Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for all the wonderful feedback. To the PP, thank you for such a detailed and thoughtful response. My child was seen by both a dev ped and at the Center for Autism and given a diagnosis of ASD, but no one in their notes commented on mild or moderate, etc. How do I know the severity of her disability? Is there a score I am missing? As you mention, it doesn't feel "mild" when she is filled with anxiety, rigidity, social awkwardness, strange behaviors, and an inability to have any meaningful conversation, lack of attention,etc., etc....even when, friends and relatives say "she seems OK."

Under DSM 5, autism is assigned level 1, level 2, or level 3 depending on how much support the person needs. You can ask the evaluator. But it doesn't really matter -- you know better than anyone else how much support she needs.

OP here. Thank you for all the wonderful feedback. To the PP, thank you for such a detailed and thoughtful response. My child was seen by both a dev ped and at the Center for Autism and given a diagnosis of ASD, but no one in their notes commented on mild or moderate, etc. How do I know the severity of her disability? Is there a score I am missing? As you mention, it doesn't feel "mild" when she is filled with anxiety, rigidity, social awkwardness, strange behaviors, and an inability to have any meaningful conversation, lack of attention,etc., etc....even when, friends and relatives say "she seems OK."

I don't have experience with PEP, and Maddux obviously doesn't work out for everyone. In particular there's a limit to how much they can handle in terms of disruptive behavior, they may push you to medicate ADHD, and they're not always the best at dealing with academic learning delays. The administration is stretched too thin and not always responsive. And so much depends on the cohort and whether your kid "clicks" with the teacher and his or her peers. But for many of us with smart, reasonably compliant kids with "mild" ASD--kids whose main challenges are social--it was a godsend. After a couple of years there my son has friends and can make new ones, when he never did or could before. The whole Ivymount community of which they are a part is as cutting edge as you are going to find on this stuff, really almost anywhere. And the parent community was just a wonderful group of people. If it's going to be a big sacrifice financially I agree with PPs that you need to think hard about when that money will be best spent. But if not, I think the majority experience at Maddux is very positive. But of course, as always, your mileage may vary...

Oh... this is PP. My child has a "mild" ASD. But with anxiety, rigidity and difficulty maintaining peer relationships, it doesn't feel so mild on a day-to-day basis.

I did a year of PEP and then held my kid back to do another pre-k year at Maddux. So I have experience with both...

PEP for my child was only a 2/day week program for 2.5 hours/day. Not nearly enough. We had to put my child in another morning program that was for NT kids. It was stressful for my child in the NT program. DC was not supported enough, and was viewed as "the bad kid."

The next year at Maddux, everything changed. DC was engaged. Teachers enjoyed DC in the classroom. DC was able to blossom, make friends, participate and perform.

Pre-k an MCPS is driven by worksheets and academics. They do social stuff as well, but you can tell that their goal is to "close the achievement gap." There is a teacher and an aide. The pre-k program at Maddux is not nearly as focused on academics. The kids there do learn their letters and numbers, but it is play-based primarily.

Given that my child already knew all the basic academic stuff, Maddux, with its heavy focus on social skills, was a better fit than PEP for us.

That is not to knock either program. You have to know what your kid needs and then re-evaluate those needs as your child matures and learns new skills. It's a tough decision.

As someone who had a kid at Maddux who was not one of their success stories I would take PEP for now, because it's free, and save my tuition dollars for later, when the quality of special education diminishes in elementary in MCPS. Most people I know had good to great experiences in PEP. Also, if you know your PEP placement, post it and people can chime in. ES is a whole different ball game in terms of supports and program offerings and unless you have significant needs your class size is going to be big. You are already going to get by definition a small class and supports in PEP. That's what Maddux offers that makes it a good choice for K, 1 & 2. If your kid is 4 you can also add a typical preschool in the am if you want more peer exposure.

Maddux has been discussed at length on this board. Many people love it but there are a number of us who didn't stay or were asked to leave. Among my beefs: The admin staff is stretched thin and all the exmissions help we were promised never materialized. The OT who worked with my kid's class was totally disinterested in him/us and refused to connect with our private therapist--I actually have no idea how she worked with his class because she never sent any kind of communication ever. My kid's classroom teacher never cared for him (it was obvious) and I'm surprised to see that the current pre-K teacher has only a BA. All teachers in Moco need to have or be in the process of getting one. All this to say that paying lots of money does not necessarily make for a better experience.

They get a lot of applications, so your kid may not get in just based on that.

We didn't get into Maddux with severe ADHD just fyi

Anonymous wrote:Is Maddux inclusion or self contained?

It's self contained in that everyone is there for a reason, diagnosed or not. But we found such a range of strengths and challenges that every kid was a peer model for some things and needed the modeling in other things.

Is Maddux inclusion or self contained?

Anonymous wrote:For the 2017-2018 school year, Maddux will have full day preK so afternoon PEP will no longer be an option.

Then I would take that. You would have Prek-2nd support.

For the 2017-2018 school year, Maddux will have full day preK so afternoon PEP will no longer be an option.

Maddux plus Afternoon PEP would be the best choice.

Maddux would be my first choice. We were wait listed so we did PEP.

Which one would be better for a SN child with ASD for preK? If you know a better option, please let us know!