Moving from DC to Montgomery County for public school autism program?

[Anonymous]

Our first grader with HFA, ADHD, and anxiety has reached a point where his DC public school are running out of options to cope with him. His issues are mostly noncompliance, plus some aggression and elopement. He has an IEP and has just been rejected by DCPS from getting a 1:1 paraprofessional, which the school had requested. We are thinking about moving to Montgomery County as we have heard that they have good programs where they can integrate children who have what used to be called Aspergers in a general education setting, and he'd have more support. Is it super hard to get a spot in these programs if you are in MCPS? Our other option is going to be to try to get public placement at somewhere like Ivymount, but we would probably need a court case to do this. Grateful for any advice. Our little guy is very smart and only just got diagnosed in December, after a horrendous first three months of first grade. We have two other children who are NT, aged 2 and 4, and cannot afford private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our first grader with HFA, ADHD, and anxiety has reached a point where his DC public school are running out of options to cope with him. His issues are mostly noncompliance, plus some aggression and elopement. He has an IEP and has just been rejected by DCPS from getting a 1:1 paraprofessional, which the school had requested. We are thinking about moving to Montgomery County as we have heard that they have good programs where they can integrate children who have what used to be called Aspergers in a general education setting, and he'd have more support. Is it super hard to get a spot in these programs if you are in MCPS? Our other option is going to be to try to get public placement at somewhere like Ivymount, but we would probably need a court case to do this. Grateful for any advice. Our little guy is very smart and only just got diagnosed in December, after a horrendous first three months of first grade. We have two other children who are NT, aged 2 and 4, and cannot afford private.

My kid got an Asperger's placement - but we coincidentally lived in-zone for it, so it didn't involve transportation. Didn't need a 1:1, either.

I've been a para working with kids with autism (and elopers). Generally those that need it get 1:1, but there's a shortage of staff. If not, they do get extra staff in the room that can give more individualized support, often 4-or-5 to 1.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! The school seemed to think we could fight it, but also were unsure of how much a para would help and mentioned that there was a shortage of paras. He already gets 10 hours of 1:1 help from their special education teacher per week, plus more hours of OT and speech. He currently is taking part in about 20 percent of the day’s academics and the rest of the time he hides in a chair or is disruptive.

How did you find the Aspergers placement? If we move, it will be entirely for this reason, so we could look to move in bounds for a school that offers this.

[Anonymous]

Call the MCPS autism office. Tell them you have already rented in the district or purchased a house and tell them about your child and the supports he receives. With aggression and elopement, I think you'll get the Asperger's placement without a fight. This program has the ability gradually mainstream as your child grows in his skills or if your child still needs the support there are MS and HS programs. There's a group called XMinds and there are families who have children in all levels of the Asperger's programs and can advise you.

We know a family who had a child who was in the elementary program who is highly gifted and they did very well. I hope your child will also have a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you! The school seemed to think we could fight it, but also were unsure of how much a para would help and mentioned that there was a shortage of paras. He already gets 10 hours of 1:1 help from their special education teacher per week, plus more hours of OT and speech. He currently is taking part in about 20 percent of the day’s academics and the rest of the time he hides in a chair or is disruptive.

How did you find the Aspergers placement? If we move, it will be entirely for this reason, so we could look to move in bounds for a school that offers this.

What is the next level of placement in DCPS and how does that compare to the Asperger's program? It sounds like they are considering moving him to a more supportive placement already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call the MCPS autism office. Tell them you have already rented in the district or purchased a house and tell them about your child and the supports he receives. With aggression and elopement, I think you'll get the Asperger's placement without a fight. This program has the ability gradually mainstream as your child grows in his skills or if your child still needs the support there are MS and HS programs. There's a group called XMinds and there are families who have children in all levels of the Asperger's programs and can advise you.

We know a family who had a child who was in the elementary program who is highly gifted and they did very well. I hope your child will also have a great experience.

Thank you. Our DCPS has told us that the options in DC would be either a BES classroom (which we do not want to put our child in) or CES (which would be with children much more cognitively affected than he is). We haven’t yet purchased or rented a home in Montgomery County though - so wouldn’t be telling the truth if we said that to MCPS. We do have a ton of documentation from DCPS about his elopements and aggression. I sort of feel if we could get that under control he could transfer back into mainstream. Thank you for the XMinds recommendation- I will look them up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you! The school seemed to think we could fight it, but also were unsure of how much a para would help and mentioned that there was a shortage of paras. He already gets 10 hours of 1:1 help from their special education teacher per week, plus more hours of OT and speech. He currently is taking part in about 20 percent of the day’s academics and the rest of the time he hides in a chair or is disruptive.

How did you find the Aspergers placement? If we move, it will be entirely for this reason, so we could look to move in bounds for a school that offers this.

Our kid found a tribe in the aspergers program - a really good fit.

[Anonymous]

My son was in the MCPS Aspergers program. What level of elopement/aggression does your son display? My son did the same but could not stop. Eventually we were moved to a higher level placement.

The teachers are great about working with elopement/aggression but it is disruptive to the flow of the class. Once in a while, they will handle--maybe even a few times a month. But if it is frequent, then they are not staffed to handle that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was in the MCPS Aspergers program. What level of elopement/aggression does your son display? My son did the same but could not stop. Eventually we were moved to a higher level placement.

The teachers are great about working with elopement/aggression but it is disruptive to the flow of the class. Once in a while, they will handle--maybe even a few times a month. But if it is frequent, then they are not staffed to handle that.

That's where the 1:1 comes in. I've followed kids out of the classroom too many times to count. I do let them know (or the ones capable of getting it, anyway) that leaving the school grounds will involve the police. That keeps them on property, but I've walked around several schools many, many times!

[Anonymous]

I know someone who was denied placement in the Asperger's program due to aggression issues. The two kids I know there have a history of being disruptive but not aggressive. MCPS may lean more towards a behavioral classroom so I wouldn't move assuming you will get an Asperger's program placement.

[Anonymous]

OP's son has more noncompliance issues. She said some aggression. I think in a child that young they will think they can handle that. If a child is aggressive a lot that's different but I don't think that's what OP's child is like. Her child sounds like the model of the types of children for the program according to what they told us.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My son showed more aggression at the start of the school year when he was incredibly stressed by the demands that first grade was placing on him (he skipped K due to the pandemic). It has eased off now (but isn’t totally extinguished). But he is still a huge handful for the school. He can seem “normal” when he is doing preferred activities but is incredibly rigid when asked to do non preferred tasks. He spends a lot of time reading by himself. Hmm. PP who was moved out of the Aspergers program, where did you end up?

[Anonymous]

I think aggression is going to work against you here in MCPS. My friend has a child in Gen Ed with a 1:1, but she hired a lawyer for the 1:1, no aggressive behaviors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP's son has more noncompliance issues. She said some aggression. I think in a child that young they will think they can handle that. If a child is aggressive a lot that's different but I don't think that's what OP's child is like. Her child sounds like the model of the types of children for the program according to what they told us.

Thank you for this. It is reassuring. Grateful for the kindness I can feel through your post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My son showed more aggression at the start of the school year when he was incredibly stressed by the demands that first grade was placing on him (he skipped K due to the pandemic). It has eased off now (but isn’t totally extinguished). But he is still a huge handful for the school. He can seem “normal” when he is doing preferred activities but is incredibly rigid when asked to do non preferred tasks. He spends a lot of time reading by himself. Hmm. PP who was moved out of the Aspergers program, where did you end up?

SESES and then RICA once he was old enough. SESES could handle his aggression either. RICA is fabulous.