Anyone happy with mcps? Special ed edition

[Anonymous]

I say this as a parent: there is a huge shortage of staff. I do not see how it's possible to provide services at this point.

We went private, it is expensive but we aren't reliant on a collapsing system. My child is not high functioning. Expectations need to be lowered overall.

I think it's beautiful to theoretically give everyone access to excellent care, like universal basic income, but this is real life. Resources are limited and if you can manage without the PS system, your kid is much better off.

(I'm not a fan of the IEP PS SPED system. I just want to bring some realism into this conversation.)

[Anonymous]

Every mcps parent of a child.with special needs must know that their child will be significantly.behind their peers academically, and will not have functional academic skills, unless the parent is able to provide ongoing outside supports. I say this as an mcps employee. Unfortunately, only the educated parents with resources realize this. Special ed services are a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every mcps parent of a child.with special needs must know that their child will be significantly.behind their peers academically, and will not have functional academic skills, unless the parent is able to provide ongoing outside supports. I say this as an mcps employee. Unfortunately, only the educated parents with resources realize this. Special ed services are a joke.

Pp parent here. I strongly recommend not relying on public resources if you can avoid doing so. Leave it for people who have no options.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid with ASD, Dyslexia, ADHD - my kid is twice exceptional. She has been struggling in school since second grade. That was Covid times. We had her tested privately - determined ADHD and got a 504. No one ever recommended us for testing because she’s not completely failing. We asked over and over for help. We were denied for an IEP in fourth grade. Finally did a second round of neuropsych testing in fifth grade and got an advocate and finally have an IEP now, halfway through 5th grade. We’ve lost so much time and we are going to be very challenged to get her into an appropriate middle school placement (autism connections, GTLD) because they won’t have the data from the late arriving interventions to establish whether they’re working. I’m livid and we are looking at private. MCPS has failed us.

[Anonymous]

Mcps employee here- dyslexia needs to be remediated.in k-3 otherwise it is often a lifetime issue as the brain is less malleable. The way the current system works is to keep denying any issues exist until kids are in 3-5th grade when they are so far behind they are undeniable. At.thst point, mcps will give an iep with a ridiculously low amount of service and typically not a research based reading intervention. There are exceptions to this at well run schools but this is often how it goes. Parents need the knowledge in kindergarten so they can began intervening outside of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mcps employee here- dyslexia needs to be remediated.in k-3 otherwise it is often a lifetime issue as the brain is less malleable. The way the current system works is to keep denying any issues exist until kids are in 3-5th grade when they are so far behind they are undeniable. At.thst point, mcps will give an iep with a ridiculously low amount of service and typically not a research based reading intervention. There are exceptions to this at well run schools but this is often how it goes. Parents need the knowledge in kindergarten so they can began intervening outside of school.

I’m the poster who already felt like MCPS failed us and that’s even more devastating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say this as a parent: there is a huge shortage of staff. I do not see how it's possible to provide services at this point.

We went private, it is expensive but we aren't reliant on a collapsing system. My child is not high functioning. Expectations need to be lowered overall.

I think it's beautiful to theoretically give everyone access to excellent care, like universal basic income, but this is real life. Resources are limited and if you can manage without the PS system, your kid is much better off.

(I'm not a fan of the IEP PS SPED system. I just want to bring some realism into this conversation.)

All good points

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mcps employee here- dyslexia needs to be remediated.in k-3 otherwise it is often a lifetime issue as the brain is less malleable. The way the current system works is to keep denying any issues exist until kids are in 3-5th grade when they are so far behind they are undeniable. At.thst point, mcps will give an iep with a ridiculously low amount of service and typically not a research based reading intervention. There are exceptions to this at well run schools but this is often how it goes. Parents need the knowledge in kindergarten so they can began intervening outside of school.

Not op, but I have a potential dyslexia k kid here. She has IEP, and mcps knows that she struggles with academic esp reading. What could parents do outside of having IEP in school? Any free or cheap resources in montgomery county? I have been wondering what parents should do with k kids with potential dyslexia? Mcps says she is fine, but she can't read a single word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mcps employee here- dyslexia needs to be remediated.in k-3 otherwise it is often a lifetime issue as the brain is less malleable. The way the current system works is to keep denying any issues exist until kids are in 3-5th grade when they are so far behind they are undeniable. At.thst point, mcps will give an iep with a ridiculously low amount of service and typically not a research based reading intervention. There are exceptions to this at well run schools but this is often how it goes. Parents need the knowledge in kindergarten so they can began intervening outside of school.

