MCPS question - what happens after PEP

[Anonymous]

My son is currently at a PEP Pilot program in an elementary school close to his daycare. We are planning to move (still within Montgomery County) and I just want to get a sense of what happens after PEP. He is autistic and I would think it's "classic autism." I would say he is moderate to severe. Is there such thing as "autism program" for elementary schools? I just don't see him in "mainstream." I hope I am making sense. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

OP I bet you'll find some info in the archives but you could start with this thread from 2020 about MCPS elementary programs for Autism. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/915804.page

[Anonymous]

So, my child also is autistic and went through the PEP program. This was prior to the pandemic but his last year in PEP, the parent educator took the parents on tours of programs that would be a good fit. And we went on tours of the actual school program my kid would attend if we selected it.

If one program looks like it might work, you can ask the parent educator what the team is considering and if that program is part of it.

some of the programs were described on the mcps website. Personally, I found the xminds website really helpful.

[Anonymous]

Hi, my son finished PEP in the spring. We had an IEP meeting in late June, and they invited three teachers from 3 different programs. The teachers gave brief presentations on their programs, and we discussed as a group where my son would best fit. He ended up in the same school as our older child, so it worked out well.

[Anonymous]

Yes, there are self contained autism classrooms. You can read about the options here: https://xminds.org/elementary-services

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I bet you'll find some info in the archives but you could start with this thread from 2020 about MCPS elementary programs for Autism. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/915804.page

OP here. Thank you for posting this thread!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, my son finished PEP in the spring. We had an IEP meeting in late June, and they invited three teachers from 3 different programs. The teachers gave brief presentations on their programs, and we discussed as a group where my son would best fit. He ended up in the same school as our older child, so it worked out well.

Are they three completely different programs? Is school boundary part of the consideration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, my son finished PEP in the spring. We had an IEP meeting in late June, and they invited three teachers from 3 different programs. The teachers gave brief presentations on their programs, and we discussed as a group where my son would best fit. He ended up in the same school as our older child, so it worked out well.

Are they three completely different programs? Is school boundary part of the consideration?

DP here, but there are quite a few different programs. School boundary isn't part of the consideration, except to check if a certain program is available within your cluster. However if the team and you determine Larlo would do best in Program X and it's only available in one cluster, transportation is provided.