Our church, Epworth United Methodist Church in Huntsville Alabama, totally embraced my child and a few others into their program. They also accepted our full-time aide (which we paid for) and allowed us to train the teachers to give our kids the best possible early intervention in a fully inclusive program.
We loved it. Our kids thrived there.
The key is teacher support and support of the director. The trained aide was the element that made our child so successful.
Good luck.

What city is your church located? My son will be going into the 5th grade at McAdory Elementary this coming year and my wife and I do not want him going to the middle school. We are looking for other alternatives but have heard that private schools will not accept autistic children because they don't have the training.

It is Lindsay Lane Baptist Church in Athens, AL. We are only in the planning stages and I am trying to get some feedback to present to the committee as to whether there is a substantial enough need/want/desire in order for them to include special needs. The school is only going to be 1st to 6th grade to begin. Like you, my oldest is in the 6th grade at our Intermediate School and I am not looking forward to middle school! I am praying that God will provide the people and resources neccesary for this. Tentative start date is Aug. 2009 and I will keep everyone posted on the progress.

I live in Birmingham, so that would be too far of a drive for me everyday. Does anyone know of any private schools close to the Birmingham area? My son is 8.

I would be very interested in this, but I think it is important to include typical children as well. Like Barry, I wish there were other options in our area.

Barry, I have a son at North Highlands in Hueytown. We're going into the third grade, so I have another couple years to ponder this issue but it has weighed heavily on my heart as well. I graduated from McAdory and have actually considered moving back there to put him AT McAdory for middle school. I'm curious what is your concern? I'm sure it's not what it was when I was there..haha. I will say this much. My son's resource teacher from the past few years is now at McAdory Middle and I dearly LOVE her.