Private school placement referral

[MeadowLane5]

Hi friends,

My daughter age 12 was given the sign off for a special education private school from public school. She is adhd/ dyslexia and as of her last private psychological evaluation has atypical autism. I never heard of atypical autism but it’s autism nonetheless which some refer to as pdd-nos. My question to you is which accommodations on your child( or your own) iep or 504 did you find most helpful and beneficial to emotional and educational growth?. Although we received a verbal agreement on private placement from the school, her iep is coming up soon ( once they schedule it!) and I would like as much information as possible to be prepared. As for the reasoning for private school. She cannot handle ICT and is too high functioning for 12:1:1. Unfortunately, there is no class in between anywhere in the New York City doe! Thank you for reading through and looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Onthemove1971]

Not sure if you know, but most private schools ( are you sure she is not being placed in a non-public school? ) are not required to follow an IEP. It sounds like she will have a one-on-one? If so, that person will be key to not " over help" your child. It will be important that your child does not become dependent on prompting, then she will struggle to do things on her own. What has helped us the most is extra time on assignments, taking tests in a different location and when absent able to turn in work with extra time. I will also say having him sit in front near the teacher has helped also so there is less distraction.

On a personal note, we also give our son the following tools to help control his ADHD. Therapy, medication and the 504 plan. These are key to helping him function and maintain grades and learning in a high school.

Good luck!

[MeadowLane5 in reply to Onthemove1971]

Hi,Thank you for responding!

Yes, she will be attending a state approved school that follows her iep. She does counseling, has medication and we follow appropriate behavior modifications. She has had a 1:1 para since kindergarten ( she’s currently in 6 th)as well as services as written on her iep. The current situation is that a big city class room simply doesn’t work - that combined with dyslexia and reading aversion / difficulties is very challenging for her and all involved. She got by til now and the work load is simply getting too challenging.

Thank you for sharing what accommodations work for your son.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to MeadowLane5]

No problem.. Can I recommend you find a really good reading specialist for your daughter.

Also look into Bookshare.org, it will be free for her if she has an IEP.

It would be great if she can learn to love audiobooks.

If I can help in anyway, feel free to send me a message.

Good luck!

[MeadowLane5 in reply to Onthemove1971]

We did do some group orton Gillian classes and then she wasn’t interested anymore. I will search for a reading specialist! Thank you !!

[Onthemove1971 in reply to MeadowLane5]

The benefit to a reading specialist is to determine how instruction should be delivered. If she needs specialized training or is the reading issue related to her ADHD. Either way she clearly needs help. I assume you are working with a child psychiatrist for the best medication for her and have had trials of stimulant and non stimulant medications?

[Pmommyof5]

Hi,I was under the same impression for my oldest daughter thinking it was private school and it ended up being a non public school which online is sometimes listed as a private school but they are not.

This placement was very successful for my daughter who has the same diagnosis except the dislexia. My daughter is in 6th grade now going into 7th she started the summer prior to entering 6th grade to familiarize herself. She has honors now when previously she was failing everything and her classroom size is 8. She enjoys swimming class, sewing class, piano lessons, wood shop class, art class to name a few.

My daughter goes to an all girls non public school.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Pmommyof5]

So great to see a non-public work out. Thanks.

[MeadowLane5 in reply to Pmommyof5]

Thank you for replying-So happy to hear your daughter is thriving !! My gut is saying the move to private spec Ed school must be better than the current situation.

[Pmommyof5 in reply to MeadowLane5]

Always follow your gut instinct. These non public schools are specifically designed to handle kids unlike the public schools.

[MeadowLane5 in reply to Pmommyof5]

What state is this school located?

[Pmommyof5 in reply to MeadowLane5]

California

[MeadowLane5 in reply to Pmommyof5]

Thank you for your response.We are in ny