Best school for a child who is smart, but has SEVERE motor delays?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are in FCPS, but I'd echo the PPs if you were willing to move to MD. Forest Knolls and Bethesda Elementary are both committed to full inclusion and specialize in kids with only physical disabilities. There are other programs for kids who also have cognitive differences.

Or...just call the Office of Special Education where you live and ask. I can't imagine they don't have a program for kids with physical disabilities and no other issues.

BE isn't full inclusion.

We are at Bethesda Elementary and there are children with a similar level of need. It is my understanding that BE accepts disabled children from neighboring elementary schools because they are a center and have the specialized staff and equipment (wheelchairs, treadmill, special exercise bikes, and probably other things in classrooms that I have not seen). I do not know how large the catchment area is for BE.

From personal experience, I have found that children with special needs are often thought of as wanting in the top story. My son, after years of having his special needs met wonderfully at BE, was finally recognized to be gifted as well, and moved on to a middle school program for gifted and learning disabled children. It was hard work persuading the teachers and special educators to see beyond his motor, verbal and other disabilities, even though they were all decent, intelligent people. I know there have been physically disabled children in the program, although the ones I know were all ambulatory and verbal. Your son is only 4, I'm sure he will catch up and might benefit from such a program.

Please call MCPS special ed and they will answer your questions.
One final thing - you are your child's best educator. Homeschooling is always an option. We nearly went there after a couple of difficult years.

BE has many students with disabilities, including kids in the school community based program who often have a combination of sever motor issues and intellectual disabilities. However, these kids spend a significant amount of their school day receiving instruction outside the general ed classroom. Therefore the program is not full inclusion, it's partial inclusion.

That isn't to say that it's not a good school, or that it doesn't do partial inclusion well. I was the one who wrote that it wasn't full inclusion, and I merely wanted to be accurate.

I know kids with significant needs at both BE and Forest Knolls, The latter is much closer to a full inclusion model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just moved from out of state. Does anyone have a child similar to mine? Where do they go to school? He is 4 years old. Cannot crawl or walk, fine motor is so delayed he cannot self feed, but is otherwise smart? He knows his colors and letters, for example. He enjoyed the preschool through our school district last year, but as he gets older, I get worried about the lack of progress with fine motor. Our last school didn't really address self help skills, despite being in his IEP. It was way more academic than I was expecting. Will FCPS be the same? I'm starting to wonder despite the apparent intelligence, I need to think about places like St. Coletta's. At least for a year or two while he still has a lot of brain plasticity and can make a lot of progress in OT and learning those skills.

Where do you live?

St. Coletta's is not for kids who don't also have intellectual deficits.

In MD or Virginia the public preschool options will be part time. You can and probably should find private services for the other days to work on what the child isn't getting enough of in school.

We live in NOVA, but we are renting, so after getting to know things, we can move if need be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are in FCPS, but I'd echo the PPs if you were willing to move to MD. Forest Knolls and Bethesda Elementary are both committed to full inclusion and specialize in kids with only physical disabilities. There are other programs for kids who also have cognitive differences.

Or...just call the Office of Special Education where you live and ask. I can't imagine they don't have a program for kids with physical disabilities and no other issues.

BE isn't full inclusion.

We are at Bethesda Elementary and there are children with a similar level of need. It is my understanding that BE accepts disabled children from neighboring elementary schools because they are a center and have the specialized staff and equipment (wheelchairs, treadmill, special exercise bikes, and probably other things in classrooms that I have not seen). I do not know how large the catchment area is for BE.

From personal experience, I have found that children with special needs are often thought of as wanting in the top story. My son, after years of having his special needs met wonderfully at BE, was finally recognized to be gifted as well, and moved on to a middle school program for gifted and learning disabled children. It was hard work persuading the teachers and special educators to see beyond his motor, verbal and other disabilities, even though they were all decent, intelligent people. I know there have been physically disabled children in the program, although the ones I know were all ambulatory and verbal. Your son is only 4, I'm sure he will catch up and might benefit from such a program.

Please call MCPS special ed and they will answer your questions.
One final thing - you are your child's best educator. Homeschooling is always an option. We nearly went there after a couple of difficult years.

