School Options Without an IEP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No private except a SN school will be tolerant. An IEP takes a few months. Its easiest if you have a private evaluation and submit it.

It isn't so much about a private SN school being tolerant, but rather they will know how best to educate and help children with whatever diagnosis they have.

That said, they will want to see an independent evaluation so they can get a sense of whether they can help the child before accepting him as a student.

[Anonymous]

Can you clarify "uncontrolled yelling"? Is he yelling at another student during recess because he is upset about a game? That can be addressed through school counselor. Or is he is yelling at a teacher in class for a minute or for a prolonged period of time? Did this behavior start this year or offered last year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private except a SN school will be tolerant. An IEP takes a few months. Its easiest if you have a private evaluation and submit it.

It isn't so much about a private SN school being tolerant, but rather they will know how best to educate and help children with whatever diagnosis they have.

That said, they will want to see an independent evaluation so they can get a sense of whether they can help the child before accepting him as a student.

SN schools don't conduct an evaluation to see if a kid would be a good fit. As a parent you apply which generally means submitting recent evaluations. If a school is considering your kid, they may ask the child to visit for part of the school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private except a SN school will be tolerant. An IEP takes a few months. Its easiest if you have a private evaluation and submit it.

It isn't so much about a private SN school being tolerant, but rather they will know how best to educate and help children with whatever diagnosis they have.

That said, they will want to see an independent evaluation so they can get a sense of whether they can help the child before accepting him as a student.

SN schools don't conduct an evaluation to see if a kid would be a good fit. As a parent you apply which generally means submitting recent evaluations. If a school is considering your kid, they may ask the child to visit for part of the school day.

Um, yes, many of them do just that. They observe the child at their current placement, or the child visits the potential new school for a visit to see if they will be a good match, etc. Plenty of schools do this. I have toured my fair share of places in the DC area, and this is not uncommon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private except a SN school will be tolerant. An IEP takes a few months. Its easiest if you have a private evaluation and submit it.

It isn't so much about a private SN school being tolerant, but rather they will know how best to educate and help children with whatever diagnosis they have.

That said, they will want to see an independent evaluation so they can get a sense of whether they can help the child before accepting him as a student.

We went to a very small private for a few years. They were very welcoming and accepting of my child's SN. However, I know they kicked out most kids with behavioral issues. They had zero tolerance. They never asked for a private evaluation. I explain the concern, he did a 1/2 day visit.

Most SN schools will want to talk to the therapist, current teachers, etc. When we spoke to a few, none seemed to require full evaluations. However, with this child's needs I would get one. SN schools are very expensive. I'd try to make public work and save that money for if he needs it later on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private except a SN school will be tolerant. An IEP takes a few months. Its easiest if you have a private evaluation and submit it.

It isn't so much about a private SN school being tolerant, but rather they will know how best to educate and help children with whatever diagnosis they have.

That said, they will want to see an independent evaluation so they can get a sense of whether they can help the child before accepting him as a student.

We went to a very small private for a few years. They were very welcoming and accepting of my child's SN. However, I know they kicked out most kids with behavioral issues. They had zero tolerance. They never asked for a private evaluation. I explain the concern, he did a 1/2 day visit.

Most SN schools will want to talk to the therapist, current teachers, etc. When we spoke to a few, none seemed to require full evaluations. However, with this child's needs I would get one. SN schools are very expensive. I'd try to make public work and save that money for if he needs it later on.

Did you go to a "very small private" or a very small private SN school." It's apples and oranges. If you went to a very small private school (say, Jewish Primary Day School) they are not going to ask for evaluations. If you went to a small private SN school (say, Maddux) they are all about evaluations.

[Anonymous]

Can you say more about what you mean by outbursts? What precipitates them, what occurs, what is going on at home. Age of child. History. Any other issues.

These are the questions you and the school should be asking. Have them do a Functional Behavioral Analysis (FBA) to identifying triggers and a plan to address them.

[Anonymous]

OP - the FBA sounds like what we need. Many thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - the FBA sounds like what we need. Many thanks.

11:35 here. Keep us posted on what you learn from it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private except a SN school will be tolerant. An IEP takes a few months. Its easiest if you have a private evaluation and submit it.

It isn't so much about a private SN school being tolerant, but rather they will know how best to educate and help children with whatever diagnosis they have.

That said, they will want to see an independent evaluation so they can get a sense of whether they can help the child before accepting him as a student.

We went to a very small private for a few years. They were very welcoming and accepting of my child's SN. However, I know they kicked out most kids with behavioral issues. They had zero tolerance. They never asked for a private evaluation. I explain the concern, he did a 1/2 day visit.

Most SN schools will want to talk to the therapist, current teachers, etc. When we spoke to a few, none seemed to require full evaluations. However, with this child's needs I would get one. SN schools are very expensive. I'd try to make public work and save that money for if he needs it later on.

Did you go to a "very small private" or a very small private SN school." It's apples and oranges. If you went to a very small private school (say, Jewish Primary Day School) they are not going to ask for evaluations. If you went to a small private SN school (say, Maddux) they are all about evaluations.

