INCLUSIVE FAMILY
Finding the Perfect
Fit for Education
How to pick the right school
for your child with special needs
BY JACQUELINE RENFROW
How can an educational
consultant help my special needs
child? According to the Independent
Educational Consultants
Association, “An Independent
Educational Consultant (IEC) is
someone who can assist you in
finding the most suitable school
placement for your child using an
individualized approach. The IEC
conducts personal interviews with
your child and your family and
combines it with data collected
on the student including school
transcripts, teacher comments and
prior testing. In addition, an IEC has
an extensive knowledge of schools
and their available support services
and profile, including student-
teacher ratio, teacher credentials
and availability of learning aids like
computers and tape recorders, plus
the culture and school environment.”
For more information about IECs,
visit iecaonline.com.

22 Washington FAMILY MAY 2022
learning support, athletics, clubs, activi-
ties, facilities, geography, and costs are all
important factors to consider.”
Taking the first step
Whether a parent chooses to work with
an educational consultant or look into
school choices, the first step is assessing
the child’s current school environment
and experience.

When determining whether the child
is currently in the proper school set-
ting, Hoffman’s team typically starts by
reviewing all of the academic records and
previous assessments and speaking to
any of the child’s relevant service provid-
ers. They ask parents to think about what
their child needs to succeed academically,
socially, and emotionally in school.

Hoffman recommends that parents
make a pros and cons list of what is work-
ing and what is not working in their child’s
current school setting.

“It is imperative to determine if the stu-
dent is appropriately challenged and making
academic progress as well as determining if
their social and emotional needs are being
met,” he says. “This comprehensive overview
helps to more clearly identify the parents’
concerns with a variety of data points.”
Laura Rup, director of admissions
at AIM Academy, a school for grades 1
through 12 in Conshohocken, Pennsylva-
nia, says that the admissions committee at
a school should be asking similar questions
about what a child will need when con-
sidering an applicant. Rup works to place
children at AIM Academy who will fit the
school’s niche—educating children with
language-based learning disabilities such
as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia.

“When the school and child are a match,
that is where ‘magic’ can happen,” Rup says.

KALI9/E+/GETTY IMAGES
P arents want the best education pos-
sible for their children. But when
you parent a child with special needs,
deciding which school will best support your
son or daughter’s needs is not easy. We spoke
with educational planning experts who spe-
cialize in understanding the academic and
social-emotional needs of neurodiverse chil-
dren for some tips to help parents find the
perfect fit for a child at any age.

First, it’s about matching a school to
your learner, not the learner to the school,
according to Brad Hoffman (M.S.Ed), a
board-certified educational planner at My
Learning Springboard Inc. Hoffman’s com-
pany serves students around the country
but primarily in the greater Washington
and New York City areas. The boutique,
multidisciplinary educational consulting
firm works with learners of all ages—from
preschool through young adults—with
diverse learning goals.

“A school can have a phenomenal repu-
tation without necessarily being the right
fit for your child,” Hoffman says. “Many
families we work with send their multiple
children to different schools. It certainly
presents an added challenge logistically,
but for a variety of reasons, one particular
school may not be well suited to the indi-
vidual needs of each of your children.”
Before diving in, parents need to keep in
mind that making educational placement
decisions means putting the child’s current
and potential schools under a microscope.

Before the process can begin, parents need
to make a list of their top priorities for a
school environment since some tradeoffs
may be likely.

“All choices come with opportunity
costs, and school selection is not exempt
from this reality,” Hoffman says. “Aca-
demic programming and perceived rigor,