Experience with Asperger's program at Diamond Elementary

[Anonymous]

Hello, I'm curious to hear about anyone's experience with the Asperger's Program at Diamond Elementary. This has been suggested previously for my child and I would like to hear from people who are currently in the program or can speak to previous experience. Much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

No first hand experience, but I've heard good things about it.

[Anonymous]

It's a very small, very good program by reputation. You may have better luck going through the school PTA or through the county office that runs the program. You may want to ask for a tour if you think your child might be a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a very small, very good program by reputation. You may have better luck going through the school PTA or through the county office that runs the program. You may want to ask for a tour if you think your child might be a good fit.

This is a good idea. We contacted the county's special ed office several years ago and asked for a school day tour of the Sligo AS program.

[Anonymous]

Do they let anyone interested tour? I thought you would have to be recommended for the program before you could get a tour. I genuinely don't know and have run in to roadblocks with going to see a different DN programs before a parent coordinator made calls and got a tour set up for me.

[Anonymous]

Meant to say a different SN program... Not DN.

[Anonymous]

Yes a couple of years ago I tried to inquire into what kind of services might be available for my Aspergers kid at a couple of public schools, and got shut down in a very haughty and snippy way by the county officials I talked to. We already owned property and paid taxes in both districts so were absolutely entitled to enroll him in either place, but they both said it was inappropriate for us to "shop" for the best SN placement and that they would not talk to me until he was actually enrolled and had an IEP. It made me very angry. Parents of typically developing kids move to particular places because the school has a great science program or a great football team all the time, and no one thinks there is anything inappropriate about that. But I learned my lesson. You cannot place those calls cold. You have to go through some channel that will make the county SN staff want to talk to you--a friend of a friend, a parent advocate, whoever.

But when you figure out how to do it, please tell us. We're interested in Diamond for next year too, and would like to go see it. I've heard conflicting reports about whether it's possible to get placed straight into that program, or whether your kid basically has to fail and prove to be unmanageable in a mainstream classroom first.

[Anonymous]

Oh, PP... I'm so feeling what you're saying! My kid is basically failing in mainstream. I desperately want info on the county Asperger programs... but no one will talk about them.

I think yes... your kid has to wash out of mainstream for reasons like sensory issues or behavioral considerations or some other disability related challenge that is not being served in LRE - not academic. The child has to be on grade level.

And I really think you have to have a good advocate get the right people in the Autism Unit to evaluate your child.

If you haven't yet done it, request that your school call in the Autism Unit to do an observation if your child is struggling in a mainstream environment.

[Anonymous]

Is Diamond Elementary in MoCo?

[Anonymous]

Yes, up in Gaithersburg.

[Anonymous]

We toured and felt it was spectacularly well-run in many ways and really liked the philosophy of mainstreaming the kids as much as possible. The problem is that it is extremely small and selective so you either have to let your kid basically self-destruct in a mainstream environment or hire a really good advocate or attorney to get the placement.

It's expensive as there is tons of individual attention. They say the kids have to be at grade level but most of the kids I saw were working above grade level. There were a lot of little professor-types.

I remember wishing there was a way to expand the program to include more children by making slightly larger classes or allowing parents to provide their own transportation.

You can work with your SN resource teacher to request that someone come to observe your child. It may take a few months but you should get in the queue if your child is struggling.

I met another set of parents while on the tour and, yes, we both have advocates.

[Anonymous]

My son is at Diamond and this is his first year there. Previously, he attended a private school. We are thrilled with the Program. Right now, it is the perfect combination of mainstream and self-contained. We went to Bill Stixrud for testing and he felt the Program was our best option. We hired an advocate, but I think Dr. Stixrud's report was all we needed to get my son into the Program as it really is the perfect fit. I hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

I have a child who I think would be a good fit for the program. I did some digging and found this old article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061502010.html

I wonder if it still accurately describes the program.

[Anonymous]

What grade is your child in?
My daughter is in 1st grade in general curriculum with an aide but has not been doing well...considering moving to diamond. Wonder about the availability of open positions for kids to enroll...

[Anonymous]

There are as many "open" positions as the district wants. There are no official enrollment caps. The number of kids per grade varies year to year. There are typically a few self-contained classes of mixed grades but they have a lot of flexibility in breaking out classes differently if there are too many third graders for example. Since most children are only in the self-contained classes for one or two subjects it doesn't really matter too much how many kids are in their own grade in the program. They have plenty of other opportunities to make friends in their mainstream classroom.