This is a post I wrote awhile ago, and literally, I posted almost the exact same question 3 months ago...here is what I wrote recently.

I want to tell the Autism community about my experience in Columbia, MO. Columbia is rated as one of the most friendly cities for autistic children. They have truly, truly lived up to it. My son is a high functioning autistic child that qualified for a para professional (an aide) to be with him all day long in school. At school, in first grade in Columbia, Connor's senses would become overloaded causing him to be aggressive with authority figures and run out of the classroom. Everyday, he told me he hated school. His special ed teachers, the principal and the vice principal all worked extremely hard with Connor everyday. They were truly wonderful, but it did not solve his problem. They would pull him out of class and do the best they could for him, but he really wasn't learning. Finally, his principal told me, "We are failing to educate your son. He is too smart for this to happen to him." They recommended a high functioning (grade-level equivalent) class at another school in the district. I was devastated. I didn't want him to go for so many reasons (e.g. What happens when he gets older and these classes aren't available, he wouldn't be with traditional students enough, the new school wasn't rated as high, sister was still at other school, school's equipment/facilities were not as nice, on and on). But, I was wrong to be devastated.

The high functioning autism class has low lighting most of the day. Noise is kept low. It has 3 teachers to 7 students. This actually saves the district money because try don't need a para professional for each child. All 3 teachers are special ed masters with an autism specific area of study. There is adaptive music, art and PE classes set up by the special ed teachers and the respective teachers (music, art, and PE). There are areas in the class for the children to go to when they are overwhelmed with sensory issues. They learn at a faster pace because the teachers understand how their brains' function. They catch the children when fatigue is hitting and slow down as well as know when to push a student along. There is a lot of high end math taught. All learning is tailored to the child, but it is either at grade level or higher. It is fabulous. Connor has done more work in the first 2 months in this class than he did all semester in the prior year. It is stunning. The kids are forming their own relationships to one another. They integrate with other classes frequently, but most of these kids spend at least 50% of their time in this class. He is so much more happy.

I understand what your thought process is in regards to the regular class but I am guessing there are less students in the autism class therefore you have more one on one attention. You have to do what you think is best For your child but sometimes the extra socialization is not worth the lack of special attention.

@A MyAutismTeam Member What does the insurance do for you? Does your son get other services that the insurance covers? Does your son have language disorder (problems understanding and expressing language) and how has he improved?

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A MyAutis...

My son is 8 and we live in a small town in Kansas and we have 2 elementary schools but the one he was in last year, he had speech therapy 4 times a week and this year at a different school he only has it twice a week. The insurance that we have has been great and he has a case worker that calls once a month to make sure everything is going good and if I need help with anything. Wish I could help you with more.

I meant to say he has been in speech therapy through head start since September once a week for around 40 minutes and the speech therapist said she thinks that is enough. Just thought I would mention, my son does not have many repetitive behaviors and no major sensory issues.

I asked the IEP team about CVAP (Central Valley Autism Project) and they said that since he is old enough to now be in school, that they go by the public school education system and that is why she told me about the autism class for ABA since I brought up that I want him in ABA therapy. She said my own private insurance would have to pay for CVAP if that was the way I wanted to go. We have Health-Net Medical and I am not sure that they cover this. Does anybody know? She also said CVAP is their own private school which I did not know. I am in the Modesto, California area and that is also where CVAP is located. Please help. I never feel like I am doing enough.