Aspie schools?
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Anonymous
Are you the OP? If you search the archives on this forum, you can read a lot about Fairfax. Overall, it seems people have been pleased with the quality of instruction. I would also consider The Newton School or Commonwealth Academy. |
Anonymous
Thanks for your response, no I am not the OP. |
Anonymous
We shifted out of private which was not helping HFA DS and went thru Fairfax High Schools with an IEP. worked beautifully and DS is off to college but you are going to have to fight for that IEP. DS didn't present as an Aspie but got the necessary xtra help to deal with homework and anything else arising out of HFA, Anxiety issues and ADHD. We did not try lower schools in fairfax County so I cannot speak to that, but High School went well with the IEP. Too much homework. Too many nights of going to bed after midnight and catching the bus in the dark to be in his seat by 7:10 a.m., but we did make it through and got into a fine college. |
Anonymous
| Good to knw! |
Anonymous
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I'm biting my tongue on the use of a the cutesy label "Aspie" which is like nails on a black board for me. I see this as another way to avoid using the proper term for autistic spectrum disorders, something parents often go to great lengths to avoid saying out loud thereby perpetuating the shame. It just sounds so infantalizing to me. But I understand others feel differently. I'm just putting that out there for consideration.
Every child with AS is different. You really need to step back and examine what supports your DC needs and work from there. What works for my DS may not work for yours. |
Anonymous
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By your title I am wondering if you are looking for a school where there are a lot of kids on the spectrum like maybe auburn?
I have mixed feelings about the term Aspie. I find it sometimes helps to be cutesy with my child's diagnosis, but I think it can also minimize the child's special needs. |
Anonymous
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"Our DS with AS attends a DC public language immersion charter with an IEP. He does not have academic or behavior issues and gets OT, social skills/pragmatic language w/SLP, etc. DS does well at school, has friends, likes school... "
Did you use a consultant to get these services? We're in DCPS and are going to need similar services - just starting now and am wondering if I can just use our developmental pediatrician or need to hire someone. |
Anonymous
We used our developmental pediatrician and a consultant when we first got the diagnosis b/c we didn't know anything. The only dev ped I know who'll go to IEP meetings is Dan Shapiro. He attended all the meetings during our initial IEP process but now we only use the consultant, Rich weinfeld, for our annual reviews. Our school's been great about giving us all we asked for in terms of services and supports and even things we did not ask for but that helps our child. Depends on the school, I guess. Our consultant always is very complimentary about how the school and specifically my child's team is looking out for DS's best interests. We are at a charter and feel very fortunate. |
Anonymous
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"We used our developmental pediatrician and a consultant when we first got the diagnosis b/c we didn't know anything. The only dev ped I know who'll go to IEP meetings is Dan Shapiro. He attended all the meetings during our initial IEP process but now we only use the consultant, Rich weinfeld, for our annual reviews. Our school's been great about giving us all we asked for in terms of services and supports and even things we did not ask for but that helps our child.
Depends on the school, I guess. Our consultant always is very complimentary about how the school and specifically my child's team is looking out for DS's best interests. We are at a charter and feel very fortunate." Thanks for your response. I think our ped will go. Can you give me a ballpark of the cost of using a consultant? I'm assuming health insurance won't cover that . . . |
Anonymous
If you haven't already, ask your school for an evaluation even if you already have a diagnosis from a developmental pediatrician. We found it very helpful that the school's eval agreed with our private evals so everyone was in agreement and on the same page. Also be sure your child is evaluated by the school for OT, PT, and speech b/c you will need them for those services. I only have experience with Rich Weinfeld. I think he charges $230? per hour. Other consultants in his group charge $180 per hr. I've heard good things about Janet Price for ASD kids. Our yearly IEP reviews cost ~$2,000 with Rich which includes observation, report & recommendations and attending the IEP meeting. I think our initial IEP cost ~$3,000. Expensive but well worth it, IMO, and a lot cheaper than private school. We really wanted DC to stay at his immersion language school. My child's main issue is that he does not interact with peers. No academic/learning issues or discipline problems. No sensory issues. Every child is different but to give you an idea of an IEP for a child with AS, K and 1st grade: 9 hrs of Sp Ed support per week; OT - fine motor; Speech - pragmatic language social skills group with SLP. All services are push-in except for speech. Also, DS got 1 hr of PT a wk before he was determined to have caught up. GL! |
Anonymous
| OT and Speech is 1 hr per wk. |
Anonymous
| My friend's child with aspergers is at Kingsbury through private placement funded by a local school system (not D.C., just fyi). She's quite happy with the program there. |
Anonymous
Very happy Commonwealth Academy mom here. My DC does not have Asperger's so I don't know if CA is good for Aspie's but it can't hurt to call. Call Josh Gwilliam (he's head of admissions) at 703 548-6912. I once asked on behalf of another mom about Asperger's. I believe the C/A response was "It's not in our charter, but depending on the child and available space you never know". Certainly worth a call. I love the school. It's done wonders to restore self-confidence to my minor ADHD kid who is now pulling straight As. Good luck. |