Accommodations and assistance for LD + Gifted middle schooler

[Anonymous]

Hi all
We are moving to the Northern Virginia area in early 2018 for my new job, and we are very excited. I have a 7th grader with several diagnosed Learning Differences (ADHD, auditory processing issues, expressive language issues, and dysgraphia) and is also exceptionally strong in math & science.
In speaking with several parents with kids in Fairfax County Public Schools, I heard that while it is an extremely good public school system for 80% of the kids, children like mine who are not "special needs" but high achievers with LDs, tend to fall through the cracks and do not always qualify for accommodations, IEPs, and additional support.
Any data points you can share that would confirm or deny this viewpoint? I also heard that the process of advocating for accommodations is extremely effort-intensive.

My son already has accommodations in place for testing with the College Board (for SAT) and has several accommodations in place in his current school here in Houston. His current school is a pretty good international private school, however given the significant cost of living difference between here and NoVa I am considering public schools as an option.

[Anonymous]

I have found the FCPS AAP program good for my 2E kid. Child has a 504.

[Anonymous]

I have a 2E child in APS. After some initial difficulties in an overcrowded ES, we've found the MS to be very accommodating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all
We are moving to the Northern Virginia area in early 2018 for my new job, and we are very excited. I have a 7th grader with several diagnosed Learning Differences (ADHD, auditory processing issues, expressive language issues, and dysgraphia) and is also exceptionally strong in math & science.
In speaking with several parents with kids in Fairfax County Public Schools, I heard that while it is an extremely good public school system for 80% of the kids, children like mine who are not "special needs" but high achievers with LDs, tend to fall through the cracks and do not always qualify for accommodations, IEPs, and additional support.
Any data points you can share that would confirm or deny this viewpoint? I also heard that the process of advocating for accommodations is extremely effort-intensive.

My son already has accommodations in place for testing with the College Board (for SAT) and has several accommodations in place in his current school here in Houston. His current school is a pretty good international private school, however given the significant cost of living difference between here and NoVa I am considering public schools as an option.

We have not found the schools to be good for our child with a similar diagnosis. It's too difficult for a disorganized child to navigate and the additional help is not there.

[Anonymous]

My DC is also gifted in math and science and has dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD. We found middle school very difficult, but I have heard some things have changed since then. High school (McLean) was excellent. In Fairfax County, we have a new Special Education PTA and one of the subgroups is focused on 2E. Since Fairfax County is so large, there is not uniformity so you have to look at each school.

My DC had an IEP from 2nd grade all the way through 12th grade. So, he was in a team taught gen-ed English class but then took Honors/AP for his other core classes. His accomodations were done for every class.

I can’t say f your DC’s issues would warrent a 504 or an IEP. I am surprised that you have already had accomodations from College Board since he isn’t in Middle School yet, but that should help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all
We are moving to the Northern Virginia area in early 2018 for my new job, and we are very excited. I have a 7th grader with several diagnosed Learning Differences (ADHD, auditory processing issues, expressive language issues, and dysgraphia) and is also exceptionally strong in math & science.
In speaking with several parents with kids in Fairfax County Public Schools, I heard that while it is an extremely good public school system for 80% of the kids, children like mine who are not "special needs" but high achievers with LDs, tend to fall through the cracks and do not always qualify for accommodations, IEPs, and additional support.
Any data points you can share that would confirm or deny this viewpoint? I also heard that the process of advocating for accommodations is extremely effort-intensive.

My son already has accommodations in place for testing with the College Board (for SAT) and has several accommodations in place in his current school here in Houston. His current school is a pretty good international private school, however given the significant cost of living difference between here and NoVa I am considering public schools as an option.

You have a 2E child, with diagnosed needs, so those needs will be addressed by Fairfax County schools, if you choose to enroll him in public school. I don't know why these parents are telling you they won't, because they have to be, by law. It may not be an IEP, but rather a 504 (as someone else said).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all
We are moving to the Northern Virginia area in early 2018 for my new job, and we are very excited. I have a 7th grader with several diagnosed Learning Differences (ADHD, auditory processing issues, expressive language issues, and dysgraphia) and is also exceptionally strong in math & science.
In speaking with several parents with kids in Fairfax County Public Schools, I heard that while it is an extremely good public school system for 80% of the kids, children like mine who are not "special needs" but high achievers with LDs, tend to fall through the cracks and do not always qualify for accommodations, IEPs, and additional support.
Any data points you can share that would confirm or deny this viewpoint? I also heard that the process of advocating for accommodations is extremely effort-intensive.

My son already has accommodations in place for testing with the College Board (for SAT) and has several accommodations in place in his current school here in Houston. His current school is a pretty good international private school, however given the significant cost of living difference between here and NoVa I am considering public schools as an option.

You have a 2E child, with diagnosed needs, so those needs will be addressed by Fairfax County schools, if you choose to enroll him in public school. I don't know why these parents are telling you they won't, because they have to be, by law. It may not be an IEP, but rather a 504 (as someone else said).

HAHAHAHA! You haven't tried to deal with FCPS on an IEP or get enforcement have you? OP, FCPS is not your friend on this matter. They will fight you tooth and nail for that IEP. If you are a lawyer, that will help. If you have good, professional neurological testing, that will help. If you can, you should have your psychiatrist, psychologist, tutor or tester go to the IEP meeting. Expect that someone from the school you will be attending to show up to fight the IEP. There are many old threads on this issue. You can hire lawyers to help you thru the process but they are expensive. The consultants IMHO aren't worth the time. But you will need to be aggressive I assume you've read WrightsLaw. FCPS also has a compliance officer if you really get stuck.

