HFA/Aperger's parents in DC

[Anonymous]

Anyone out there? Would you like to join me and a few others to confront the fact that DCPS cannot support our children successfully? Please, if you don't feel that is the case don't respond. I am a very frustrated mother of two kids in DCPS who is just trying to help her children succeed, and we are getting little to no support.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear that. If you can afford private school, there are some good options.

[Anonymous]

I have a child with an Asperger's diagnosis. We are currently in a charter school which I genuinely like, but I am still constantly second-guessing the situation. I've hired an advocate to "double-check" my thought processes. If she feels we can stay in public then I'll be depending on her to get us a mint IEP: the best possible. If not, I'll join the legions who have sued the city for a private school placement.

Can you elaborate more on your situation, OP?

[Anonymous]

OP, can you share a little more about what you are thinking. Do you already have others that you are talking with and by "confront the fact that DCPS cannot support our children successfully?", what do you mean?
We have a child with a dx of Asperger's in a DCPS ES and I generally agree that DCPS does not have a good program that addresses the social emotional needs that often come with ASD.
20:45 I don't mean to be pesimistic, but in our experience having a mint IEP is is like having drawings of your dreamhouse (before you build it), just ideas on a piece of paper. It is the follow through that is the hard part.

[Anonymous]

OP here. To answer some of the questions without being too specific given that I don't actually know who reads this:

My child came out of a former self-contained autism classroom into the general ed classroom and since then we have been completely deprived of support that relates to his diagnosis. No more ABA, no more behavior analysis etc. Nothing. The special-ed teacher is plain horrible and clearly would prefer to work with lower functioning children. Neither of my children's IEPs are being implemented AT ALL. Both have really good IEPs, but the teachers and therapists simply do not know enough about HFA/Aspergers. It is frustrating beyond belief.

The last PP said it right. We used to have a lot of support that was directly addressing the social aspects but now the school claims my kids are doing "just fine", which is nonsense. They claim that because they don't show behavioral outbursts (my Aspie child withdraws and gets silent rather than to explode, the other will obsessively ask questions) there is no need to intervene.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. They are not getting what they need AT ALL. Research is out there, the resources are out there but I feel like I am met with deaf ears. We have fought SO hard to intervene as early as possible only to now find ourselves in this terrible spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to hear that. If you can afford private school, there are some good options.

What are the private options in DC? I am also worried about public schools ability to address my son social issues (Aspergers--high functioning). My son is in a public charter (preschool) and I would like him to attend his zoned DCPS next year but I am worried that it will not work out. His current charter only has PS/PK. They are good about intervention and he is receiving separate social skills training. However, his teacher told us yesterday that in DCPS he probably wouldn't qualify for an IEP because he doesn't have any cognitive/learning deficits (he is actually advanced). She still believes he needs help with social skills because it interferes with his academic learning. Basically, we are screwed because my son is cognitively advanced and socially/emotionally behind.

[Anonymous]

13:04
I am not 17:47 but If I were you, I would start talking to DCPS Early Stages now about getting an IEP for your child. I have heard that that the criteria for qualifying is a little different/less academic. If you start now your child's current teacher will be able to offer his/her opinion. If you are able to get an IEP now, your child will already have this in place and won't need to qualify (initially) when he/she starts at the local DCPS. If you are thinking private school, I would look at Maddux (part of Ivymount).

[Anonymous]

The Auburn School takes academically advanced kids with Asperger's. They have a campus in Silver Spring--not sure if that is doable for you.

[Anonymous]

13:04 here: thanks for the advice about the private schools and DCPS Early Stages. I will look into the suggestions.

Back to the original poster--does your child have an IEP and it is not receiving adequate support. Can you tell us more about why you posted?

[Anonymous]

However, his teacher told us yesterday that in DCPS he probably wouldn't qualify for an IEP because he doesn't have any cognitive/learning deficits (he is actually advanced). She still believes he needs help with social skills because it interferes with his academic learning. Basically, we are screwed because my son is cognitively advanced and socially/emotionally behind.

I would push hard against this. My son is in a similar situation (he's Aspie) and his social/emotional problems have increasingly caused him "academic" problems. He's fine academically, excellent grades, does so well, but between the meltdowns, trouble working w/ other kids, panic attacks, etc. etc., he started missing a fair amount of class time. Also, just because a child is ahead academically doesn't mean he shouldn't have support for the social/emotional stuff. A FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education) doesn't just mean leaving a kid to have trouble socially and emotionally just because he's ahead academically.

So to give you an ex. of what you can get for a high-functioning (academically) Aspie, my son gets social skills work, therapy, OT consult, pragmatic speech therapy, and a dedicated aide 100% of the time. The aide has been the biggest help because he makes sure that little things that would set him off and make him miss class because of a meltdown don't get to him. It's the tiny things like being able to leave an assembly that gets overwhelming (rather than having a meltdown, embarrassing himself, and missing the rest of the day because he's in trouble), or having a little extra support in tackling a new project that might be outside the lines of what he feels comfortable doing (he's a kid who would happily write his multiplication tables all day rather than do a creative project).

All this is a long way of saying that Aspie need IEP's even if they're ahead academically.

Also, these schools that are being mentioned start in the $30k/year range. DCPS has GOT to learn how to serve HFA's and Aspie's. This is ridiculous that they have to fund kids (and that we parents have to go through lawsuits to get the funding) because they can't figure out the way to deal with our kids. Personally I think it's ridiculous that my son needs a dedicated aide so that they follow his IEP (before the aide they just simply didn't follow the accommodations, leading to all sorts of meltdowns). It's complete overkill -- if they just did the simplest things he wouldn't need the aide -- but at least he can stay in the regular classroom for now and the aide does benefit the other kids as well. Still wish we hadn't had to resort to an aide just because I know how much it's costing the city and I hate for the resources to be used that way, but without the aide, my son wouldn't be able to go to school.

Sorry for rambling -- we HFA/Aspie parents really should ban together and see what can be done for our kids!

[Anonymous]

OP here, PP where do you get your numbers from? We have been told that the range is at least 35k-75k. I have two kids with autism.

To the PPs who asked why I posted, well it's simple. I just do not want to accept the fact that our neighborhood school that happens to house self-contained autism classrooms won't be able to see these kids through elementary school. It makes no sense. I know about ALL of our options should we fail, but I am not willing to give up hope yet. I will set up an email account tomorrow for parents to respond if they are interested.

[Anonymous]

I think tuition for Maddux is in the 20s. There are several DC families there. Might be a great fit for your kiddo.

OP it sounds like you might be at Bridges. I would work with them now to get a strong IEP in place.

[Anonymous]

McLean can also be a good fit for kids like yours OP. It's in Potomac not too far from Maddux, and many Maddux kids do end up going there. They do a lot of social skills work with all of the kids and they have a very low ratio so can really differentiate learning. We have friends who have had a really good experience there, there might even be a bus from DC but I'm not too sure on that point. I believe that they do have financial aid. From what I have seen in DCPS there just is not comparable social skills support to what a school like Maddux or McLean offer.

[Anonymous]

I for one would be interested, because I'd always like to know what other services are out there that families like mine find useful.

Thanks for taking the bull by the horns, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I will set up an email account tomorrow for parents to respond if they are interested.

21:23 here. I hope you do set up an account, OP. As the PP said, it would be great to talk to others in the same boat.