DCPS Kindergarten options for ASD
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Anonymous
| DS 4 yo and likely ASD lvl2 (formal evaluation/diagnosis scheduled this spring) currently has IEP for past year at charter preK in DC. I’m concerned about placement for Kindergarten. Has anyone had luck getting classroom observation done in preK to help identify best school options for elementary? I am not sure all the schools are equal as far as services on site. He has his first IEP annual review in a couple weeks. Any questions I should ask there? TIA |
Anonymous
| Are you seeking a self-contained placement or a gen-ed setting? |
Anonymous
|
The people at your charter are not supposed to say or do anything that would seem like encouraging you to leave (I know it happens, but they're not supposed to), and they may not be very knowledgeable about other schools or the placement process generally. So in the meeting, focus on #1 getting the IEP to best fit your child and #2 learning more about what the K experience is like at your current school.
There are some resources here: https://dcps.dc.gov/specialeducation Try the Family Guide. https://www.myschooldc.org/how-apply/students-with-disabilities |
Anonymous
| To PP- OP here. Thank you! And the charter is just preK so thankfully there won’t be that barrier. We have to move on to another school. |
Anonymous
That’s what I am hoping to get more insights on. Whether my child will be able to manage in gen ed with pull outs/ push ins or if he needs self contained |
Anonymous
Conventional wisdom is that DCPS self contained programs are not very good … but this is conventional wisdom. In your shoes I would absolutely tour all of the autism/CES programs to see what they are like. Unless you think General Ed could be unsafe for your child (eg eloping) or they just truly cannot participate in the instruction, I would probably start out targeting an inclusion program like SWS and go from there. |
Anonymous
Are parents of kids with IEPs allowed some choice or higher likelihood of lottery-ing into SWS? It feels like that’s a long shot.. And yes, we are planning to ideally move out of the district after kindergarten with better sped program options are better but will be here for kindergarten year . And Thank you |
Anonymous
| I think you'll get better and more accurate answers from the MySchoolDC phone line than you'll get here. They really are super helpful. |
Anonymous
Where do you plan to move? Where are the best options for kids with ASD in the DMV? |
Anonymous
Students with IEPs primarily in gen ed (fewer than 20 hours) have the same access to the lottery as anyone else. If you have 20 or more hours, dcps considers them in self contained and will choose which school. For autistic students, CES is for highest needs/intellectual disabilities and ELS is for students who are thought to be able to do more academics. |
Anonymous
|
OP here- thanks for all of the above. I’ll call MySchool to better understand next steps.
As for other areas of dmv that a poster asked about, I’ve only just started to research but montgomery county seems to just have more widespread autism services throughout that whole district and not just concentrated at a couple of schools. As well there seems to be a higher concentration of private special needs schools in that county should we need to explore at that at any point. .. But again, I’m just starting to look into. We are only a year into recognizing the road we are on but also he’s young and not sure where that’s leading for what’s best for him. Thanks for all your responses. |
Anonymous
I believe you can get placed in different non-Gen-ed programs by the IEP team. You probably want to get a lawyer or advocate! |
Anonymous
The decision to be in a non-gen ed program is made by the IEP team (placement) but then the decision of which physical classroom is made by dcps (location of service) |
Anonymous
| If your student is currently in a gen ed setting for PK4 without any issues, you likely will need less than 20 hours of special education and can remain in a gen ed setting which is probably the best option for a student that will only be at DCPS for kindergarten and this will provide more opportunities when you transition to another school district in first grade. Placement in a CES classroom means that your child is on a certificate track and not a diploma track though DCPS does not necessarily tell this to parents. DCPS is not great about letting parents visit self-contained classrooms unless you are placed there. You can still reach out to the schools on your own for visits and then ask questions when you get there. Based on the little information you have provided, I would steer clear of a self-contained placement. |
Anonymous
It’s actually called CELS now. The two programs are pretty much interchangeable now. I’d avoid because this experiment is not going well for anyone. |