EAST BRUNSWICK — A former township resident whose son has autism is seeking help from the community in getting similar services for him and others now that the family lives in Puerto Rico.

Mylene Vasquez and her family lived in East Brunswick for the past four years before moving to Puerto Rico earlier this year. One of her two sons, Mikey, who is autistic, was well cared for in the township's school district and placed in a contained classroom where he received therapy, Vasquez said. He first attended Chittick Elementary School with teacher Carrie Semeniak and then went to Central School under teacher Carolyn Sterner. Vasquez said both were great teachers with an excellent team of assistants.

Mikey also received speech and occupational therapies in the schools during the four years he was there. Although he is on the more severe side of the autism spectrum, he made improvements and learned a lot of new words, lessening his frustrations with communication, according to his mother. He was also able to go to the gym and participate in different school activities.

Since having to relocate to Puerto Rico, Vasquez has tried to get a school for Mikey but has found a very different situation. She said she has been sent from one special education office to another, and though she finally found a supervisor interested in helping, she could not accommodate the child because there is no space available in the district.

"The few [schools available] are either full or are for high functioning kids, or don't have teachers trained to work with autistic kids ... or are in a not-so-good area where shootings occur ...," Vasquez said.

This situation, she said, seems to be common all over the island, and many parents of autistic students school their kids at home due to a lack of teachers or aides, or an undesirable setting.

"We as parents have been complaining about this to the government for a long time and nothing has been done. Public education in Puerto Rico is a total disaster, and it is worse when it comes to special education. You can ask anyone who lives here and they will agree," Vasquez said.

Vasquez has started an online petition, www.thepetitionsite.com/1/CentrosAutismo to ask the government to take care of all the children and adults with autism.

"There is a great need for at least classrooms with well-prepared teachers to tend to this community," Vasquez said.

Her goal is to garner 2,000 signatures, and by last week she had about 1,300.

Vasquez noted that she visited a private therapy center about 14 miles from where the family lives, and though it seemed appropriate for her son, it charges $3,000 per month in addition to a $700 admission fee.

According to Ellen Murphy, supervisor of autism spectrum disorders for the East Brunswick school district, the township's program was started in 1993. It began with just four students and today has 101 pupils. A full range of services is offered, including speech/language, occupational and physical therapies, social skills, job sampling and job coaching, she said.

"The primary teaching methodology used to teach students is the research- based Applied Behavior Analysis, focusing on verbal behavior. Social cognition, the ability to actively consider or take the perspective of others and adapt effectively based on the situation, is also taught, as that can be an ongoing challenge for students with autism spectrum disorders," Murphy said.

East Brunswick also has a buddies program that provides students who are self-contained with the opportunity to interact with their peers on a regular basis. General education students volunteer their recess time to be with the students, playing games or engaging in activities such as arts and crafts.