Tucked away in a quiet nook of Hyde Park’s United Methodist Church is the Ridge School, a day school that serves as a haven for students with pervasive developmental disorders including Asperger’s syndrome.
For the past five years, students from throughout the Hudson Valley have found an educational environment that recognizes the challenges that Asperger’s syndrome presents. According to information released by the Mayo Clinic, Asperger’s syndrome, an autistic spectrum disorder, is a “developmental disorder that affects a child’s ability to socialize and communicate effectively with others.” Children with Asperger’s syndrome are often very bright and typically exhibit social awkwardness and an all-absorbing interest in specific topics. These unique challenges make it difficult for students with Asperger’s to interact well within a public school setting.
Michael Kondor and his wife, Linda, founded the Ridge School in Hyde Park when they were seeking an educational resource for their nephew, John Michael, who has Asperger’s. Kondor explained that he took over a charter school that was bankrupt and re-opened it in several classrooms at the rear of the Hyde Park Methodist Church. Children with Asperger’s, said Kondor, are too high-functioning to attend schools for autistic students, but most public schools don’t offer programming that meets their needs. Socially, students with Asperger’s are often victims of bullying and suffer from high absenteeism in a public school environment.
“New York State doesn’t recognize Asperger’s as a disability,” said Kondor, who added that these students are often labeled as “emotionally disturbed” and are sent to special education classes with high-risk students. This situation only compounds the problem, says Kondor, as students with Asperger’s adopt behavior from those around them. “Kids with Asperger’s mimic what they see when they’re placed with student that have behavioral problems,” said Kondor. “Asperger’s students have high IQs, but their social skills are different,” he added.
Both Kondor and his wife hold master’s degrees in special education. Together with several other staff members, including county Legislator Joel Tyner (D-Rhinebeck/Clinton), they lead a program that includes individualized instruction, field trips, social interaction skills and a curriculum that is accredited by New York State. Parents, including Denise Thompson, volunteer on a regular basis at the school. Thompson’s son spent two-and-a-half years away from school before joining the Ridge School. “If it wasn’t for the Ridge School, my son would not be in school today,” she said.
Hands-on work
Ridge School students recently completed a model of the mastodon found in Hyde Park several years ago. The massive model is on display at the school complete with bubbling tar pits and a colorful hand-drawn mural. Kondor said that Sunday School students at the Methodist Church have enjoyed the mastodon display, but it needs to be relocated to make room for other projects. Kondor is hoping that an organization such as the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum will adopt the mastodon for an exhibit.
While gigantic in size, the mastodon does fit through a regular door, said Kondor.
In the meantime, Kondor and his staff are planning their next group project as part of their component on the history of ancient Egypt. The students were busy analyzing antiques that were recently obtained by The Barn in Millbrook to be used as artifacts; in the corner sat a color teepee from previous study of Native Americans that now serves as a quiet place for students to unwind.
The Ridge School, says Kondor, operates on a shoestring budget. The school has been approved for educational funding on a state level but was denied on a regional level, he explained. Superintendents from area school districts, including Carol Pickering from Hyde Park Central Schools, have supported the efforts of the school. Meanwhile, the Ridge School operates as best it can with limited financial support, Kondor said.
“Children that are on the spectrum like ours are overlooked,” said Kondor. Meanwhile, he said, parents of the students at the Ridge School pay taxes for a public education in which their children cannot participate. “They don’t want our kids back … they say they’re too disruptive,” he said. Students who complete the program at the Ridge School can qualify for Regents diplomas and several have gone on to college. “Some kids, if they didn’t have the Ridge School, they’d never make it,” said Kondor.
Doctors group Asperger’s syndrome with four other conditions that are called autistic spectrum disorders or pervasive developmental disorders. These disorders all involve problems with social skills and communication. Asperger’s syndrome is generally thought to be at the milder end of this spectrum.
Conservative estimates indicate that two out of every 10,000 children have Asperger’s, and boys are three to four times as likely as girls to have the disorder. While there is no cure for Asperger’s syndrome, treatment can help children learn how to interact more successfully with their peers.