Question for Maryland Board Members

[CaroPhoenix]

In October, my husband is getting his papers that tell him he has 1 year to report to Fort Meade, Maryland.

As many people know, Child Rum is Autistic. I have a call in to the Autism specialist that works at the Special Education office in the Anne Arundel school district. I might be calling other Special Education offices in counties around Anne Arundel to get the feel for what they as counties in Maryland have to offer Special Ed., particularly Autistic, students by way of programs in the school system.

I was wondering if any of the board members here, who live in Maryland, have had the pleasure of working the school districts in/around Anne Arundel, even if it's not the Sepcial Education part. Did/do you have good experiences? Do you know of anyone who has a special needs student? What were their experiences?

Thank y'all in advance for anything you can come up with to help me.

[draftermatt]

I went to school in Carroll County, which isn't very far from AA.

I didn't have many/any dealings with the Special Ed classes. The kids all went to the same schools as me, they were typically in another building, or another part of the building, and they often ate lunch with the rest of the school.

As far as education, I always was happy with the quality of education. In college (Baltimore County) I had teachers who complained about things in Bmore that weren't done that were done in Carroll.

And I believe that AA county frequently ranks in the top of MD school systems.

[Giggle Goose]

I'm a product of Anne Arundel County public schools (hurrah). I grew up in Annapolis. It's funny that you're moving out here to AA, because it's highly likely I'll be moving to Northern VA soon, so we'll be switching places!

I don't have any experience with special education myself; but my brother and sister have severe learning disabilities. From grade school to high school; they had extremely caring and devoted teachers. My mom is a single mom with a lot to worry about, but she was able to rest assured that her kids had great education. In fact, my mom even opted to use the public school system rather than send us to parochial school for the extra discipline.

The county site is www.aacps.org and you'll probably find a lot of helpful information there.

In the meantime, ask away about Anne Arundel! I used to live in Nova as a child and my parents liked Maryland better because there was less "hustle and bustle," although that might change because of the influx with BRAC. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, just PM me and I'll be more than happy to tell you anything you need to know).

PS: You'll be just a hop, skip and a jump away from Renn Fest!

[CaroPhoenix]

Thanks everyone for your answers.

We're being sent to Ft. Meade because of the BRAC. Such joy.

There's a customer at the Gaming Store whose son has Aspergers Syndrome. He said the Maryland system did nothing for his son and told me that if we could move anywhere else, to do so. He wouldn't recommend Maryland for anything. That's why I posted the question.

As I said in my earlier post, I have a call in to the Autism specialist for Anne Arundel Public Schools. Still not word from her. I'll give her a call next week.