Maddux is not just for kids with ASD at all! There are kids with various diagnoses, or kids who don't have a diagnosis and just need social, language and OT support. I love Maddux, but it isn't perfect and isn't for every kid. My older child went to PEP classic and then to Maddux for preschool. PEP for pre-k is very academic and your child will not get much social support. PEP is focused on getting kids ready for the academics of kindergarten. You know your child best, so I would be honest with Maddux and see where the conversation leads. I would spend the money now so you don't have to spend as much later.

Good luck!

I think you need to look and decide for,yourself. Every child is different even kids with same diagnosis . Maddux serves many types student not just asd. Just look and decide for,yourself best way to do it

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My child is in PEP Classic which meets 4 mornings a week. We just haven't seen her learning/progressing as we would like and feel she is instead picking up some bad behaviors she didn't have prior to starting PEP. That is why we are considering Maddux for preK. We do feel she needs the supports of a special needs preschool but with less behavior issues.

This is exactly what happened to my child at 3 - she was going to private preschool age age 2 1/2 and started classic at age 3 so we quit the private..She picked up a lot of behaviors from other kids which she didnt have before and I was second guessing myself whether I made the right choice..At age 4, she's in both private preschool as well as Classic and has improved so much. The typical peer interaction is very very helpful.

NP here. OP, have you considered Karasik, a truly inclusive preschool? DC, with mild-to-moderate ASD is thriving there at a cost that is about a third of Maddux's, is year-round (with only 12 days off per year, so loads of consistency in the schedule), and receives PEP services through a push-in model in the general classroom. When DC is not receiving PEP support in the classroom, the teachers are tasked with ensuring that DC receives all needed supports, and they have done a fabulous job. DC still needs support to maintain attention, play with peers, and not get lost in order to access the academics, but we have found that the teachers have been very attentive to DC's needs. DC is excited to go to Karasik everyday.

DS was in PEP Classic last year, and we liked PEP Classic for DC better than we liked DC's first typical preschool, but we knew it wasn't perfect, especially because the day wasn't long enough and the schedule with Mondays off, extra weeks off, closings for every little thing, etc., just did not work for DC. We were also concerned that DC's language wasn't developing as much as it could while DC was enrolled in Classic.

When we moved DC to a typical preschool for a summer, we saw DC's language blossom, but DC's anxiety increased to the point of not wanting to go to school most mornings. We knew DC would do better with peer models, but DC needed the right environment with loads of support.

At Karasik, DC is fully supported by the director, Sharon Hedgepeth, the teachers (who are certified early childhood education teachers), the assistant teachers, the full-time nursing staff, and the PEP staff. The other parents in the school have always been warm and welcoming, and they take Karasik's inclusive mission seriously.

We spent a year searching for a preschool for our DC that could meet DC's needs. It was a frustrating search, but we learned that the only preschool where DC could go to school with typical peers and have DC's needs met, while providing DC the consistent schedule DC needed, was Karasik.

Karasik is located on Tenbrook Drive in Silver Spring, which is basically located between the Georgia Ave and University Blvd/US 29 exits of 495. MCPS does not provide busing to or from Karasik, so you would be responsible for transportation. (Accepting Karasik as the site for PEP will automatically remove transportation from the IEP until your child goes to an MCPS school again. Yes, the lack of busing is a major bummer for both parents and for a child who loves the bus!) We think the best way to contact Karasik is to call Sharon Hedgepeth at 301-984-5777 x3340. If you want more information, there's a very small amount on the website, including email addresses and phone numbers here: http://thearcmontgomerycounty.org/what-we-do/children-youth/children.html

We know how frustrating this search is and we wish you lots of luck, OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. My child was at Maddux for pre-k year only. We never did PEP. We ended up pulling DC after pre-k. Maddux was not the right fit for him (even though they accepted him). DC was not happy there. His diagnosis is not ASD, but rather ADHD and language based learning disability (so for the poster saying all the kids were some degree of ASD, I disagree with that). Anyway, I know Maddux is a good fit for some kids, and I've heard others had a wonderful experience. We do not fall into that category.

NP here, whose child has ASD and thought that Maddux was a good fit. I can totally understand why someone whose primary diagnosis is language based learning disability would find that Maddux isn't a good fit. Their social curriculum was much stronger than their academic curriculum, especially for someone with specific learning disabilities. For us, the trade-off was worth it because my child needed the explicit social teaching, but for a child whose needs were more academic, there are other schools that do a better job of that.

22:19 again. I completely agree with this. I have no bad feelings about Maddux. We moved my child to a different school where he is thriving. That's really all that counts, finding the right fit. And I know that can be very hard.

Anonymous wrote:NP here. My child was at Maddux for pre-k year only. We never did PEP. We ended up pulling DC after pre-k. Maddux was not the right fit for him (even though they accepted him). DC was not happy there. His diagnosis is not ASD, but rather ADHD and language based learning disability (so for the poster saying all the kids were some degree of ASD, I disagree with that). Anyway, I know Maddux is a good fit for some kids, and I've heard others had a wonderful experience. We do not fall into that category.

NP here, whose child has ASD and thought that Maddux was a good fit. I can totally understand why someone whose primary diagnosis is language based learning disability would find that Maddux isn't a good fit. Their social curriculum was much stronger than their academic curriculum, especially for someone with specific learning disabilities. For us, the trade-off was worth it because my child needed the explicit social teaching, but for a child whose needs were more academic, there are other schools that do a better job of that.

NP here. My child was at Maddux for pre-k year only. We never did PEP. We ended up pulling DC after pre-k. Maddux was not the right fit for him (even though they accepted him). DC was not happy there. His diagnosis is not ASD, but rather ADHD and language based learning disability (so for the poster saying all the kids were some degree of ASD, I disagree with that). Anyway, I know Maddux is a good fit for some kids, and I've heard others had a wonderful experience. We do not fall into that category.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My child is in PEP Classic which meets 4 mornings a week. We just haven't seen her learning/progressing as we would like and feel she is instead picking up some bad behaviors she didn't have prior to starting PEP. That is why we are considering Maddux for preK. We do feel she needs the supports of a special needs preschool but with less behavior issues.

Have you considered doing Maddux for a K waiver year? If you want to hold her back there aren't a lot of good options for that. Finish out PEP, do tons of therapy on the side and then start Maddux in pre-K at 5.