Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know three families with children with dyslexia and ALL of them are either enrolled at or want to be enrolled at Siena.

Siena is not interested in kids with learning disabilities. You can have dyslexia but they don't want you to be behind academically and as they like to say, "Most of our kids are very bright and intellectually advanced." They also don't want your ADHD kid unless medicated.

Yeah, rolf - so sick of that attitude

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[O]ne thing I've begun to really wrap my head around is how to look for environments where neurodiversity is a core value.

I don't think any place like that exists. Well, public school is required to take all comers, which is a societal value, but that doesn't always translate to being welcomed at the individual school/peer level.

The Lab School. They embrace the neurodiversity you are talking about. Their phrase "Difference is Extraordinary" really has meaning and lives up to it.

Only if you define neurodiversity as not including anyone on the autism spectrum, at least according to their admissions people. I know the reality at the school is different, but when we inquired we were told in no uncertain terms to look elsewhere. It's a marketing slogan, not a policy.

Add intellectual disability to that list.

It's not just that they don't accept kids with ID, but their culture includes a lot of statements like "My child deserves respect (or to learn, or whatever) because they are smart". or even "It was terrible that he was treated that way when he's got a high IQ", as if kids who do have ID don't deserve respect, or the opportunity to learn, or to be treated well.

Yup, that's the thing - we have a child with both ID and autism and there really are no great options for him.
People talk about how 'there's a program for that' but really there aren't. Most of the 'special schools' we see are for ' gifted but disabled' children.
Even the good public school programs. Nice for them.
And yet our son is wonderful and sweet and deserves to be educated in a nurturing environment that's best for him and supportive of his learning style.
No such luck.

If we win the lottery I'm opening up a special school...

Anonymous wrote:I know three families with children with dyslexia and ALL of them are either enrolled at or want to be enrolled at Siena.

Siena is not interested in kids with learning disabilities. You can have dyslexia but they don't want you to be behind academically and as they like to say, "Most of our kids are very bright and intellectually advanced." They also don't want your ADHD kid unless medicated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I am a current parent of two students and I know what I am talking about. After four years of the constant "transformative" marketing and no substantive evidence of what they profess, we are leaving. Again, it is not worth the money. Unless you have money to throw away, invest it elsewhere.

+1 we also left Mclean after seeing little progress. They will tell you they are the only school that can help you but the reality is the academics are not up to par. It took a full year to catch up after transferring to public. It was tough in the beginning but with tutoring DC did manage.

+2 We also left McLean and went to public school. It was dismaying to see that what McLean described to us as "grade level" work was well below the public school's expectations for grade level.

In my experience, many private schools say they can handle LDs but aren't really qualified to do so. You are much better off at a good public school. The public school gets federal money for LD programs and has specialists who work with many kids with LDs and have extensive experience.

Commonwealth in Alexandria.

I know three families with children with dyslexia and ALL of them are either enrolled at or want to be enrolled at Siena.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth paying $40k just to be admitted but not meet the learning needs of your child?

I think the point is that these schools could meet the learning needs of the children if they wanted to do so but instead choose to keep them out. Personally I think as neurodiversity research picks up, these schools and their policies will be looked at in the same way that other discrimination policies are. They are on the wrong side of history.

In our experience, private schools did not meet our child's learning needs...there was more 'frustration' from the teachers than kindness...
The school was considered a Top Private, but to us, we saw that our child would not get the attention she needed, so we left the school.

Think first of your child, and your child's needs--not the "name" of the school...

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth paying $40k just to be admitted but not meet the learning needs of your child?

I think the point is that these schools could meet the learning needs of the children if they wanted to do so but instead choose to keep them out. Personally I think as neurodiversity research picks up, these schools and their policies will be looked at in the same way that other discrimination policies are. They are on the wrong side of history.

Is it worth paying $40k just to be admitted but not meet the learning needs of your child?

I feel like at least McLean will admit students with disabilities though. Other private schools seem to actively screen out kids with disabilities even if the kids could do the work.

I heard the tuition and fees for HS at McLean for 2017-2018 will be nearly $47K. Not sure about MS but last year it was about $43K including fees. Everything is an add on and the tuition increases per year have been between 5 - 9%. If you think about it, most working people don't get 9% annual pay increases. And, there is nothing to show for it. At least the Lab School can say they have a brand new high school. It seems like a big Ponzi scheme.

Anonymous wrote:No. I am a current parent of two students and I know what I am talking about. After four years of the constant "transformative" marketing and no substantive evidence of what they profess, we are leaving. Again, it is not worth the money. Unless you have money to throw away, invest it elsewhere.

+1 we also left Mclean after seeing little progress. They will tell you they are the only school that can help you but the reality is the academics are not up to par. It took a full year to catch up after transferring to public. It was tough in the beginning but with tutoring DC did manage.

You are not wrong to point out what is being missed with the rhetoric. But I understand the point of the quoted comment and comments like it. People often conflate even mild learning disability with lacking intelligence. So parents are constantly bumping up against expectations being set very low and being told that current accomodations or lack thereof is adequate. There are lots of very smart, and also lots of more typical, children who are underserved because just squeaking a child with LD through the system is concerned "adequate" for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[O]ne thing I've begun to really wrap my head around is how to look for environments where neurodiversity is a core value.

I don't think any place like that exists. Well, public school is required to take all comers, which is a societal value, but that doesn't always translate to being welcomed at the individual school/peer level.

The Lab School. They embrace the neurodiversity you are talking about. Their phrase "Difference is Extraordinary" really has meaning and lives up to it.

Only if you define neurodiversity as not including anyone on the autism spectrum, at least according to their admissions people. I know the reality at the school is different, but when we inquired we were told in no uncertain terms to look elsewhere. It's a marketing slogan, not a policy.

Add intellectual disability to that list.

It's not just that they don't accept kids with ID, but their culture includes a lot of statements like "My child deserves respect (or to learn, or whatever) because they are smart". or even "It was terrible that he was treated that way when he's got a high IQ", as if kids who do have ID don't deserve respect, or the opportunity to learn, or to be treated well.