One of the great things about this new town is that it has a large, organized PTA for special ed moms. School districts often forget about after school activities and programs for the special ed kids. This PTA makes helps to fund programs and equipment for that population. 

As part of the meeting, the Special Education Director for the town gave a presentation about the district's offerings. She told us how many kids were getting services and where she was noticing shifts. For example, she said that there were less kids getting help for speech therapy this year. She also said that she and her staff were finding a huge jump in the number of kids with anxiety disorders. She was seeing it very young kids in Kindergarten, because the demands on young kids have increased so dramatically. It was also become apparent in the high school, as the number of kids who were cutting had jumped.