Best school for Aspie girl (Houston, Pearland: college, moving to, kindergarten) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

Sisimone · 04-04-2015, 07:21 AM

My family and I will be moving to the Katy/Fulshear area in the next couple of months. I have been doing a lot of research to find a good spot for my 13 year old daughter who has been diagnosed with Asperger. She will enter 8th grade next year, is doing really good academically (is in all excel classes right now) but has a lot of social anxiety. We tried public school, but that was too overwhelming and she never felt she fitted in. Looking on the internet I see some options for these kids who would really benefit from a smaller, more personal yet academically challenging setting. However, when I look at them and do my research, there is always something that makes me question if that would be the right school for her. For instance, Memorial Private High School in Houston, looks great but they advertise for teachers on Craigslist. Nothing wrong with Craigslist, but I do not know if this would be the right teacher for my child. Focus Academy, only one teacher per school, might be too small maybe. I think I would really like Mirus Academy in Katy, small class sizes and college prep education, however they do not accept kids who are diagnosed with Asperger's.
Husband will be working in the Bay City/Wharton area so we are open to relocating to a different area than Katy/Fulshear, if this would mean that I would finally have a happy daughter. Any suggestions/ideas/experiences they want to share! Thanks!

nana053 · 04-04-2015, 09:48 AM

We have an ASPIE girl in 7th grade in the Pearland ISD schoools and have been very happy with them. Much better commute for your husband as well.

Htown2013 · 04-04-2015, 11:30 AM

I would guess either Katy ISD or Fort Bend ISD might be good for this - not sure if one is better than the other. I've noticed that a lot of kids seem to have these issues nowadays.

Sisimone · 04-04-2015, 03:06 PM

Thank you for your replies. I am a little hesitant about public school though, because of their lack of understanding. I tried two public schools and it did not work out. One school promised me over and over again to put her in a peer group so she could work on her social anxiety and meet some kids (we were new to the area) but nothing ever happened. The other school told me that because of her anxiety they were not able to accommodate her, that we had to go back to private school. She has no learning disabilities, she just need some help with the social interacting. She gets anxious when she has to sit alone at lunch for months at a time, or that nobody ever asks her to do a project when they have to team up. In my opinion the school should be able to handle this, but so far they did not help. We have a counselor that she sees twice a month and that really helps. Are my experiences with public school different than yours?

nana053 · 04-04-2015, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sisimone

Thank you for your replies. I am a little hesitant about public school though, because of their lack of understanding. I tried two public schools and it did not work out. One school promised me over and over again to put her in a peer group so she could work on her social anxiety and meet some kids (we were new to the area) but nothing ever happened. The other school told me that because of her anxiety they were not able to accommodate her, that we had to go back to private school. She has no learning disabilities, she just need some help with the social interacting. She gets anxious when she has to sit alone at lunch for months at a time, or that nobody ever asks her to do a project when they have to team up. In my opinion the school should be able to handle this, but so far they did not help. We have a counselor that she sees twice a month and that really helps. Are my experiences with public school different than yours?

Definitely different here in PISD. My granddaughter has been in public school here since kindergarten and she is now in 7th grade. The k-4 here accommodated her without an IEP or 504 and we did a 504 at the end of 4th grade for her middle school. They have social groups, but that was not what she needed at the time. She now has kids who ask to sit with her at lunch and has no problems with group projects. Some groups are assigned by the teacher, but when they choose groups, the kids know she is a math and science whiz, so they like to be with her.

Apple2015 · 04-04-2015, 08:33 PM

I am an adult female with asper
gers. I am a member of an aspie meet up group for adults. You should allow your daughter to join a local meet up group for teens with aspergers (with your supervision of course). She will probably be able to meet other teens with the same school related issues who might be able to give the two of you insight on school options. The website is meetup.com. Hope that helps.

baggiegenes · 04-05-2015, 10:15 AM

My son with similar diagnosis was in Katy ISD since pre-k. We found the support for him got worse as schools and class sizes got larger when he moved up schools. He started this year at seven lakes and it was a disaster. Very little social or academic support. We ended up moving him to the Monarch school. It has made a world of difference for his social development and it is more academically rigorous than I believe he was getting in the public schools.