Susan Leon spent years trying to find the right school for her autistic son, Reno.

The public schools didn't have the right tools to teach children with autism, she said. And the specialized private schools were too costly.

So Leon, a paralegal from Kendall, convened a group of parents and experts to create the region's first charter school exclusively for autistic children.

The South Florida Autism Charter School in Hialeah opened in August with 81 students from Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

``These kids can learn so much,'' said Leon, now the school's director of development. ``You just have to know how to teach them.''

As more children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, school districts nationwide are finding new ways to meet their needs.

Experts now believe one in every 150 children born in the United States have autism or a related disability.

Locally, more than 4,400 children enrolled in the Miami-Dade and Broward school districts have been diagnosed with the disorder, according to school district data.

``This is one of the fastest-growing special-needs populations in the country,'' said Miami-Dade schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. ``It's time to provide more options for students and parents.''

In addition to the new charter school, the Miami-Dade school district recently launched South Florida's first choice program for autistic students. The program is housed at Blue Lakes Elementary, a traditional school in Southwest Miami-Dade.

The school-within-a-school model gives students with autism the opportunity to mingle with other students, Carvalho said.

Autistic children have a variety of needs: social coaching, behavioral modification, speech, occupational therapy.

Both the Miami-Dade and Broward districts have had resources for students with autism within many of their traditional schools. But until this school year, neither had an intensive program.

In developing the South Florida Autism Charter School, Leon and her colleagues sought to bring skilled teachers and therapists to a single location.

Leon also wanted to create a space where students and their families felt comfortable. ``We don't want to feel like outsiders in our own school,'' she said.

The South Florida Autism Charter School is housed within a public library in Hialeah. The students have access to nearby Slade Park for recess and physical education.

EXPANSION PLANS

This year, the school admitted students from kindergarten through the eighth grade. It will eventually grow to serve students through high school.

As a charter school, the South Florida Autism Charter School receives funding from the state. It costs parents nothing to send their children there. But the school is run independently from the Miami-Dade School Board -- and can set its own curriculum.

For example, the school boasts one teacher for every three students. What's more, faculty members are trained in applied behavior analysis, a method that uses repetition and positive reinforcement to shape behavior. In the classrooms, teachers often praise the children for behaving well and paying attention -- skills that translate outside of school, too.

The charter school also requires that parents attend frequent meetings and play an active role in their child's classroom.

``The support is there, both for the students and the families,'' said Annette Roces, whose son Mitchell is in the eighth-grade class.

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