very low normal/possible very slight MR

[Anonymous]

Can you recommend a private HS for a child with very low normal IQ scores with some other cognitive testing possibly indicating very mild mental retardation. Great social skills. Her scores are too high to receive services in a public school plus for other reasons public school doesn't seem like a good option. Does not have an LD profile. We are in Maryland.

[Anonymous]

http://exceptionalschoolsfair.com/About.html

Have you had a full neuropsych eval and not just IQ testing?

[Anonymous]

How has she done in school to date OP? What are her areas of strengths and areas where she struggles?

Who she is as a person is going to make a bigger difference in what school is a good fit than her IQ score.

[Anonymous]

Yes we have had a complete neuropsych. We'd always kind of thought she was ld based on SLP testing, etc., but the neuropsych shows her to have low average skills across all areas. She is very skilled socially - very empathetic and kind; somewhat charismatic. She likes art and music. Currently goes to a small private school where she is very happy (although she definitely has some academic struggles). Don't think she would do well at a large school. Currently looking for high schools.

[Anonymous]

My friend's nephew who sounds somewhat similar is at the McLean School, and it's been a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend's nephew who sounds somewhat similar is at the McLean School, and it's been a good fit.

McLean probably won't accept her based on her IQ scores alone.

[Anonymous]

OP,

I would look at Ivymount first. It's expensive but the school year is longer than most of the SN privates.

You could also look at the Nora School. I know a someone who's kid was turned down from Sienna and ended up there.

Lastly, you could also look at the Lab School. They probably won't accept her if she's on the spectrum. The older kids get the more competitive it is to get into. The upside is won't string you along. If they don't think she's an appropriate candidate, they will be upfront about it.

[Anonymous]

She is definitely not on the spectrum. She has excellent interpersonal skills. One of the problems all along has been that because she presents so well, teachers etc. take quite a while to realize her intellectual skills aren't the greatest and even when they realize it they have trouble disentangling what is going on.

Thanks for the responses!

[Anonymous]

She also doesn't have SN issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She also doesn't have SN issues.

Not sure what that means. What are her academic struggles?

[Anonymous]

Maybe I don't know what SN means. I thought it meant sensory neural which I was interpretting to refer to kids who are hyper sensitive to sensory stimuli like my neighbor's son who has to have all tags cut out of his clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I don't know what SN means. I thought it meant sensory neural which I was interpretting to refer to kids who are hyper sensitive to sensory stimuli like my neighbor's son who has to have all tags cut out of his clothes.

SN on this forum usually refers to Special Needs vs. NeuroTypical (or "normal" to the rest of the world). SNs is very generic term and ranges widely, so usually people give specifics.

Some kids do have sensory issues and some people refer to SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder).

[Anonymous]

Writing and reading are hard, but she has made good progress with tutoring. She never had trouble with math facts, but word problems and prealgebra are hard. She has been excused from foreign language class per recommendation of slp. Very concrete. Appears to have trouble remembering things (e.g., tutor keeps reteaching procedures for math), but neuropsych did not reveal significant memory issues. No attention issues.


She loves school now and I would like her to continue to do so. That is my main goal.

[Anonymous]

You should hire an educational consultant. They can guide you in your search.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes we have had a complete neuropsych. We'd always kind of thought she was ld based on SLP testing, etc., but the neuropsych shows her to have low average skills across all areas. She is very skilled socially - very empathetic and kind; somewhat charismatic. She likes art and music. Currently goes to a small private school where she is very happy (although she definitely has some academic struggles). Don't think she would do well at a large school. Currently looking for high schools.

Skills or scores?

Sometimes there isn't a known cause for MR (or intellectual disability). There are common conditions it's correlated with like downs syndrome, autism, or traumatic brain injury.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001523.htm

IQ scores don't tell the whole story in any case. It's a little surprising that she would score low across the board and distinct learning disability wouldn't have been identified. This article outlines the different types of LDs:
http://www.ldonline.org/article/What_Are_Learning_Disabilities%3F

How long ago was the testing done and how comprehensive was it? Is it possible that they missed something?