A Parent's Testimonial- Minor Accommodations... Utterly Resisted

Our son was 2 when we enrolled him in the childcare program at MMS. We had become familiar with the teachers and staff and loved the Montessori teaching method. When he was old enough to join Children’s House, his teacher mentioned that his speech seemed to be delayed compared to the other children without other formal recommendations. We contacted our local school district for a formal speech evaluation and also went to a speech therapist. Their conclusion was that our son had a speech delay and the recommendation was for speech therapy.

At this point, we were invited to our first meeting with the head mistress Monica Van Aken to discuss next steps. We expected a supportive discussion with the school leader. Instead, what immediately became apparent was that Ms. Van Aken had already determined that our son was not suited for MMS when she suggested that he should go to a school for children who are formally diagnosed with autism. It struck me as odd that someone who is not qualified on any basis to make that diagnosis would start the discussion in that way. When we asked if the school can or would accommodations for a speech therapist to work with him during the day, Ms. Van Aken said that at one point, she may have made room in a closet for speech therapy sessions. It was clear to us that Ms. Van Aken and the school would not be making significant efforts to help our son and despite him being academically very successful at MMS, she did not feel that he was a good fit. 

We hired a speech therapist, who on doing 1:1 sessions with our son, felt that it would be better to conduct sessions at school given social speech was a main area of focus. When we asked the school if speech therapist could be with our son during recess (or other times where he would be interacting socially), the school’s response was that per policy, non-MMS staff were not allowed to interact with the other children in any way. Our speech therapist also felt that we could work speech into his school routine and wondered if it was possible for the school to let us take photos of his day. These emails were met with complete silence. These were minor accommodations to help a child simply communicate better with his friends and teachers and utterly resisted by the school. 

Looking back, this was our first child and we were left with a feeling of loneliness and somehow we had done something wrong. MMS made us feel as of the small requests we made were monumentally inconvenient for the staff and other children. Now that we have stepped away from this school, we have realized how wrong and discriminatory Ms. Van Aken’s behavior was and feel very strongly that she is the driving force behind the school’s lack of support for their young and vulnerable students. Our son is now thriving, and we are thankful that Ms. Van Aken’s attitude and the way it impacts the daily functions of MMS is no longer apart of our lives.

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