The city says it’s expanding some popular programs for children with autism, listening to recommendations of a year-old advisory council on special education.

“Our advisors made it clear that we need to prioritize investments in public school programs so that our students with disabilities can get the support they need in their neighborhood school,” Schools Chancellor David Banks said.

Banks announced 160 new kindergarten seats across three programs serving children on the autism spectrum: called Nest, Horizon, and AIMS. They’ll be located in neighborhood schools in District 5, 12, and 14, and it’s something he hopes to expand.

What You Need To Know

  • The city will create 160 new kindergarten seats across three programs serving children on the autism spectrum

  • The seats in the Nest, Horizon, and AIMS programs will be in Districts 5, 12, and 14

  • The city also rolled out recommendations from a special education advisory council that was established about a year ago

Parent Lucy Antoine recalled her experience seeking a seat in a Nest program for her son, Dylan, after he was diagnosed with autism at eighteen months old.

“Somebody dropped the name Nest, and they were like Nest is like Ivy League — you gotta get your kid in,” she said.

She did, and he went on to thrive.

“These teachers were nurturing, loving, caring. So Dylan went into the Nest program at P.S. 255, Dylan went from nonspeaking to valedictorian, twice,” she said.

With this expansion, programs like Nest will become a little easier to access for parents in the three districts being targeted.

“Our commitment here is in those three districts, every student whose family is requesting a seat and who meets that criteria, which generally most students on the spectrum will meet the criteria for one of those programs will be guaranteed a seat,” Christina Foti, the DOE’s deputy chief academic officer for special education, said.

But the administration has made sweeping guarantees before: like this one, in Dec. 2022, as they announced an expansion of special education pre-K seat.

“This expansion will open enough preschool seats to serve every single preschool child with disabilities across the five boroughs,” Banks promised that in December.

The city did not keep that promise — more than one thousand children still needed a seat at the end of last school year, and hundreds remain on waiting lists today.

“While we were able to provide the 800 seats, I think that were promised at that time, we have had an influx of students who have needed, since then, who have been determined to need those seats with those kinds of supports, so we’ve been doing everything we can to build,” Deputy Chancellor Carolyn Quintana said.