Best Districts for Special Education

[Anonymous]

My child is 3 years old with ASD and speech and language delays. I am planning to move before my child starts kindergarten. My work is a mix of in-person and online at-home so I am willing to commute. I just want to be in a good school district for my child. Howard county seems to have good schools but I don’t know about special education. We’re in Prince George’s right now and the initial child find IEP process has not been good. What are the best public school districts (and maybe specific schools) in Maryland, DC, and Virginia for autism and speech services and for special education?

[Anonymous]

Are you thinking you need mainstream or nonmainstream.

[Anonymous]

Are you limited to md, dc and va?

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do, do not go to Charles County (south of PG).

[Anonymous]

DC is definitely not the best place for schools. But it has no waiting list for its version of the autism waiver for Medicaid, if your son would qualify.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Thank you! I am limited to DC, Maryland, and Virginia for now, but I would love to learn about other places too. I am hoping my child will be able to be in an inclusive class with ample support and services.

[Anonymous]

I have heard good things about Howard County.

[Anonymous]

I am happy with my child’s program in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is definitely not the best place for schools. But it has no waiting list for its version of the autism waiver for Medicaid, if your son would qualify.

THis is the consideration for DC. For MD it's Moco for the schools. Not perfect but better than DC and access to a lot of private resources. Very long waitlist for Medicaid waiver services though.

[Anonymous]

If your child will need an autism program with smaller classes (any level of autism including HFA), Montgomery county has the best options. However, if your child will be fully mainstreamed, I wouldn’t recommend.

[Anonymous]

For the larger districts in the area, I think it's more about specific schools. Some seem to care more than others. (Para who's worked in four schools.)

[Anonymous]

As a teacher I commend you for being so aware of his needs and on top of this at age 3. In our kindergarten classes there are always several students whose parents seem to have no idea that their child could have ASD, and it takes a very long time to initiate services.

[Anonymous]

MoCo is good for autism. My kids have a range of other disabilities and it’s not been a good experience but I have always heard good things about the contained autism programs. The issue is you won’t know until K where your child will be placed. Staff and services in mainstream range a lot from school to school and even when you find a school that is good, it can all go out the window with staff changes. And my experience is that even if you are lucky enough to get services, they are in no way a substitute for loads of private therapies and tutors.

[Anonymous]

Find a home and neighborhood you like. That’s really my only advice. My child was similar to yours at 3 and we could have never predicted what he would need by mid elementary and how that would change in middle school, in 9th grade, 10th, 11th…. Needs keep changing as your kid grows and changes. Our school district drastically changed from when we bought our house. We’ve changed from private to public to private as his needs changed. Staff at a school on any given year can make a huge difference.

What hasn’t changed- our house, our commutes, our safe neighborhood and our community here. I don’t regret buying here because even though we aren’t using the public schools, it’s been a really nice neighborhood to grow up in for the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am happy with my child’s program in FCPS.

We have had a horrible experience in FCPS