good schools in the DC metro area for kids with LDs
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Anonymous
| I'd like to consider a more specialized school for my DD who is ADHD-combined type with some language based LDs. She is "2e" and very capable in many respects, but the LDs seem to be interfering with her ability to reach her potential and I do not feel like her current school is providing her with the right supports. Can anyone recommend schools I should consider? I'm aware of Lab, the Mclean School, Commonwealth Academy... but are there others? |
Anonymous
| What grade/age? |
Anonymous
| Oakwood |
Anonymous
These plus Siena and Oakwood as PP mentioned. Depending on where you are located you could take a look at Jemincey or the Summit School in MD. |
Anonymous
| 3d/age 9 |
Anonymous
| What is her strength? Math? Science? Art? Drama? History?...... |
Anonymous
| My DC is 2e and is at Commonwealth. He's taking advanced language and science courses during the school (Jr. year) and summer at NOVA, arrangeed by Commonwealth. DC was also accepted at GMU as a "non-degree" high school student. Depending on where you live, you might try some of the schools mentioned above but ask if they will allow your child to take college courses if capable at the junior/senior year. That takes care of the top "e". If I think of any others I'll post back. Some people have said they like St. Andrews (Potomac MD) but I've only been there for events and I don't know if they will allow you DC to take college courses. If you are in VA, some like Nysmith, which would take care of the top "e" but I don't know about ADHD. |
Anonymous
I think I saw that the McLean School has kids who take courses for credit at American University. |
Anonymous
We were faced with a similar issue in 3rd grade. In the end, we stayed at our local public school. Mainly because at the time, Lab was the only school around with a track record and that openly said they accepted severe or profound LDs. The other say mild to moderate. Lab was not a good fit as DC is not an arts person and bristled at the thought of it. He is a science and math guy through and through. At the time Oakwood said only mild to moderate LDs and Sienna was in its infancy and not on my radar. Commonwealth concentrated on ADHD and although that is another part of DC's mix, it impacts him the least and is the easiest to ameliorate. None would have the math levels that DC is currently able to take in his public HS. In the long run, sticking with public has been a very good choice. It met his GT needs and some of his LD needs. So we supplemented after school with a reading/writing tutor 2-3 times a week from 2nd grade to 7th grade. It is less expensive and it enabled me to sah during this time to also support DC (and his brother who also has mild SN) as a reading and scribe for homework sessions. Now in HS, DC is nearly independent with the exception of the take home ECART tests. Unfortunately, ECART does not have a text to speech component that works and does not work with add on text to speech software. Three times I questioned this choice 3rd, 7th and 8th and the answer was still that public was the "best" choice for us and we could supplement the rest. We hired an advocate successfully in 3rd and to disastrous effect in 7th (our saving grace there came from the central offices). Now in 10th grade, I am very happy that we slogged through the hard times (I still have some scars from MS). His HS has been great. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Math is a strong suit. The biggest issue is output -- writing anything down, whether it be the explanation to a math problem or a journal entry. Abstract thinking is also a challenge (i.e., story-telling or any sort of creative writing like poetry, etc.). |
Anonymous
|
I strongly encourage you to look at Siena given your more detailed summary of the challenges.
We were really impressed with what we saw there for our kid with expressive language issues (although we decided to stick with public schools). |
Anonymous
Scribe then copy worked well for my oldest with writing things down. He needed it until about mid5th grade. For DC with dysgraphia, scribe only and 20 minutes a night on typing software. He types everything but math problems now- even math explanations. Does your DC have graphic organizers to help her organize her thoughts? They worked really well in 3rd -5th grade or us. What are her IEP goals? |
Anonymous
OP here. Thanks for all the helpful information. Not sure whether or not to be embarrassed about this, but I had never heard of a graphic organizer until it was just mentioned above. Having just looked at them online, it would be extremely helpful! I suppose this reflects on why I feel like the current school is not meeting the LD needs she has -- I feel like we are without guidance on tricks to help her.  We do not have an IEP because we are currently in a private.
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Anonymous
| This is 6:57. I know what you mean, OP. Our DD was at a private that had apparently never heard of graphic organizers. With the right supports she has really been able to harness her creativity in writing. Big change. |
Anonymous
| NP. Surprising that a school does not use graphic organizers. DS with ASD/ADHD attends a DC charter and they use graphic organizers for all the kids starting as soon as they have to write and do math (word problems) It's generally considered "best practice". |