Need list of autism schools

March 22, 2007 12:22 PM

Is there a comprehensive list of US schools for autistic children available in print or on the web ?

I'm looking for a list of autism schools with contact info (street address, phone, URL, etc.) I've found the info for some regions (usually counties), but not a complete list.

posted by jurczyk to Education (6 answers total)

Can't help you with a complete list. I can tell you that in Orlando, the best one is the Princeton House Charter School (princeton-house.org). , and that for the public schools in the Western Learning Community for Orange County Public Schools (ocps.net) the grade school with the autistic program is Thornebrooke Elementary (thornebrooke.ocps.net) and the middle school is Southwest Middle School (swms.ocps.net). Princeton House is superb. Thornebrooke is also excellent. Southwest is... less than excellent. In Seattle there is also an excellent autistic program at Alternative Elementary II @ Decatur Elementary (seattleschools.org/schools/ae2). That's all the schools I have had direct, personal experience with my son attending them.
posted by Lokheed at 12:40 PM on March 22, 2007

Autism Source would be my first stop, to find resources in a particular area. If nobody else has an answer, you could contact them directly and ask if they know of a directory of specialized autism schools.
posted by LobsterMitten at 1:26 PM on March 22, 2007

That is, on that form, you can check a box for "private/non-public schools", which yields a list of schools nationwide. I'm not sure how comprehensive it is - there are 300+ schools listed, but I imagine it's a submit-your-own-info system so there could be some programs that are omitted.
posted by LobsterMitten at 1:28 PM on March 22, 2007

I know there's one in Columbus, Ohio- Oakstone Academy-and also the Beard School in Chicago is an all special-ed school, with a few all-autistic rooms.
posted by orangemiles at 1:49 PM on March 22, 2007

Do you want schools that teach only autistic children? They would qualify for special ed (yes, yes, oversimplifying greatly here) in the public schools.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:12 PM on March 22, 2007

Thanks for the responses. There doesn't seem to be a comprehensive list out there, but the AutismSource db is a good start.
posted by jurczyk at 6:06 AM on March 26, 2007