Looking for recs on mainstream privates that are inclusive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need an educational consultant. As
Social demands increase so do kids like this appear more autistic. And OP, my gosh, of course you disclose the diagnois. The applications ask. What would you do, lie? That’s honestly wild to me. I can’t imagine doing that to my child.

If your kid ness supports you need a good iep or a special needs school. There may be one offs etc. but why not just go with the best known fit? Just so you can say it’s a monsteram private? I’d explore that carefully.

Thanks. She said her child had been admittted so I asked if she disclosed. I wanted to know whether the school admitted knowing the kids status. That’s all. Pleas don’t read more into my question.

You could try ACDS in Alexandria. I would never send a kid with an asd diagnosis at this young, so clearly impacted, to a mainstream private. But your mileage may vary.

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To avoid confusion, let me offer the following additional info.

We have a consultant and a neuropsychologist helping us. We’re doing additional testing too. We want the school to know exactly what they’re getting. We are not zoned for a good school and there is not a good transfer option. We’ve already looked into the options w the school district. We didn’t qualify for services from Child Find back when we tried. The person at the preschool has some idea what she’s talking about re IEP eligibility because she was heavily involved in the public school IEP process for our district for kids this age in her prior job. Child is very bright - been tested for that already and will be again.

We have four high-quality SN schools on our list — toured some of them already — but they are each one hell of a drive to get to. We would prefer not having kiddo spend 1.5 hours in the car each day and instead on the playground or in social skills classes, etc.

I’m on DCUM wanting to hear from folks who have real-world experience w mainstream schools that can speak positively or negatively and specifically, preferably w names of schools. Consultants etc are great but I’d like to hear from parents too — in fact, parents recs mean a lot!

Hope that helps. TIA for any info you can provide.

Also if it’s easier to be specific offline, I could setup a throwaway email address so that we can exchange numbers, messages, etc— whatever you’d prefer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need an educational consultant. As
Social demands increase so do kids like this appear more autistic. And OP, my gosh, of course you disclose the diagnois. The applications ask. What would you do, lie? That’s honestly wild to me. I can’t imagine doing that to my child.

If your kid ness supports you need a good iep or a special needs school. There may be one offs etc. but why not just go with the best known fit? Just so you can say it’s a monsteram private? I’d explore that carefully.

Thanks. She said her child had been admittted so I asked if she disclosed. I wanted to know whether the school admitted knowing the kids status. That’s all. Pleas don’t read more into my question.

You could try ACDS in Alexandria. I would never send a kid with an asd diagnosis at this young, so clearly impacted, to a mainstream private. But your mileage may vary.

Severely impacted? Are you saying that based on your child's needs or OP? My child's needs were pretty significant and we did a mainstream private and it worked out well. We'd still be there if the child didn't age out. There was far more support, warmth and a willing to work with my child at the private than public. The public experience has been poor and staff refuse any support. A child can look very different at age 4/5 and 8-9-10-11 and some do outgrow a good portion on the concerns and can thrive at any school, like mine has. No school is perfect but the smaller classes and individual attention made private worth it for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need an educational consultant. As
Social demands increase so do kids like this appear more autistic. And OP, my gosh, of course you disclose the diagnois. The applications ask. What would you do, lie? That’s honestly wild to me. I can’t imagine doing that to my child.

If your kid ness supports you need a good iep or a special needs school. There may be one offs etc. but why not just go with the best known fit? Just so you can say it’s a monsteram private? I’d explore that carefully.

Thanks. She said her child had been admittted so I asked if she disclosed. I wanted to know whether the school admitted knowing the kids status. That’s all. Pleas don’t read more into my question.

Also, some kids are admitted before getting a diagnosis so it is important to ask when the kid got the diagnosis. Some schools will work with a kid who is already at the school but would not admit a kid with a known diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need an educational consultant. As
Social demands increase so do kids like this appear more autistic. And OP, my gosh, of course you disclose the diagnois. The applications ask. What would you do, lie? That’s honestly wild to me. I can’t imagine doing that to my child.

If your kid ness supports you need a good iep or a special needs school. There may be one offs etc. but why not just go with the best known fit? Just so you can say it’s a monsteram private? I’d explore that carefully.

Thanks. She said her child had been admittted so I asked if she disclosed. I wanted to know whether the school admitted knowing the kids status. That’s all. Pleas don’t read more into my question.

Also, some kids are admitted before getting a diagnosis so it is important to ask when the kid got the diagnosis. Some schools will work with a kid who is already at the school but would not admit a kid with a known diagnosis.

I’ve heard that too. But the logic is flawed, and it creates perverse incentives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need an educational consultant. As
Social demands increase so do kids like this appear more autistic. And OP, my gosh, of course you disclose the diagnois. The applications ask. What would you do, lie? That’s honestly wild to me. I can’t imagine doing that to my child.

If your kid ness supports you need a good iep or a special needs school. There may be one offs etc. but why not just go with the best known fit? Just so you can say it’s a monsteram private? I’d explore that carefully.

Thanks. She said her child had been admittted so I asked if she disclosed. I wanted to know whether the school admitted knowing the kids status. That’s all. Pleas don’t read more into my question.

You could try ACDS in Alexandria. I would never send a kid with an asd diagnosis at this young, so clearly impacted, to a mainstream private. But your mileage may vary.

