do private schools handle kids with learning disabilities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean School has a good summer program that focuses on enhancing skills in core subjects. It is expensive but may be worth it.

Don't waste your money. We found the McLean camp to be worthless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends. Most schools will provide some level of accommodations but may not provide the specialized instruction required to remediate the dyslexia. Has she received instruction targeting her dyslexia (Orton-Gillingham)? Is she able to complete grade-level work with some accommodations?
I am a private tutor in the area that specializes in students with dyslexia. To give you an idea I have tutored students with dyslexia at the following schools: Stone Ridge, St. Patrick's, Bullis, Sheridan, National Presbyterian, Grace Episcopal Day School, Washington Episcopal, etc.
It all depends on your DD's current level in reading/writing/spelling. As long as you are willing to provide supplemental instruction as needed and she is close to grade level I think she'll be just fine.

I'm the PP with the previous list. I think this is a good list, except for NPS and GEDS which are wonderful schools that don't go high enough for OP's kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is wonderful. She's also dyslexic. Would a private school like Maret or Sidwell or Green Acres be able to accommodate her?
She's a rising sixth grader.

Query whether you'd want to put her in an environment where kids with LD are routinely counseled out or not admitted in the first place. Kids with LD do get into elite private schools, but only if they can more or less hide their LDs, their LDs are considered "minor," or if they come from extremely wealthy donor families. Even if she gets in, what sort of message does that send to her? They're private schools; they can admit whomever they like, but I think there is a psychological cost to going to a school where the schools actively screen out kids who have her same LD.

My youngest is in the process of getting diagnosed with what looks like severe dyslexia and one thing I've begun to really wrap my head around is how to look for environments where neurodiversity is a core value. Even if he can get accommodations to help with reading, I don't think that helps if the admittance philosophy of the school is that he'd be admitted only if he can hide or minimize a core part of who he is. This is something I'm grappling with myself, although my DS is much younger and we're not looking at MS yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[O]ne thing I've begun to really wrap my head around is how to look for environments where neurodiversity is a core value.

I don't think any place like that exists. Well, public school is required to take all comers, which is a societal value, but that doesn't always translate to being welcomed at the individual school/peer level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean School has a good summer program that focuses on enhancing skills in core subjects. It is expensive but may be worth it.

Don't waste your money. We found the McLean camp to be worthless.

Ok, good to know. The school is worthless too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[O]ne thing I've begun to really wrap my head around is how to look for environments where neurodiversity is a core value.

I don't think any place like that exists. Well, public school is required to take all comers, which is a societal value, but that doesn't always translate to being welcomed at the individual school/peer level.

I'm PP. It does exist administratively, at least, in the public schools, because they have no choice as far as admission. It is a big deal that the public schools take everybody. I don't know if I want to put my DS in an environment that actively pushes kids like him out, even if he could get in because he's able to hide his disabilities better. Is the education he might get worth the underlying message that sends?

Like I said, I don't know the answer. Public schools have their own issues, which is why I'm even considering private school, but administrative and system-wide admissions rejection based on dyslexia isn't one of the public school issues. The fact that private schools are often openly unwelcoming to kids with anything other than mild (and 'hideable') disabilities is a big mark in the negative column for me.

[Anonymous]

McLean remediates dyslexia in the lower school and my child with dyslexia and dysgraphia is thriving.

[Anonymous]

McLean does little to nothing in middle school thus not worth the $40K.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid with a learning isssue.

A public school can create a service plan, which is like an IEP "to go" where you don't get the help from the public school, because you have chosen to enroll is a private school, but they explain what the child needs (books on tape, extra time on tests, seating near the teacher, a copy of the notes) and then the private school can tell you if they can manage that or not.

If your child needs special instruction to overcome the issue, you may have to hire a specialist to see the child after school or outside of school.

The private schools don't get funding for special education programs, no matter how many kids with disabilities they admit and support.
I don't think of it as "a child isn't welcome" I think some kids need something special to succeed, and you need to find a way to make that happen.
It will probably mean you have to pay for some resources above the price of tuition. We pay for OT and counseling for my child and when he needs to miss school for these appointments, they are excused absenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[O]ne thing I've begun to really wrap my head around is how to look for environments where neurodiversity is a core value.

I don't think any place like that exists. Well, public school is required to take all comers, which is a societal value, but that doesn't always translate to being welcomed at the individual school/peer level.

The Lab School. They embrace the neurodiversity you are talking about. Their phrase "Difference is Extraordinary" really has meaning and lives up to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[O]ne thing I've begun to really wrap my head around is how to look for environments where neurodiversity is a core value.

I don't think any place like that exists. Well, public school is required to take all comers, which is a societal value, but that doesn't always translate to being welcomed at the individual school/peer level.

The Lab School. They embrace the neurodiversity you are talking about. Their phrase "Difference is Extraordinary" really has meaning and lives up to it.

Only if you define neurodiversity as not including anyone on the autism spectrum, at least according to their admissions people. I know the reality at the school is different, but when we inquired we were told in no uncertain terms to look elsewhere. It's a marketing slogan, not a policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid with a learning isssue.

A public school can create a service plan, which is like an IEP "to go" where you don't get the help from the public school, because you have chosen to enroll is a private school, but they explain what the child needs (books on tape, extra time on tests, seating near the teacher, a copy of the notes) and then the private school can tell you if they can manage that or not.

If your child needs special instruction to overcome the issue, you may have to hire a specialist to see the child after school or outside of school.

The private schools don't get funding for special education programs, no matter how many kids with disabilities they admit and support.
I don't think of it as "a child isn't welcome" I think some kids need something special to succeed, and you need to find a way to make that happen.
It will probably mean you have to pay for some resources above the price of tuition. We pay for OT and counseling for my child and when he needs to miss school for these appointments, they are excused absenses.

It seems pretty unwelcome to me. You can only go if you pay something far above what regular tuition is? That seems non-optimal.

I guess that goes to show that children of wealthy donors will get admitted even with learning disabilities, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[O]ne thing I've begun to really wrap my head around is how to look for environments where neurodiversity is a core value.

I don't think any place like that exists. Well, public school is required to take all comers, which is a societal value, but that doesn't always translate to being welcomed at the individual school/peer level.

The Lab School. They embrace the neurodiversity you are talking about. Their phrase "Difference is Extraordinary" really has meaning and lives up to it.

Only if you define neurodiversity as not including anyone on the autism spectrum, at least according to their admissions people. I know the reality at the school is different, but when we inquired we were told in no uncertain terms to look elsewhere. It's a marketing slogan, not a policy.

Wow, really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean does little to nothing in middle school thus not worth the $40K.

Is this the same ooster that is always bashing McLean? I visited and it seemed great.

[Anonymous]

No. I am a current parent of two students and I know what I am talking about. After four years of the constant "transformative" marketing and no substantive evidence of what they profess, we are leaving. Again, it is not worth the money. Unless you have money to throw away, invest it elsewhere.