Boarding schools for kids with LDs?
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Anonymous
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Anyone have experience with or know anyone with experience at any of these schools?
Kildonan Landmark Gow Forman Eagle Hill |
Anonymous
| Ennis Cosby went to one, I think. |
Anonymous
| Why on Earth would you send away your child with a LD? That's a child you should hold close |
Anonymous
Absolutely agree. Sounds the height of insanity. Poor kid. |
Anonymous
| Yikes. So much unkindness on this board. I am sure OP is trying to do the best for DC. I have no personal experience but know someone who sent their DD to Eagle Hill and was very pleased (both parents and DC). Good luck! |
Anonymous
Parent of an LD kid and I disagree. Every child with LD is different, and it's the height of disrespect to assume that a child with LD might not thrive in boarding school as neurotypical kids are expected to. Just because they have LD doesn't mean they are fragile. |
Anonymous
This is such an ignorant statement. Learning differences are things like dyslexia, executive function (scheduling/organizational) issues, adhd, etc. There are schools that are designed to help bring out the best in students with those educational challenges. And, while we're at it, there are also schools that are most likely the best place to help bring out the best in children with special mental or physical needs too. Holding a child close isn't always the answer. Helping them prepare for life outside of your bubble is often the best form of parenting. Please stop judging other parents for having the sense to understand that they are not the experts and for loving their children enough to explore all options. OP - I think it's brave and wonderful that you were willing to subject yourself to the nasty, hateful comments made by people that should have just skipped the post in an attempt to find the best fit and environment for your child. Best of luck. |
Anonymous
+1. I have a dyslexic child who is thriving. However, we had looked at some of these schools as a back up plan. We are so grateful that the intervention we got him here worked well. Yet, we weren't sure and were willing to make this happen for him if things didn't come together. Stop judging when you don't know what you are talking about! |
Anonymous
What's insane is telling smart kids who struggle to read (which is not inherent like intelligence) that they're stupid. It's insane to tell a kid who struggles with multiplication tables that they can't revolutionize the investment industry. Yet we do it every day in elite private schools as well as public. Why? Because so many adults don't understand the neuroscience of learning to read and write, especially in an arbitrarily complex language like English. English is an insane language. Say this out loud: I, too, know two ways to get to apartment 2. Ten words. Five words sound exactly the same. But there are four different ways to visually process the same sound. Why? It's incredibly inefficient and, in this century of AI, insane to waste brain capacity on rote memorization. It's nuts. A human child is born with the capability to verbally comprehend up to five spoken languages at once! But by the time they've mastered arbitrary spelling and grammar rules from centuries ago, they have lost some of the brain capacity it takes to communicate multilingually. Unlike speaking, reading and writing force your brain to do something it wasn't designed to do instead of efficiently using your innate comprehension capacity. Crazy, no? LD does not mean intellectual disability. Learning Disabilities, or Learning Differences, like dyslexia and ADHD are very common in people with above average intelligence. Frequently, kids with LD are seen as late bloomers who do well with abstract reasoning, visual processing, creativity, etc. Think neurosurgeons, lawyers, entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley, most of Hollywood. 
So bright kids with LD go to boarding schools for the same reason any kid attends their school. Because their parents think it the best learning environment for their kids. The difference is not the schools, it's the educators. Teachers who understand the strengths and mental efficiencies that come with some LD won't make the mistake of dinging a kid for a typo on his quantum physics project. (Einstein was a horrible speller in all three of his spoken languages.) So there's no need to pity a child with LD. No matter the school setting, they can be great at using their learning capacity to achieve amazing things. Here's small list of people with LD. There are thousands of people like them who get "bad" grades, low scores, and are told they're stupid or slow. Isn't that insane? California Governor Gavin Newsom, Steven Spielberg, Richard Branson, Octavia Spencer (Oscar winner and children's book author), Octavia Butler (Sci-Fi author par excellence) Salma Hayek, Steve McQueen (director of 12 Years a Slave), Tim Tebow, Anderson Cooper, Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), Ben Carson, Astronaut Mark Kelly, Lee Kuan Yew (created modern Singapore https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/03/22/393824362/founding-father-of-modern-singapore-lee-kuan-yew-dies-at-91), Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants), Anne Rice (Vampire Lestat et al, couldn't read until high school), and countless others from all backgrounds and fields of expertise. *Note, I prefer not to use terms like crazy or insane because of the stigmas associated with mental illness. I did it because PP chose these words. |
Anonymous
Check the Kids with Special Needs Forum. People know what LDs are there. I believe LDs are not the same as special needs, but that's how Jeff chose to set it up. |
Anonymous
LDs fall under SN. Its a broad category. For some kids, they are more impacted with SN because of the LD vs. other kids with other issues. |
Anonymous
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OP here- Thank you to those posters that did not immediately judge my parenting, I appreciate your support. This is not an option we are taking lightly, it's what we're looking at to best serve my child to help him succeed to his potential.
He has severe dyslexia, dysgraphia and executive functioning deficits. We've been doing years of private tutoring and have had endless battles with our very highly rated public school with regards to his IEP. He's independent, very athletic and a really outgoing, social kid. He has learning differences, he's not dumb. He needs more intense, daily instruction and a regular routine. I have another child with dyslexia but it's not as severe and private interventions have helped him and he is doing well in a small private school. We live in VA, not close to any of the high schools that target dyslexia (all of which are in Maryland). Even if we moved, those schools don't have the sports aspect which he would really miss. We are not rich and we are a very close family that would miss him terribly. The thought of spending $80,000 on specialized boarding schools is not something we would consider until our last resort, so I really don't need the extra judgement. We would like to narrow the list down to 3 to go take a look at, if anyone else has some insights even if indirectly, that would be helpful. |
Anonymous
(OP) I was debating which forum to post in, I will crosspost over there. Thanks! |
Anonymous
Thank you, you and the other posters that have been supportive really have helped my heart today. |
Anonymous
| My daughter had a classmate that transferred to Landmark for 8th grade. He is doing well and is insanely happy. My daughter (who also Has dyslexia) begged me to go. She has some emotional issues (anxiety and depression) so we did not feel sending her to boarding school was a good choice for her, but might have based on her classmate’s experience. |