Help! I need your opinions....

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2004
Help! I need your opinions....
10
Thu, 05-25-2006 - 11:53am

HEre's the story....

Yesterday I got a call from our school district's elementary IEP specialist and she wanted to chat....When I called her back she asked me if I knew what Jack's current teacher was recommending for next year (kindergarten). I said: "Well, the last thing I heard was Young 5's but I'm not interested in that since he's academically achieving at the kindergarten level now, reading, writing, blah blah" I also stated that if he was put in a young 5 class, he'd be bored and then he'd be a BEHAVIOR PROBLEM....ack!

Her response: "Actually, they are recommending either the new Early Childhood Sp. Ed. Kindergarten, or Private Preschool".....of course, I took the bait and asked about the Kindergarten class: It will be a 12:2 ratio, all children who are ready for the kindergarten experience but may require an aide in the regular classroom. There would be 2 other children with AS or HFA, a couple with language needs, a Down's child and some with other needs. They would have the regular kindergarten curriculum and the goal is to have them back at their home school with as little need for aide support as possible by first grade. Mainstreaming will be huge for them too....

Honestly, this sounds like a good fit for Jack....I think he will be overwhelmed by the large classsize of the regular K, and he still needs support with learning to self-regulate, etc. I kept mentioning to the IEP specialist that it is very important that Jack doesn't get pigeon-holed as needed an SE classroom if we choose that classroom and I kept asking whether the K curriculum will be strongly followed. HEr answer to both was, the team sees Jack as just needing one more year of a little more social support, he'll be mainstreamed as much as possible, and the curriculum will be followed since the goal is to have everyone back in the regular classroom full time with minimal supports needed

***Of course, I know there are funding issues, so this seems like a great alternative to hiring 12 aides for these kids....

Here are some accomodations I'll be coming into the IEP with:

ASD consultant, as needed but not less than 2x per month, increased language therapy to work on pragmatics and social language, social work for social skills, mainstream into the regular kindergarten classroom 4-10 hours per week (he'll be 5 half days), visual schedule, visual cues, sensory diet....

What do you all think? ACK!!! What do you think of the room?




Edited 5/25/2006 12:21 pm ET by mom2jacknsam
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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-07-2004
Thu, 05-25-2006 - 1:02pm

New here, not sure how much help I can offer-but I will try. Are all the children that will be in his class high functioning? Your child is, correct? I have read and heard from other parents that you don't want to put high functioning children with those who are not. Apparently, they feel there is more potential for regressing. On a logic sense, that does make sense to me.

So, is your son 5 and suppose to start kindergarten next year?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2004
Thu, 05-25-2006 - 1:24pm

Jack is 5 (Feb. birthday) and is kindergarten-ready for next year....

All the kiddos in the class will be high functioning (kindergarten ready) but Jack and 2 others will be the only children with an ASD, infact one of those kids has AS, not HFA. The rest of the class is comprised of chidren who are cognitively and academically ready for the kindergarten curriculum, but would for some reason need an aide in the reg ed/larger classroom (HF Down's,speech/lang concerns, physical impairments, etc) . (our school district has 9 elementaries, so these would be the 12 kids who would be entering kindergarten and needing aides spread out across the district).

Not sure if that makes sense...

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
Thu, 05-25-2006 - 4:47pm

Just a quick note on the idea that placing high-functioning children with lower functioning kids brings about regression. I guess this can depend on what the situation actually is, but this has specifically not been our experience. We have now chosen to have ds in higher-functioning more socially challenging classroom because we feel he is now up to the challenge, but he spent almost 2 years in a class with a mix of higher and much lower functioning ASD children - he was among the highest functioning in the room - and made an astonishing amount of social progress in that setting. There was a huge leap in social development. I do believe that being with children who were not SO far ahead of him socially, such as in a mainstream classroom, helped him by lowering his anxiety, boosting his self confidence and allowing him to step out. He is now 2 years later so much more social and outgoing, interactive and connected in any group of children.

BTW, the classroom sounds lovely.

