Elementary school and Mark and I are seriously considering sending him off to school.

 But the costs are high.

 Recently, I inquired on the same school the mother in the article was trying to get her preteen son enrolled.
The school is considered a very good school, but in all honestly not many people can afford it.

I met a very nice lady through my niece who is a counselor at a school for children with behavior issues.
She has sent me loads of information on how to find a good "Therapeutic Boarding School" for Xavier.
With all his tantrums and melts and other behavior issues we just cant seem to shake, after speaking with her over the phone, she convinced me that a "Behavior based" facility like the one she and my niece are employed was not the place for him.

His behaviors just aren't severe enough for him to be serviced at her school and I sure don't want to send him somewhere he will pick on behaviors that are worst than what he is doing now..! 

She sent me a few Educational Contacts that she felt may be able to help me, but warned that they may charge a fee and that I should find out their fees before I get in too deep.
Here is a copy of the email I sent to the people she recommended.

My EMAIL:
On Aug 6, 2012, at 7:10 PM, Kimberly Trent <mrstrent1@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,
I was given your name by a friend as a possible help in finding the correct Therapeutic Boarding school for my 11 year old son with moderate autism, severe speech delay and moderate behavior issues.
I am looking for something in the Georgia area as he has a Katie Beckett waiver and I would like to use it for some of the funding for the school.
He is currently in a local public school in a self contained moderate/Level 2 Autism class. He is in 5th grade and I am looking for placement for Middle School.

If you feel you would be able to help, please reply by answering the following questions...

I wanted to know what are your fees for your services
Have you ever placed a child with significant disabilities and behaviors in a residential school setting?
If so, what type of disabilities have you worked with?

Sincerely,
Kimberly Trent


THE RESPONSES:

Response #1

Good morning, Kimberly,

Thank you for your inquiry into my educational consulting services with regard to placement for your son. At this time, however, my practice focuses on working with students 12 years of age or older and the spectrum for placement is much broader, and nationally versus state wide and only within Georgia. 

  

I do have a website that explains the range of placement I do, www.com. My specialty is in private pay, parent choice options for their children. So if a student has been on any form or disability, it is the parent's who directly worked with the residential school or program regarding payment structure. 

Hopefully this begins to answer your immediate questions and if you'd like to talk further, I'd be glad to do so. You can reach me at 678-000-0000. 

Sincerely,

 

 

Response #2

Hello Kimberly,

Thanks for your email.  In order to answer your questions it would be better for us to talk.  We definitely work with children with disabilities, but you will be extremely limited in the Georgia area.  In fact, I cannot think of any school in Georgia that would be right, however there is much more that we would need to know before answering that question definitively.

You are welcome to call me on my cell at 770-000-0006 or at the office at 404-000-0000 and we can discuss this further if you would like.  I will also refer you to our website which will provide you with a bit more information about our services.  We only work with private programs, which does not mean that some of the schools that we work with don't receive some funding from educational systems, but just that they do not have state appointed children or adjudicated children in their schools.  

So then I decided to email the school that she recommended to be on my own, After all I can speak for myself right?

here are the responses I got from the school staff I contacted. I have blotted out the names and websites for all of these as I don't want to be sued. But if you need their contact information contact me privately and I will be happy to pass them along.

After all, I want t save my money for Xavier's schooling.. ;-)

Response:

Thank you for considering The  School. Tuition ranges
from $5,500 to $11,000 monthly, depending upon the needs of your child
and placement for services. I cannot tell based on the information
provided whether he would be most appropriately served at the Center
for Autism or on our main campus in a self-contained classroom.  The
Main Campus tuition ranges are lower than the Center for Autism as a
result of programming needs and services available.

I would be happy to help you further if you would like to send an
application and necessary related documents for enrollment.  The
application is available on our website at
www..org<http://www..org>

Thank you,
 Director of Program Services

 I got another response from another staff member at the school but I think I have made my point. Unless you are independently wealthy caring for a child with autism can make you go broke!  Or if I want to have any financial aid, I have to make Xavier a ward of the state! YIKES!

 Therefore I choose the treatments and therapies for Xavier very carefully as I want to be more than sure they will have a good chance at working for him. I don't have time or money to waste..

So public school has been our only option for him thus far. Even so, Mark and I are very careful as to what school districts we choose to live in as well as well as what type of classroom environment we feel will benefit him the most.

Obviously this can be a very daunting task for many families and can cause much stress on the household emotionally, mentally and most of all financially. 

It has not been any different for me and mine.. and I will tell you why..and how this all got started...