Advice for Single mom w/ autistic/adhd son (School Districts) (Louisville: low income, insurance)

[Needadviceky]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for some advice. I have a 10 year old son who has autism/adhd. He currently goes to a private school but we will not be able to afford it next year. Does anyone on here know of any good school districts in kentucky for kids on the spectrum? I am willing to move. He is not severely autistic. He is high functioning and the ADHD is more of the issue. We are currently in Louisville, but I am scared to put him in JCPS. I have heard so many bad things from parents and employees who work at various schools. Also, there is a lack of ABA services in Louisville...everywhere has a insane waitlist. I kind of want to get out of Louisville but I'm just not sure what to do. I saw on niche.com Fort Thomas, Elizabethtown, and Frankfort have great schools but I don't know about special education. I would like to find a district with a strong special education program and one that is safe. Any advice or input would be well appreciated.

[Crazee Cat Lady]

My Son is grown, but has ADHD, he went to school in Fayette county and it worked out well for him in the end. When he was first starting out in first grade, he was constantly being sent to 'safe' I was worried about his future, but in the end he ended up placing real high on his ACT scores, and I never dreamed that as a Senior we would be attending Senior's Honor night and he would be awarded College scholarships and Grants.

One day coming home from College at UK he told me that he was sitting in Psychology class and the teacher was talking about Asperger's and he told me that he was pretty sure he had that!!! I read about it, and actually think that he was right!
How did we miss that???? They gave him an IEP, that really worked out for him.
(It did seem to be more intensive when he was in elementary school and even Middle School though).

[Crazee Cat Lady]

Louisville has really well ranked schools (It seems to have some of the best and some of the worse in the state) It would worry me, though if they still have issues with sending/busing children away from neighborhood schools. It makes things much easier and simpler if they go to school in their own neighborhood.

[Needadviceky]

From what I understand JCPS is still a lottery system so theres no guarantee what school you will get. He has been in public school before but did not do well with the large class size and being bullied was always an issue.

[Crazee Cat Lady]

My Son was bullied too up until about the time he started High School, then it got a lot better. He had issues taking Ritalin too, so he was only on that for a short period of time...eventually he learned to do much better without using it.

[Needadviceky]

Crazee Cat Lady,

What elementary school did he go to in Fayette county? Is it a lottery system? My son was on Ritalin as well but it gave him mood swings so I took him off. Your son's success story gives me hope!

[Crazee Cat Lady]

Originally Posted by Needadviceky

Crazee Cat Lady,

What elementary school did he go to in Fayette county? Is it a lottery system? My son was on Ritalin as well but it gave him mood swings so I took him off. Your son's success story gives me hope!

Thanks, I was worried about my Son a lot when he was little, but things worked out as time went on.
My Son went to Stonewall Elementary.
https://www.niche.com/k12/stonewall-...-lexington-ky/


https://www.greatschools.org/kentuck...entary-School/



Most students here go to the closest neighborhood schools, but there are several magnet schools
(they may use a lottery system, IDK....never looked into it, we moved to our home when I was pregnant with my Son, and it is one of the reasons I picked the neighborhood, because I wanted him to have some good public schools to attend, and they had a good reputation for academics at the time.)

[Oldhag1]

Just because a school system scores high on some school ranking site does not mean they have good special ed services. Most of the time (but of course not always) what it really means is they have a limited number of low income students and a fairly homogeneous student body.

I know at least one of the systems you listed struggles with providing special education services. It’s not a bad system, matter of fact it’s a great system for the average student or even the mildly learning disabled. The problem is they have a limited number of special education students and a couple of their tenured special education teachers are frankly inept and/or have crappy attitudes towards their students. What this results in is your child only having one special education teacher option per year, meaning there is no way to avoid your child having those crappy teachers when they hit that grade.

I almost always advise friends with kids that are on the needier side of the special ed spectrum, which a kid you are talking about needing ABA is, that they are much better off in a large system than a small system. There are more specialized services, more expert oversight, less cronyism, teachers with both more expansive and more targeted experience, and there are a wider range of options when something is not working.

What I’m trying to say is you are probably best off staying in JCPS unless you are considering a switch to Fayette County.

[Needadviceky]

Oldhag1 which school system struggles with providong special education? We drove to Elizabethtown today and drove by the elementary. Ive heard from a couple people that it was better than JCPS?

[Oldhag1]

Originally Posted by Needadviceky

Oldhag1 which school system struggles with providong special education? We drove to Elizabethtown today and drove by the elementary. Ive heard from a couple people that it was better than JCPS?

I work in education. I’m not going to say because it is a common pattern that children with high needs tend to be better served in larger school systems.

Elizabethtown is a nice place, as is the rest of Hardin County. Both the independent school system (Elizabethtown Independent) and the county school system (Hardin County) are decent school systems and it wouldn’t be a bad thing to put your child there. But like every school system there are parents that complain about their special education programs and I do know for a fact ABA therapists are in short supply in the area and as a result some parents end up using private insurance and traveling to Louisville to see the therapists.