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Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities
Mainstream preschool for child with PDD-NOS
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Anonymous
| Our 3.5 year old son has just been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. We are still trying to process and understand the diagnosis, but we are told that he has a very mild case involving some socialization and speech issues that can be addressed with OT, and that he can continue to attend a mainstream preschool. We are interested in feedback from parents who have a child with unique needs who was supported by a wonderful teacher at a mainstream preschool. Thanks! |
Anonymous
| My son is the same age, same diagnosis. He is attending AppleTree charter school and I am very happy with his teachers. They are mindful of his needs, the lead teacher has facilitated playdates with children my son seems to like in class and even created additional materials to support his social skill needs. |
Anonymous
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I'm confused, you say you've been told you're dealing with PDD-NOS (an autism spectrum disorder). Yet, you're also getting the message that this "a very mild case involving some socialization and speech issues that can be addressed with OT."
These two statements are in complete conflict with each other. It is as though one says your child is red and the other says he is green. I would love to help you, but it is hard to do so until you settle on a reality. |
Anonymous
New poster. I don't see anything in this post that conflicts with reality. PDD-NOS can be (is not always) an autism spectrum disorder that involves social and communication problems. OP's child apparently has mild symptoms of that disorder. She is seeking a preschool that can deal with that. No conflict there so far. What in the world is your problem? |
Anonymous
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Another new poster here. And I also see no conflict in the OP's statement or problem with "reality." My DD has PDD-NOS, another "mild" case, because remember we are dealing with a SPECTRUM diagnosis here, so there are MILD cases. So, my DD Is in a mainstream public school first grade with an IEP with lots of support and I am thrilled we went mainstream.
Ignore the cranky poster. It is possible to go mainstream as long you have lots of support in place. |
Anonymous
| OP, are you looking for suggestions for schools or suggestions for teachers? If looking for names of schools, where are you located? In DC a school like St. Columba's could be a great fit, OTs and SLPs can come to the school to work with your child and they are with NT peers. |
Anonymous
| I have heard that Ivy Mount is a great school for children who are on the spectrum. There is supposed to be a great deal of communication between parents and teachers-something that is SO hard to achieve in a mainstream school. |
Anonymous
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Hi OP, you don't mention your jurisdiction, but if you are in DC I would be VERY WARY of allowing DCPS to service your child. PDD-NOS - even a mild case - is on the autism spectrum and DCPS's reputation is justifiably awful due to its track record.
I think if you are in MoCo you can consider public school, there is a good autism early childhood intervention program for children who have been identified on the spectrum. |
Anonymous
| I'm not in the area anymore but I had a son who was diagnosed at the same age with "mild" PDD and who attended mainstream preschool. The things I would look for are: a school and teachers who are actively interested in working with special needs children and who embrace inclusion; a relatively small class; an orderly environment with consistency, very few special events, strong daily routine (so your child knows what to expect); a school philosophy that fosters social skill development (our preschool used The Responsive Classroom, elements of which were very helpful to our son). I would also ask prospective schools/teachers how they handle a child who does not want to participate in an activity or do a a project. Is everyone expected to participate, or can a child opt out? If they look surprised by the question, I would take that as a sign they are not very inclusive of divergent children. Good luck. |
Anonymous
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OT will not address either speech issues or socialization issues. For the former, you need a good speech therapist who will work on things like language pragmatics. For socialization you will need social skills groups, most likely when he gets older., but some speech therapy practices have interaction groups. Beware of OT mission creep. They can treat motor skills issues, but thats pretty much it. My son has Aspergers and we did OT for years, but it never delivered what was promised beyond motor skills.
Lots of preschools claim they can handle such kids and don't necessarily do a good job. Make sure you are looking at schools with a proven track record for kids with disabilities like St. Columba's or NCRC. And try to consider a therapeutic preschool. I see in your post that a part of you is minimizing the diagnosis ("mild", "only needs" "mainstream preschool.") The fact is that early intervention is extremely helpful and if you can send him to a preschool that will actually (1) provide specific supports and therapies he needs, (2) will be enjoyable for him, not just a struggle to fit in, your son could really benefit. We didn't do this and i regret it. |
Anonymous
Wow. Please be kind. So many of us here are dealing with ASD and on its best day it's rough. These people were just diagnosed, do you remember how that feels? If you don't, trust me, it's pretty low and certainly not a place where one can handle cruelty from those with the potential to help. |
Anonymous
This is incorrect. By definition in the DSM-IV PDD-NOS is (always) an autism spectrum disorder. In the proposed DSM-V, the classification will cease to exist. PDD-NOS is autism. It is "milder" than the classic Kanner's autism, but it is still autism. |
Anonymous
| OP, I posted at 19:19 but I wanted to agree with the subsequent poster. I sent my son to mainstream preschool (although one with lots of experience with ASD children) but he is now 6, and I'm not sure mainstream elementary school is in the cards. It might have been better to send him to a preschool where he would have had more explicit instruction -- i.e., now we are doing a lot of speech therapy in pragmatics but I wish we had started it earlier. On the other hand, he had a mostly positive preschool experience and it's possible we would be looking at the same set of options either way. I know it's really hard to deal with having your child diagnosed, but a lot of pdd is "mild" at 3.5, but in my experience the mildness has a lot to do with the fairly low expectations for what 3.5 yos should be capable of, not with the condition itself, which is a fairly significant part of your child's makeup. |
Anonymous
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OP, if you are in DC I would suggest you have a look at Bridges PCS. It is an inclusion pre-school where your child can get all the services (i.e., speech and OT) he needs but still be in an environment for both special needs and non-special needs children.
You can get your son a lot of good therapy - for free - and still have a typical pre-school experience. It might be a great middle ground. http://bridgespcs.org/index.php?page=about |
Anonymous
It could have been stated better, but it is a fair question. If OP's child really falls into the PDD-NOS category, the symptoms are unlikely so mild that a bit of OT will clear things up (particularly because socialization and speech issues are best addressed through speech/language therapy, not OT). If they are that mild, it's hard to imagine how the child got this diagnosis in the first place. OP, where did you get the diagnosis, what are the symptoms/delays, and what were the specific recommendations? |