Not op, but I have a potential dyslexia k kid here. She has IEP, and mcps knows that she struggles with academic esp reading. What could parents do outside of having IEP in school? Any free or cheap resources in montgomery county? I have been wondering what parents should do with k kids with potential dyslexia? Mcps says she is fine, but she can't read a single word.

I am the pp trying to bring realism. MCPS does not have the resources to provide this to every student with this profile. They will hope she grows out of it and only acknowledge it much later.

You can have two out of three:
Cheap
Good
Fast

If she is in K, you probably want Fast. So you need to pick between cheap (iep) and good.

Good doesn't mean expensive. You can get most resources on the internet, but it will take time and effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mcps employee here- dyslexia needs to be remediated.in k-3 otherwise it is often a lifetime issue as the brain is less malleable. The way the current system works is to keep denying any issues exist until kids are in 3-5th grade when they are so far behind they are undeniable. At.thst point, mcps will give an iep with a ridiculously low amount of service and typically not a research based reading intervention. There are exceptions to this at well run schools but this is often how it goes. Parents need the knowledge in kindergarten so they can began intervening outside of school.

Not op, but I have a potential dyslexia k kid here. She has IEP, and mcps knows that she struggles with academic esp reading. What could parents do outside of having IEP in school? Any free or cheap resources in montgomery county? I have been wondering what parents should do with k kids with potential dyslexia? Mcps says she is fine, but she can't read a single word.

Mcps employee again- you need to act as if the school will do nothing for her-- whatever limited service they provide her won't be enough. Start working with her 20 minutes a day, every day. Here's an example of a workbook thst you can use with og exercises: I Can Fly Reading Program with Online Games, Book A: Orton-Gillingham Based Reading Lessons for Young Students Who Struggle with Reading and May Have Dyslexia (Reading Program Ages 5-7)

If you can afford it, you can do og tutoring-- but it is very pricey. Even if you do that , work with her every day! Treat it like it's a medical condition that requires daily treatment. The earlier amd more intensively you intervene, the more likely she is to going to be okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your post isn’t clear. Is there an IEP requirement for self contained classes that isn’t being honored? It’s hard to imagine something that they “don’t do” ending up in an IEP.

I was very happy with MCPS. Two kids in special education. One was borderline certificate rather than diploma track and with an IEP and lots of outside support (mostly from me but some paid), he graduated, went on to trade school and is now working full time in a job that pays well and provides health insurance. He is independent. Second kid started out with intense services for cognitive related disabilities, then went to 504 in MS due to no need for services, then to non-mainstream for HS due to mental health issues. Third kid is in gen ed and doing great, thankfully because I’m tired of all the work it takes to get them through school.

Was everything perfect? Far from it. But, people were committed, as was I and the rest of the family. When mistakes happened and services didn’t, we worked together to get things back on track. The Covid services were out of this world amazing. The transition out of HS services were excellent and two years after one of mine graduated, they provided some additional services when a need came up that I could not handle on my own. In the end, big picture thinking, the services were successful despite periodic problems along the way.

My secret was being prepared for the IEP. I kept my eye on the big picture always. What was the ultimate outcome I was looking for - which was to get the skills necessary to be an independent and successful adult, though the specifics differed for each of my kids. As a result, I didn’t bean count or sweat the small stuff because honestly a missed pullout or speech therapy session here and there wasn’t going to make the difference between ultimate success and failure.

Where I focused my attention was on those things that would have affected the ability to achieve the long term goal. This was things like setting the correct goals that would lead to achieving the long term goals, identifying services to achieve goals and monitoring progress on the goals. If progress wasn’t happening, then we needed to regroup, not because a pullout got missed. I also spent a lot of time on the non-mainstream placement selection and the Covid services plan (mine was in 11th and 12th grade at the time of Covid so what happened really would make the difference between graduating or not).

There was one year right after my oldest got his IEP that it was not followed to the point where he failed several courses in a semester, which made him ineligible for Thomas Edison. The services were on target, just didn’t happen and, not making excuses, but I think it was because teachers weren’t expecting an IEP, but rather a transfer to non-diploma track and they just forgot. Anyway, I challenged the grades and won, which gave him the opportunity for a redo, He was successful and ultimately got into Edison.

