Changing school for middle schooler with high functioning autism
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Khamy
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Hi,
We moved to US few years ago. The school system is still new for us. I have a child who has been diagnosed with aspergers (High functioning autism). He has an iep plan. I heard about the support for students with aspergers (High functioning autism) at Tilden middle school in Rockville. I think it could really benefit my child. They have the best score 26% in MCPS for helping students with disabilities to succeed. Tilden students attend Walter Johnson high school which has 35% again the best score in MCPS. We're planning to buy a house within 2 years. We might search one in Tilden and Walter Johnson area but in the meantime we need to enroll our child at Tilden middle. How can I register my child if it is not our assigned school? And also do you think it's reliable to choose our house location based on greatschool ratings? I often hear that MCPS are great but it should be a huge difference between an above average, average and a below average schools. I already saw a huge difference in the percentage of students with disabilites success rate. Thanks! |
Anonymous
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The HFA program at Tilden is for students from all over the county who are placed there by the county - your current school would need to advocate and agree that is the most appropriate setting for your child.
You cannot get into that program just by living in the zoned area. And you cannot simply register for a school that is not your assigned school (there is a process called COSA - change of student assignment - where you can make a case for attending a school other than your assigned one. You need a strong reason but your COSA request will not be approved if it is based on what you believe is the better school for your child). As for great schools ratings, they are largely based on the statewide PARCC exams. Success on these exams is strongly correlated with the economic situation of the students who take them -- so you can look at Great Schools, or you can simply choose the wealthiest parts of the county. |
Anonymous
| Note - by current school, I mean your current IEP team which would need to make a recommendation to the MCPS central office. |
Khamy
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Hi,
Thanks for reply it's clearer for me. I don't know what good reasons I could give to change my child's school. Any idea please? I'll talk soon to my child's case manager in his school. |
Anonymous
| Good reasons would be-he's failing/struggling and needs more support that can only be offered in the Tilden Asperger's program. Call the county autism department and ask for an autism consult. Explain that you think your child should be in the Asperger's program. They will observe your child, talk to her teaches and, make recommendations (which your IEP team might or might not follow). |
Anonymous
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OP — questions to ask yourself. Hw is your child doing academically, socially and behaviorally?
How many hours of specialized instruction or related services does your child get per week on their IEP? Are they making progress toward the IEP? What is wrong with the current school or services? You need to be able to demonstrate that the current environment is failing to make the case that he needs to be in the Tilden HFA program. |
Anonymous
| Is the Asperger program in Tilden very similar to the ones at Sligo Creek and Diamond ES (partial mainstreaming)? |
Anonymous
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X-minds has a great summary of the programs for kids on the autism spectrum https://xminds.org/placements For "aspergers" down county placement are Sligo Creek ES, Tilden MS, and Walter Johnson HS. For Upcounty they are Diamond ES, Ridgeview MS, and Quince Orchard HS. I have friends with kids in the upcounty program and they love it.
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Anonymous
Yes. Social skills and Resource are self-contained. Inclusion classes for science, SS, and English (these will include students with other SN, BTW). Gen pop for electives. Math depended on your child’s level. Sometimes adaptive PE. |
Khamy
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Hi,
I talked to one of the aspergers program manager in mcps. I don't think it's a good fit for my child. I double checked this program is for on level or above level students with aspergers but my child is behind in math and english. In his last math map test for exemple his level is 5th grade. He's in 6th grade but he's supposed to be in 7th. I need to call the county autism department for a class observation and some recommendations. I'll also post a thread to find a free or cheap advocate specialised in special education. |
Khamy
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That's exactly what I needed! Thanks a lot! |
Khamy
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He has only 45 mins speech and language sessions, 3 times a month and extra support in math class. In daily basis he has instruction and behavior support provided by his subject teachers. That's all. They'll perform some assessments in math, reading and speech because we asked to put autism as his main impairment. Speech and language delay is currently is main impairment because in elementary school autism wasn't impacting him academically but now it does. We have another iep meeting in June. They have 90 days to do the assessments. In the meantime I need to find a free or cheap advocate. Thanks for the questions I need to think about them. |
Anonymous
He will not necessarily get more hours of speech at Tilden. Sometimes the SP visits the social skills class and that counts for both rather than just speech or just Social Skills. He would have a para or special educator for some classes, but the paras at Tilden range from great to warm body. |
Khamy
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| I see. Thanks! |