Regarding the services provided to children with special needs, no other state in the United States of America comes close to New York . Sure, the process, paperwork and overworked professionals are a bit overwhelming to work with but in the end, the services that Ira receives and will continue to receive are amazing. And at no cost to my family. That is a good use of tax payers money.
Ira is aging out of Early Intervention into a program that New York State calls Committee on Preschool Special Education, or, CPSE. Not too long ago Laura and I met our CPSE coordinator, a parent advocate and our Early Intervention coordinator for what we and others have been calling “the board of ed meeting.” It sounded ominous and we were prepared to fight for our son’s rights. After all, these government agencies are pretty strict and with a tight education budget we thought they might withhold some of what Ira needs. We had to fight for nothing as we got everything we asked for including a nurse who will be with Ira the entire time he’s at school.
Which leads me to once again petition your positive thoughts, well wishes and prayers. We need to find Ira a school. The process thus far has been laborious. There’s a neighborhood school that looked great but that didn’t work out for a variety of reasons. There are other schools that would be a good fit for Ira but one is on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, another in Queens and another in southern Brooklyn. There are others to be sure, but they aren’t that great. In order to get to these good schools in Manhattan, Queens and southern Brooklyn, Laura and I would either drive Ira every day (ugh!) or put Ira on a bus every morning at 7 a.m. (double ugh!).
Does it sound like I’m complaining? Forgive me. I don’t want to seem ungrateful. As I mentioned earlier, we’re fortunate to live in the great state of New York where they value kids with special needs. And the fact that we have so many schools to choose from is nice. So scratch all that “ugh!” business. This is a good problem to have.
Welcome to the blog of Joe Hays, minister for Christ's Church for Brooklyn. We are a loving community of believers who seek to be the hands and feet of Christ, in service to our neighbors in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn and beyond.
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