Yup. Also there are several small privates that only go through 2nd grade, which I bet is where her kid went. It's a different story applying to privates that go for longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - the FBA sounds like what we need. Many thanks.

FBA is a good idea for the current classroom. But if this is an ongoing issue or becomes one, an fba is like a band aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private except a SN school will be tolerant. An IEP takes a few months. Its easiest if you have a private evaluation and submit it.

It isn't so much about a private SN school being tolerant, but rather they will know how best to educate and help children with whatever diagnosis they have.

That said, they will want to see an independent evaluation so they can get a sense of whether they can help the child before accepting him as a student.

We went to a very small private for a few years. They were very welcoming and accepting of my child's SN. However, I know they kicked out most kids with behavioral issues. They had zero tolerance. They never asked for a private evaluation. I explain the concern, he did a 1/2 day visit.

Most SN schools will want to talk to the therapist, current teachers, etc. When we spoke to a few, none seemed to require full evaluations. However, with this child's needs I would get one. SN schools are very expensive. I'd try to make public work and save that money for if he needs it later on.

Did you go to a "very small private" or a very small private SN school." It's apples and oranges. If you went to a very small private school (say, Jewish Primary Day School) they are not going to ask for evaluations. If you went to a small private SN school (say, Maddux) they are all about evaluations.

Yup. Also there are several small privates that only go through 2nd grade, which I bet is where her kid went. It's a different story applying to privates that go for longer.

This is what we did as they were more affortable. They met my son and we talked about his needs prior to us visiting. We talked to Maddox and they said to apply and we didn't need evaluations (we had them) but we ruled them out for several reasons. A lot of other privates do want private testing for all kids, which has nothing to do with SN. We ruled out those privates schools given the SN (and some claimed they were welcoming but when I spoke to them I didn't get that impression). We knew our child could not do the tests accurately at the time so we didn't want to subject him to them until he could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - the FBA sounds like what we need. Many thanks.

FBA is a good idea for the current classroom. But if this is an ongoing issue or becomes one, an fba is like a band aid.

Not true. It can take several tries to get the right FBA. If it's a well done FBA and really pinpoints the causes or triggers for the behaviors then the BIP should work. It may take a long time for the child to learn the skills in the BIP if skills are required but at least you'll be addressing the right thing.

MCPS tends to have guidance counselors do FBAs and they make up why the child has a behavior. For them it's just more paperwork they have to legally fill out. This can be VERY dangerous and can make the behaviors worse. Make sure you have someone with experience doing this. You should probably hire a private BCBA although even with them you can't be guaranteed that they will find the cause.

We worked with two different ones and one was nice and thoughtful, but couldn't figure it out despite. The second was very insightful and she knew what was going on after one observation and from talking to the teachers and with us. We did keep an ABC log which is key. The behaviors were gone basically overnight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - the FBA sounds like what we need. Many thanks.

FBA is a good idea for the current classroom. But if this is an ongoing issue or becomes one, an fba is like a band aid.

Not true. It can take several tries to get the right FBA. If it's a well done FBA and really pinpoints the causes or triggers for the behaviors then the BIP should work. It may take a long time for the child to learn the skills in the BIP if skills are required but at least you'll be addressing the right thing.

MCPS tends to have guidance counselors do FBAs and they make up why the child has a behavior. For them it's just more paperwork they have to legally fill out. This can be VERY dangerous and can make the behaviors worse. Make sure you have someone with experience doing this. You should probably hire a private BCBA although even with them you can't be guaranteed that they will find the cause.

We worked with two different ones and one was nice and thoughtful, but couldn't figure it out despite. The second was very insightful and she knew what was going on after one observation and from talking to the teachers and with us. We did keep an ABC log which is key. The behaviors were gone basically overnight.

No, I mean a kid may need a more exhaustive evaluation like a neuropsychological evaluation. The fba might be missing the mark b/c there are undiagnosed issues.

[Anonymous]

I don't disagree with you about the neuropsych. They are always useful if you have the time and money. But I don't think FBA typically "miss the mark" because of the lack of a diagnosis. If anything I think they can help find issues that can give you clues to a diagnosis down the road is one is warranted.

This is if they are done right. If you start with the incorrect premise that a child is willfully disobeying a teacher and just seeking attention (the stupid scenario that MCPS guidance counselors seem to always start with for FBAs probably because it was the only example they got in their very brief training) but actually the child is overstimulated because of sensory issues then, yes, I can see how the FBA could miss its mark. But if you have a skilled BCBA they will be able to see the child has sensory issues and that finding may lead a parent to pursue further testing which may lead to a diagnosis of something or another.

In DC's case, part of the reason the FBA was so hard to get right with the first BCBA was that we began with a diagnosis we didn't know was a misdiagnosis until much later so all the initial assumptions were wrong. The second BCBA, who was more skeptical about the diagnosis and also had the benefit of knowing everything that failed with the first BCBA, figured things out very quickly and it the cause of the behaviors had nothing to do with the diagnosis/misdiagnosis.