What Are Your Opinions On Worcester Public Schools For People With Autism?
I am not sure how good Worcester Public Schools is for people on the autism spectrum, but I have a friend who is a year older than me (he will turn 25 in April) who was in the Worcester Public Schools between 2004-12 (PreK-5th grade). Due to the fact he is going to attend an online graduate school for CS so he could appear like a more competent tech co-founder than his current alma mater of UMass Boston, I talked to him on the phone for two hours and his story is quite idiosyncratic. He wanted to share some news because his elementary school sent him all the paperwork pertaining to him.
Due to the fact he has exhibited extremely late development during his early years (prior to when he was 7), including the fact he didn’t speak until he was about 4, he was diagnosed with autistic disorder in 2004 at the age of 4. At the time, a childhood autism diagnosis was rarer than today, far less understood, and ASD was separated into several sub-diseases such as Aspergers, autistic disorder, PDD-NOS, etc, as per the DSM IV. If he were evaluated today, he would have been diagnosed with Level 1 Autism as he has been independent for the past 8 years.
By the time he turned 5, he already started reading and writing in both English and Vietnamese, and he started formulating addition/subtraction equations for him to solve. He also “repeated” Preschool in September 2005, which has exacerbated and hindered his social development. He was also placed on an IEP, where he was sent to a self contained special ed homeroom where he spends half the day in an inclusion classroom. By the time he started Kindergarten in 2006, he was already memorizing the 8/9 planets, learning about the 43 presidents, 50 states and capitals, world countries, and doing the times/division tables. Even though he was still developmentally stunted, that would all end by the time he was 7, when he started developing at the same rate or faster than his age group peers.
During the 1st grade (2007), even though he was kept on an IEP, he entered a mainstream inclusion class, and there, his behaviour has improved and his autism symptoms started becoming far less pronounced.
According to my friend, many of the general education teachers were very nice towards him, but many of the teaching assistants (co teachers, paraeducators) are condescending, and he hated being around them. He wished that there was just one teacher, and that he performed better without a condescending aide or anything.
By the time he started 2nd and 3rd grade, he consistently tested in the 99th percentile for math on the NWEA MAP standardized test, and even though he was a voracious reader, having picked up the encyclopedia Britannica by the time he was 8, his reading MAP scores were significantly above the school average, but they were still somewhere around the 70-80th percentile.
During his time at Worcester Public Schools, he received straight A in conduct and effort in every class and was a straight A student in maths, science, social studies, music, and art, and was a B/B+ student in English Language Arts. English Language Arts was not his favourite subject, and he devoured non-fiction books. Despite having a poorer English grade, his vocab levels were above grade level.
According to my friend, the co-teacher (para) effectively forced him to mask and she made him uncomfortable. Compare it with having one teacher (like at high school or university as he exited the IEP upon moving to a private high school), he was always nervous around any teaching assistants. With only a general education teacher and no IEP, he was able to truly express himself, but even then, he still show good attitude no matter where as that is his normal position just to be praised rather than be scolded and reprimanded. He got along very well with teachers and peers in the higher grade levels, but not so well with his aide (co-teacher) and he despised her. The reason why he is less gregarious towards younger age peers (his grade) is because he is intellectually 2-4 grades ahead, so it could easily become boring if he is intellectually out of sync. He even self taught programming at age 10, and had no relations with his younger cousins (cousin’s children) whatsoever, and had strong ties with several of his older cousins as well as me. He is a self proclaimed introvert.
During elementary school, his only “IEP goal” was social skills, where he was pulled out once a week during elementary school for lunch bunch, and needless to say, he hated it. He was forced to sit with higher needs IEP children, and he felt like he is the only low support needs, and that everybody he has encountered at the lunch bunch exhibited far worse behaviour and conduct than him. He felt alienated, and felt that Lunch Bunch exacerbated his behaviour and social skills (he trusts his independent therapist more than the IEP in helping his social skills).
One positive facet of his Worcester elementary school was that the principal realized his talents, and in 3rd grade (age 9, 2009), he was allowed to take math in a 4th grade room. His 4th grade math teacher allowed him to take science and social studies in her homeroom, and funnily enough, he not only received straight A grades in science and social studies, he also thrived in social skills compared to his previous grade. But the principal and 3rd grade homeroom teacher wouldn’t approve of his move, so he was relegated to the 3rd grade for science and social studies and was only allowed in 4th grade for math. He wasn’t even allowed to skip grades despite thriving socially and academically in the higher grade level as he was able to find more friends. The principal emphasized that his English was “weak”, but according to his 3rd grade fall English MAP test, he scored significantly above the school average of ~190 at 213 (somewhere around the 80+ percent).
