Twice exceptional kids in VA- good programs? (Arlington, Fairfax: homes, private schools)

[Redfish07]

Hello, I am looking at what Virginia offers as far as strong as programs for twice exceptional children. I have a gifted child with a 135 IQ who also has mild autism and ADHD. We were told to move north from North Carolina, where there are more services. We are two hard-working people who are looking for a home in the 700s to 800s range but he did not wish to homeschool their child as it’s also been suggested. I take the role of educator very seriously and do not feel that I am proficient in this area. We do pay for outside services like psychiatry and OT and are not expecting the school to take this on but we are expecting more support then what we have been given. She has a 504 plan, but no aide and very minimal social and emotional support in the teachers seem lost. Are there any districts in Virginia that do a good job with this kind of child? Small student teacher ratio is a plus.

[HokieFan]

According to Niche.com - VA has the fourth best public schools in the country with Falls Church City, Arlington County, York County, Loudoun County, VA Beach City, and Fairfax County rounding out the top six districts in VA.

With your housing budget, while your money will stretch farther in VA Beach & York County, you could live in any of those districts.

I know that schools in Northern VA have a great reputation - I am not familiar with York County or VA Beach schools. But I do think that with the current teacher shortage, you will not be able to find small student to teacher ratios in any public school.

Hiring an educational consultant would likely be beneficial to your situation. I don't know if there are any for public schools but I know that there are several for private schools, if you decide to consider going private. A simple Google search will give you some consultants to research.

Many parents in my old school worked with this consultant although I think she is most familiar with Northern VA Schools: https://www.independentschooloptions.com/leigh-ann

Here are some sites that might be helpful:

https://www.fcag.org/
https://ascv.org/about/
https://www.niche.com/k12/search/sch...am/s/virginia/

[VA Yankee]

You need to see where your career places you and then see how the area schools support your kids educational needs. Kids educational needs are very granular and with and existing 504 and identified conditions you are in a better position to evaluate how a potential district states they can support them.

Good Luck....

[YorktownGal]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/educ...strict-my.html

[stephenMM]

To put this into perspective, I have an IQ of 138 and never thought that made me exceptional or gifted. My oldest son's IQ is well over 150 and he has ADHD. He's bright, but hardly a genius. None of this really has anything to do w/ true intelligence or capability. So I'd keep my expectations realistic, especially w/ a young person. Putting pressure on a young person to excel will backfire. An IQ tests is just that, its only a test, and it's not about ability or real world learning and experience.

Most of what I learned in school was a lot of dates that I have never needed since then and some math. When your son is much older, then think about careers and the right path to them. Someone who is autistic will benefit now from therapy that suits their way of thinking, which is different than most people's. These therapies are quite numerous, so it's good to find out which one suits your son. But you're on the right track thinking he needs the right sort of learning environment right now, although what that environment would be I couldn't say. I would definitely quiz any principal/teachers to find out their ideas first before enrolling.

Be careful when treating ADHD, some of the popular medications can have some bad side effects. We solved most of my son's issues w/ fresh organic food from local growers and got away from canned and boxed foods from the grocery stores. He's in his 50's now and eats what he wants, and he's had more trouble since doing that.