Sara
ilovemalcolm

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 05-25-2006 - 6:23pm

I agree with Sara that this classroom sounds lovely.

I only have one concern, the fact that it isn't at thier home school and they want to transfer them back in 1st grade. Honest, transitions are hard for our kids and you would have to teach a whole new school about him. Plus they may not have the supports of this school in your neighborhood school. It would be great if either this program was offered at his homeschool, or you could get a interdistrict transfer to keep him in that school.

HOwever, you have a whole year to decide. You may want to see about starting to mainstream him during K this year and then see if he can stay at that school for a year or 2 in mainstream if possible. Then he already knows the other kids and the school knows him.

If that isn't a good idea then switching at 1st grade is the best other option if your neighborhood school is good. Many kids start at 1st so it will be easier for him to come in then.

I like the mix with some HFA/ASD kids as well as other disabilities. This is because the kids with other disabilities typically are more socially able and socially outgoing so they can push our kids ahead in those areas. Mixed classrooms are nice particularly if there is just enough autism in them that the teacher is very up on ASD stuff. One rule of thumb I have heard is that it is good if your kid is right about the mid kid in the class. Not the highest functioning but not the lowest either.

Last, the last thing I would suggest is go and OBSERVE the classroom. A placement could sound fabulous on paper but if the teacher rots it isn't worth it. Cait was offered a similar classroom going into K. Sounded great until I observed and the teacher spent most of the day scolding the kids, chatting with the aides or sitting at her desk. Needless to say we did not accept that placement.

Renee

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Registered: 02-24-2004
Fri, 05-26-2006 - 8:11am

Thanks for your thoughts.....one BIG problem:

THis classroom will be new....new teacher, new class all together. I guess it's the classroom that the district has been wanting for years and now they have the funds to go through with it....Long story, short: it's not there yet for me to observe. ACK!

Here are the positives, though...

The START program in Michigan (trains districts and school staff about working with ASD kids) is directly in contact with that elementary school since they house the AI elementary program....that whole school staff is trained on having the children mainstreamed in their classrooms, plus the parapro's have a lot of experience with working with ASD children within a mainstreamed/inclusion situation.

Since I'm a school psychologist, I have been invited to sit in on the interviews for the classroom teacher :o) I'd be a parent liason, but with a bit of a special ed. edge...

Jack would never spend anytime within the Autism classrooms, but he would have the sensory supports overlapping over to him.

If I don't like the placement, I know (and my IEP guru at the district) know's I can reconvene the IEP immediately to rewrite and change placement.

Jack's expressive speech is still developing....He's just starting to use verbs regularly and his speech patterns are still much like a 2.5-3yo, so I think he'd really benefit from the "talkers" in his class :o) He'd also benefit from the social skills of the others too...

One more thing, My cousin sent her kids through schools of choice to the school where the classroom will be and she knows almost all of the teachers there so she could help me hand pick his teachers for the next 4 years following the K class...

I can apply for "schools of choice" and keep him there thru. 4th grade (the schools in our district are K-4, 5-6, 6-7, then HS)...My only problem is, I want him to go to our home schools' 5-6 and then follow our track to our HS....The other schools that follow the other schools track veer off to one I'm not too hot about....

Based on that; my other concern is that Sam (my 2.5yo social maniac) is only 2.5 years younger than Jack and when it's his turn to start school, I'd really like him to stay in our neighborhood school since I KNOW he'll have all the friends in his neighborhood....Of course, Sam may also go the Young 5's route since he has a mid-August birthday, so I'll just think about that when the time comes!!!

ACK!!! Now what do you all think!!! (Don't you love the way I come up with zingers everyonce in awhile and then lay low?? I'm the HUGEST lurker though :o) )

I really value all of your thoughts :o) I'll try to come out and play more this summer :o)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2004
Mon, 05-29-2006 - 6:58am

So..... everyone thinks this sounds like a good option?

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 05-29-2006 - 8:05am

the classroom sounds good, the school that's used to ASD kids sounds good, helping to pick this teacher and other teachers sounds good. I hope it all ends up being a good fit. I do understand wanting your child to be in his own school. We've had to fight for this for our son-- w/ good results so far.