BE has many students with disabilities, including kids in the school community based program who often have a combination of sever motor issues and intellectual disabilities. However, these kids spend a significant amount of their school day receiving instruction outside the general ed classroom. Therefore the program is not full inclusion, it's partial inclusion.

That isn't to say that it's not a good school, or that it doesn't do partial inclusion well. I was the one who wrote that it wasn't full inclusion, and I merely wanted to be accurate.

I know kids with significant needs at both BE and Forest Knolls, The latter is much closer to a full inclusion model.

BE parent here. Thanks for clarifying, I did not know this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are in FCPS, but I'd echo the PPs if you were willing to move to MD. Forest Knolls and Bethesda Elementary are both committed to full inclusion and specialize in kids with only physical disabilities. There are other programs for kids who also have cognitive differences.

Or...just call the Office of Special Education where you live and ask. I can't imagine they don't have a program for kids with physical disabilities and no other issues.

BE isn't full inclusion.

We are at Bethesda Elementary and there are children with a similar level of need. It is my understanding that BE accepts disabled children from neighboring elementary schools because they are a center and have the specialized staff and equipment (wheelchairs, treadmill, special exercise bikes, and probably other things in classrooms that I have not seen). I do not know how large the catchment area is for BE.

From personal experience, I have found that children with special needs are often thought of as wanting in the top story. My son, after years of having his special needs met wonderfully at BE, was finally recognized to be gifted as well, and moved on to a middle school program for gifted and learning disabled children. It was hard work persuading the teachers and special educators to see beyond his motor, verbal and other disabilities, even though they were all decent, intelligent people. I know there have been physically disabled children in the program, although the ones I know were all ambulatory and verbal. Your son is only 4, I'm sure he will catch up and might benefit from such a program.

Please call MCPS special ed and they will answer your questions.
One final thing - you are your child's best educator. Homeschooling is always an option. We nearly went there after a couple of difficult years.

Thank you!!! It sounds like you really understand where I'm coming from. And your post gives me a lot of hope for the future. It's been so hard to get everyone to see what I and my husband know to be true about him. Even the grandparents who saw him often didn't think he understood much for the longest time. His fine motor makes signing difficult, so signs don't always look like what people who know ASL and/or familiar with little ones signing expect. But once you know what you're seeing with him, you realize he is very consistent. His classroom teacher was a total sweetheart, but it took half a year for them to pick up on some of his communications, and until he yelled out, "Mama!" when she asked the class to think of words that start with M, I don't think she even thought he was paying attention to her lessons. It's like I finally had everyone on the same page and had to move. I went into into the process a little naively last year. I don't want to make the same mistake when I get him started here.

[Anonymous]

OP - Have you had an evaluation from a developmental pediatrician as to what the root cause of lack of meeting milestones in gross and fine motor skills indicates in terms of any specific condition? How much PT and OT has your DS received in the early years? Is it "hand-on" or this new "coaching crap".?
Has anyone given you a prognosis?

If you have been told that he needs the hours of PT, OT and Speech that St. Coletta might be able to offer him, why not consider trying it for one year and supplementing the basic preschool level academics. The school is almost year-round so there woukd be little loss of skill. One year there might be the best opportunity to see progress or not and adjust your expectations on mobility etc. If DS makes gains, then you coukd consider a second year there and then go into a more local or recommended school. If the amount of therapy there is paying off, then you might pay for an enrichment teacher or even a tutor to work on language arts and math skills.

Check to see how much PT, OT and Speech other school districts would offer and in what setting and to meet what goals? Your DS has severe motor delays which if St Coketta's might best address, consider it as DS is young and has time to then be in a more academic environment. If he uses a wheel chair the school and play ground is compltely accessible. I know of the school from a daughter who worked there years ago. I also had daughter with very low tone who who benefitted from PT, OT, Speech and AdaptivevPE as years ago public schools followed the "medical model" of therapies, but that is no longer the case.

I also can say that the Easter Seal day care center is an inclusive setting because two children of a college girl,I used,to have doing things with my youngest has kids enrolled there for that specific reason. In any case there is no need to rush into kindergarten at age 5. YourvDS may well benefit from two years in a good setting if he is making progress. In any case helping him to find a consistent communication system to be able to relate what he knows might be the most important focus.

