Is Private School Right for My Neurodivergent Child?
BY AMANDA CIANI
14 JANUARY 2026 | NOLAFAMILY.COM While REPs, IEPs and 504 Plans are not legally required, private schools have the Do you accept students with learning disabilities? Would a student with learning differences be a good fit for this school? Get the obvious questions out of the way from the jump. If a school doesn’t accept students like your child, take your money elsewhere. Does the school offer an alternative system of support to aid students with different needs? A cademic growth. Accommodations. Communication. Discipline. Flexibility. And so on. Parents of neurodivergent children have many things to consider when it comes to their child’s education. They may ask themselves if private school is a good option for their child’s education. “Yes” or “no” are not really valid answers to this question; let’s go with “maybe” for now, because every private school is as unique as each neurodivergent child and their needs. To help answer the question at hand: “Is private school right for my neurodivergent child?” Nola Family Magazine has rounded up even more questions which parents can ask prospective school officials.
ability to create their own substitutes. These internal systems which can be adapted to individual students may include Student Support Plans (SSPs), Learning Profiles, Accommodation Plans, Direct Support Services and more. What kind of support staff members are employed at this school, including Intervention Specialists, Occupational Follow this up with clarifying questions on how often those employees are in the building, and how service hours with individual students are determined. Is there an additional cost for students to receive services from these providers? Having an SLP or OT on staff is great, but ensuring they work with your student on a regular basis is much more important. Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists and counselors?
take this thought process one step further: How many of those teachers know how to effectively teach neurodivergent students? Knowing how many staff members have had training on ADHD, autism and learning disabilities can give a parent a better gauge on the level of understanding a school has regarding disabilities, What tools and accommodations does a neurodivergent student have access to at this school? Tools may include weighted vests, noise- cancelling headphones, a sensory room, flexible seating, fidgets, AAC devices and more. Additional accommodations may include built in sensory breaks, additional recess, extended time for tests and assignments, differentiated instruction, modified tests, etc. What behavior policies are in place for neurodivergent students? This is a nice way of asking if a neurodivergent child will be disciplined for wiggling “too much” in their chair or if they will be given a demerit for accommodations and classroom strategies. information dumping at the wrong time. Asking to review a copy of the student handbook alongside a school official to
How many teachers have been trained specifically to work with neurodivergent students?
Smaller class sizes are an appealing aspect of private schools because students are given more individual attention from teachers. In fact, many private schools make their teacher to student ratio known. Yet neurodivergent parents can
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