He won his school’s science fair (he was inducted to the EcoTarium) and he also won his elementary school’s math competition. He moved to another school district for middle school, and during middle school, all 1000 students ranging from grades 6-8 competed in the National Geographic Bee. He came #2 in 6th and 7th grade and #1 in the 8th grade. According to his parents, his parents were not allowed to pull him out of an IEP and the school forced them to put him on an IEP, despite the fact my friend thought it was more harmful to him, as he has done better without an IEP, both in high school and college, behaviorally, socially, and academically. Fast forward to today, he struggled finding an internship during his college years (January 2018-December 2021), and landed two small IT and web developing internships as of summer 2022 and winter 2023, and since about September of 2023, he has been an independent contractor front end web developer making 90k a year. He spends the rest of his day working and spends the weekend driving his Corolla for doordash. He funnels the majority of his income into stocks and crypto (similar to me). He has been completely independent, went NC with his parents since 2017, and during the summer, he visits Europe/Asia for 1-2 weeks on his own.
Even though he was very against his autism diagnosis when he was younger when autism was less widely accepted, due to the proliferation of the neurodiversity movement in the late 2010s/2020s, he has started accepting some of his strong traits. He does have obsessive thoughts in intellectual matters, and even though he does have some routine (especially on the days he has no schedule), they are not at all life affecting, and he could easily adapt depending on the situation. He has no food sensitivity issues and he has no sensory issues. Ever since moving out of his parents, his trauma was far less egregious, and his eye contact with others became better all of a sudden, and he has socialized well in college, without the restrictions of the IEP. Due to the fact he literally accelerated through the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade via online school (after spending a 9th grade at a private school), he started college in January 2018, and he could fit in better than at his old elementary school, hence his social skills were far stronger. Despite not practicing for the SAT due to the adverse home environment during high school, he still nonetheless bagged an 800 in math and a 480 in reading, and when he practiced the reading QAS section in 2025, his score went up to 650 without practicing or improving his reading comprehension. Recently, he read a whole 600 page novel in 2 days and could comprehend important details by head.
TL;DR: What is your opinion on Worcester Public Schools and autism? Is it any good, or is the Boston area a better option for a low support needs child with autism? My friend went to his school website, and found out his school practices the ABA. Even though he thought the ABA was effective and have vague knowledge about autism due to his diagnosis, many autistic individuals condemn the ABA. On my friend's IEP progress report, they have a completely different view of him than his general education teachers. His general education teachers on the report cards and his independent therapist/psychiatrist are generally more positive and unbiased towards him whilst his IEP was extremely biased against his abilities and move towards his "deficits".
I am not sure how good Worcester Public Schools is for people on the autism spectrum, but I have a friend who is a year older than me (he will turn 25 in April) who was in the Worcester Public Schools between 2004-12 (PreK-5th grade). Due to the fact he is going to attend an online graduate school for CS so he could appear like a more competent tech co-founder than his current alma mater of UMass Boston, I talked to him on the phone for two hours and his story is quite idiosyncratic. He wanted to share some news because his elementary school sent him all the paperwork pertaining to him.
Due to the fact he has exhibited extremely late development during his early years (prior to when he was 7), including the fact he didn’t speak until he was about 4, he was diagnosed with autistic disorder in 2004 at the age of 4. At the time, a childhood autism diagnosis was rarer than today, far less understood, and ASD was separated into several sub-diseases such as Aspergers, autistic disorder, PDD-NOS, etc, as per the DSM IV. If he were evaluated today, he would have been diagnosed with Level 1 Autism as he has been independent for the past 8 years.
By the time he turned 5, he already started reading and writing in both English and Vietnamese, and he started formulating addition/subtraction equations for him to solve. He also “repeated” Preschool in September 2005, which has exacerbated and hindered his social development. He was also placed on an IEP, where he was sent to a self contained special ed homeroom where he spends half the day in an inclusion classroom. By the time he started Kindergarten in 2006, he was already memorizing the 8/9 planets, learning about the 43 presidents, 50 states and capitals, world countries, and doing the times/division tables. Even though he was still developmentally stunted, that would all end by the time he was 7, when he started developing at the same rate or faster than his age group peers.
During the 1st grade (2007), even though he was kept on an IEP, he entered a mainstream inclusion class, and there, his behaviour has improved and his autism symptoms started becoming far less pronounced.
According to my friend, many of the general education teachers were very nice towards him, but many of the teaching assistants (co teachers, paraeducators) are condescending, and he hated being around them. He wished that there was just one teacher, and that he performed better without a condescending aide or anything.
By the time he started 2nd and 3rd grade, he consistently tested in the 99th percentile for math on the NWEA MAP standardized test, and even though he was a voracious reader, having picked up the encyclopedia Britannica by the time he was 8, his reading MAP scores were significantly above the school average, but they were still somewhere around the 70-80th percentile.
