13:03, Can you tell me more about the "inclusive classroom w/ SpEd teacher assigned to it"? What's the role of SpEd teacher and mainstream teacher? Who's taking the data if there's no aide in the mainstream classroom?

I've heard of kids at Janney who have a shadow but the shadow is provided and paid for by the parents not the school.

A shadow is the one thing our very accommodating public charter school turned us down for. In the end, it was for the best. I prefer the inclusive classroom with the Sp Ed teacher assigned to it. This is for first grade. In K, they provided a head teacher, assistant teacher and the sp ed teacher.

If you want an inclusive environment your best bet is the public schools with a good IEP. It is going to be near impossible to find a private school that will allow an aide. Maybe some do, but would I assume it is highly competitive to get a slot where they allow that.

Alternatively, as someone else mentioned you could try for the private schools that work with SN like ASD. The ones in the DC area I would suggest exploring are Katherine Thomas School, Oakwood, Maddux and Deiner. There are plenty of people who wants slots at these schools so even if your child is a good match she might not get in, but they are much more likely to be open to level of support your daughter needs to succeed and as others mentioned she may not even need an aide at one of these schools.

Anonymous wrote:What are the thoughts of not disclosing the diagnose to the private school? Just describe the kid as "need helps with speech, social skills, flexibility, etc."
Sometimes the label "autism" lower teacher's expectation and the kid isn't given enough challenge.

Most private school's require the WIPPSI, which is a IQ test, for admissions so I not telling them your kid had autism will not lower expectations if your kid gets accepted. There is no benefit to your child by not being disclosing the diagnosis.

Assitants are trained and they stay within their category (ABA, ID, LD, Preschool) etc. However some are old and are over the whole work thing. Good assistants are sometimes teachers that want a break, recent graduates learning the school climate before going head first into teaching, and unfortunately older people that can do the job.

Sorry just dont bash all assistants.

Anonymous wrote:What are the thoughts of not disclosing the diagnose to the private school? Just describe the kid as "need helps with speech, social skills, flexibility, etc."
Sometimes the label "autism" lower teacher's expectation and the kid isn't given enough challenge.

If you're suggesting that your kid needs a shadow, that's pretty much outing your kid.

However, if this isn't the OP, when looking at a private school, it's best that you be up front with what your kid's needs and issues are. If you're listing all the things you'd listed above without mentioning ASD specifically, they'd probably put 2 + 2 together in any case. You can also be "counseled out" after you're accepted as well.

What are the thoughts of not disclosing the diagnose to the private school? Just describe the kid as "need helps with speech, social skills, flexibility, etc."
Sometimes the label "autism" lower teacher's expectation and the kid isn't given enough challenge.

Anonymous wrote:Just a thought for you to consider.

Some schools will say they don't accept shadows but they do have an in-house or contracted speech therapist or social thinking teacher or learning specialist. You might be able to purchase their services and specify that they work with your child during, say, recess time.

That's what we did with a school that doesn't formally accept "shadows" and it has worked great. It's actually costing us less than hiring our own shadow would have.

Not the OP, but what school is this?

OP, There is an ABA agency called Paving Pathways in VA. They provide 1-1 shadows to some preschools/schools. They may have a better info which schools accept private 1-1 shadows. I contacted them for the same reason in 2012 as I have a child on the spectrum, but later went with small class placement.

PP, following myself up here. When I say "work with your child during recess" I mean "come out on the playground and observe/facilitate" rather than do private sessions. It's been very successful for us. And since the therapist is known to other children in the school already, there is less of a stigma associated with her presence out there.

Just a thought for you to consider.

Some schools will say they don't accept shadows but they do have an in-house or contracted speech therapist or social thinking teacher or learning specialist. You might be able to purchase their services and specify that they work with your child during, say, recess time.

That's what we did with a school that doesn't formally accept "shadows" and it has worked great. It's actually costing us less than hiring our own shadow would have.

In Virginia and Maryland, public schools are run by the County or the City. You live in a County or a City. In northern Virginia, the counties are Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William. The cities are Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax and Manassas. Alexandra, Falls CHruch and Mannasas run their own independent school system. Fairfax City contracts with Fairfax County to run its school system so it is integrated into the Fairfax County system.

I will focus on Arlington and Fairfax Counties since those are the ones you mentioned.

Arlington has 4 HS and Fairfax has 25 (several are called secondary schools as they also have the Middle School on the same campus). Arlington has smaller classes than most of Fairfax. The schools in Fairfax that have smaller class sizes are the Title I schools. One thing know, also is that many of the private schools have similar names to some of the public schools and sometimes can get confusing. (Chesterbrook and Flint Hill come to mind, plus the McLean School (private) is in Potomac MD and the Potomac School (Private) is in McLean) Fairfax is set up in 9 clusters of 3(or so) High Schools that mirror the 9 magisterial districts. Each magisterial district elects a school board member and a Board of Supervisors member. The BOS control the county purse strings. Each HS in the cluster is at the top of a "pyramid" with one matricualting Middle School and 5-6 matriculating elementary schools, that is the ideal but it is rough around the edges and smal ES and MS are split feeders to the next level of school. If I remember correctly, Arlington MS are 6-8, Fairfax's are 7-8.

Maryland just adopted Common Core and Virginia has not. Virginia has its own set of state tests called the Standard of Learning (SOL).

My children attended public elementary in Mclean, so I know some specifics about those. Mclean elementary schools. For my friends with children with ASD, Franklin Sherman and Chesterbrook have better reputations. Both used to be smaller sized, but Chesterbrook has grown considerably. Franklin Sherman has special ed preschool. The Principal at Chesterbrook has personal experience with special ed children and is a strong proponent of inclusion. I have not heard of anyone bringing in outside aide for one to one coverage, but it doesn't hurt to ask. One of my children, was in special ed at Chesterbrook and the only students will one on one aides I knew were students who had multiple and severe issues. That said, some schools in the county have autism classrooms, especially in the preK-2 years.

Good luck in your search.

My kid's class in Arlington in K and in first grade has been in 16-18 range.

Typical mainstream class size in Fairfax / Arlington /Alexandria public schools?
This was an important factor for my daughter to determine an appropriate placement.

Anonymous wrote:What's a typical class size in lower grade? 20/30/40 kids per class?

In what school?