Educational Setting for ​AuDHD Kindergartener

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're trying to decide on the best educational environment for our AuDHD kid when he starts Kindergarten. We know it might be trial and error to find the right setting, but we're looking for input from parents who have a similar child.

He's very bright and enjoys being with others, but he struggles with poor attention. He does well in a smaller setting, but we're nervous about private and the stories we've heard about ND kids getting counseled out.

An IEP and a paraeducator in public would be amazing, but we don't think he'll get assigned a para because of how high-functioning he is. In a classroom of 25 kids, he'll just zone out when it's a non-preferred subject and the teacher may not notice because of the ratios.

Advice?

Would you tell the mainstream privates about the dx upfront?

We are --- some mainstream privates you'd be surprised have plenty of ASD and/or ADHD kids. I think from all the forum discussions on this and the private school one - disclosing is your best bet so there are no surprises later on...

OP here. Same question as the PP. We're inclined to disclose upfront. Many private schools even the laid-back ones have an observation day and a life-long educator might be able to pick up on the fact that he's ND. I don't want to play coy, but I don't want him to be discriminated against either. If given the chance, I think he would thrive. It's such a dilemma.

Oh absolutely, hence why I have struggled so much with the ASD/DSM definition and just the overall labeling culture in our society. Often folks try to reassure me that well if the school doesn't accept them once you're up front then it is not the best school - which I don't fully buy or agree with. Often time, it's a judgement call from the school - accept the kid and see how they do, how important are the parents/ aka donors, and/or if siblings are already there. There's a lot that gets factored into a school decision - so I am hoping it's not a label or two that will deter privates...I say go for it, and if you're sensing any doubt from the school, then it's there loss frankly, and onto the next private. There's plenty of private options in our area, both NT and ND or mixed. I'm certainly will land somewhere inclusive, understanding, and fairly NT since I too believe our child will thrive irrespective of their label.

Thank you very much! I know what you mean and I wish we were "important". Oh well. I think we'll just have to apply broadly and in the meanwhile get the ball rolling regarding the IEP and the shared para.

[Anonymous]

OP, which area are you in?

[Anonymous]

If I had to do it all over again, I would have done SN private much earlier. We struggled through public school and it was awful (despite being in "good" schools)

[Anonymous]

Hi Op, my son is ADHD so I realize not the same though it is quite significant and he was medicated early as a result. I was also really nervous. I truly couldn't imagine my child doing well in a big classroom with a bunch of kids. I have been shocked at how well my son has done in public school (APS). His class is 22 kids (bigger than I would like but could be worse), there is a teacher and teacher's assistant in every classroom, two recesses. He has an IEP and as a part of that the special education teacher assigned to kindergarten is in his classroom two hours a day, supporting 3 students. It may not sound like a lot, but between specials, recess, lunch, she is there a good portion of the academic time. So during that time there are three teachers in the room, one particularly lasered in on my son and a couple others. The structure of public school has been much more helpful than I imagined and he is doing really well. Not just ok, WELL. Learning, happy, not disrupting others from what we've heard. It has been such a great surprise.

Hope you also have a good experience in Kindergarten wherever you end up!

[Anonymous]

I guess I meant has*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Op, my son is ADHD so I realize not the same though it is quite significant and he was medicated early as a result. I was also really nervous. I truly couldn't imagine my child doing well in a big classroom with a bunch of kids. I have been shocked at how well my son has done in public school (APS). His class is 22 kids (bigger than I would like but could be worse), there is a teacher and teacher's assistant in every classroom, two recesses. He has an IEP and as a part of that the special education teacher assigned to kindergarten is in his classroom two hours a day, supporting 3 students. It may not sound like a lot, but between specials, recess, lunch, she is there a good portion of the academic time. So during that time there are three teachers in the room, one particularly lasered in on my son and a couple others. The structure of public school has been much more helpful than I imagined and he is doing really well. Not just ok, WELL. Learning, happy, not disrupting others from what we've heard. It has been such a great surprise.

Hope you also have a good experience in Kindergarten wherever you end up!