Severely impacted? Are you saying that based on your child's needs or OP? My child's needs were pretty significant and we did a mainstream private and it worked out well. We'd still be there if the child didn't age out. There was far more support, warmth and a willing to work with my child at the private than public. The public experience has been poor and staff refuse any support. A child can look very different at age 4/5 and 8-9-10-11 and some do outgrow a good portion on the concerns and can thrive at any school, like mine has. No school is perfect but the smaller classes and individual attention made private worth it for us.

Thank you. Did you apply w a diagnosis or did you receive one after admission? Are you located in the DC area?

[Anonymous]

I'm the poster in another city. OP, my experience is that there are kids with some needs at many schools, but I wouldn't necessarily describe the schools as "inclusive" philosophically--more that they were willing to take that particular child at that moment. You may want to post an email here instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the poster in another city. OP, my experience is that there are kids with some needs at many schools, but I wouldn't necessarily describe the schools as "inclusive" philosophically--more that they were willing to take that particular child at that moment. You may want to post an email here instead.

Good idea. [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need an educational consultant. As
Social demands increase so do kids like this appear more autistic. And OP, my gosh, of course you disclose the diagnois. The applications ask. What would you do, lie? That’s honestly wild to me. I can’t imagine doing that to my child.

If your kid ness supports you need a good iep or a special needs school. There may be one offs etc. but why not just go with the best known fit? Just so you can say it’s a monsteram private? I’d explore that carefully.

Thanks. She said her child had been admittted so I asked if she disclosed. I wanted to know whether the school admitted knowing the kids status. That’s all. Pleas don’t read more into my question.

You could try ACDS in Alexandria. I would never send a kid with an asd diagnosis at this young, so clearly impacted, to a mainstream private. But your mileage may vary.

Does your child attend ACDS? Could you tell me more about it? For what it's worth, my DS looks more like a kid that's a bit shy and maybe a tad anxious at times, but not always.

[Anonymous]

We tried 2. All talk the talk but did the opposite of deliver. Don’t trust the hype and brochures. Wasted hundreds of thousands. Far better experience in local public elementary with IEP, kind staff/teachers and tutor.

[Anonymous]

For people getting worked up about lying on an application you cannot lie because all schools ask for the state health form. Th pediatrician fills it out and would disclose a diagnosis like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We tried 2. All talk the talk but did the opposite of deliver. Don’t trust the hype and brochures. Wasted hundreds of thousands. Far better experience in local public elementary with IEP, kind staff/teachers and tutor.

Thank you. Would you mind sharing the names of the schools? I’m assuming that you disclosed, but let me know if you did not, please. Happy to discuss the details off-line, if that would be preferable. Email address listed in the post above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For people getting worked up about lying on an application you cannot lie because all schools ask for the state health form. Th pediatrician fills it out and would disclose a diagnosis like this.

Thank you. I don’t see anything in this thread that suggest anyone does not intend to disclose...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need an educational consultant. As
Social demands increase so do kids like this appear more autistic. And OP, my gosh, of course you disclose the diagnois. The applications ask. What would you do, lie? That’s honestly wild to me. I can’t imagine doing that to my child.

If your kid ness supports you need a good iep or a special needs school. There may be one offs etc. but why not just go with the best known fit? Just so you can say it’s a monsteram private? I’d explore that carefully.

Thanks. She said her child had been admittted so I asked if she disclosed. I wanted to know whether the school admitted knowing the kids status. That’s all. Pleas don’t read more into my question.

Also, some kids are admitted before getting a diagnosis so it is important to ask when the kid got the diagnosis. Some schools will work with a kid who is already at the school but would not admit a kid with a known diagnosis.

Often on admissions they have people who have plenty of experience with kids and they will likely be able to at least have a hypothesis that say a kid is on the spectrum. If it does not appear in the paperwork, you wonder if the parent is either hiding something or completely out to lunch (given that the kid is an age where it should have been picked up). You are always better off being honest and not hiding anything no matter how you explain it to yourself. Plenty of kids get counseled out who came in without a diagnosis, but clearly needed more help than the school could give. You want to set your kid up for success. By being honest you show the school you are the type of parent who is a team player and who truly cares about finding the right match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need an educational consultant. As
Social demands increase so do kids like this appear more autistic. And OP, my gosh, of course you disclose the diagnois. The applications ask. What would you do, lie? That’s honestly wild to me. I can’t imagine doing that to my child.

If your kid ness supports you need a good iep or a special needs school. There may be one offs etc. but why not just go with the best known fit? Just so you can say it’s a monsteram private? I’d explore that carefully.

Thanks. She said her child had been admittted so I asked if she disclosed. I wanted to know whether the school admitted knowing the kids status. That’s all. Pleas don’t read more into my question.

Also, some kids are admitted before getting a diagnosis so it is important to ask when the kid got the diagnosis. Some schools will work with a kid who is already at the school but would not admit a kid with a known diagnosis.

Often on admissions they have people who have plenty of experience with kids and they will likely be able to at least have a hypothesis that say a kid is on the spectrum. If it does not appear in the paperwork, you wonder if the parent is either hiding something or completely out to lunch (given that the kid is an age where it should have been picked up). You are always better off being honest and not hiding anything no matter how you explain it to yourself. Plenty of kids get counseled out who came in without a diagnosis, but clearly needed more help than the school could give. You want to set your kid up for success. By being honest you show the school you are the type of parent who is a team player and who truly cares about finding the right match.

Thank you. Again I’m not seeking guidance on whether to disclose - that was never an issue for us. I’m asking for recommendations on specific mainstream schools that are inclusive, willing to do some basic accommodations and preferably have a strong SEL program. Much appreciated!