Reply to Are all GT centers GT/LD or are there special GT/LD programs in MCPS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Barnsley has a GT/LD program.  It is separate from the HGC.  [/quote]

exactly.  this is the type of program the op should investigate.[/quote]

Barnsley is the only elementary GT/LD program of its kind in the county as far as I am aware.  One other program that was at Wyngate was closed down a few years back.  At Barnsley, we were told that the child would only be "in the program" for the classes in which there was IEP goals.  So, for example, if your child has difficulty writing and has goals for that and organization, but no specific goals for math or reading, there is a good chance your child would be sent there and only be "in the program" for a small portion of the day and would be mainstreamed for the rest of the day.  Ask very, very careful questions about what a child would be getting there.  IMO, the Barnsley program is in NO WAY similar to the HGC programs.  It is not the same curriculum as the HGC.  Also because Barnsley serves a much bigger area, it is likely to be a LOT further away than your home cluster's HGC.

Also, to "get into" Barnsley takes the recommendation of the whole IEP team.  Begin with Marisa Stemple, the county GT/LD specialist.  She will need to become involved in your IEP meetings.

I had a child in the regular HGC.  There were definitely kids there who were GT and ADHD and kids who were GT with a auditory processing disability.  Probably also some kids with dysgraphia, but more related to the physical output of handwriting and not so much the expressive part.  These kids got a scribe as part of their accommodations.  The style of our center also allowed for kids to skip certain work if they already knew it or do alternative projects.  There was, however one big writing project that no one "skips" or modifies as far as I know.  If you have an IEP, the bottom line is that the school must consider your child's application on the same basis as all others, and must provide the same IEP at the HGC if accepted.

IMO, the time to worry about this is if your child is accepted.  IMO, the likelihood of this for LD kids of high cognitive ability is still quite small, because the tools of the admissions process act as a natural screen.  Admission depends heavily on scoring very well on the tests, first and foremost.  Then teacher recommendation and "grades" become important.  Many GT/LD kids have an extremely hard time scoring well on standardized tests due to their LD.  For example, many ADHD kids find it hard to stay focused enough to do well at the level required, even with extra time.  (And the extra time provided is only provided "if the child asks for it".  So, that's pretty unlikely to have an 8 y.o. "ask" to spend even more than the 2-3 hours they already are given).  Many LD kids also make classic "mistakes" like mis-bubbling answers or giving the least answer when asked to give the most, etc.  They may have a very high IQ and be very smart, but demonstrating that smarts in the way of the test is harder.

Even if they do well on the test, there is the problem of the teacher recommendation.  We have seen over the years, our child's LD is interpreted by his teachers as his "not being motivated", his ADD as being "uninterested", etc.  He is supposed to have a lot of accommodations in the classroom, but the gen. ed teachers rarely give them, this results in complaints by me, etc.  Even when politely done, the end result is a teacher who is unwilling to write a strong recommendation for a GT/LD child, especially if there are other "easier" kids in the classroom who also write recommendations.  Of course, this is not true of all teachers.  He did have one year a fantastic teacher who recognized his GT and was instrumental in getting him help, but this was an area of expertise for her.

Finally, there are grades.  Last year, under C2.0 in 3rd grade, there were mostly "P's" (teacher admitted not giving ES to anyone) for all and no acceleration in math.  So, there was no way for DC to demonstrate being above grade level in the classroom.

If your GT/LD child makes it thru these hurdles, that is a pretty good indication that he/she could probably survive in a center.  Once accepted for admission, I would accept the seat and then ask for a spring IEP team mtg. at the "new" school (i.e. the HGC) to transfer his IEP and talk with the teachers.  You will get a pretty good sense if it will work after that.  IMO, thinking about our HGC, if you already have a pretty good IEP, it will be implemented and the teachers are good with that.  But, if you don't have a good IEP and you would need it to be beefed up in order to enable your kid to participate fully, you would have a hard time, as our principal and central team members (IMO) are terrible about sped even while the Center (but not the homeschool) and sped teachers are good. [/quote]

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