Pre-K special education?

Barrett Felicia: I just had my daughters IEP for this. She has mild cp and will be in kindergarten next year. When she started pre-k she was put in too a buddies class. it was 3 hours and there were a few kids that had no delays. Your child will benefit from school. I can understand your apprehension. These teachers are trained to help these kids. He would also receive therapy for any areas he could be delayed. He would also help the other children by being a role model to them. Go to the school and ask to observe a class. See what's going on. And talk about him only going half day. If you still don't like what you see then decide. It sounds as if this is really new to you. You need to be very open to all that options. As for the fear that he would not have good role models you said your self he has siblings. He will still learn from them even if he is in school. I hope this helps....Show more

Gertrude Darke: It sounds like to me that you already know what is best! for your child - follow your heart. Special Educations is a very important part of our school system but if you are prepared to handle what you child needs then do it. I would be very concerned at that age as well. Keep on top of what is out there for your child in the education realm and all will be OK...I am sure you can get some help and if his autism is mild I would think he might get more good out of a 2 or 3 day a week preschool for just a couple of hours at a time setting just to get used to his peer group.Good Luck and Happy Parenting...Show more

Marion Wieboldt: My son is currently in a special preschool program as well, although here the program has a 50/50 ratio of special needs kids to typically developing kids. I would try to get your school to be a bit more inclusive and get some typically developing role models in your son's class. That being said, I wouldn't be so hasty to assume that a child with a specific diagnosis is not a good influence. Bo! th FX and Downs, like autism can be anywhere from mild to seve! re. I, along with my brother and both of my children, have FX. My brother would be considered very affected, my son is much higher functioning. I am a college graduate who never dreamed I had a 'disability' until my son was diagnosed, which led to my testing. My daughter is also typically developing. Some of these kids with FX or Downs may surprise you with their abilities. I don't know anything about your school, but I wouldn't take him out of the class just because some of the classmates might be more 'special needs' than he is. The parents of my son's classmates who are typically developing tell me how great the class is for them as well. Give it a chance - it might surprise you....Show more

Corrina Faro: My daughter is in a Pre-K special ed class. Though she has not been diagnosed autistic, I think you and I are in similar situations. I too wrestled with the decision to place her there, and I wondered if she would get the care and attention she needed. ! I too wondered if being in class with "retarded" kids would make her retarded, too. Note: Before I had my daughter, I had always lumped ADHD, Downs, Autism and those with speech impairments under the umbrella term "retarded." Since becoming the mother of a speech and cognitively delayed child, I've had to strike the word "retarded" from my working vocabulary. I think you might try to, too.I'm assuming you haven't yet met with the school to construct an IEP? The IEP is your first and most important step in ensuring that your son gets the help that he needs. At the meeting, bring up your concerns about Floortime, and bring any documentation that shows that your son has benefitted from it. Is your son getting services from the 0-3 program? If so, ask his therapists and social workers to accompany you to the IEP meeting. If you want Floortime incorporated into his IEP, I'm pretty sure you'll need a clinical or medical opinion to back you up. My daughter has a skills tr! ainer (a one-to-one aide) and speech and occupational therapies in addi! tion to the special ed class. All of these I had to ask for in the IEP meeting. Well actually, the skills trainer I had to grovel for. The law entitles every child to a free and appropriate public school education. The operative word is appropriate. You need to convince the school that Floortime is appropriate and neccessary, and not a luxury. Remember, your son is not entitled to what is best. (Of course he DESERVES the best, but if you want the best, you have to pay for it yourself.)My daughter started school in July of 2007, when she was still 2 1/2. In case you're wondering, she cried (bawled actually!) when I dropped her off for almost a month. Now, though, she can't wait to go to school in the morning. She's made a lot of progress in these seven months. She's much more vocal, though her speech is still garbled. She tries speaking instead of simply gesturing to communicate her needs. She's learned to recognize all the uppercase letters and can read a few 3! -letter words, plus her own name. She's learned to count to 50 and can recognize numbers up to 31 (the numbers on a calendar.) She also plays with the other kids now instead of just ignoring them. Clearly she's made a lot of gains.If you're worried that he's still very attached to you, maybe you could ask for a modified school day, where you pick him up at noon or something. Why is his day so long? Is 8am-4pm including the transit time, too? Do you live very far from the school? Also consider: He has to go to school sometime. You can't keep him isolated forever. And won't your other kids be in school? What will happen to him when they all go off to school and he's the only one left at home?On the whole, our experience with Special Ed PreK has been positive. However, a lot depends on the school. The public school in our district is EXCELLENT and her teacher is, too. Everyone from the Principal down to the Health Room aide has worked to assure me that they take ! their responsibilities seriously. I am confident that my daughter is i! n a caring and nurturing environment. I'm not sure what your district's school is like. Go with your gut. If you don't feel comfortable with the way you're being treated by the school, just think how much worse it will be for your little boy. But if they're good to you, they'll probably be good to your boy, too.My advice to you is to work with the school to construct an IEP that you feel meets your son's needs. If you wind up with an acceptable IEP, try the school out. You can always pull him out if you think you can do a better job teaching and socializing him at home. You have to consider all the costs, though. If you devote all your time and energy to Floortime with your autistic son, won't your other kids suffer from getting only the time and energy that you have leftover?I wish you and your family the best....Show more

Hyman Coren: It seems to me the teachers in this pre-k are not autism trained. I know much more than them about autism and therapies like! ABA , floortime,etc An autistic child needs to be taught differently .