[Anonymous]

Also ^^ a 504 in FCPS is worthless. It will be ignored. You need an IEP in order to get attention and even then you will probably have to call the compliance officer. Can you afford to go private?

[Anonymous]

We are really pleased with our Arlington middle school for our 2E child with an IEP. We used to be in FCPS in elementary school and idk if it's the county change or the difference between elementary and middle but the new school has been much more accomodating and happy to add services, where I ffelt like everything was a fight with FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also ^^ a 504 in FCPS is worthless. It will be ignored. You need an IEP in order to get attention and even then you will probably have to call the compliance officer. Can you afford to go private?

The whole point of an IEP is that your kid needs an individual educational plan because the regular education process in not working and your kid could not keep up, even with accommodations. The 504 is meant to provide accommodations to provide a level playing field. I could see a kid need an IEP for some topics and 504 accommodations for other topics, but the two are not interchangeable, and you cannot just demand an IEP to force greater accountability from the schools.

I will say that middle school accommodations were much less effective for my ADHD kid versus elementary school. The Middle school teachers were busy and the nature of changing classes meant that no one was watching out for my kid. At best. the teachers tried but were very different in their implementation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is also gifted in math and science and has dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD. We found middle school very difficult, but I have heard some things have changed since then. High school (McLean) was excellent. In Fairfax County, we have a new Special Education PTA and one of the subgroups is focused on 2E. Since Fairfax County is so large, there is not uniformity so you have to look at each school.

My DC had an IEP from 2nd grade all the way through 12th grade. So, he was in a team taught gen-ed English class but then took Honors/AP for his other core classes. His accomodations were done for every class.

I can’t say f your DC’s issues would warrent a 504 or an IEP. I am surprised that you have already had accomodations from College Board since he isn’t in Middle School yet, but that should help.

Thank you! A couple of follow up questions:
1) Which middle schools do you know/ have you heard are more accommodating?
2) How did your child qualify for the IEP - did the school district itself have to test/ diagnose him in order to approve an IEP? Or did you have him independently tested and submit the reports to the special ed dept at FCPS?
Do they sufficiently recognize that a 2E kid might score 99th percentile on an IQ test but this does not mean they can do well on academics (especially reading/ writing)?

My son is already in middle school (Half way through 7th grade) and since he has evaluations from psychiatrists/ neurologists/ learning specialists, we submitted those to the college board and he was approved for SAT accommodations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are really pleased with our Arlington middle school for our 2E child with an IEP. We used to be in FCPS in elementary school and idk if it's the county change or the difference between elementary and middle but the new school has been much more accommodating and happy to add services, where I ffelt like everything was a fight with FCPS.

This is very helpful. What was the procedure for getting the IEP in place for the Arlington Middle School?
Also, I have seen mixed responses from parents re: FCPS special ed and the "fight" to get accommodations. I wonder what is driving that variation in experience - some seem happy, others have said it was a fight and you need a lawyer (!) which scares me
Do you think it's because FCPS is more crowded and resource-constrained?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also ^^ a 504 in FCPS is worthless. It will be ignored. You need an IEP in order to get attention and even then you will probably have to call the compliance officer. Can you afford to go private?

The whole point of an IEP is that your kid needs an individual educational plan because the regular education process in not working and your kid could not keep up, even with accommodations. The 504 is meant to provide accommodations to provide a level playing field. I could see a kid need an IEP for some topics and 504 accommodations for other topics, but the two are not interchangeable, and you cannot just demand an IEP to force greater accountability from the schools.

I will say that middle school accommodations were much less effective for my ADHD kid versus elementary school. The Middle school teachers were busy and the nature of changing classes meant that no one was watching out for my kid. At best. the teachers tried but were very different in their implementation.

Thank you. So what did you end up doing during middle school, if the accommodations weren't working? DId you get reduced homework, for example? Or did you just switch to private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also ^^ a 504 in FCPS is worthless. It will be ignored. You need an IEP in order to get attention and even then you will probably have to call the compliance officer. Can you afford to go private?

Can we afford private ? Yes, some of them (but not 50K a year). But then it takes a massive chunk out of college savings, and we already have one kid in college (it's a state school, thank goodness for tuition under $10k!!).
Any suggestions on private schools near or around McLean that are $30K or less and have good support for 2E?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are really pleased with our Arlington middle school for our 2E child with an IEP. We used to be in FCPS in elementary school and idk if it's the county change or the difference between elementary and middle but the new school has been much more accommodating and happy to add services, where I ffelt like everything was a fight with FCPS.

This is very helpful. What was the procedure for getting the IEP in place for the Arlington Middle School?
Also, I have seen mixed responses from parents re: FCPS special ed and the "fight" to get accommodations. I wonder what is driving that variation in experience - some seem happy, others have said it was a fight and you need a lawyer (!) which scares me
Do you think it's because FCPS is more crowded and resource-constrained?

15:21 here - I would guess it is about being resource constrained and also general attitude (which could be school specific). Arlington is certainly crowded, so that can't be it. I'm honestly not sure, but we had to fight tooth and nail to keep speech in fairfax county and to keep pretty much any accomodations, let alone get extra help anywhere. Arlington has added back the speech (which was dropped in grade 4) and co-taught classes, and the case-manager model in middle school is really working for us. (This could exist in ffx as well, we have not done middle school in ffx). I think partly we got lucky with a great teacher as the case manager, but really everyone involved has been supportive and interested in "what else can we do." A big difference from FFX where I felt they viewed it all as a big hassle.