re: move to VA

[Guest guest]

The cut off date for kindergarten in Fairfax County is September 30. There

> are three different programs oral (Camelot Elementary), cued speech

> (Canterbury Woods Elementary) and TC sign (Mantua Elementary). Each of these

schools

> has a preschool program for HOH Deaf students.

> Please feel free to email off list. I live in this area.

>

I also live in Fairfax County, but not too close to these three schools (35-40

min. drive away - with lots of traffic could be longer...). The preschool

teachers, my husband and I did not think my daughter needed the specialized

programs in the centers mentioned above, but rather did need accomodations in

the mainstream classes in our closest elem. school (such as FM, preteaching of

vocabulary, oral narration of lessons, pre-wiriting outline help ...nothing too

big). . We have found that being serviced as a hoh child in the mainstream

classes at our elem. school is a big disappointment. The bottom line is funding

- and to service 1 or 2 hoh kids in the reg. elem. school costs a lot due hiring

an itinerant TOD who can address their specific issues. Of course the district

will not say that money is an issue, but you will have a very difficult time

having an iep written that provides appopriate accomodations specifically for

your child. Our principal was not very proactive in matching our daughter with

a well trained teacher who could have easily adapted to her iep. The county

brought in their big gun supervisors and not a single teacher who knew our

daughter would stand up for what she needed...they wouldnt't speak against what

we were saying, but they let the supervisor cut into the conversations and

direct everything away from the true needs. A simple iep that should have taken

2 hours, lasted 4 sessions of 2 hours each - and in the end they still wanted to

swap out the TOD for an LD teacher already in the building that they felt could

address our daughter's needs (even though she wasn't trained or qualified as a

TOD!) I could go on, but it makes me sick. We left...went to private school to

get smaller class size, better communication with the classroom teacher, better

monitoring and use of FM and hearing aid, and an atmosphere that is not so SOL

(VA Standards of Learning) driven (but rather driven by the love of learning!)

We go to our home base public school to see the TOD and SPL once a week. We

will have to re-enter the public school system at high school and will have lots

of decisions to make at that point regarding accomodations....

The pre-school Early Intervention programs across the county are typically

really good. It would be very valuable for you to visit the programs at the

schools mentioned above and decide if you want to buy a home close to those

schools because the programs are beneficial to the needs of your child...it

might be the best way to get the fullest services with less heartache. Sounds

like Debbie might have a good scoop on what goes on in that arena.

Good luck to you...there are tons of houses on the market just now in Fairfax

County. A year ago you would have had difficulty buying, but this Spring the

buying frenzy has slowed and even though the area has a high cost of living, you

should be able to negotiate price better!