He does have a private medical diagnosis of dyslexia. His IEP is from another state and it was pitiful. It acknowledges that he has a learning disability, but all they say is that he needs anywhere from zero hours on up of special services and only as needed. We have had some tutoring for him previously through the lab school when he was with us during the summers We have him in a private school for children with learning disabilities now, but even so, the specific tutoring for dyslexia does not seem to happen in the middle school grades and we have to hire a separate tutor to come in and work with him. The cost of the private school plus the tutoring is getting to be too much for us now. If the private school doesn't provide the intense work he needs, I was thinking it might be best to just go public and pay for the tutoring ourselves. I was just hoping that some public school out there would at least help out somewhat.

I agree with the PPs. A middle schooler who has not received any remediation is unlikely to reach grade level reading/writing with one summer of tutoring, although the intensity sounds good. I would recommend looking into private schools for kids with LDs, as MCPS is unlikely to provide the continuing help he will need.

Also Kingsbury

The Siena School

Oakwood School

Anonymous wrote:Given that he is just starting to deal with the dyslexia i would seriously consider one of the specialty private schools if you can afford it. A year or two at the Lab School or the McLean School would probably make a big difference and prepare him for public high school.

Lab Yes-Mclean no

Mclean deals with mild learning issues only. It would not be a good fit for someone struggling with dyslexia that was a more serious case.

OP, do you have a definitive diagnosis of dyslexia? Also, do you have an IEP (or 504) that stipulates accommodations?

These will be necessary to obtain services.

Given that he is just starting to deal with the dyslexia i would seriously consider one of the specialty private schools if you can afford it. A year or two at the Lab School or the McLean School would probably make a big difference and prepare him for public high school.

Anonymous wrote:What school is MCPS?

Montgomery county public schools.

What school is MCPS?

We just got custody of him and sadly next to nothing was done previously to help his dyslexia. Right now we are in the process of enrolling him with a private tutor that specializes in dyslexia that will start tutoring him during spring break and continue through the summer for an hour and a half to 2 hours per day. So once all that tutoring is done hopefully we can get him reading close to grade level. His reading comprehension is great, his intelligence is good, it appears his issue is that he just cannot sound out or decode a new word (or spell anything) on his own. He actually can read quite a bit just from what he has memorized. So maybe if we get him up to speed privately, and the fact that the middle schools and high schools don't do much for dyslexia anyway, maybe it wont matter so much which school he is in as long as it is a good school and they provide accommodations? My concern now is that once we are done with all this tutoring through the summer, won't he still need extra help with writing and grammar, etc? if that is the case, will normal special ed tutoring suffice for that or will he still need dyslexia specific tutoring?

I have a dyslexic child in MCPS. By MS, they are really just providing accommodations...keyboard/scribe/extra time. My DC does not get resource time etc any more.

You should also clarify what kinds of supports you think your DC will need. Remediation? Accommodations? What type/intensity for each?

You may also want to cross post on the public schools forums as well.

I don't know anything about those middle schools, but I can tell you that we're in Fairfax County where they don't understand dyslexia at all. So cross FCPS off your list!

We have a middle schooler who is dyslexic and are getting ready to move into the area. Anyone have any information on which public middle schools have good special education departments that would be the most supportive? I have heard possibly either the City of Falls Church (Mary Ellen Henderson) or Swanson in Arlington. Anyone have any insights into the special ed programs at these schools?