ASCEND Expands Prescott Campus Autism School Offers K-12 Program; Accepts Arizona Empowerment Scholarships
The Autism Spectrum Center for Educational and Neurological Development (ASCEND) recently expanded its northern Arizona campus to serve grades K-12. Parents can now enroll their child at ASCEND through the new Arizona school voucher program.

PRESCOTT, AZ, September 23, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Autism Spectrum Center for Educational and Neurological Development (ASCEND) recently expanded its northern Arizona campus. The larger location near the Prescott airport serves students with autism and behavioral and language disorders and now offers comprehensive programs for students in grades K-12.

"ASCEND meets students where they are - behaviorally, socially, academically," says the school's founder and director, Angela Hampton-Levin, also a certified teacher. "We build on student interests and strengths and then challenge them to meet new goals."

Some of these goals are directed at improving daily living skills and developing leisure activities, while some target academics or focus on behavior issues.

Tammy Rose, whose elementary school son has limited expressive language skills, says her child's goals include advancing academic and communication skills to move closer to grade level. "He uses sign language, writes words with pen and paper and uses an iPad."

"My son was refusing to engage in academics at his previous school and was exhibiting all sorts of negative behaviors," says Tonya Reiner, an elementary school parent whose child has autism. "He was constantly stressed and overwhelmed by being in the mainstream environment."

ASCEND maintains a high staff to student ratio, ensuring that students receive instruction tailored to meet their individual needs.

"The staff instinctively knows how to work with my son," Reiner says.

The teaching team has extensive training in Applied Behavioral Analysis and other research-based methodologies and techniques that are used in working with students on the autism spectrum and those with language disorders and challenging behaviors.

"My son is once again reading and writing and is now happily accepting more difficult work and learning math facts," Reiner says.

The staff also uses positive behavior support strategies. "We celebrate successes - both large and small," Hampton-Levin says.

ASCEND also provides its students related specialists and services for speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral consulting and assistive technology.

"We try to be therapeutically inclusive. If something is needed we do everything we can to make it happen," Hampton-Levin says.

The school's new facility at 6741 Corsair Ave. in Prescott houses several classrooms, a computer learning center and a large outdoor recreation space with swings and a gardening area.

"We like to expose students to different activities and experiences to increase their interests and leisure skill abilities," Hampton-Levin says.

Their highly structured schedule often includes field trips to libraries, zoos, farms, parks, museums, restaurants, movie theatres, golf courses, bowling alleys and swimming pools.

Rose says, "My son is now initiating social interaction with peers and adults." This is a significant improvement from two-and-a-half years ago, according to Rose, when her son "would lock the door and peel his nails because he didn't want to go to school."

ASCEND opened its doors in 2007 to address the needs of children diagnosed with autism and related disorders in the Quad-City area - Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Prescott and Prescott Valley.

Rose's son, who has been diagnosed with apraxia (oral speech motor delay) and anxiety, was one of the school's first students.

In 2006, Hampton-Levin and her husband Keith found themselves exhausted from their long commutes to the Phoenix area so their child with autism could attend a program appropriate to his needs. Their rural school district was unable to provide him with a comprehensive autism program due to its small size and limited resources. Plus, Kirkland did not have any other children with autism enrolled in their district at the time.

The Levins began looking into alternatives. After much prayer, they decided to start ASCEND and reach out to area school districts that were struggling to create specialized and complex programs for one or two students.

Autism, a neurological condition manifested by developmental delays, affects approximately one in 110 children, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Some estimate the number of children on the autism spectrum to be much higher than this ratio.

ASCEND has grown to a non-profit Arizona Department of Education-approved private day school specializing in the educational, language and behavioral needs of children with autism spectrum disorders and related disabilities, serving grades K-12.

"Our program offers an alternative to rural school sites who have no real options to serve students with autism or complex language disorders or behavioral challenges," Hampton-Levin says. "We want to be a resource."

Now others are doing the traveling. "We have students who come from an hour away to participate in our therapeutic programs," Hampton-Levin says.

In addition to serving the Quad-Cities, ASCEND has the capacity to work with students from Ashfork, Bagdad, Hillside, Kirkland, Mayer, Seligman, Skull Valley, Walnut Grove and Yarnell and other northern Arizona communities.

Students are typically placed at ASCEND through the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process by parents in cooperation with their local school district who in turn cover tuition and fees for needed therapies. Some students are private-pay clients.

With this school year, however, parents can also place their child at ASCEND through the newly enacted Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) through the Arizona Department of Education.

The voucher program, signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer on April 12, 2011 as SB 1553, went into effect July 20, 2011. Applications for the 2011-2012 fall semester were due August 1, 2011.

ESAs allow parents of special needs students in Arizona to choose the best educational services and environment for their children.

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) requires that students awarded ESA funds receive instruction in at least reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies and science.

Reiner applied for and was awarded an ESA for her son. She chose to send him to ASCEND, and "what a blessing it has been," she says.

ADE continues to accept new ESA applications for the 2011-2012 spring semester and the 2012-2013 school year. Parents interested in the program should contact the Arizona Department of Education at (602) 542-5393 or visit www.ade.az.gov

ESAs have strict eligibility criteria. To qualify, students must be an Arizona resident identified as having a disability and must have either attended a public school for the first 100 days of the previous school year or received a School Tuition Organization scholarship.

Scholarship amounts vary, as the program awards 90 percent of the funding that would have been generated for the child's public school district as base support, calculated by a complex formula. For example, some students may be awarded $3,000 while others may receive as much as $30,000.

In select cases, the ESA may not fully cover the chosen school placement and needed therapies, leaving these parents to make up the cost difference. However, in many instances where the award is in excess of present needs, the voucher allows parents to use the monies to create and fund a qualified 529 college savings plan for their child.

"I would encourage any parent whose child has an IEP or 504 plan to consider the ESA program," Reiner says. "We have felt so empowered and are confident that we have made the best, the most appropriate, school choice."

"Before ASCEND, my son was showing high anxiety around anything to do with school," says Rose. "Now he claps and smiles when it's time to go to school."

Reiner adds, "Thanks to ASCEND, my son is happy and looks forward going to school."

Press Release Contact Information:

Angela Hampton-Levin
ASCEND
Director
6741 Corsair Ave
Prescott, AZ
USA 86301
Voice: (928) 443-9290
Website: Visit Our Website