My child received this type of a dx (moderate ADHD/“mild” autism) while at CCES. For us, the school has been wonderful. Our child has had great teachers who manage to tune in to her needs. However, we were never going to send her to private school. Also, our child is very intense, but no longer disruptive at all. She has become quite focused on social rules. She tests very high at school, but I still have to support math concepts at home sometimes - I enjoy that.

We worked most effectively on social skills with lots of play dates and good day camps - with some strategizing. Eventually, she was able to do sleep away camp. I’m still so proud that she can handle sleep away camp. We did a private social skills group that seemed to be of little value. My husband and I did years of parent coaching when she was little, with more behavioral challenges. She found the CCES social skills group to be embarrassing and we never did that again. I think she was pulled from recess weekly. It’s tricky when they have friends who don’t need those services and you still want them to be flexible about developing new friendships.

CCES is a good school and has a terrific school counselor. Like PP, my DC thrived there. However, a couple of things: my child was not disruptive, was a self-driven student, academically strong, but not socially savvy. For a child who is academically on track or ahead, the best you're going to get from MCPS is more time on tests, maybe a quiet room for testing, permission to keep a handheld fidget, and occasional social skills groups at lunchtime. As long as your student is excelling academically, they aren't going to help much with social-emotional stuff.

I can’t speak to the autistic aspect, but my child with adhd thrived at cces. He went from being a kid who tolerated school to a kid who loved it (he’s now at whitman so he’s back to tolerating it).

It helped to change how he self-identified as a student. The teachers there are incredible.

Bumping

Anyone have experience with CCES for a child with ADHD and borderline autism? We are considering this vs private. Child is currently in private early education focused on social emotion skills. He is academically strong/ahead.