when your child starts school it seems
the stress meter starts which is the
right school for them
how will they fit in for so many local
families that stress is amplified when a
child is diagnosed with autism and in
some cases schooling is the least of a
parent's worries well I spoke with two
families both of whom have children on
different ends of the spectrum one with
a mild form the other one with the most
severe forms of autism but both families
wanted to tell their stories hoping to
help some of you watching who have
grappled with the task of finding
services to fit your child's needs any
given night you'll find Jacksonville
teen Clara turvy hoping in the kitchen
dang that's a lot better yeah she's just
as excited about school all A's and Abby
this first semester of ninth grade her
parents never dreamed she'd be doing so
well after being diagnosed back in
kindergarten with autism spectrum
disorder a developmental disorder
affecting communication and behavior and
with attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder ADHD she would actually get up
and run around the classroom like in
circles which is disruptive the turvy
say they took teachers advice and tried
medication to help control Clara's ADHD
but the medicine they say eventually
left their daughter comatose in class
frustrations mounted a couple years
later when mom sat in on Clara's class
watching her interact with the teacher
had Clara sit at a table with her while
all the other kids sat at their desks
and she read the words out and as Clara
would write she'd point and say fix that
one fix that one and the problem with
that is she's not really learning when
Clara needed to repeat a year of school
the family moved from Duvall to st.
Johns County where one of the first
things Clara's mom says teachers wanted
to do was take Clara off her meds I
can't even describe the the weight
lifting off it was yes yes you can I
mean I wanted to cry it was not a smooth
road but by eighth grade Clara was doing
just as well as her classmates what is
your most favorite part about school
honestly it's the teachers they show
they're kind of like students except
they're much older have more experience
okay so you can relate to them really
well yes and they're really patient and
I just feel comfortable around them
that's good that level of comfort will
never be a reality for the Wooten family
so that's simple enough to keep him out
of the refrigerator Joe and Diana say
seventeen-year-old Jonah has the mental
capacity of a 17 month old
[Music]
Jonah's dad warned us
Jonah's behavior can suddenly turn
violent as captured in this home video
when he bit his father's hand
relax as he's grown bigger and stronger
now his own mother can't be alone in the
house with him if he gets ahold of me I
have to try to get away from him and
then I lock myself in my bedroom until I
can somebody else can get home or he
calms down whichever comes first
the Wooten's say they've been on a state
waiting list for special services since
Jonah was about eight or nine years old
and hit their first roadblock when they
say they realized there were thousands
of families statewide on the same
waiting list for services it wasn't
until this past March and Joe wrote a
letter to the state requesting emergency
services for Jonah explaining
difficulties controlling him to
fast-track the request joe says he
allowed Jonah to be Baker acted several
times in an attempt to help move him up
on the waiting list he's really not a
person who needs Baker acting he's a
person who needs some other thing that
really doesn't exist six months later
the Wooten's were given state funding to
find Jonah a residential facility
providing expert care for him the couple
says the few available residential
facilities for their son's special needs
also have long waiting lists we just
feel like we kind of maintain him
because we don't we don't have the
knowledge to actually help him so it's
very frustrating
two families two totally different
scenarios
now the turvy say ten years ago when
Clara was diagnosed with autism
there weren't many school resources so
we called Duval County Schools and a
spokesperson told us that since then
there's been a major overhaul in special
services for students including for
example Oak Hill Academy that's a school
specifically for children with
developmental disabilities that Duval
school says it has become the flagship
for all of North Florida
now the Wooten's are happy with the
special public school in which their son
is enrolled but the state agency for
persons with disabilities which they
called says their office is a last
resort and mainly serves adults now that
agency as well as the expert we spoke
with while doing research for this story
they say the first call you should make
when your child is diagnosed with autism
spectrum disorder is the Center for
autism and related disabilities it's a
free resource and support program it's
located in the San Jose area right here
in Jacksonville we have got a direct
link to that and many other resources
for parents right now on news for Jax
com