Educational consultant for school placement

[Anonymous]

We are looking for an educational consultant that can help us decide the right type of school placement for our SN child (inattentive ADHD and dyslexia). I know of some educational consultants that help with navigating the school system and securing accommodations. But this would be more of someone who knows the local area schools (advantages/disadvantages), understands SNs, and can help us decide what type of schooling (traditional, Waldorf, Montessori, private) would be best for our child with his particular profile. Any recommendations?

[Anonymous]

We've worked with both Laura Solomon and Suzie Blattner, and I would not recommend either of them for what you want. Both are too biased toward SN privates always being the best option.

[Anonymous]

There are are not very many SN privates out there. How old is your child? What are your child's strengths? In what area do you live? Is the dyslexia mainly in decoding, phoneme, and/or RAN issues? How "strong" are the ADHD and dyslexia (mild,operate, severe, profound?)? Are there any behavioral issues that have presented themselves? Commute is important too- from where will you be commuting? How much can you afford?

In general, the main ones to consider would be Sienna, Newton, The New School, McLean in Potomac, Commonwealth Academy, Oakwood and Lab.

I would not recommend Waldorf or Montessori for a child with ADHD and dyslexia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've worked with both Laura Solomon and Suzie Blattner, and I would not recommend either of them for what you want. Both are too biased toward SN privates always being the best option.

We worked with Susie Blattner and I do not agree with this. Our DC has non verbal learning disorder and ADHD and she did not recommend the SN privates over other options (Field, St Andrews, Sandy Spring Friends). Susie is pretty knowledgeable about the schools in the area.

[Anonymous]

Where do you live?

[Anonymous]

I would not rely on consultant to "secure accommodations", especially for placement at public school. Also, don't trust the consultant's recommendations 100%. Talk to other parents, trust your instinct.

[Anonymous]

We use Suzie and love her. I don't think she's biased against private schools. Private schools for kids with SN simply have a level of staffing that you won't find in public.

Agree with the pp about Waldorf, Montessori, etc. You can cross all those off your list. Kids with SN typically fare very poorly in unstructured environments like these.

[Anonymous]

OP here: thanks for all of these suggestions. The reason we are looking at Montessori schools is that DC has been in a Montessori school for three years and his teacher of three years, who has worked in both traditional and Montessori schools, believes that Montessori - or another alternative school like Waldorf - is what this child needs. I don't know how to relate that advice to what others say about Montessori/Waldorf not being good for a child with ADHD/dyslexia.

We don't have the details regarding his diagnoses yet. For the ADHD, it is inattentive ADHD and I don't know the severity but I think it is not very severe (although seems to be getting worse). He has trouble attending to work that is difficult for him, he prefers to choose his own activities and has trouble attending to those that others select, and he attends much better one on one than in a group setting. (Again, this would seem a plus of Montessori since there are one on one lessons). He is not hyper-active or disruptive in class.

Lots are mentioning the private schools specific to learning differences. I am not ruling those out but they have very high pricetags. At this poing, I was thinking more of traditional publics and privates, as well as charter schools in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We use Suzie and love her. I don't think she's biased against private schools. Private schools for kids with SN simply have a level of staffing that you won't find in public.

Agree with the pp about Waldorf, Montessori, etc. You can cross all those off your list. Kids with SN typically fare very poorly in unstructured environments like these.

OP again. We live in DC. Would Suzie be able to help with public schools in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks for all of these suggestions. The reason we are looking at Montessori schools is that DC has been in a Montessori school for three years and his teacher of three years, who has worked in both traditional and Montessori schools, believes that Montessori - or another alternative school like Waldorf - is what this child needs. I don't know how to relate that advice to what others say about Montessori/Waldorf not being good for a child with ADHD/dyslexia.

We don't have the details regarding his diagnoses yet. For the ADHD, it is inattentive ADHD and I don't know the severity but I think it is not very severe (although seems to be getting worse). He has trouble attending to work that is difficult for him, he prefers to choose his own activities and has trouble attending to those that others select, and he attends much better one on one than in a group setting. (Again, this would seem a plus of Montessori since there are one on one lessons). He is not hyper-active or disruptive in class.

Lots are mentioning the private schools specific to learning differences. I am not ruling those out but they have very high pricetags. At this poing, I was thinking more of traditional publics and privates, as well as charter schools in DC.

OP,

One you seem a little dim b/c Waldorf Schools will out price or keep with SN school tuitions.

The Montessori cannot address dyslexia period. 11:53 had the list to which to apply. These schools can also address ADHD. If you hire a consultant get one to hammer out an IEP and negotiate for you if you go public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We use Suzie and love her. I don't think she's biased against private schools. Private schools for kids with SN simply have a level of staffing that you won't find in public.

Agree with the pp about Waldorf, Montessori, etc. You can cross all those off your list. Kids with SN typically fare very poorly in unstructured environments like these.

OP again. We live in DC. Would Suzie be able to help with public schools in DC?

I'm the pp who uses her and I don't know if she really "does" DC the way she does Moco. You should call. She knows all the SN privates in DC for sure but I don't know about charters and the rest.