Christy Tirabassi: Hi My son was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome when he was 3, in short for those that don't know, Asperger's is on the high end of the Autistic spectrum with IQ's above average. I'm shocked that you are being put on this stress mill, we chose after many months of reseach to stop the immunisation of our son, we couldn't take the risk by sacrafising our child for the good of the country. For the people that see this as abhorent, you should realise that a child who is not immunised is the child at risk, the immunised children are safe and you are brainwashed if you think otherwise. Off my soap box - are you possibly mistaking the two issues with the schools none acceptance? 1) no diagnoses of autistic spectrum disorder/PDD etc. 2) not fully immunised. I would look at the issues seperately, try and get a diagnoses that gets you the services the school provides, your not making it up! , he has issues that require help and intervention early, see your doct! or and tell him/her the problem. Can you get a letter from your doctor about your conceinsious objection to immunisation, we thought our boy couldn't go to school with out being immunised because thats what people kept telling us but there is no law in our country that states they are to be excluded. In fact there are descrimination laws that protect children with disabilities that you should look into. If his doctor or atterny is willing to write a letter addressing his adverse reaction to the immunisation and while there is no scientific proof that immunisation causes Autistic Spectrum disorders but that is your informed belief, then no discrimination should happen. I am under the impression that no child can be turned away if they have the disability they provide services for. For the record I think it's outrageous to be forced to change your religion to fit into school policy, simply wrong! Janice...Show more

Michal Semple: "Mostly retarded with Down Syndrome and ! Fragile X" Well, that clearly tells me what you don't know about Mental Retardation, Down syndrome and Fragile X or how important early intervention services can be for children with developmental delays. I have children with Fragile X who are on the honor role at their schools - they don't have IEPs or 504s, they don't have pullouts for resource room. It might be very well possible your child and possibly you as well may learn something from a child with mental retardation, Down syndrome or Fragile X. Please don’t make statements that make children with such a diagnosis less of human being, having less potential. That’s not the case, all of these conditions are spectrum disorders. You can't make an assumption on what you don't know, on ignorance. Have you been tested for Fragile X? Simple blood test, Southern Blot DNA test and PCR analysis? Because you might have Fragile X does that make you a poor role model? A poor mother? Early childhood intervention through the sch! ools maybe able to address much more of your child's needs when it come! s to therapy than a private pre-school or possibly even home care can. Early intervention is key not only when addressing academic skills, or therapeutics, but social skills as well. Have you visited the programs available? Was the classroom an ECDD classroom or AI? You need to visit the classrooms, you need to sit down and talk with the therapists and teachers? Ask them specifically what they will provide for your child. If in your school district you don't feel that there is an appropriate classroom you need to ask if there are other alternatives. My personal opinion, not doing early intervention with the schools would be a mistake....Show more

Ronnie Sardi: I am a pre-k special education teacher in a self contained classroom. Yes, you should send your child to school at the age of 3. Special education teachers may not be specifically trained to work with children with autism, but are trained to work with all students with disabilities and modify learning for ea! ch individual child. While you may feel that 3 is too young and your child might need a nap, school is much more important. All my students are 3 years old, in a 6 hour program, and we do not have nap time. Your child will learn how to sit at circle, work with others, and learn many things school will offer and home will not. Research also shows that early intervention has proven to make a great difference in the future of children/ adult with disabilities. I specifically teach children with autism through the methodology of ABA and I can assure you ABA is not necessary for all children with autism....Show more

Fermin Tara: you are right on with your instincts about your child!I honestly didnt think that those types of schools still existed since now schools are requiring more inclusive settings. what that means for you is that the special ed teacher comes to your child in thier own learing enviroment and not separated in rooms away from his regular classmates.I feel ! sorry for these kids in this type of setting since your right they wont! get much. I would suggest finding him a preschool that will place him in either a regular class setting with some other mild forms of disabled children andsome regular kids or in the regular class all together and have the teachers work with him. you dont have to let him stay in a school where his needs are not being met. and I would definatly be looking up you rights for special needs children, your school should provide you with those.I happen to be a teacher for this type of setting. I have 11 children in my room ages 3 and 4 and 5 of them are special needs and the others are regular kids and the therapist (speech, OT and others) come to them in the room and work with them.good luck to you and learn your rights for your child even if it is just mild autism, he still needs to be nurtured!!...Show more