ASD and Lab, Mclean and Sienna

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lab definitely rejects kids who disclose autism in application process. There are likely many HFA ASD kids there, just diagnosed later or undiagnosed. Heard from a school consultant that McLean is same and not to bother applying.

This is precisely why I wouldn’t disclose. We all know that there are plenty of students at all these schools (and at non-SN private schools too) with ASD who do just fine. When schools discriminate on the basis of a label without bothering to dig any deeper to figure out whether the student can be successful, they are asking for the omission. As parents, it’s important that we be honest with ourselves about the type of environments in which our kids can be successful. But I sure as hell wouldn’t trust a school to care enough to make that call when it’s so much easier for them just to reject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lab definitely rejects kids who disclose autism in application process. There are likely many HFA ASD kids there, just diagnosed later or undiagnosed. Heard from a school consultant that McLean is same and not to bother applying.

This is precisely why I wouldn’t disclose. We all know that there are plenty of students at all these schools (and at non-SN private schools too) with ASD who do just fine. When schools discriminate on the basis of a label without bothering to dig any deeper to figure out whether the student can be successful, they are asking for the omission. As parents, it’s important that we be honest with ourselves about the type of environments in which our kids can be successful. But I sure as hell wouldn’t trust a school to care enough to make that call when it’s so much easier for them just to reject.

I wouldn’t say there are “plenty”of students with ASD at these schools. There are just a few.
A larger number get rejected or counseled out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Siena only wants kids with dyslexia but as a parent with a kid there now, I can attest there are plenty of kids there with behavioral challenges. Whether it’s formal ASD, I don’t know, but we can’t wait to leave. Siena is going to have to do something soon to address its issues in this regard. They’ve grown and grown bringing in tuition money, but they need to start bringing in more staff who know how to manage the behavior and stop it, before it starts affecting the school’s reputation.

PP, if you see this, can you tell us more about Siena? For example, how many kids in your child's grade exhibit the marks of other co-existing diagnoses? How do you find classroom management, and is your child learning irrespective of others' behaviour?

We are considering moving our middle schooler who has dyslexia but no other diagnoses. We looked seriously at Lab last year, but I got gun shy at the idea of 50-60% of the class having other diagnoses, many involving behavioral challenges. Lots of love and respect to those kids and parents, but my mind went to the other 40% who are there solely for dyslexia and wondered about their experiences and classroom management.

I'm a current Lab parent and the bolded above is bizarre to me. It sounds utterly delusional. Where on earth did you get that information? From the staff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Siena only wants kids with dyslexia but as a parent with a kid there now, I can attest there are plenty of kids there with behavioral challenges. Whether it’s formal ASD, I don’t know, but we can’t wait to leave. Siena is going to have to do something soon to address its issues in this regard. They’ve grown and grown bringing in tuition money, but they need to start bringing in more staff who know how to manage the behavior and stop it, before it starts affecting the school’s reputation.

PP, if you see this, can you tell us more about Siena? For example, how many kids in your child's grade exhibit the marks of other co-existing diagnoses? How do you find classroom management, and is your child learning irrespective of others' behaviour?

We are considering moving our middle schooler who has dyslexia but no other diagnoses. We looked seriously at Lab last year, but I got gun shy at the idea of 50-60% of the class having other diagnoses, many involving behavioral challenges. Lots of love and respect to those kids and parents, but my mind went to the other 40% who are there solely for dyslexia and wondered about their experiences and classroom management.

I'm a current Lab parent and the bolded above is bizarre to me. It sounds utterly delusional. Where on earth did you get that information? From the staff?

Yes, said during an online open house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Siena only wants kids with dyslexia but as a parent with a kid there now, I can attest there are plenty of kids there with behavioral challenges. Whether it’s formal ASD, I don’t know, but we can’t wait to leave. Siena is going to have to do something soon to address its issues in this regard. They’ve grown and grown bringing in tuition money, but they need to start bringing in more staff who know how to manage the behavior and stop it, before it starts affecting the school’s reputation.

PP, if you see this, can you tell us more about Siena? For example, how many kids in your child's grade exhibit the marks of other co-existing diagnoses? How do you find classroom management, and is your child learning irrespective of others' behaviour?

We are considering moving our middle schooler who has dyslexia but no other diagnoses. We looked seriously at Lab last year, but I got gun shy at the idea of 50-60% of the class having other diagnoses, many involving behavioral challenges. Lots of love and respect to those kids and parents, but my mind went to the other 40% who are there solely for dyslexia and wondered about their experiences and classroom management.

I'm a current Lab parent and the bolded above is bizarre to me. It sounds utterly delusional. Where on earth did you get that information? From the staff?

Yes, said during an online open house.

Most of those have ADHD which is very common among people with dyslexia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My assumption is that Lab, Siena and McLean are full of disruptive ADHD kids. The kids I know who attend there are not able to keep themselves organized, aren't terrific with emotional regulation, and are lacking in social skills. Such schools, who seem to cater to ADHD/Dyslexia, might not be the best fit for a high functioning, quiet ASD kid who is on track academically, even if they did admit ASD kids, which it sounds like they don't.

I can speak for McLean only. Definitely not full of disruptive ADHD kids, especially in the older grades. As a whole, I’d call the kids quirkier or less mature than their peerset, but skewing more typical than not. The kids who are less adept socially tend to leave for whatever reason. Same goes for kids with very mild ADHD and/or no learning concerns. It really caters to kids who might fall through the cracks in public school but generally behave/interact fairly typically.

[Anonymous]

How could you not disclose when these schools require a neuropsych report? Just curious.