[Anonymous]

OP, here's my free advice. No Montessori or Waldorf school is going to help you remediate dyslexia. If you want to address the issues, do public with an IEP or (better if you can afford it) a SN private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks for all of these suggestions. The reason we are looking at Montessori schools is that DC has been in a Montessori school for three years and his teacher of three years, who has worked in both traditional and Montessori schools, believes that Montessori - or another alternative school like Waldorf - is what this child needs. I don't know how to relate that advice to what others say about Montessori/Waldorf not being good for a child with ADHD/dyslexia.

We don't have the details regarding his diagnoses yet. For the ADHD, it is inattentive ADHD and I don't know the severity but I think it is not very severe (although seems to be getting worse). He has trouble attending to work that is difficult for him, he prefers to choose his own activities and has trouble attending to those that others select, and he attends much better one on one than in a group setting. (Again, this would seem a plus of Montessori since there are one on one lessons). He is not hyper-active or disruptive in class.

Lots are mentioning the private schools specific to learning differences. I am not ruling those out but they have very high pricetags. At this poing, I was thinking more of traditional publics and privates, as well as charter schools in DC.

OP,

One you seem a little dim b/c Waldorf Schools will out price or keep with SN school tuitions.

The Montessori cannot address dyslexia period. 11:53 had the list to which to apply. These schools can also address ADHD. If you hire a consultant get one to hammer out an IEP and negotiate for you if you go public.

I thought that this was the 'nice' board where people were supportive? Anyway, I don't think that I am 'dim'. The Lab School ($46K) and Kingsbury seem to be significantly more expensive than run of the mill privates, which run $30K-$35K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks for all of these suggestions. The reason we are looking at Montessori schools is that DC has been in a Montessori school for three years and his teacher of three years, who has worked in both traditional and Montessori schools, believes that Montessori - or another alternative school like Waldorf - is what this child needs. I don't know how to relate that advice to what others say about Montessori/Waldorf not being good for a child with ADHD/dyslexia.

We don't have the details regarding his diagnoses yet. For the ADHD, it is inattentive ADHD and I don't know the severity but I think it is not very severe (although seems to be getting worse). He has trouble attending to work that is difficult for him, he prefers to choose his own activities and has trouble attending to those that others select, and he attends much better one on one than in a group setting. (Again, this would seem a plus of Montessori since there are one on one lessons). He is not hyper-active or disruptive in class.

Lots are mentioning the private schools specific to learning differences. I am not ruling those out but they have very high pricetags. At this poing, I was thinking more of traditional publics and privates, as well as charter schools in DC.

OP,

One you seem a little dim b/c Waldorf Schools will out price or keep with SN school tuitions.

The Montessori cannot address dyslexia period. 11:53 had the list to which to apply. These schools can also address ADHD. If you hire a consultant get one to hammer out an IEP and negotiate for you if you go public.

Also, our Montessori is a public school and we can get an IEP and accommodations there. I didn't think any schools (public/private) can really address dyslexia except SN privates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks for all of these suggestions. The reason we are looking at Montessori schools is that DC has been in a Montessori school for three years and his teacher of three years, who has worked in both traditional and Montessori schools, believes that Montessori - or another alternative school like Waldorf - is what this child needs. I don't know how to relate that advice to what others say about Montessori/Waldorf not being good for a child with ADHD/dyslexia.

We don't have the details regarding his diagnoses yet. For the ADHD, it is inattentive ADHD and I don't know the severity but I think it is not very severe (although seems to be getting worse). He has trouble attending to work that is difficult for him, he prefers to choose his own activities and has trouble attending to those that others select, and he attends much better one on one than in a group setting. (Again, this would seem a plus of Montessori since there are one on one lessons). He is not hyper-active or disruptive in class.

Lots are mentioning the private schools specific to learning differences. I am not ruling those out but they have very high pricetags. At this poing, I was thinking more of traditional publics and privates, as well as charter schools in DC.

OP,

One you seem a little dim b/c Waldorf Schools will out price or keep with SN school tuitions.

The Montessori cannot address dyslexia period. 11:53 had the list to which to apply. These schools can also address ADHD. If you hire a consultant get one to hammer out an IEP and negotiate for you if you go public.

Also, our Montessori is a public school and we can get an IEP and accommodations there. I didn't think any schools (public/private) can really address dyslexia except SN privates?

Most of the literature says that a student with dyslexia needs specific reading instruction in an Orton-Gillingham based program. That can be hard to get in any public school setting, and especially at a Montessori school unless they are willing to commit to pull out or push-in tutoring in a specific program to augment the standard curriculum.

The other way to go is to pick a school that works for your child in everything but reading, and do intensive tutoring at your own expensive after school or weekends, and during the summers.

My similar child was in a Montessori charter school, and they had a Wilson-trained reading specialist work with him 1:1 3 times a week per the IEP. It still wasn't enough, so we supplemented outside of school as well. The regular reading instruction in the classroom was basically worthless.