Not OP, but thank you for sharing, this is very interesting. We are in Moco, Whitman cluster and in our home elementary K we have 28 kids and 1 teacher (non-special ed certified). It's shocking to see the difference between the neighboring school districts, given that the income levels are similar in Arlington and Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Op, my son is ADHD so I realize not the same though it is quite significant and he was medicated early as a result. I was also really nervous. I truly couldn't imagine my child doing well in a big classroom with a bunch of kids. I have been shocked at how well my son has done in public school (APS). His class is 22 kids (bigger than I would like but could be worse), there is a teacher and teacher's assistant in every classroom, two recesses. He has an IEP and as a part of that the special education teacher assigned to kindergarten is in his classroom two hours a day, supporting 3 students. It may not sound like a lot, but between specials, recess, lunch, she is there a good portion of the academic time. So during that time there are three teachers in the room, one particularly lasered in on my son and a couple others. The structure of public school has been much more helpful than I imagined and he is doing really well. Not just ok, WELL. Learning, happy, not disrupting others from what we've heard. It has been such a great surprise.

Hope you also have a good experience in Kindergarten wherever you end up!

Very helpful! Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had luck with a private tutor or BCBA pushing into a public school? We’re going to ask about ratios and teacher assistant availability, but wondering just in case.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, OP, AuDHD is such a new term that some parents here (like myself with an Aspergers/ADHD/Anxiety DD) will have to look it up. I did and I don't think the two terms - autism and ADHD - should be used as slang in one word. In fact, the autism diagnosis is probably the more important one. And many children have two, three or four comorbidities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had luck with a private tutor or BCBA pushing into a public school? We’re going to ask about ratios and teacher assistant availability, but wondering just in case.

This IME always falls on the principal to say yes. About 80% say yes immediately as long as they aren’t expected to pay (private hire by you), about 20% needed a little pushback usually legally. Don’t know the logistics about fighting this, just know that after it gets to that point was usually in the school within 2-3 months of parents being told no initially.

Sometimes the principal wants to meet the person first, requires background checks, etc which I’ve never been concerned about aside from it delays progress a bit. Get all your paperwork ready ahead of time, take the person you want to the IEP if possible so the team can meet them, get your scheduling worked out ahead of time so they can go in immediately, etc- that kind of thing helps get the ball rolling.

It’s also incredibly helpful to the person you send in if they have experience with your child outside the school and especially if the experience is with the child in the home. It’s not a make or break if that overlap between home and school isn’t there but it’s a huge benefit to everyone if it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had luck with a private tutor or BCBA pushing into a public school? We’re going to ask about ratios and teacher assistant availability, but wondering just in case.

This IME always falls on the principal to say yes. About 80% say yes immediately as long as they aren’t expected to pay (private hire by you), about 20% needed a little pushback usually legally. Don’t know the logistics about fighting this, just know that after it gets to that point was usually in the school within 2-3 months of parents being told no initially.

Sometimes the principal wants to meet the person first, requires background checks, etc which I’ve never been concerned about aside from it delays progress a bit. Get all your paperwork ready ahead of time, take the person you want to the IEP if possible so the team can meet them, get your scheduling worked out ahead of time so they can go in immediately, etc- that kind of thing helps get the ball rolling.

It’s also incredibly helpful to the person you send in if they have experience with your child outside the school and especially if the experience is with the child in the home. It’s not a make or break if that overlap between home and school isn’t there but it’s a huge benefit to everyone if it is.

This is an enormous piece of misinformation. In many public school districts it’s a flat out no as a matter of policy and principals are not allowed to make any exceptions. OP - check with your school district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had luck with a private tutor or BCBA pushing into a public school? We’re going to ask about ratios and teacher assistant availability, but wondering just in case.

This IME always falls on the principal to say yes. About 80% say yes immediately as long as they aren’t expected to pay (private hire by you), about 20% needed a little pushback usually legally. Don’t know the logistics about fighting this, just know that after it gets to that point was usually in the school within 2-3 months of parents being told no initially.

Sometimes the principal wants to meet the person first, requires background checks, etc which I’ve never been concerned about aside from it delays progress a bit. Get all your paperwork ready ahead of time, take the person you want to the IEP if possible so the team can meet them, get your scheduling worked out ahead of time so they can go in immediately, etc- that kind of thing helps get the ball rolling.

It’s also incredibly helpful to the person you send in if they have experience with your child outside the school and especially if the experience is with the child in the home. It’s not a make or break if that overlap between home and school isn’t there but it’s a huge benefit to everyone if it is.

This is an enormous piece of misinformation. In many public school districts it’s a flat out no as a matter of policy and principals are not allowed to make any exceptions. OP - check with your school district.

