Reply to GT/LD/ADHD

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Which private (or public) schools are best suited for GT/LD/ADHD profile - not just academically but socially? Why? Thanks for your help. Please feel free to share your personal experience. [/quote]

I have a child who fits the GT/LD/ADHD description.  He is currently in HS.  He is mainly a math and science kid.  His LDs are in the profound range. When he was in ES and we were looking for alternatives to his public school,  Lab was the only one that said they would take students beyond the moderate range of LD.  We also looked at Oakwood in Annandale as they would consider him.  None had the math curriculum like the one his public schools offer in MS or HS.  Science also was better on the public HS.   We ultimately decided that we wanted him to be in a school that focused on his assets and not his deficits.  We have kept him in public school and supplemented with tutors from 2nd through 7th grade for reading and writing remediation (which he also got at school).  It has been a long slog and quite a bit of work. MS was the worst regarding school understanding of the issues, but we persevered.   We are in an excellent place right now.  DC is taking the higher level classes for everything but English and is taking his first AP course.   His elementary school was Chesterbrook ES and they do a decent job with the 2E student.

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We met with Rick Weinfeld re our 2e child and he suggested we work to the child's strengths. The LDs are mainly in executive function, writing & reading comprehension but the gifted parts are off the charts. We opted for a "regular" private. DC is much happier than in public, but they do little to remediate with executive function. It has come down to us. 2e is a broad designation, but in hindsight I wish we had checked out McLean.[/quote]

I think Rich Weinfeld is great, and I really agree with educating to strengths.  Those strengths in a GT child are what will really allow them to be successful in life.

BUT, to the extent that this discourages remediation (which I'm sure is not Rich's purpose), I would have to disagree.  IME with a 2E child, it is REALLY important to work on remediation (and not just to accommodate).  So, for a dyslexic or dysgraphic child, I would REALLY encourage specialized instruction in sound/symbol relationships and language (grammar, spelling, sentence structure, writing organization, etc.).  An ADHD child also needs specialized instruction at home and at school about organization in general and thinking thru how to break a problem down into steps, how to recognize and think of other ways of doing problems, how to ask for help, habit development, etc.

IME, the mainstream privates which "accept" special needs (like McLean or Field or Burke) really don't have much specialized instruction, although they do seem provide much more in the way of accommodation and individualized attention.  The true SN schools (like Lab or Siena or Commonwealth) vary in the kinds of "E" they work with (type of LD and/or ADHD), may offer better specialized instruction, but may have a more difficult time offering challenge, especially over the long term (except for Commonwealth, which seems to promote challenge).  Depending on both sides of the 2E, it may be worthwhile looking at an SN school for the short term, especially if the child is young, and trying to set up a situation where the student can be mainstreamed back to public school after 2+ years.  Of course, the ability to do that will vary with the depth of the SN, the age, and where the ES, MS and HS breaks happen in the student's life.

If you are in MoCo, you should definitely be in touch with Marisa STemple, the GT/LD countywide instructional support specialist, and you should add the MCPS GT/LD programs to your list to investigate -- Barnsley (ES), Bethesda MS (and a couple others) and Walter Johnson HS, all have specific GT/LD programs.  You will have to look carefully at whether these programs offer enough remediation vs. just providing accommodation and extra support.

The last thing to consider is investing in lots of specialized tutoring in combination with a non-SN school. [/quote]

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