Betsy

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Mon, 05-29-2006 - 8:46am

Katie,
I think the classroom sound great. I also think that your district sounds very good; great options and willing to work with you. Those are big wins right there.

You never know what the future will hold. I think stressing about where he will be in grade 5 is premature. You will cross that bridge when you come to it. I know in our district the next MS placement is based on your "home" MS, not what ES you are in now, regardless of the reason.

Peter was in a similar class in K: 11 kids, 1 teacher, 2 aides; a mixture of abilities and disabilities. There was one hyperlexic, very HF Aspie in that class who was academically ahead and maintained those academic gains through the year. There were kids in there who were significantly more impaired, but the sweetest most social creatures you could come across. There were a couple of unmedicated extremely hyperactive ADHD-ers, and I think they were the most disruptive to Peter, who is distractable, but not ADHD. However he did well in that class, and one of the ADHDers, who is very social and from a big family, became a good friend of his.

In 1st grade. we were landed a bombshell. The district had had an influx of special needs 6yos and needed to split the class into two. They were sending Peter to a different school (his 4th school in 4 years!) I freaked. So did another mom who was in exactly the same boat. Unfortunately we had no recourse under the law, because the new class was in their home school and therefore "less restrictive". So he went from a boisterous class of 11, to a class of 6.5 kids; -mostly ASDs. He is doing great in that class. He is in his home school, and sees his sister, who is mainstreamed in K. It has been great for both of them.

I have kept in touch with most of the SN moms in that grade -both in the 'old' class and the 'new' one. Peter will be going into 3rd next year. A lot of his friends have been mainstreamed. Peter himself is mainstreamed for Math. I guess I am saying our experience is that once SE does not mean always SE.

I think that class sound great. Our experience of SE classrooms has been very positive.

My DD ("at risk for AS")is mainstreamed in K with a shared aide and other supports, and although she is doing very well academically, there are some areas with which she is struggling (mostly sensory), and the teachers/aides just don't seem to see it, "get" it, or admit to it.

I just thought I'd share our experience and perspective.

-Paula

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 05-29-2006 - 10:19am

I guess I was misunderstood by you and Paula.

You really can't know what the future will hold and it may end up in the future during elementary he will transfer to his neighborhood school. I wish we had been at our neighborhood school from day 1. It is an awesome school.

My concern is switching a child with ASD after 1 year since they tend not to be so good at transitions. It just seems really quick to plan on, ok K in this school then we will move them and have them start fresh.

A bit of my experience, In K classes all the moms walk the kids in together and get to know each other. Since the kids are 1/2 day it is a great opportunity for playdates and beginning relationships. My kids did alot of switching of schools and I found that they 1) had formed some relationships in K since kids were accepting then and so were moms that they lost touch with and 2) they were at a disadvantage friendship wise when going into the next school. MOst of those kids had been friends since K and our kids who already have a hard time socially were at a disadvantage.

Now one friend Mike made in K, his mom became one of my dearest friends since her situation is similar. We still see them though not daily. And in our neighborhood school there are some neighbors that we have known for a very long time that have accepted Mike and that has helped. But in a perfect world I would have liked for them to go through one school.

I am at this cross roads again and I think it is a matter of weighing out what is best for the kids in total. Cait is in the neighborhood school of our church. She knows many of the kids there from youth group, etc. It would be great for her to continue through highschool with these kids and that is the program she is slated for. However, educationally and stress wise the program is not working out. So I am at the decision of pulling her out again.

The schools I would put her into she would know no one really. The most likely candidate is a special ed school in the next town. She would still go to youth group and such but it wouldn't be the same.

Such is life living with SN kids. The decisions aren't easy ever. It is a matter of weighing pro's and con's. In this situation the pro's of that kindergarten certainly seem to outweigh the cons.

Renee

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Registered: 02-24-2004
Mon, 05-29-2006 - 3:40pm

Thanks everyone for your opinions and input......I really needed to hear what you all had to say.

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