Jyniffrec Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I have a new job as a researcher. Right now I am involved in a research project to find out how well states are doing with their transition programs for individuals on the autism spectrum. I am hoping to find out from some of you what your experience has been using those transition services. If you don't mind posting your state and your opinion of the services (or pming or emailing me) I would really appreciate it. Here are a couple of specific questions I'd also like to pick your brains about: 1. Does your state provide you with enough information to transition your child successfully? 2. At what age do the transition services (really) begin? 3. Have you been successful getting the services you need beginning at age 14? 4. Is the information organized in a usable way? 5. Anything else that you would want heard by experts who are working on this subject? I'm not an expert, just a peon who is helping the experts. The questions I posted above seem to be concerns from what I have gathered, but I wanted to check with the SN part of the Hive because I know how well informed many of you are (you have helped me in the past!). This is obviously not a serious scientific survey, but I am finding that the official information may be misleading and I need a clue as to which way to direct my thinking. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I'm curious why you are posting this to a home school site? These services are most often accessed through the schools. I have looked in to services a little bit, but i've not heard much good about them. I only plan to check in with social security before he turns 18. but my son is very high functioning, with the bipolar and the tourettes being more of an issue than the autism. i live in VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 I'm curious why you are posting this to a home school site? These services are most often accessed through the schools. I have looked in to services a little bit, but i've not heard much good about them. I only plan to check in with social security before he turns 18. but my son is very high functioning, with the bipolar and the tourettes being more of an issue than the autism. i live in VA Well, now I'm embarrassed! I guess I thought that people used some services from the state as well as home schooling (we have done both with our special needs kids). I'm really sorry if it was inappropriate. I don't know much about the autism world and am trying to learn. Anyway, the official reports about the services show very little real data as far as how children respond and how well they really do with the services they actually do receive. States self report and the federal government just trusts that the data is correct. I was asking so that I could have an idea of which way to go with my research as far as which states truly are a problem and which ones truly help individuals. I am coming up short with any real information. FWIW, the person who has asked me to do this has a daughter on the autism spectrum. Her motivation is to come up with a good program to actually help kids while involving families in the process. I appreciate your response. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Don't worry about it, you'll probably get some responses here. I'm planning to use transition services in 3 or 4 years for Geezle. Right now, GW is doing some transition/vocational activities in his private school. Neither of them is old enough for this to be my main focus yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 We had a horrible experience trying to find services for our ds. At 16 we were even forced to send him to a boarding school out of state (the only one we could afford) for 4 months b/c he was so out of control and it was harming the emotional well-being of our younger children. (they started exhibiting stress disorders and when he would raise his voice, one of his little sisters would run and hide and start crying.) In TN we were told that in order to get assistance that he needed (b/c it was not covered by our insurance and ran about $5000/wk) that our best course of action was to turn custody of him over to the state b/c they would then provide the services for him. In VA we were told that the best course of action was to have him arrested and request services from the hearing judge. (FWIW, we flat out rejected both options.) When he was under 18, services were non-existent for teens. Now that he is classified as an adult, he qualifies for services through the state dept of rehabilitative services. FWIW, he was in an autism/aspergers support group which we pd $$$$ for him to have assistance while taking courses at the local CC. All the other students are ps grads. Every single parent in that group stated that their transition plans for after high school graduation were completely useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Jen, i didnt mean its inappropriate, i just meant that more kids in school actually use these services than homeschoolers. So you might have more luck asking public schooled kids. But maybe that was what you were looking for, specifically for how many homeschoolers get these services? 8fill, that sounds horrible! I had read articles about parents having to give up custody to get services for challenging kids! I also used to be on a bipolar list and it was so heartbreaking how these parents would beg for help and there wsa just nothing. But I think the services Jen was asking about are specifically support transitioning to independence - support with college plans or with employment plans, help transitioning in to adult SSI and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 There aren't a lot of school and community based programs for teens on the autism spectrum. The big push is for early intervention, but there isn't much out there after that stage is passed. I now UNC is doing a teen study now. Is that the study you're involved in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 We had a horrible experience trying to find services for our ds. At 16 we were even forced to send him to a boarding school out of state (the only one we could afford) for 4 months b/c he was so out of control and it was harming the emotional well-being of our younger children. (they started exhibiting stress disorders and when he would raise his voice, one of his little sisters would run and hide and start crying.) In TN we were told that in order to get assistance that he needed (b/c it was not covered by our insurance and ran about $5000/wk) that our best course of action was to turn custody of him over to the state b/c they would then provide the services for him. In VA we were told that the best course of action was to have him arrested and request services from the hearing judge. (FWIW, we flat out rejected both options.) When he was under 18, services were non-existent for teens. Now that he is classified as an adult, he qualifies for services through the state dept of rehabilitative services. FWIW, he was in an autism/aspergers support group which we pd $$$$ for him to have assistance while taking courses at the local CC. All the other students are ps grads. Every single parent in that group stated that their transition plans for after high school graduation were completely useless. Thanks for responding, 8. What years were these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Thanks for responding, 8. What years were these? I'll PM you w/more specific details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 Jen, i didnt mean its inappropriate, i just meant that more kids in school actually use these services than homeschoolers. So you might have more luck asking public schooled kids. But maybe that was what you were looking for, specifically for how many homeschoolers get these services? 8fill, that sounds horrible! I had read articles about parents having to give up custody to get services for challenging kids! I also used to be on a bipolar list and it was so heartbreaking how these parents would beg for help and there wsa just nothing. But I think the services Jen was asking about are specifically support transitioning to independence - support with college plans or with employment plans, help transitioning in to adult SSI and such. Thanks for clarifying! I felt like I was taking some sort of risk by asking so it made my heart drop a little when you responded. In response to what you said above: Yes, it is about transitioning to adulthood. Transition services should start at about age 14 and there are various criteria that must be met. I think most of these are only being complied with on paper. I am trying to find out what, where, and when people's specific experiences have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 There aren't a lot of school and community based programs for teens on the autism spectrum. The big push is for early intervention, but there isn't much out there after that stage is passed. I now UNC is doing a teen study now. Is that the study you're involved in? No, this is actually a researched based curriculum that is being written to help with transition. I have run into the fact that there is mostly research on early intervention as well. When I can find documents about teens there is very little information with lots of information beside it about small children. And most often, I can't find actual numbers regarding teens with ASD. I am off to look at the teen study. Thanks for posting this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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