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[11111111]

Am looking for a yeshiva for a boy I know with aspergers or aspergers-like symptoms. It has to have a place to dorm.  Any suggestions? Please email response if possible . thanks. Sim Guttman

[RivkaD]

    I have an 18-year-old boy with Asperger, and a degree in secular education with a lot of special ed courses also. My best recommendation is DO NOT consider sending away a child with Asperger's!! They need your full-time support to grow in so many areas, and the last thing you want is emotional problems due to your son feeling insecure.
      I know many in the yeshiva world regard public school as absolutely assur, but if there is a good program for Asperger in your public school TAKE IT. Then take him out an hour early as many days as possible, and pay a rebbe to work with him. 

[busymom]

My son with Asperger's will be starting mesivta in the fall, out of town in a dorm. He is very much on the fence as to yes Asperger's or no Asperger's butthe diagnosis is there. He's never been in special ed classes (he had a shadow for a few years in our local day school which in hindsight was a mistake for us. May kids do great with shadows, though) and he's just so happy to be going someplace where he can grow without getting bullied. I am happy to be in touch and let you know how it goes.

mommyschwartz@verizon.net

[Songnote]

Those who have teenagers or young adults who have Aspergers and related disorders, may want to take a look at this website.
http://www.bneisimcha.com/index.html 
If a link is not created, copy and paste to your browser. It is a yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel for young men with Aspergers.

[busymom]

I just wanted to update about our son with Asperger's in an out of town mesivta (see second post in this thread). He is doing sooooo well, B"H! Let me just say that the mesivta we send our son to has a rebbie who is an old friend of my husband's, and he really looks out for our son in many ways. We are in constant touch with him getting updates and throwing ideas back and forth on how to handle the inevitable bumps along the road.

That being said, my son is making friends, learning that there are consequences to his actions (good and bad), and learning so many life skills he would never learn if he was "in town" with his mama. He has had to shop for new shoes, learn to navigate airports, make arrangements for getting to and from the airport, learn moderation with his current obsession (computer games), arrange for his chanukah lecht for the first couple of nights, shop for shalach manos, etc. This from a boy who "can't" make decisions on his own.

It has not been 100% smooth sailing, but B"H his rebbie is willing to do so much to help him grow in a positive direction. The yeshiva certainly needs some hadrocha on how to best handle certain situations with our son, but B"H they are so "on board" with us to help our son! When our son was home for chanukah, his cell phone rang... it was a boy from yeshiva calling him. I was sooo elated! I don't think he had ever gotten a phone call from a friend before! To me, progress comes in ways that for others is just an every-day occurrance.

My email has changed, but I am still happy to talk with anyone about this whole subject. My new email is mommyschwartz4@gmail.com.

Hatzlocha Raba!