I ama surprised that Mansfield does not offer servcies/clases for Autistic Children, since they are required by Texas law to address what is called the Autism Supplement and provide for Speech nnd Language services, Parent Training, etc.
Duncanville ISD has a wonderful program for Autism, and I would suggest that you call Robbie Stinnett, SPED Director for the District, and ask her what services are provided, and how the classroons are organized. I do know they have special autism classes with special teachers and aides. My daughter is high functioning autism/PDD NOS and although she does not need to be in a special autism class, she does need a structured setting which they provide, an aide, social skills classes, and pragmatic language therapy which is integrated into her social skills classes. My daughter also has rages, so she is in a special program called TEAMS for emotionally disturbed students, and they provide these programs and resources for her through the TEAMS program. It is not an ideal setup, but she is too high functioning for the autism classroom, so it does address many of her needs.
There are also schools with Autism programs like Plano and Weatherford, Keller,Frisco, HEB, and I think Grapevine/Colleyville, but these may be too far away for you. Cedar Hill has an Autism program/classroom, because a friend fo mine lives in Cedar Hill and has a daughter in the program, however, I think my daughter is receiving a better education in Duncavnille. Wherever you go, the school district will insist on a new school based evaluation for Autism, to decide if they agree with the diagnosis--you do need to be aware of this because for kids with higher functioning autism, the school districts are fighting the diagnosis because it is a very expensive program. If your child has classic autism, then you probably don't need to worry about the schools fighting you over the diagnosis. Anyway, I suggest you call Robbie Stinnett at Duncanville ISD because she used to work for Texas Education Agency which oversees all education and SPED services in the State of Texas, and she is a wealth of information. THe psychologist, Joe Leeman, who covers the elementary schools is also excellent and is working on his Phd
in school neuropsychology so he is very knowledgable about neurologically impaired children. He was also my duaghter's school psychologist and he has kept her in his caseload although he isn't assigned to the high school anymore-- great for continuity since my daughter is so complex, and it would have been a nightmare starting all over with someone new!!
Also, look into the Yahoo groups on autism because there a few listserve groups that are excelent sources of information. There is one called Texas Autism advocacy, and another for Texas Autism support.
Sincerely, M.