[Anonymous]

OP, are you doing private services (I'm assuming yes but its not clear). I'd almost consider holding him back a year and heavily focusing on OT, PT and Speech and homeschool for academics. School speech is not worth much at the elementary level. We get twice a week group but its very basic and not really geared to my child's specific needs. Private is far better if insurance can cover it.

If you move to MD, there are LISS funds you can apply. Its a lottery so its hard to get but worth trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are in FCPS, but I'd echo the PPs if you were willing to move to MD. Forest Knolls and Bethesda Elementary are both committed to full inclusion and specialize in kids with only physical disabilities. There are other programs for kids who also have cognitive differences.

Or...just call the Office of Special Education where you live and ask. I can't imagine they don't have a program for kids with physical disabilities and no other issues.

BE isn't full inclusion.

We are at Bethesda Elementary and there are children with a similar level of need. It is my understanding that BE accepts disabled children from neighboring elementary schools because they are a center and have the specialized staff and equipment (wheelchairs, treadmill, special exercise bikes, and probably other things in classrooms that I have not seen). I do not know how large the catchment area is for BE.

From personal experience, I have found that children with special needs are often thought of as wanting in the top story. My son, after years of having his special needs met wonderfully at BE, was finally recognized to be gifted as well, and moved on to a middle school program for gifted and learning disabled children. It was hard work persuading the teachers and special educators to see beyond his motor, verbal and other disabilities, even though they were all decent, intelligent people. I know there have been physically disabled children in the program, although the ones I know were all ambulatory and verbal. Your son is only 4, I'm sure he will catch up and might benefit from such a program.

Please call MCPS special ed and they will answer your questions.
One final thing - you are your child's best educator. Homeschooling is always an option. We nearly went there after a couple of difficult years.

When you have a child who has complex communication issues and requires Augmentative Communication devices and several different kinds of therapies, unfortunately home schooling is often out of the question.

My DD is similar to your son. She is at Forest Knolls.

St. Coletta's has great Augmentative Communication and PT but the academics are unfortunately not at all strong. I have been advised not to look there because we are hoping for diploma track and a level of academic enrichment that they can't meet. This is a true bind for kids in this area. There is a trade off between therapies and academics and there are no school for kids with physical disabilities and complex communication needs other than at Kennedy Krieger in Baltimore. A few kids end up in the so-called communication program at Ivymount but there is no peer modelling/inclusion. There is a real lack of programming in this area for kids like ours.

Forest Knolls is a terrific program and I would encourage you to visit. It houses the "orthopedically handicapped" program for MCPS. It is somewhat of a hidden program and you won't find information about it on MCPS preschools. They basically will either agree or not agree to accept your child after reviewing his file. Keep pressing MCPS about it and about sending your file there to be reviewed. Or, your other option is you can look for a home in the Forest Knolls neighborhood of Silver Spring, which is a nice place to live, and your child can go to school there. It's a regular elementary school too, and a good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does he communicate?

He has some words and signs, and he has an AAC iPad. His understanding is age level. I thought the AAC would motivate him to use his hands more, but ironically, he attempts to speak the words more to avoid using it.

OP, I don't know if this is at all convenient to you geographically, but my son also uses an iPad with an AAC app and we go to this monthly group for young AAC users at Conaboy & Associates, near Union Station: http://conaboy.com/capitol-communicators/ It is a play/social group for kids who use AAC.

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine sending a child like that to anything but a partial inclusion school for both academics and motor skills. OP does he have a diagnosis? That will help determine which school caters best.

[Anonymous]

Just a quick note to say that I am a bit of an outsider to your forum -- I have professional interests, but not a child with special needs myself. I am so impressed and delighted that a family coming into your area could find such thorough, thoughtful, and helpful answers here.

This forum is a tremendous resource. I'm so glad for it.

[Anonymous]

PS: my best wishes for the incoming family to find the right fit for their child.

