school for high functioning autism

[Anonymous]

Hi,
Our family is moving to the DC area this summer. We are looking for a middle school for our son who will be in 8th grade next year. He has high functioning autism and is in a 6-12 grade school now with small class sizes with kids that go on to college and vocational schools. Can anyone recommend a school in Virginia, Maryland or DC?

Thanks so much!
Jenny

[Anonymous]

Welcome!

I notice that you say anywhere in the DMV, but that’s a pretty large area! Is there a work location or family that you want to live close to?

To help, here are a few questions-
Is your child diploma track? Are you looking for public programs or private schools? Are you able to pay $40,000+ for a school?

[Anonymous]

if in public does he have an IEP now?

[jbarceneaux]

Looking for private. We plan to live near the school. We would prefer Virginia as it is closer to work, but have lived in Bethesda so are familiar with that area. Our son has never been in public school.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Not judging, but why aren't you looking at public schools? In general, public schools should have better special education programs, to the extent he needs them.

I would get it if you were to say in-person learning is really important, and you don't trust the schools to reopen next year, but that doesn't seem to be playing into it.

[Anonymous]

What kind of support does your child need?

[Anonymous]

Maybe Auburn?

[Anonymous]

Or Newton?

[Anonymous]

I think you’d get support in public school and certainly qualify for an IEP if there is an academic impact. However be aware of you go this route you will need to go through the eligibility process first and it will take at least half the school year and in the meantime your child will get nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you’d get support in public school and certainly qualify for an IEP if there is an academic impact. However be aware of you go this route you will need to go through the eligibility process first and it will take at least half the school year and in the meantime your child will get nothing.

She can start as soon as she moves- she would not need to wait. That said, she said she wanted private. Newton only goes through 8th. Auburn is probably the best fit and the have a campus in both Md and Va.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you’d get support in public school and certainly qualify for an IEP if there is an academic impact. However be aware of you go this route you will need to go through the eligibility process first and it will take at least half the school year and in the meantime your child will get nothing.

She can start as soon as she moves- she would not need to wait. That said, she said she wanted private. Newton only goes through 8th. Auburn is probably the best fit and the have a campus in both Md and Va.

Yes you can start the eligibility process as soon as you move and enroll. However you still need to go through the eligibility process which takes a minimum of 4 months before an IEP would be put in place. Parent request—->within 10 calendar days, Student services meeting, decide to test——>55 SCHOOL DAYS to complete/review testing——-> eligibility meeting, find eligible, 30 calendar days——> IEP meeting.

I’m a special Ed teacher. Had a student come in from a private special needs school that was very low functioning. We met on the 2nd day of school to enter eligibility. In the meantime we did pull out small group core academics because no way was this student able to manage whole group gen ed, IEP or not. This was 5th grade and the student was performing at about a 1st grade level cognitively, lower academically. It was December when we finally had the IEP meeting and could move them to the county autism program. Months.

[jbarceneaux]

Thank you for the replies. We just wanted some names of private schools that serve high functioning autism kids and other kids with learning differences. Our son is on grade level, but needs small class sizes (less than 10) and some help with executive functioning - organization etc., and teachers who understand the quirks of kids with autism.

Jenny

[Anonymous]

jbarceneaux wrote:Thank you for the replies. We just wanted some names of private schools that serve high functioning autism kids and other kids with learning differences. Our son is on grade level, but needs small class sizes (less than 10) and some help with executive functioning - organization etc., and teachers who understand the quirks of kids with autism.

Jenny

There is a GT/LD program in Montgomery County. Can anyone give more info?

[Anonymous]

jbarceneaux wrote:Thank you for the replies. We just wanted some names of private schools that serve high functioning autism kids and other kids with learning differences. Our son is on grade level, but needs small class sizes (less than 10) and some help with executive functioning - organization etc., and teachers who understand the quirks of kids with autism.

Jenny

The reason you are getting the responses is because there really aren’t that many private options in this area for high school and most people find that public with an IEP is better. Nobody is withholding information.

Auburn is probably your best bet if you want a high school. Commonwealth Academy may be an option if your child has other learning differences like ADHD and Anxiety and truly is high functioning. I did an extensive search for my 8th grader (cost was no object) and public ended up being best for us.

[Anonymous]

What is the current school like? Maybe we can try to approximate a match?