Special school for special children

Children with multiple, severe disabilities will have another educational option this fall when a new private school opens.

Pattison's Academy will go beyond what public schools can offer and provide a comprehensive education and rehabilitation program, said Pam Sloat, one of the school's founders. The school will benefit children such as P.J. (Pattison Julia), one of Sloat's daughters. Five-year-old P.J. has the functional development of a 3-month-old, uses a wheelchair and has hearing and vision impairments.

Pattison's Academy will serve up to 30 children between 1 and 12 years old who have profound disabilities similar to those of its namesake. Organizers haven't identified a site for the school, and they plan to hire an executive director soon.

The Lowcountry has nearly 4,000 children between the ages of one month and 15 years who have severe disabilities, and Sloat estimates that half of those could qualify to come to the school. Roughly 400 local children have more than one disability.

A handful of public schools statewide serve students with multiple, severe disabilities; but those schools focus on goals that are related to children's education, Sloat said.

If Sloat's daughter enrolled in a public school, she would receive only a half-hour each week of physical, speech and occupational therapy. Sloat said that would be inadequate compared to what P.J. needs. Sloat cares for P.J. at home and ensures that she has at least eight hours each week with a physical therapist.

"This is not an indictment against public schools," she said. "They are limited in what they can do."

Pattison's Academy would go further in providing for students' educational and medical needs. Children would be in at least three hours of physical therapy daily, and therapists and teachers would work alongside each other to help children, Sloat said. The school would stay open year-round so students would continue to receive therapy and participate in educa- tional activities during the summer months.

Irene Meier, Charleston County's executive director of the office for special education, wrote in an e-mail that the medical services provided through schools are not just for students' educational benefit.

"They are provided if they are required for the child to benefit specifically from special education," she wrote. The teams charged with creating educational plans for children do approach them holistically, she wrote.

Public schools are required to follow federal law and provide special education, related services and highly qualified teachers and assistants.

"What assurances do parents have that a private school who does not have to follow the same regulations will provide the same level of services by highly qualified staff?" Meier wrote.

Sloat said Pattison's Academy will seek accreditation as a school and an outpatient rehabilitation facility, both of which require meeting high standards. Private schools still have to follow federal laws governing special education students, and they still have to answer to the local school district if a parent complains about their children's needs not being met, Sloat said.

Pattison's Academy would extend itself into students' homes and help their families understand and obtain the necessary equipment or training to make their lives better. Sloat said that help might be providing diapers or a bath chair for a 5-year-old child, both of which can make a difference in the care the child receives.

Sloat estimates Pattison's Academy would cost about $30,000 a year for each student, but she plans to offset that cost with Medicaid reimbursements, grants and donations. Tuition would be decided on a sliding scale of ability to pay. Organizers also want to approach lawmakers about providing scholarships for children with severe disabilities to enable them to enroll in private schools that can provide services they need.

Melissa Kelly's 5 1/2-year-old daughter, Madigan, has disabilities similar to those of P.J. Madigan can't walk, talk or sit up; but she attends school all day at Knightsville Elementary in Dorchester District 2.

While Madigan benefits from the school, it's not what she needs, her mother said. The school is goal-oriented and structured, and Kelly would rather see her daughter in a more flexible environment that took a global approach to her, and one where her daughter's quality of life was more important. She wants a place where her daughter would be picked up, touched, tickled and made to smile, she said.

She'd love to send her daughter to Pattison's Academy, and she compared the choice to a gourmet food store versus a discount one.

"It's getting something completely different," she said.