New here and need input from other BTDT

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
New here and need input from other BTDT
2
Wed, 04-25-2007 - 10:39am

Warning, this is long................

My name is Marissa and my (almost) 6 year old son Tyler has been diagnosed PDD-NOS & ADHD. We began Early Intervention when he was 19 months, continued until he was 3 when he entered an Intermediate Unit (non-categorical) preschool in addition to the "typical" preschool program at his daycare. He had wraparound services for 2 years because of the ADHD issues and impulse control. We moved to a school district which has the best Autistic Support program within 1000 miles. This year, in kindergarten, he attended a morning Autistic behavioral / communications based program and then attended "mainstream" inclusive kindergarten in the afternoon with a special ed aide (1 aide for the 3 inclusive kids). The strides he's made in the past 2 years have exceeded our (our meaning our family, our friends, his therapists, his Developmental Pediatrician, etc) wildest expectations. He's currently at a level 3 (out of 4 levels) Autistic Support. He's outgrown the level 3 program and there were 2 options for him next year: Option 1) the highest level of Autism Support in a mainstream classroom. This means that he would be in a mainstream first grade with a PT special ed aide who would be in there for a portion of the day at times he needs reinforcement when it comes to communication and behavioral reinforcement (i.e. for activities lasting more than 20 minutes, and other activities that require total concentration). In the series of Autistic Support programs in our school district, this is a level 4... the next level up is mainstream. In this program, the special aide is there for the child's needs only part time, but is in the classroom to reinforce the behavior. This program is for kids who they believe will mainstream in the next 1-2 years. Also, this will keep him in a program that will provide transportation to anywhere I request, so he can stay in the after school program at the daycare with my two little ones(they do after school programs until age 12) It's bad enough that he has to change schools for first grade so I'd like to keep as much consistency as possible. Option #2) He would be in our neighborhood school in a mainstream class with "learning support". Meaning there is a special education aide on staff who would be called to the classroom if Tyler needed additional support. The aide would come to the classroom, get Tyler and take him to another room for support. I don't like the idea of him being removed from the classroom. Also, I found out that the neighborhood school is getting a new "hot shot" 28 year old principal next year who's promised to come in to the school and shake things up and make huge changes. Apparently the teachers don't like him and are planning some kind of revolt. The only plus I can see to this that he'd be going to school with kids in our neighborhood.

Sounds like an easy decision, right? Not quite. Here's the kink... Option #1 is in a school called Oak Park. It's an extremely ethnically diverse neighborhood (which I have no problem with) and 40% of the kids in the school are ESL. Having a son who's receiving Autistic Support to overcome behavioral and communication issues, I am extremely concerned about him being in a class with so many kids who may also have communication issues. We've come so far in the past year with speech therapy, appropriate responses, articulation, correct use of language, etc, I'd hate for him to lose all those gains because of an added language barrier. There are 33 languages spoken at that school and I worry about him being able to interact appropriately with peers if he cannot understand them and they cannot understand him. One of his IEP goals is appropriate socialization (verbal and non-verbal) and I don't want that component to be impeded because of a communication barrier.

So those are our options... Oak Park or Knapp (the neighborhood school). Catholic school and homeschool are not options for Tyler because neither would offer the support he needs. When the case worker mentioned this language/ communication barrier yesterday, DH responded by saying "I think it would be great, Tyler would LOVE to learn Spanish" (he said assuming they meant ESL meant Spanish) and the case worker mentioned that it was actually 33 languages and unfortunately many of the kids speak very broken English. They agreed that it may be a huge adjustment for Tyler but unfortunately, the Oak Park program is ideal for Tyler... on paper, it's exactly what he needs. But this potential communication issue is nagging at both DH and I as well as his current Autistic Support teacher. DH suggested that perhaps Tyler could actually help the other kids learn English, but both the Autistic Teacher and I felt that his personality isn't that of a leader who would take that role, but more of the type that would get frustrated if he couldn't understand someone speaking with a heavy accent and if they could not understand him.

I just have very conflicted feelings about this. I'm interested in what you all would do. Any advice, viewpoints, comments, questions you have would be much appreciated. Has there been any research done on a mildly Autistic student in a multi-lingual setting? Any way you can point me to more information would be wonderful.

Thank you!!!

~Marissa

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Wed, 04-25-2007 - 11:50am

Hello Marissa and welcome.


I don't know much about Autism and multi-lingual settings, but I do know that one of the primary issues facing our kids is communication, and it is hard enough for some of them to learn English. Having just said that however, I can possibly see some benefits in a language barrier, -especially for ASD kids

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Thu, 04-26-2007 - 10:18am
bumping this so others will see it.
-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com