OP, my child attends the MAP program at Ivymount. It is a truly a wonderful program and we are thankful to be a part of it. And it is the case that many, not all, of the parents we know have children that have been referred/placed by there by their home school systems and as such attend "with funding" and transportation in place. I do not know the tuition. Like other SN schools, it may vary child to child depending on factors in an IEP like OT, PT, Speech, 1:1 teacher aide, etc. (Also, as a pp notes, other funding is also needed and may come through a variety of grants, development activities, and a bi-annual gala/auction). Each path is different; ours was not easy and somewhat protracted. If we could have gone straight there...it would have been a dream. Truth be told, starting out in K, we had no idea just how bad of an experience our [wonderful by all other accounts] local school would be for our child and what he needed from a classroom/teaching staff to get by. With a class size in the 20's and not a single person in the school trained in ASD at the time, it was rocky from the start. Getting an IEP took over a year. After years, we were finally able to assess the appropriateness of non-public placements for our child. This did not happen easily or quickly (and I have no idea what would have happened to our child had we not sought the help of an advocate and attorney to help guide us through the process and truly be on our team, after unsuccessfully trying to work with the leadership of our public school). This is just one family's experience, and I feel fortunate to have come out the other side.

The staff at Ivymount is very helpful. Perhaps contact someone in admissions. Also, there are monthly parent info sessions that you could attend to get a better sense of the programming and fit for your child. Wish you well!

Model Asperger Program Information Session - 10:00am
Thursday, November 20
Thursday, December 18

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, our consultant said that ivymount's autism program has mostly non-verbal kids. Depending on your kid's functioning, you may also want to look at maddux, diener, and auburn. But it would probably be private pay.

Ivymount has three programs--autism, Aspergers, and multiple needs.

Diener does not get any public funding. I don't know for sure, but Maddux probably doesn't either.

Model Aspergers doesn't start till 3rd grade.

They expanded so now the Model Asperger's program starts in K.

Great to know! When I spoke to them this past spring, the director said they were certified to start at K but hadn't had the demand. Glad there are kids who are able to make use of the wonderful MAP program.

My MoCo school has an autism program with very small classes. Like 4 kids and 2 teachers.

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, our consultant said that ivymount's autism program has mostly non-verbal kids. Depending on your kid's functioning, you may also want to look at maddux, diener, and auburn. But it would probably be private pay.

Also Katharine Thomas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, our consultant said that ivymount's autism program has mostly non-verbal kids. Depending on your kid's functioning, you may also want to look at maddux, diener, and auburn. But it would probably be private pay.

Your consultant needs some updated information.

I think this is still true, but Ivymount also serves kids with ASD in their Multiple Learning Needs and Asperger's programs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard that it is almost impossible to get Fairfax to pay for Ivymount.

My sense in general is that the counties here pay for special needs private schools much less often than what happens in other areas like NYC.

The only time I saw a statistics on this was that Fairfax had less than 300 children in private facilities. Out of 150,000 students at the time. It may have grown since then, but I have never been able to find a statistic. It was in an article comparing DC, which was over 2,000 students and Montgomery County which had 400-600 students. And it was 5 or so years ago. DC has significantly reduced that number since.

OP- what are your DC's issues?

That is an amazingly small percentage, when you consider that includes kids hospitalized for mental health issues, older kids at special ed boarding schools and etc.

That said, OP, you might be happy with the services FCPS will provide.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, our consultant said that ivymount's autism program has mostly non-verbal kids. Depending on your kid's functioning, you may also want to look at maddux, diener, and auburn. But it would probably be private pay.

Ivymount has three programs--autism, Aspergers, and multiple needs.

Diener does not get any public funding. I don't know for sure, but Maddux probably doesn't either.

Model Aspergers doesn't start till 3rd grade.

They expanded so now the Model Asperger's program starts in K.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, our consultant said that ivymount's autism program has mostly non-verbal kids. Depending on your kid's functioning, you may also want to look at maddux, diener, and auburn. But it would probably be private pay.

Ivymount has three programs--autism, Aspergers, and multiple needs.

Diener does not get any public funding. I don't know for sure, but Maddux probably doesn't either.

Model Aspergers doesn't start till 3rd grade.

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, our consultant said that ivymount's autism program has mostly non-verbal kids. Depending on your kid's functioning, you may also want to look at maddux, diener, and auburn. But it would probably be private pay.

Your consultant needs some updated information.

Auburn has a great scholarship program, btw.

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, our consultant said that ivymount's autism program has mostly non-verbal kids. Depending on your kid's functioning, you may also want to look at maddux, diener, and auburn. But it would probably be private pay.

Ivymount has three programs--autism, Aspergers, and multiple needs.

Diener does not get any public funding. I don't know for sure, but Maddux probably doesn't either.

Ivymount has the Model Asperger's Program (MAP) for higher functioning kids.

Fyi, our consultant said that ivymount's autism program has mostly non-verbal kids. Depending on your kid's functioning, you may also want to look at maddux, diener, and auburn. But it would probably be private pay.