Hi, we are moving to Chicago this summer and searching for a neighborhood with a good elementary school around. My son has moderate autism and has been thriving since he started ABA and special education at 3. Based on my research so far, it seems that we should not expect the same level of educational services from Chicago Public Schools as what we have now here in Boston. But I would love to know if any of you have had some positive experience with CPS concerning your child's special… read more

I'm searching for a new insurance plan for my son with ASD as he will graduate from EI in a few months. He doesn't get SSI (our income is just slightly higher than those who qualify) but we're applying for Common Health. Meanwhile, his current insurance will expire almost at the same time when EI ends, so we need a new insurance plan for him so that he can continue to receive ABA. I've been thinking about BlueCrossBlueShield, Harvard Pilgrim, and possibly Neighborhood Health Plan. Does anyone… read more

My family and I are moving to Massachusetts this summer. My son is currently 2 years old with ASD and will turn 3 early next year. We've not decided where to live and still looking around housing. My work will be in Cambridge, and we consider Watertown, Belmont, Arlington, or perhaps Newton. Which school district would you recommend for special preschool? These towns are usually well rated for public schools but I'd like to know which town(s) would probably provide better services for… read more

We're on the waiting list for autism diagnosis while my son is receiving EI. He's 25 months. Our pedi sent a referral to Riley Hospital for Children (IN) more than two months ago, but still no words but that their intake coordinator will contact us when an appointment can be scheduled. If any has been to Riley, how long was your wait time? We're really hoping to have him diagnosed as he still does not interact with other kids (plus some sensory issues). Any response would be greatly appreciated.

We're planning to move to Massachusetts with 2 yrs old. He is currently on EI and we live in Indiana. Soon we'll get a diagnosis (and our OT says it's likely to be ASD). Since we def. want a smooth transition (for therapy-wise) for our son, we should decide whether this summer (he's still 2) or next January (he'll turn 3) would be better for his therapy plans. What happens if we move in the middle of EI? Does this mean another waiting for a new evaluation by a MA Early Intervention team? Or… read more

My grandson asks me and another very close family member to touch his privates and it greatly concerns me. He is already in emotional therapy to work out many issues surrounding his prenatal exposures and parental abandonment and I have brought this subject up as well. I am gathering slowly that it may be a reaction to either built up anxiety or momentary anxiety that he does not know how to express or process, but I worry greatly that he will ask others to do the same thing and this puts him… read more

I am presently doing my course in Early Childhood Development and Family Studies. In doing a research on different behavioural problems teachers at an Early Childhood Educational Institution may encounter. One of the problems that a teacher spoke of was to convince the mother with a son who has Autism that he is cable of doing so much if he was given the encouragement. Her heart sank as she spoke of how difficult it is to get this intelligent child to do simple class tasks, which he has shown at… read more

Has anyone had any experience with their child with Asperger's Syndrome taking German in school? My older daughter took Spanish in high school (she also has Asperger's), but my son will be taking German and I am worried because it can be a very difficult language to learn.

Hi all
We moved to SW Virginia from the Northeast . In this area of the state, the public school educational system uses TEACCH as the basis of their curriculum with structured teaching to work with"the culture of autism".

We have been leery about this system and had stuck with ABA and DIR privately funded by us because in our son's prior preschool that has been working well as we went from non verbal limited interactions (graded moderate on the new proposed dsm scale) to verbal with attempts… read more

Hi MAT friends,

How do y'all unwind after a long day and schedule "me" time?