Best school for a child who is smart, but has SEVERE motor delays?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you doing private services (I'm assuming yes but its not clear). I'd almost consider holding him back a year and heavily focusing on OT, PT and Speech and homeschool for academics. School speech is not worth much at the elementary level. We get twice a week group but its very basic and not really geared to my child's specific needs. Private is far better if insurance can cover it.

If you move to MD, there are LISS funds you can apply. Its a lottery so its hard to get but worth trying.

Yes. We do 2 hrs each of PT, OT, and ST every week. He only went to school 3 days a week last year to accommodate that. I'm worried FCPS won't be so willing to let me do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are in FCPS, but I'd echo the PPs if you were willing to move to MD. Forest Knolls and Bethesda Elementary are both committed to full inclusion and specialize in kids with only physical disabilities. There are other programs for kids who also have cognitive differences.

Or...just call the Office of Special Education where you live and ask. I can't imagine they don't have a program for kids with physical disabilities and no other issues.

BE isn't full inclusion.

We are at Bethesda Elementary and there are children with a similar level of need. It is my understanding that BE accepts disabled children from neighboring elementary schools because they are a center and have the specialized staff and equipment (wheelchairs, treadmill, special exercise bikes, and probably other things in classrooms that I have not seen). I do not know how large the catchment area is for BE.

From personal experience, I have found that children with special needs are often thought of as wanting in the top story. My son, after years of having his special needs met wonderfully at BE, was finally recognized to be gifted as well, and moved on to a middle school program for gifted and learning disabled children. It was hard work persuading the teachers and special educators to see beyond his motor, verbal and other disabilities, even though they were all decent, intelligent people. I know there have been physically disabled children in the program, although the ones I know were all ambulatory and verbal. Your son is only 4, I'm sure he will catch up and might benefit from such a program.

Please call MCPS special ed and they will answer your questions.
One final thing - you are your child's best educator. Homeschooling is always an option. We nearly went there after a couple of difficult years.

When you have a child who has complex communication issues and requires Augmentative Communication devices and several different kinds of therapies, unfortunately home schooling is often out of the question.

My DD is similar to your son. She is at Forest Knolls.

St. Coletta's has great Augmentative Communication and PT but the academics are unfortunately not at all strong. I have been advised not to look there because we are hoping for diploma track and a level of academic enrichment that they can't meet. This is a true bind for kids in this area. There is a trade off between therapies and academics and there are no school for kids with physical disabilities and complex communication needs other than at Kennedy Krieger in Baltimore. A few kids end up in the so-called communication program at Ivymount but there is no peer modelling/inclusion. There is a real lack of programming in this area for kids like ours.

Forest Knolls is a terrific program and I would encourage you to visit. It houses the "orthopedically handicapped" program for MCPS. It is somewhat of a hidden program and you won't find information about it on MCPS preschools. They basically will either agree or not agree to accept your child after reviewing his file. Keep pressing MCPS about it and about sending your file there to be reviewed. Or, your other option is you can look for a home in the Forest Knolls neighborhood of Silver Spring, which is a nice place to live, and your child can go to school there. It's a regular elementary school too, and a good one.

Thank you for this info. We will definitely check this out. I'm hoping there is something similar that's "hidden" at FCPS as my husband prefers to stay on the VA side. But when our lease is up, we will go wherever we have to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does he communicate?

He has some words and signs, and he has an AAC iPad. His understanding is age level. I thought the AAC would motivate him to use his hands more, but ironically, he attempts to speak the words more to avoid using it.

OP, I don't know if this is at all convenient to you geographically, but my son also uses an iPad with an AAC app and we go to this monthly group for young AAC users at Conaboy & Associates, near Union Station: http://conaboy.com/capitol-communicators/ It is a play/social group for kids who use AAC.

This looks exciting! Thank you!