Montgomery County school district (Gaithersburg: credit, lawyer, home)

[Saphia]

Hello,

I've been searching for information about the Montgomery County school district--specifically, what services they offer for children with Asperger's syndrome. I have a 6 year old daughter with AS & we are considering moving to Montgomery County. Any information, especially from people who work for the school district or parents who live in the county, would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

[autimom4ever]

Originally Posted by Saphia

Hello,

I've been searching for information about the Montgomery County school district--specifically, what services they offer for children with Asperger's syndrome. I have a 6 year old daughter with AS & we are considering moving to Montgomery County. Any information, especially from people who work for the school district or parents who live in the county, would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

Saphia,

My son is 16 and has autism. He has been in the county school system since he was 2. I have nothing but good things to say about it.
We are moving out of state this month and the hardest part about the decision was taking him out of the county. I have to hope and pray that Montgomery Co isn't the only county that give good schooling to individuals in the spectrum.

Contact the Autism Program for Montgomery Co. ask for Ms. Secan. She will help you tremendously. Just make sure you already have an IEP from where you are from. If not, you will have to start from scratch with Montgomery County Child Find.

Good Luck

[jbrito]

AutiMom,
My 17-yr old son was just diagnosed with Asperger's. We've had an IEP since he was in 1st grade. The Dr who did his pycho-educational testing and made the diagnosis says he needs a residential program. At first mention to the school team (outside of a formal meeting), they seem very skeptical. Do I need lawyer, do I need an advocate? How do I convince the system that a residential program would be the best setting for him?

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by jbrito

AutiMom,
My 17-yr old son was just diagnosed with Asperger's. We've had an IEP since he was in 1st grade. The Dr who did his pycho-educational testing and made the diagnosis says he needs a residential program. At first mention to the school team (outside of a formal meeting), they seem very skeptical. Do I need lawyer, do I need an advocate? How do I convince the system that a residential program would be the best setting for him?

You might start by getting a second opinion -- it helps get the weight of evidence on your side, and it helps verify for you that the first guy's opinion about this residential program is correct.

[FrankLaw]

I recently went through a fight with the Montgomery County School District and spent about $10k in attorneys fees

Ask for an independent educational evaluation. That will be an examination by a psychologist or other professional who will basically evaluate your child's special ed needs. Once you ask for it, the burden is on the school district to show that you don't need it (in other words, you don't have to prove that you do need it).

If an IEE confirms the first psychologist's findings, you'll have a really strong case.

Just be aware that in Montgomery County, there's a movement underway to really make "least restrictive environment" mean something. Lots of kids who are normally in special ed most of the time are getting shunted to mainstream classes to the consternation of their parents, who don't think their kids are ready.

Point is, the county will try to fight a residential placement program. It's the direction they're headed in right now.

[momini]

Montgomery county, MD has a great program. I don't have enough good things to say about the program at Diamond Elementary for kids with Asperger's. My son has benefited greatly.

IMHO, I beleive mainstreaming is a great idea. This basically means the special needs kids are with/or encouraged to be in the regular classroom. They are provided aide if needed. I beleive it is important for our kids to learn to deal with the demands of society. I want my son to learn young because I think that is the best time to train their thoughts. I beleive my son has benefitted greatly from mainstreaming as well as the intensive support he gets when needed. I hope and pray that he will be able to go to his home middle school. I try to get him around to "regular" places and sometimes it is hard but i have found it has benefitted him tremendously.

[jbrito]

Since my original post here in January 2008, my son was placed at RICA in Gaithersburg. I didn't have a lawyer or an advocate, just the support of friends and school staff. We were referred to MCPS Central Placement who recommended RICA. After interviews and meetings, my son was accepted initially into the day program. He refused to get on the bus to attend school, so by November I advocated for him to be accepted into the residential program and he was. He went from the first reporting period of the first semester with straight Es to his latest report card which was two As, three Bs, and one C. Quite a difference. He gets one-on-one counseling weekly (more if needed), group therapy with peers, and we have weekly family therapy. We starting to think about life after RICA since he's now 18 and should have enough credits to graduate in 2010. Asperger's is a difficult thing to work with as he is high functioning, yet not quite able to function totally independently. I can't say enough about the quality of education and support he receives from the program at RICA.