Which schools in NJ are most accommodating?

amother

Aquamarine

Sun, Jan 17 2016, 11:07 pm

cbsp wrote:

I wish it were that easy. I actually had the director of special services in my NJ county tell me "I don't care if your kid has CP, we don't have to give her anything in a private school" This was after dd received an ADHD diagnosis from the BOE neurodevlopmental Dr. and later received an ASD diagnosis.

There are several (can't remember if it's 7 or 9) categories of disability, unfortunately ADHD and ASD fall into the "Other Health Impaired" category and the BOE is reluctant to provide services for that unless the case can be made that there is an educational deficit.

There are accommodations that they are willing to provide in a public school setting (so the hypothetical kid with CP could get physical assistance in a PS navigating the hallways) but nothing for the private school.

If your child actually needs a Sinai-like environment then they help you with a lawyer to fight for placement/services.

Hatzlacha!

Agreed. I meant that even in terms of eligibility in a public school, often even if it impacts education, automatically lose most services without diagnoses like these. My sensory integration kid lost the ability to get OT anywhere, regardless of his deficit level.

My ASD kid could get it, but I put him in a private school, where he was only eligible for speech and supplementary ed. One year he got OT because there was some sort of a grant.

amother

Lilac

Mon, Jan 18 2016, 12:07 am

I am shocked no one has mentioned Yavneh. My understanding from friends who have kids with special needs is that Yavneh is the best equipped to handle SN kids in Bergen County (besides Sinai of course). Yavneh has been around the longest and has the most experience.

My friend whose son is high functioning autistic is now mainstreamed there and doing well, thank G-d.

I guess maybe imamothers prefer YNJ hashkafically since it's separate (Yavneh is mixed all the way through 8th grade). But Yavneh is
worth checking out if your child is SN. Truly I know a bunch of kids who go there because they need special services and other day schools could not accommodate. Also from what I hear the quality of secular education is vastly superior to YNJ.

No I don't send to Yavneh Smile

amother

Seafoam

Mon, Jan 18 2016, 12:35 am

amother wrote:

Also from what I hear the quality of secular education is vastly superior to YNJ.

I know that this is the reputation, but having taught high school in Teaneck I can tell you that it isn't so. Yavneh is very competitive, but its graduates are no better prepared for high school than children from the other area schools. The differences between schools are negligible. Parents should send where they are most comfortable.

Sorry for getting off topic. I hear that YNJ, Yavneh and Noam all have good accommodations for kids with special needs. I don't know about Moriah and BPY.

amother

Aquamarine

Mon, Jan 18 2016, 6:42 am

amother wrote:

OP requested a school that is all boys or separate in the same building.

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Jan 18 2016, 8:01 am

amother wrote:

Noam is not great for kids with special needs.

nylon

Mon, Jan 18 2016, 8:43 am

I cannot comment on schools specifically but ASD is specifically enumerated in IDEA. It is NOT Other Health Impairment. ADHD is.

http://idea.ed.gov/explore/vie.....52E8,

AIUI, the issue with NJ is specifically with providing services in private schools. NY is the most generous state in the country for providing services to private school children. NJ is considered good with public school services, but they are less willing to send therapists to private school.

Also, IEPs are portable. When you move they are supposed to implement the IEP as is until they can develop a new IEP. School districts do rely on parents not knowing this and refusing to comply or saying it's not possible (a friend moved, with an IEP specifying a para, and was told by the new district "we don't do individual paras".)

amother

Azure

Mon, Jan 18 2016, 9:22 am

I live in nj my child sounds simular has lots of therapy even has a diegnosed issue but is not really sn and is in a mainstream school but if I had to move her it would be to ynj I just rather not send out of my community if I don't have to for social reaons. For pre school she was in public school with a lot of therapy now she has less but does not need what she had before. In nj they don't have things like seit or p-3 just so you know

cbsp

Mon, Jan 18 2016, 10:08 am

nylon wrote:

Thank you for this information. For some reason, then, despite her ASD diagnosis, my DD is classified as OHI. And because she does very well one on one in a small enclosed room with minimal distractions she scored really high on her learning eval despite the breakdown of her abilities in a real classroom.

They are very reluctant to provide services here (Passaic county) and, as you correctly stated, there is no equivalent of SEIT here. Maybe Bergen county (I think that's where YNJ is) is different?

OP, I'm wondering if your child might be better off with services outside of a school setting - does he specifically need educational related services? There is a financial/time component to it, but if you end up needing to fight with a lawyer that will cost $$ as well. And it's not always reimbursed.

amother

Mauve

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 4:54 pm

Hi, it's OP. We just got the results of a private evaluation and he has autism (though quite mild, as I mentioned, he is in a mainstream setting). He's a shoo in to get whatever services he needs for next year in NY. Does this make our chances better in NJ, or will we still have problems? Also, can YNJ manage a kid with mild autism? No behavioral problems, just sensory and social stuff, plus some attention issues (no hyperactivity).

naturalmom5

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 5:01 pm

amother wrote:

That's what they're t classes are for