Child with ASD at BASIS

[Anonymous]

My child is on the spectrum but has a very high IQ. He has raw intelligence, but his executive functioning is terrible. He is also not into sports and is a bit socially awkward. He is doing well at his Upper NW elementary with no extra support. I don't think he can handle a large MS such as Deal, and we can't afford private. We can move to the suburbs, but those schools are still huge. Does anyone have experience with BASIS with a child like this? I read in another thread that BASIS requires a huge amount of executive functioning. I think he could handle the work as he is very academically inclined, but he is not good at being "on top of" his things. He misplaces things constantly, is forgetful, daydreams, etc.

[Anonymous]

My kid goes to Basis but doesn't have ASD. We had challenges throughout the middle school years -- I really had to follow through much more than many Basis parents do to teach the executive functioning component. Don't count on the school for too much help. This is part of the "our way or the highway" mentality that comes with Basis -- you aren't going to change that part. But if you can commit to checking the homework agenda each night, teaching your kid how to organize the night before, etc etc & realize that you may be in it for the long haul then I think he'll be ok. Mine pulled the organization together by 9th, which was well later than many.

[Anonymous]

How is he sensory-wise?
I ask b/c of the physical facility at Basis - it is crowded, loud, etc. As a parent, I dread any events when I have to go!

[Anonymous]

I don't want to minimize the challenge, as they require much more independence than in elementary school, but know that organization and independence is a huge focus in 5th grade. They teach kids to use the "CJ," Communications Journal, which is a notebook listing all assignments. In each class, the teacher tells them what to write down.

But full disclosure, my middle-schooler refuses to use it, which is probably why he often forgets to turn in assignments. It's a learning process.

I would try to take a tour and ask about this specifically.

[Anonymous]

My kid does not have those challenges but I figured I'd give you another perspective. It is true that the 5th grade year is designed to teach executive functions and they do everything they can to support that through rigor, structure and repetition. However, even before the end of the 5th grade year kids are pretty much running things on their own. The school is pretty up front about the fact that they want kids to be the center of their own educations. What this means is that teachers won't reply to parent emails for a day or two at the earliest (the SLA is 3 business days). They send home grade reports every two weeks and they won't reach out to parents (for the most part) in the interim. For example, when my kid was in 5th he totally blew a quiz (think F----). He was otherwise an excellent student. We only found out about it when we looked at the interim report and his grade cratered. BASIS also does not allow retakes or re-dos. If your kid leaves his homework at home or in his locker he's going to get a 0 for the assignment.

You can make it work but you are going to need to stay on top of him. Looking at the CJ every day, asking about when tests and quizzes are coming up (multiple per week on average), when trimester and comps occur, etc. It is going to take a huge commitment and effort from you. On the plus side, maybe your kid is capable of executive functioning if he's given the tools and structure and he might surprise you. In some ways your kid seems like a good fit, actually.

As others have said, BASIS is NOT flexible. They are not going to change for you or your kid; know this going in. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I have a very smart kid with ASD and the poor executive functioning that goes along with that. I did not consider BASIS. I thought it would be a disaster based on all I had heard.

[Anonymous]

Other places you could lottery include inspired teaching, latin, capital city, sww@f-s, sojourner truth, Washington global....if you don't like where you land you can always try deal later.

[Anonymous]

what about hardy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a very smart kid with ASD and the poor executive functioning that goes along with that. I did not consider BASIS. I thought it would be a disaster based on all I had heard.

Where is your child enrolled?

[Anonymous]

I have an ASD child at BASIS who’s overall doing very well, in fact, my child is thriving academically. The curriculum suits my child well as does the emphasis on independent work (as opposed to constant group activities). My child also appreciates the lack of PE (in upper grades). It’s overall been a good fit (though social challenges persist).

If you post a dummy email I’d be happy to answer more questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is he sensory-wise?
I ask b/c of the physical facility at Basis - it is crowded, loud, etc. As a parent, I dread any events when I have to go!

