NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) — For many families in Southwest Florida, the journey through the education system with a child on the autism spectrum doesn’t feel like a path—it feels like a brick wall.
As diagnosis rates continue to climb—now reaching 1 in 31 children by age eight according to the CDC—local families and school districts are grappling with a system pushed to its limit.
A Mother’s Mission on the Farm
At Peters Academy in North Fort Myers, the traditional classroom is replaced by the quiet of a Florida farm, complete with horses, pigs, goats and other animals. Founder Rebecca Lemieux started the school not as a business venture, but out of necessity for her son, Peter.
“The public school system did not do him justice at all,” Lemieux told Chief WINK Investigates Reporter Chorus Nylander. “It was unfortunate that there was no other special needs school that could meet his needs.”
At Peters Academy, the environment is fluid. Students aren’t tied to desks; they may have lessons on a couch, outside with the animals, or in the kitchen learning to make snacks or meals. It’s a model focused on developmental progress and the “why” behind the education: independence.
The Public Sector Pivot
The frustrations felt by families are not lost on the School District of Lee County (SDLC). Internal district documents from a March 2026 presentation reveal an admission that the system has been struggling to keep pace.
Currently, the achievement gap for local students with disabilities lags behind the Florida state average according to the documents. District data shows that resources have been “diluted” and “spread too thin” across too many campuses.
To address this, the SDLC is moving toward a “Cluster School Model”. Under the old system, itinerant staff like speech and occupational therapists spent up to 30% of their day traveling between schools. The new model aims to consolidate these experts into “Centers of Excellence,” slashing travel time to just 5% and pushing direct student instruction time up to 95%.
Barriers to Entry: The “Diagnosis Lag”
Even with school reforms on the horizon, many families face a barrier before they ever step into a classroom.
“Trying to scale to meet that demand is overwhelming to say the least,” said David Brown, President of Family Initiative, an organization that has supported the local autism community for a decade.
Brown points to a “diagnosis lag” that can keep families waiting two to three years for the formal paperwork required to unlock state funding and insurance coverage.
Furthermore, a statewide shortage of specialists is compounding the issue.
“We are really short on speech-language therapists,” said Kim Verblaauw, principal of Family Initiative’s school Thrive Academy. “That’s a huge issue across Florida whether you’re in a private school or public school.”
Looking Toward the Future
For parents like Barbara Hunt, whose son has autism and attends Thrive Academy, the goal is simple but high-stakes.
“Our goal is not to get him to college,” Hunt said. “Our goal is for him to grow up, be independent and have a job.”
Lee County Schools do have efforts in place to help with those goals; it has established “Transition Work Study Hubs” at high schools in North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Senior, and Bonita Springs. These hubs are specifically designed for students aged 18 to 22, focusing on pre-employment skills and community-based instruction.
While the district implements its two-year roadmap for transformation, advocates like David Brown say the arrival of private programs like Peters Academy is a welcome addition to the landscape. He believes students need all the options and resources they can get.
“For us, I think it’s a tide that lifts all boats,” Brown said. “When we see more folks providing support and education for children and students on the autism spectrum.”
WINK Investigates saw the impact of Peter’s Academy as Christa Carlos proudly watched her son Logan, progressing before her eyes. She believes the farm model is a huge benefit.
“Logan gets to learn outdoors which is so much better developmentally,” she said.
Lemieux says they accept children between kindergarten through 12th grade, the cost of tuition to join is between $12,000-$20,000 depending on the student’s level of autism.
Visit the website here for more information on how to apply.
The Thrive Academy also offers several resources, visit its website here to learn more.