During his time at Worcester Public Schools, he received straight A in conduct and effort in every class and was a straight A student in maths, science, social studies, music, and art, and was a B/B+ student in English Language Arts. English Language Arts was not his favourite subject, and he devoured non-fiction books. Despite having a poorer English grade, his vocab levels were above grade level.
According to my friend, the co-teacher (para) effectively forced him to mask and she made him uncomfortable. Compare it with having one teacher (like at high school or university as he exited the IEP upon moving to a private high school), he was always nervous around any teaching assistants. With only a general education teacher and no IEP, he was able to truly express himself, but even then, he still show good attitude no matter where as that is his normal position just to be praised rather than be scolded and reprimanded. He got along very well with teachers and peers in the higher grade levels, but not so well with his aide (co-teacher) and he despised her. The reason why he is less gregarious towards younger age peers (his grade) is because he is intellectually 2-4 grades ahead, so it could easily become boring if he is intellectually out of sync. He even self taught programming at age 10, and had no relations with his younger cousins (cousin’s children) whatsoever, and had strong ties with several of his older cousins as well as me. He is a self proclaimed introvert.
During elementary school, his only “IEP goal” was social skills, where he was pulled out once a week during elementary school for lunch bunch, and needless to say, he hated it. He was forced to sit with higher needs IEP children, and he felt like he is the only low support needs, and that everybody he has encountered at the lunch bunch exhibited far worse behaviour and conduct than him. He felt alienated, and felt that Lunch Bunch exacerbated his behaviour and social skills (he trusts his independent therapist more than the IEP in helping his social skills).
One positive facet of his Worcester elementary school was that the principal realized his talents, and in 3rd grade (age 9, 2009), he was allowed to take math in a 4th grade room. His 4th grade math teacher allowed him to take science and social studies in her homeroom, and funnily enough, he not only received straight A grades in science and social studies, he also thrived in social skills compared to his previous grade. But the principal and 3rd grade homeroom teacher wouldn’t approve of his move, so he was relegated to the 3rd grade for science and social studies and was only allowed in 4th grade for math. He wasn’t even allowed to skip grades despite thriving socially and academically in the higher grade level as he was able to find more friends. The principal emphasized that his English was “weak”, but according to his 3rd grade fall English MAP test, he scored significantly above the school average of ~190 at 213 (somewhere around the 80+ percent).
He won his school’s science fair (he was inducted to the EcoTarium) and he also won his elementary school’s math competition. He moved to another school district for middle school, and during middle school, all 1000 students ranging from grades 6-8 competed in the National Geographic Bee. He came #2 in 6th and 7th grade and #1 in the 8th grade. According to his parents, his parents were not allowed to pull him out of an IEP and the school forced them to put him on an IEP, despite the fact my friend thought it was more harmful to him, as he has done better without an IEP, both in high school and college, behaviorally, socially, and academically. Fast forward to today, he struggled finding an internship during his college years (January 2018-December 2021), and landed two small IT and web developing internships as of summer 2022 and winter 2023, and since about September of 2023, he has been an independent contractor front end web developer making 90k a year. He spends the rest of his day working and spends the weekend driving his Corolla for doordash. He funnels the majority of his income into stocks and crypto (similar to me). He has been completely independent, went NC with his parents since 2017, and during the summer, he visits Europe/Asia for 1-2 weeks on his own.
Even though he was very against his autism diagnosis when he was younger when autism was less widely accepted, due to the proliferation of the neurodiversity movement in the late 2010s/2020s, he has started accepting some of his strong traits. He does have obsessive thoughts in intellectual matters, and even though he does have some routine (especially on the days he has no schedule), they are not at all life affecting, and he could easily adapt depending on the situation. He has no food sensitivity issues and he has no sensory issues. Ever since moving out of his parents, his trauma was far less egregious, and his eye contact with others became better all of a sudden, and he has socialized well in college, without the restrictions of the IEP. Due to the fact he literally accelerated through the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade via online school (after spending a 9th grade at a private school), he started college in January 2018, and he could fit in better than at his old elementary school, hence his social skills were far stronger. Despite not practicing for the SAT due to the adverse home environment during high school, he still nonetheless bagged an 800 in math and a 480 in reading, and when he practiced the reading QAS section in 2025, his score went up to 650 without practicing or improving his reading comprehension. Recently, he read a whole 600 page novel in 2 days and could comprehend important details by head.
TL;DR: What is your opinion on Worcester Public Schools and autism? Is it any good, or is the Boston area a better option for a low support needs child with autism? My friend went to his school website, and found out his school practices the ABA. Even though he thought the ABA was effective and have vague knowledge about autism due to his diagnosis, many autistic individuals condemn the ABA. On my friend's IEP progress report, they have a completely different view of him than his general education teachers. His general education teachers on the report cards and his independent therapist/psychiatrist are generally more positive and unbiased towards him whilst his IEP was extremely biased against his abilities and move towards his "deficits".