Mom with 3 ASD kids -- asking for best elementary schools, ABA companies

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone! We are considering a move to the DC/MD/VA area--parents will be feds---we have 3 kids with autism--two with IEPs, with one on a special needs preschool. Which school district would be good for the kids? Which ABA companies do you recommend--we prefer home based ABA since one kid is nonverbal? Also, any insight on how the feds' insurance (which one is best?) work for autism services--ABA, speech and OT? It is a daunting move so we would really appreciate any insight you might have.

Maryland has a provision for ABA services up to age 7 but my understanding is that the feds insurance does not have to comply with this because it is self-funded.

[Anonymous]

This is a big ask, and others will need to help out. But Fairfax and MoCo are bigger counties with "better" services - certainly not perfect - than Arlington or Alexandria. We don't use ABA, so I can't speak to that. We use FEP and our OT/PT services have been covered, but ASD is not the diagnosis the providers use.

If in NOVA, you could try the following for SLT, OT, and PT.

Good Beginnings
Exceptional Childrens Center
Floortime Center (but they follow Floortime principles when doing OT, SLT)

[Anonymous]

Are you looking for your kids to be mainstreamed or are you looking for self-contained classrooms? How are their academics?

[Anonymous]

For Montgomery County related services
(ST and OT) on the Cigna network
The Treatment and Learning Center in Rockville, MD

Agreed with previous poster, you should be looking into Fairfax county VA or Montgomery County MD.

[Anonymous]

Many of the big ABA providers have offices in Montgomery County, DC, and Fairfax: National Therapy Center, Little Leaves, Verbal Beginnings.

I think the big school districts: Montgomery and Fairfax have a broader range of services. So if you think your child would do best in a specialized program or if you want your youngest in an ABA-based preschool, they may have the most options. This is not to say that the smaller counties, like Arlington, don't also have some wonderful classrooms and teachers. Historically, DC has not had a range of services for children with autism. They are expanding but my sense is that they do not have the resources of the MD or VA counties.

[Anonymous]

Montgomery county gets the most funding for autism in the entire county, as of 2018 they received 1 billion in funding for autism (i’m not sure of the current numbers) there is not an age limit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county gets the most funding for autism in the entire county, as of 2018 they received 1 billion in funding for autism (i’m not sure of the current numbers) there is not an age limit.

Where/what are the resources available provided to families/kids for 1 billion in funding for autism in Montgomery county? 1 billion sounds like a lot of funding to me, but how come I feel they are so stingy when it comes to IEP for autistic kids.

[Anonymous]

Just to echo: NOT Arlington.

[Anonymous]

NOT City of Alexandria either. (NB: There is a portion of Fairfax County called Alexandria, and it might be fine. Just avoid the independent City of Alexandria.)

[Anonymous]

We are presently very happy in DCPS, but it’s a tough system to navigate and can be hit or miss.

Your safest bet is Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

I have two ASD boys in elementary and preschoool. We do SLP and ABA privately plus have IEPs. We are in Fairfax and very happy. We are not feds so I can’t speak to the insurance piece.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter where you go they're all garbage, and totally understaffed. There will be children with behaviors you don't want your children to be around. MCPS sounds good, but they do not deliver. If your children are currently happy and you feel the school is good for them, consider staying where you are.

[Anonymous]

We have Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield and have been generally pleased. We don’t do private ABA, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't matter where you go they're all garbage, and totally understaffed. There will be children with behaviors you don't want your children to be around. MCPS sounds good, but they do not deliver. If your children are currently happy and you feel the school is good for them, consider staying where you are.

+1, we had to do all services privately as MCPS was not helpful. Spend less on a house/expenses and heavily supplement privately.

[Anonymous]

We are in Fairfax County (kids have attended Navy Elementary and the Waples Mill Elementary PAC and Non-Cat preschool program). Both of our kids have Autism. Both mainstreamed. We are extremely happy with our FCPS and the attention our kiddos get from the teachers- but I know that it can really vary within FCPS on which school is best for the kids. We use achieve beyond for Speech and OT for the kids. We're still on Greenbox ABA's waitlist - tried CARD and it was an awful experience (basically made us fill out tons of paperwork, get the evaluations etc and then dropped us like a hot potato). Husband is still in the military and our insurance works well with Achieve Beyond.

Everyone's experience will be different - but for us, coming from the abysmal school system of NC, the schools up here are amazing with what they offer our kids.