New school=New Daughter :)
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| Mon, 02-12-2007 - 10:06am |
Hi everyone! We recently moved and have been very pleasantly surprised at the positive changes that we have seen in Lily. It's hard to believe that a new school program could make this big of a difference, but I don't know what else to attribute it to. At her old school, Lily was in PPCD (preschool program for children w/disabilities) that had complete inclustion with the pre-k program). The pre-k was divided into morning and afternoon, but the PPCD children attended all day (8 hrs). When Lily first started school at 3, she had just started to walk without aid and she would only put 2 words together (if we were lucky). During the year and a half that she was there, she started talking in complete sentences and her gross motor skills continued to improve. She also seemed to be able to tolerate crowded areas better and she became less tactile defensive. On the flip side, we didn't really see any improvement in her social skills and everyday when we picked her up from school she was in complete sensory overload. She was cranky, she would hurt herself if she became angry and had even started lashing out at my husband and I and her older sister. She wasn't a behavior problem at school because the preschool program was a lot like a public school version of montessori. So, if she didn't want to participate in something that involved all the other kids, she wasn't forced to or even really coaxed into it. She tolerated the other children, but never played with them. She did have wonderful teachers, though. They thought that their program was good for Lily. And I guess it was--at first. But, then it got to the point where I dreaded picking her up from school because I knew what a horrible evening was ahead of us. She was also physcially exhausted. She would routinely sleep until noon on Saturdays, and I had to wake her up even then! Anyway, her new school has a PPCD as well but instead of staying all day, they only stay 3 hours. There are 8 children (counting Lily) in her class instead of the 20 in her old class. The classroom is also very structured. We have noticed a tremendous change in Lily since she started her new school. She is no longer cranky when I pick her up from school. I actually get to enjoy playing with her after school and eating lunch together. She has answered questions with completely coherent answers at least 4 separate times in the last week. She is starting to pretend play with her sister, Natalie. She even played hide and seek with Natalie the other day! She gets to take a nap daily now and she is no longer physically exhausted anymore. She has only obsessed briefly about light bulbs twice since we moved a month ago. She still has her quirks, but I honestly feel like we have a different child in our home now. I know it can't be just school that has caused the change since she was somewhat cranky and always perseverating about things over the summer break. But, I feel like she is getting just enough stimulation at school now without putting her on overload. I visited her classroom the other day and Lily was actually copying the motions to an interactive song, with some prompting from her teacher. It's like she finally felt comfortable participating because there weren't twenty kids dancing and screaming all around her. At her new school, they have some inclusion with the pre-k, but it's just once or twice during the 3 hour school day. Is it possible that her new school environment could have made this big of a difference? I wish that I had insisted on her only going to a half day at her old school. Maybe she wouldn't have been so overwhelmed. I guess hindsight is 20/20 huh? At any rate, we are very pleased with the changes we have seen in Lily since we moved. We were worried about moving, but I can see now that it was the right choice for our family, and especially for Lily.
Amy~mom to Natalie (10 yrs) & Lily (4 yrs, PDD-NOS, Sensenbrenner syndrome)

Amy!!!!
That is such wonderful news anout Lily!
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the school change has a
Oh yeah, the right school (or the right classroom for that matter) can make
What wonderful news!
Wooohooo!! what wonderful news! from our experience the teacher and classroom can make all the difference! (and sleep is always important as well!)
I'm so glad she's doing so well right now!
Betsy