With my other son, in ES, there was one teacher who repeatedly punished my child for behaviors that were addressed in the IEP in a very public way. I escalated that as well and it got resolved, though not before a lot of bad feelings. Like I said, it wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty excellent. And given that there were probably close to 250 people involved with my two kids over their time in MCPS, to have a serious issue with only one is pretty amazing. But, again, I think that is because of the way I approach things like special education and IEPs. It is easy to have a different experience if you expect everything to go right and you can’t see the forest for the trees.

Dude this HAS to be at least 4 year old info no? Op is asking about students enrolled in spec Ed on Friday and sounds like she’s interested in k-8 years. your years ago info doesn’t relate….

Op - my kids have been out of MCPS for exactly 3 years. One was what they wanted - phenomenal academic kid, memory like steel. One they didn’t: dyslexic, dysgraphic, dyscalculic.

MCPS forced us to move to a place that was more reasonable and closer to following the latest cognitive research for the second. So much better. The culture of MCPS (besides its incompetenceand mismanagement) is the kicker: the place is mean.

[Anonymous]

Our experiences were not good, and we ended up having to pull our kid out for a private SN school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mcps employee here- dyslexia needs to be remediated.in k-3 otherwise it is often a lifetime issue as the brain is less malleable. The way the current system works is to keep denying any issues exist until kids are in 3-5th grade when they are so far behind they are undeniable. At.thst point, mcps will give an iep with a ridiculously low amount of service and typically not a research based reading intervention. There are exceptions to this at well run schools but this is often how it goes. Parents need the knowledge in kindergarten so they can began intervening outside of school.

Not op, but I have a potential dyslexia k kid here. She has IEP, and mcps knows that she struggles with academic esp reading. What could parents do outside of having IEP in school? Any free or cheap resources in montgomery county? I have been wondering what parents should do with k kids with potential dyslexia? Mcps says she is fine, but she can't read a single word.

Mcps employee again- you need to act as if the school will do nothing for her-- whatever limited service they provide her won't be enough. Start working with her 20 minutes a day, every day. Here's an example of a workbook thst you can use with og exercises: I Can Fly Reading Program with Online Games, Book A: Orton-Gillingham Based Reading Lessons for Young Students Who Struggle with Reading and May Have Dyslexia (Reading Program Ages 5-7)

If you can afford it, you can do og tutoring-- but it is very pricey. Even if you do that , work with her every day! Treat it like it's a medical condition that requires daily treatment. The earlier amd more intensively you intervene, the more likely she is to going to be okay.

Cheaper options: learn a bit about OG, there's lots of videos, and do it yourself.

Find a high schooler who wants this on their resume. Have them learn og. For them, 20/hr will be great. You can do the teaching yourself and use the high schooler for review.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mcps employee here- dyslexia needs to be remediated.in k-3 otherwise it is often a lifetime issue as the brain is less malleable. The way the current system works is to keep denying any issues exist until kids are in 3-5th grade when they are so far behind they are undeniable. At.thst point, mcps will give an iep with a ridiculously low amount of service and typically not a research based reading intervention. There are exceptions to this at well run schools but this is often how it goes. Parents need the knowledge in kindergarten so they can began intervening outside of school.

Very well reasoned. Wish this was said by any MCPS employee for my dyslexic. In my time, the word dyslexia was verboten. Serious question: how do you sleep at night having this level of knowledge about a disorder your employer won’t deal with? Super unethical behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mcps employee here- dyslexia needs to be remediated.in k-3 otherwise it is often a lifetime issue as the brain is less malleable. The way the current system works is to keep denying any issues exist until kids are in 3-5th grade when they are so far behind they are undeniable. At.thst point, mcps will give an iep with a ridiculously low amount of service and typically not a research based reading intervention. There are exceptions to this at well run schools but this is often how it goes. Parents need the knowledge in kindergarten so they can began intervening outside of school.

Very well reasoned. Wish this was said by any MCPS employee for my dyslexic. In my time, the word dyslexia was verboten. Serious question: how do you sleep at night having this level of knowledge about a disorder your employer won’t deal with? Super unethical behavior.

It really bothers me and I'd actually like to do advocacy amd free tutoring when I retire. I am chained to the system because I have serious medical issues and need to have it covered by insurance