Is Ivymount an option? I once met a mom there with a child whose she described as having a similar profile. I think your district could provide transportation.

What about the Sycamore School in Arlington? I've heard really good things.

There is no private HS anywhere in Nova that takes public
placements that would be appropriate for him. I have seen them all. No way.

Somewhere like Fusion could be good for him but the schools refuse to pay for it and get away with it bc they have no sped staff.

Yep you definitely need a consultant or lawyer asap

Anonymous wrote:I would think a psychologist would help more than a consultant.

A consultant will know which accomodations to ask for.

I think what the director said wasn't appropriate, because it was a placement discussion made without the entire IEP team present. I would search the COPAA directory for Virginia and Yellow Pages 4 Kids to see if an advocate or attorney could help you. Snag as many free consults as you can.

https://connect.copaa.org/network/find-a-professional/find-a-professional32

https://www.yellowpagesforkids.com/help/va.htm

I’d do 1:1 pull outs to quiet environment, 1:1 can locate areas in the school that are quieter environments but he will still get socialization. Make sure to get it all written in the IEP

Did the sped director put - in writing - that the current high school “may not be the best placement?” If so, consult an attorney about private placement at the schools’ expense.

Separate but obviously related, they need a plan to transition your ds back to his existing school, and that could include a shortened day or other modifications.

Anonymous wrote:Op here.. He is in Falls Church. The combo of covid and puberty put him into fight or flight. He sees a psychologist weekly and a psychiatrist. His depression became so bad when he was in school last year and we were begging for a shorter day or a study hall at the end of the day. He was told he could either use a ten minute break pass and see a psychologist there or he could do homebound. He did homebound with amazing teachers and his depression abated. He passed all of his sols with homebound, but they do not want that for him. I am hoping the meds will lessen his panic. Everything that used to upset him before upsets him 50x more now. I do think he may have a better time if there is truly a very small calm environment for him to ease into.

Falls Church City Schools or the part of Falls Church that's in Fairfax County Public Schools?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What IEP services have been utilized by the school to address this? What services were offered before going to most restrictive placement? Did you consult a lawyer or advocate about this? What are you doing at home to address it? Is this only a school issue? What incident occurred that was so disruptive that such extreme measures had to be used? What Alternative school placements have been offered? Was home bound school useful AND effective? Was proper education provided by a certified teacher? What did the school do to fulfill FERPA and LEA prior to this extreme measure?

Are you just throwing around terms you don't understand to sound smart? FERPA is the law that keeps student documents private. LEA stands for local education agency and refers to the entity (i.e. school district) that will implement the IEP. Neither is something to fulfill.

It was a typo sorry LRE.

And I think you meant FAPE not FERPA.

Op here.. He is in Falls Church. The combo of covid and puberty put him into fight or flight. He sees a psychologist weekly and a psychiatrist. His depression became so bad when he was in school last year and we were begging for a shorter day or a study hall at the end of the day. He was told he could either use a ten minute break pass and see a psychologist there or he could do homebound. He did homebound with amazing teachers and his depression abated. He passed all of his sols with homebound, but they do not want that for him. I am hoping the meds will lessen his panic. Everything that used to upset him before upsets him 50x more now. I do think he may have a better time if there is truly a very small calm environment for him to ease into.

Have they conducted a functional behavior assessment performed by a BCBA and written an intervention plan based on the results?

Also, are they trying to suggest that you put him in private at your expense? Make them declare that they cannot meet his needs through IEP and accommodations, because then they have to pay for private placement. No environment is going to be perfect and they are probably being realistic in saying that no high school environment is going to be free of inappropriate language and conversations. You’re going to need to work on the behavior response. I understand this because my HFA child has decided that the way they want to cope with uncertainty is strict religious rule following, and I hear all the time how they won’t socialize because the other kids are “doing things against my religion”. But that is our problem to cope with and work on my child’s response.

I would think a psychologist would help more than a consultant.