What school does your child attend?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2005
What school does your child attend?
25
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 8:24am
I was wondering how many ASD kids attend general ed, how many go to a learning center, and who is mostly in general ed with some help? I always assumed that after a couple of years in the special needs preschool program that Gray could go mainstreamed, but I'm thinking that might be high hopes. His preschool teacher who has dealt with children with Autism for a long time has mentioned that lots of kids go to a learning center instead of regular school. I was wondering where your children go? Thanks!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 8:41am

My son started at regular preschool then we got the dx and he went to developmental preschool in their classroom for kids with ASDs.

                                

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2003
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 9:21am
My son is in his public home school.
Samantha
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2005
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 9:55am
If you don't mind me asking, why is he in minimal mainstream now? Was it too hard? Is it generally too hard for children with ASD to be mainstreamed? Why did that seem the best option for him?
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 10:23am

My son went to regular preschool (before Dx) and it was a disaster. He went to regular kindy (great teacher, minimal supports of Speech, still before Dx), 1st grade regular school mainstream classroom w/o supports, 2nd grade everything fell apart we got our 1st provisional Dx of PDD-NOS or AS, we got Speech therapy and OT again but had a difficult teacher. 3rd-4th grade, moved 1/2 way across country, got a definitive Dx of autism, had a great teacher still mainstreamed w/ good supports, he did GREAT! 5th grade, awful teachers, good support, had lots of problems. currently he's in 6th grade middle school,fully mainstreamed, taking some honors level classes, after an awful start he's fully mainstreamed has lots of supports (speech therapy, OT, push in resource, lots of accomidations, etc.)

I really think it depends on the child and his/her strengths and weaknesses and the quality of the supports they receive. I also think it greatly depends on the ability of the teacher to make the classroom a place where every child can learn and grow to his or her best.

My son is a quiet child, he rarely speaks esp in class. He has lots of sensory issues. He has a very high IQ and understanding of things (kind of a little professor type has ok speech when talking about something academic esp math or science or concrete history). He is very delayed in social, emotional, and executive function areas. He often LOOKS very autistic esp in social situations, but he's really quite smart and able to do the work academically.

We now just take every year (every week or day sometimes) at a time. We do what we can w/ the IEP and I'm in constant contact with his teachers/therapists. I have high hopes for my son, a little different than when he was 4 and in preschool, but still I expect him to go to college and have a job someday, I also know he'll need lots of supports and teaching for him to be able to handle living and working on his own.

Betsy

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2008
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 10:23am

My DS with AS is fully mainstreamed with a part-time aide, soon to be full-time aide. He's able to keep up academically, but the social stuff is really hard for him. I think alot depends on where your kid is on the spectrum, what's available in your school district, and what you decide is best for your kid.

Drea

Andrea, mom to

Graham
Miles
Anson
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-05-2003
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 10:26am

My son really thrives in general education classes, but his case does not affect his social and communicative abilities to the degree that it does with many AS kids.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2001
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 11:15am

Bobby did 2 years in

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 11:25am

I answered this question in the "will he ever communicate?" thread

-Paula


visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-05-2003
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 11:36am

"Anyway, i wanted to add to the whole communication thing.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 03-28-2008 - 11:36am

I have 2 ASD kiddos and they couldn't be more different. Cait is 8th grade and Mike is 6th.

Cait went to a special education preschool. For kindy her first school wanted to put her in a learning center. We actually went to mediation and agreed on half day in the learning center, half in general ed. She did better in general ed (with supports). Then we moved across country and put her in a general ed kindy (with an IEP and supports) and she has been there since.

Cait always did well in the mainstream but Mike has not. It depends on the kid. Cait had special education preschool, Mike really did not consistently. We moved cross country just after he started. He qualified in MA but in CA he did not. He had social/behavioral/sensory/motor skills delays of 2 years or so but his language was only 6 months delayed in standardized tests and his cognitive skills weren't delayed. Typical for a more verbal ASD kid but at that time he was in and out of testing but never qualified and never fully got the supports he needed. They let him in a special preschool as a 'typical' peer but he changed their policy on that. After that they no longer took kids like Mike because he took too much of their resources and had no good plan in place.

Currently Cait is fully included in a special program for kids with ASDs. All her academics are in the general ed class with supports and she goes to the Autism support class 1 period a day. Next year in high school it will be the same but with 2 periods in the support class to get used to the bigger school/requirements.

Mike is in a specialized non-public school for kids with special needs and he LOVES it. It is perfect for him. He was in general ed for k-2. K-1 were really rough but he had good teachers so we made it. 2nd was horrible and we switched schools, then added an aide and tried many things. 3-5th he was in a specialized classroom with an aide and a fabulous teacher and did much better. By 5th he was mainstreamed about 1/2 his day. He goes to the specialized school because the whole team knew he couldn't handle a big middle school.

Renee

Disney08

APOV on Autism
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