Idaho charter school for students with Asperger's put on hold

From the Idaho Statesman:

HAYDEN, Idaho — The Idaho State Charter Commission wants more information before approving a charter school designed mainly for children with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.

The commission on April 2 asked members on the board of the EPIC Academy in Hayden to return in May with a better budget plan, among other information.

"(The commission) commended us on what we are trying to do," Danelle Baumgarten-Pickett, a parent leading the effort, told The Spokesman-Review of
Spokane, Wash. "They want us to firm that up a little bit. We were just excited to finally get the hearing."

The proposed school would be the first of its kind in the Coeur d'Alene area. Backers hope to open it for the 2010-2011 school year in a house the group has acquired.

Tracy Hofius, executive director of Panhandle Autism Society, said children with Asperger's are considered highly functioning but are still within the autism spectrum and typically have difficulty with social interaction.

"Kids on the spectrum also require different types of adaptations than other children," Hofius said. "They need to have classrooms that help with their sensory needs, like low lights and not a lot of stimulation.

"I try to explain it to people using the lights in an office and the buzzing sound of the fluorescent bulbs. Most of us can ignore it. To kids on the spectrum, it sounds like someone is banging right in their ear."

The autism society provided space and access to online courses for parents of autistic children, but Hofius said that effort, which included children with Asperger's, was canceled for lack of money. That led to the effort to open a special charter school limited to 60 students.

"We don't want to bite off more than we can chew," said Baumgarten-Pickett, whose 14-year-old son has Asperger's. "We want to start small so we can succeed."

If approved, the school wouldn't be limited to children with Asperger's.

"As a charter school we'd be a public school we'd be accepting all students," said Baumgarten-Pickett. "We'd be more of an individual learning environment."