It’s just my experience (see IME) based on 20+ years in schools and other settings in several states and many different school systems. Obviously you might have a different experience, that’s how experiences work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had luck with a private tutor or BCBA pushing into a public school? We’re going to ask about ratios and teacher assistant availability, but wondering just in case.

This IME always falls on the principal to say yes. About 80% say yes immediately as long as they aren’t expected to pay (private hire by you), about 20% needed a little pushback usually legally. Don’t know the logistics about fighting this, just know that after it gets to that point was usually in the school within 2-3 months of parents being told no initially.

Sometimes the principal wants to meet the person first, requires background checks, etc which I’ve never been concerned about aside from it delays progress a bit. Get all your paperwork ready ahead of time, take the person you want to the IEP if possible so the team can meet them, get your scheduling worked out ahead of time so they can go in immediately, etc- that kind of thing helps get the ball rolling.

It’s also incredibly helpful to the person you send in if they have experience with your child outside the school and especially if the experience is with the child in the home. It’s not a make or break if that overlap between home and school isn’t there but it’s a huge benefit to everyone if it is.

This is an enormous piece of misinformation. In many public school districts it’s a flat out no as a matter of policy and principals are not allowed to make any exceptions. OP - check with your school district.

It’s just my experience (see IME) based on 20+ years in schools and other settings in several states and many different school systems. Obviously you might have a different experience, that’s how experiences work.

Pls name districts where you saw private non-school BCBAs provide services in public schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi Op, my son is ADHD so I realize not the same though it is quite significant and he was medicated early as a result. I was also really nervous. I truly couldn't imagine my child doing well in a big classroom with a bunch of kids. I have been shocked at how well my son has done in public school (APS). His class is 22 kids (bigger than I would like but could be worse), there is a teacher and teacher's assistant in every classroom, two recesses. He has an IEP and as a part of that the special education teacher assigned to kindergarten is in his classroom two hours a day, supporting 3 students. It may not sound like a lot, but between specials, recess, lunch, she is there a good portion of the academic time. So during that time there are three teachers in the room, one particularly lasered in on my son and a couple others. The structure of public school has been much more helpful than I imagined and he is doing really well. Not just ok, WELL. Learning, happy, not disrupting others from what we've heard. It has been such a great surprise.

Hope you also have a good experience in Kindergarten wherever you end up!

Not OP, but thank you for sharing, this is very interesting. We are in Moco, Whitman cluster and in our home elementary K we have 28 kids and 1 teacher (non-special ed certified). It's shocking to see the difference between the neighboring school districts, given that the income levels are similar in Arlington and Bethesda.

Just because there are 28 this year does not mean that there will be 28 next year. They might add a class and be in the low 20s. Many MoCo schools have smaller classes (even non focus). It just depends on the numbers and getting families to sign up for K early enough to hire teachers. If 10 families wait till the first day of schools, they have few options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had luck with a private tutor or BCBA pushing into a public school? We’re going to ask about ratios and teacher assistant availability, but wondering just in case.

This IME always falls on the principal to say yes. About 80% say yes immediately as long as they aren’t expected to pay (private hire by you), about 20% needed a little pushback usually legally. Don’t know the logistics about fighting this, just know that after it gets to that point was usually in the school within 2-3 months of parents being told no initially.

Sometimes the principal wants to meet the person first, requires background checks, etc which I’ve never been concerned about aside from it delays progress a bit. Get all your paperwork ready ahead of time, take the person you want to the IEP if possible so the team can meet them, get your scheduling worked out ahead of time so they can go in immediately, etc- that kind of thing helps get the ball rolling.

It’s also incredibly helpful to the person you send in if they have experience with your child outside the school and especially if the experience is with the child in the home. It’s not a make or break if that overlap between home and school isn’t there but it’s a huge benefit to everyone if it is.

This is an enormous piece of misinformation. In many public school districts it’s a flat out no as a matter of policy and principals are not allowed to make any exceptions. OP - check with your school district.

It’s just my experience (see IME) based on 20+ years in schools and other settings in several states and many different school systems. Obviously you might have a different experience, that’s how experiences work.

Pls name districts where you saw private non-school BCBAs provide services in public schools?

+1

Definitely a big NO in DC Publics - they will now allow any private provider on site...maybe during aftercare, does anyone know?