[Anonymous]

OP - Interesting that St. Colletta School admission is based on a lottery system so your focus really just needs to be on the best place for services for a child with physical disabilities and language limitations and strong cognitive skills. You have probably found the web site for Forest Knowles.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/special-education/programs-services/physical-disabilities.aspx

In FCPS system it would seem that there is no specialized program for this low incidence population in elementary school and therefore, it is doubtful that the level of services could be as consistent as that offered in the MCPS program because these students will benefit most from therapists across all disciplines who are trained and experienced in the needed skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP - Interesting that St. Colletta School admission is based on a lottery system so your focus really just needs to be on the best place for services for a child with physical disabilities and language limitations and strong cognitive skills. You have probably found the web site for Forest Knowles.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/special-education/programs-services/physical-disabilities.aspx

In FCPS system it would seem that there is no specialized program for this low incidence population in elementary school and therefore, it is doubtful that the level of services could be as consistent as that offered in the MCPS program because these students will benefit most from therapists across all disciplines who are trained and experienced in the needed skills.

You cannot earn a high school diploma from St Coletta -- details on how to apply are here http://www.stcoletta.org/index.php?page=school-program-2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP - Interesting that St. Colletta School admission is based on a lottery system so your focus really just needs to be on the best place for services for a child with physical disabilities and language limitations and strong cognitive skills. You have probably found the web site for Forest Knowles.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/special-education/programs-services/physical-disabilities.aspx

In FCPS system it would seem that there is no specialized program for this low incidence population in elementary school and therefore, it is doubtful that the level of services could be as consistent as that offered in the MCPS program because these students will benefit most from therapists across all disciplines who are trained and experienced in the needed skills.

St. Colletta's is based on lottery for DC residents who are attending the charter school. Most DC kids will get in, but not always immediately. The school is a charter school (serving DC kids) and a private school (serving kids from MD and VA who are "funded" or whose parents pay tuition) blended together, and the MD and VA kids go through a different process.

But St. C's isn't the place for OP's kid. It's not just that they don't teach academics, but the complex language, and peer interactions he'll need to thrive aren't available there either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP - Have you had an evaluation from a developmental pediatrician as to what the root cause of lack of meeting milestones in gross and fine motor skills indicates in terms of any specific condition? How much PT and OT has your DS received in the early years? Is it "hand-on" or this new "coaching crap".?
Has anyone given you a prognosis?

If you have been told that he needs the hours of PT, OT and Speech that St. Coletta might be able to offer him, why not consider trying it for one year and supplementing the basic preschool level academics. The school is almost year-round so there woukd be little loss of skill. One year there might be the best opportunity to see progress or not and adjust your expectations on mobility etc. If DS makes gains, then you coukd consider a second year there and then go into a more local or recommended school. If the amount of therapy there is paying off, then you might pay for an enrichment teacher or even a tutor to work on language arts and math skills.

Check to see how much PT, OT and Speech other school districts would offer and in what setting and to meet what goals? Your DS has severe motor delays which if St Coketta's might best address, consider it as DS is young and has time to then be in a more academic environment. If he uses a wheel chair the school and play ground is compltely accessible. I know of the school from a daughter who worked there years ago. I also had daughter with very low tone who who benefitted from PT, OT, Speech and AdaptivevPE as years ago public schools followed the "medical model" of therapies, but that is no longer the case.

I also can say that the Easter Seal day care center is an inclusive setting because two children of a college girl,I used,to have doing things with my youngest has kids enrolled there for that specific reason. In any case there is no need to rush into kindergarten at age 5. YourvDS may well benefit from two years in a good setting if he is making progress. In any case helping him to find a consistent communication system to be able to relate what he knows might be the most important focus.

OP here. Sorry for the delay, we went on vacation. We have a genetic diagnosis for him. It is so extremely rare that I don't want to say what it is, and possibly lose anonymity. But one of the universal characteristics is extremely low tone that with lots of therapy often improves somewhat over time. Averages age to walk is 4, but there is one child that walked at 10. We have been very aggressive with therapy. He's had 2x per week, an hour each session of PT, OT and ST for years.

Your comments really get to the heart of my questions concerning St. Coletta's. If they truly work on skills all day long, I agree with you, he could benefit greatly' and still has time for academics later. But as another person said, he needs to be around peers with complex language to thrive also. I guess I just need to start visiting some schools.