I was going to post this. When we say "crowded, loud," we mean sold out rock concert loud and crowded.
There is PE in MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid does not have those challenges but I figured I'd give you another perspective. It is true that the 5th grade year is designed to teach executive functions and they do everything they can to support that through rigor, structure and repetition. However, even before the end of the 5th grade year kids are pretty much running things on their own. The school is pretty up front about the fact that they want kids to be the center of their own educations. What this means is that teachers won't reply to parent emails for a day or two at the earliest (the SLA is 3 business days). They send home grade reports every two weeks and they won't reach out to parents (for the most part) in the interim. For example, when my kid was in 5th he totally blew a quiz (think F----). He was otherwise an excellent student. We only found out about it when we looked at the interim report and his grade cratered. BASIS also does not allow retakes or re-dos. If your kid leaves his homework at home or in his locker he's going to get a 0 for the assignment.

You can make it work but you are going to need to stay on top of him. Looking at the CJ every day, asking about when tests and quizzes are coming up (multiple per week on average), when trimester and comps occur, etc. It is going to take a huge commitment and effort from you. On the plus side, maybe your kid is capable of executive functioning if he's given the tools and structure and he might surprise you. In some ways your kid seems like a good fit, actually.

As others have said, BASIS is NOT flexible. They are not going to change for you or your kid; know this going in. Good luck.

I would agree with this. My kid doesn't have ASD and has about average executive functioning for a pre-teen boy. For the most part he has managed on his own. But when he has been out due to being sick, or had an overwhelm melt down us parents had to spend ALOT of time getting him caught up. The school didn't help much in spite of us asking. That said the teachers were individually helpful. There are also many students on academic supports who seem to get more support than we were able to get. Overall though the school has been a good option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid does not have those challenges but I figured I'd give you another perspective. It is true that the 5th grade year is designed to teach executive functions and they do everything they can to support that through rigor, structure and repetition. However, even before the end of the 5th grade year kids are pretty much running things on their own. The school is pretty up front about the fact that they want kids to be the center of their own educations. What this means is that teachers won't reply to parent emails for a day or two at the earliest (the SLA is 3 business days). They send home grade reports every two weeks and they won't reach out to parents (for the most part) in the interim. For example, when my kid was in 5th he totally blew a quiz (think F----). He was otherwise an excellent student. We only found out about it when we looked at the interim report and his grade cratered. BASIS also does not allow retakes or re-dos. If your kid leaves his homework at home or in his locker he's going to get a 0 for the assignment.

You can make it work but you are going to need to stay on top of him. Looking at the CJ every day, asking about when tests and quizzes are coming up (multiple per week on average), when trimester and comps occur, etc. It is going to take a huge commitment and effort from you. On the plus side, maybe your kid is capable of executive functioning if he's given the tools and structure and he might surprise you. In some ways your kid seems like a good fit, actually.

As others have said, BASIS is NOT flexible. They are not going to change for you or your kid; know this going in. Good luck.

+2 on the lack of flexibility, or even course correction when they're royally f***ing up.
When I first read warning about the 'our way or the highway' BASIS admin mentality, I just assumed the parents were unreasonable, or making requests that went against the BASIS philosophy, or that would be too hard to accommodate. But "We. Will. Not. Change. This. For. You." actually has become the lazy default in the admin's interaction with any parent on any topic, including in situations where the school's actions or positions are in contradiction with the BASIS way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very smart kid with ASD and the poor executive functioning that goes along with that. I did not consider BASIS. I thought it would be a disaster based on all I had heard.

Where is your child enrolled?

DCI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:. For example, when my kid was in 5th he totally blew a quiz (think F----). He was otherwise an excellent student. We only found out about it when we looked at the interim report and his grade cratered. BASIS also does not allow retakes or re-dos. If your kid leaves his homework at home or in his locker he's going to get a 0 for the assignment.

Our son had similar experiences. But from my perspective, grades don't matter at all until 9th grade. Fifth grade is exactly the time to get zeros on not turned into homework, if they learn from that. In 7th, he's starting to get organized, and he's smart enough to have a decent understanding of the substance, as it sounds like the original poster's son would.