Seeking part-time Shadow / 1:1 aide for preschooler -- 3-4 hours a day

[Anonymous]

We're looking for a shadow / 1:1 aide to help our preschooler for 3-4 hours a day. He's got some mild special needs (Likely sensory processing issues, still in the diagnosis phase, so not sure specifically what is going on). He's been aggressive at school and we're hoping a shadow, in combination with some suggestions from our OT, will help curb the aggressive behavior and allow him to remain at the private pre-school.

Any specific ideas on where to look for shadows? Or is anyone out there interested in this part-time position?

[Anonymous]

I would advertise on the job boards at universities. AU has lots of classes at night, so that may work.

[Anonymous]

Our private preschool was able to recommend aides to parents - I'm guessing you tried that?

[Anonymous]

I would suggest contacting Ivymount Outreach to have a behavioral therapist do a FBA--functional behavioral assessment in the classroom. (There website is currently down for maintenance but should be up and running within the week.)

Also, OP, I truly hope that you're not relying on an OT for a "diagnosis." One, OTs aren't qualified to diagnose anything. Two, SPD isn't an actual diagnosis in the DSM; it's not to say that kids don't have sensory issues, but they are usually a symptom of something else. You really need to see a developmental pediatrician if you want to get to the bottom of things.

[Anonymous]

+1000. We were told at 3.5 that our son just had anxiety and some mild developmental issues. We saw some of the most accomplished OT evaluators and dev peds in town. By 5 it became clear he had HFA and then ADHD.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't recommend trying to stick out private if a shadow is needed. Just my two cents but the shadow is very restrictive. I'd try to get into pep.

[Anonymous]

I hired one from Craigslist. I ran an ad, keeping the details hazy, and then phone-interviewed the most promising 5 or 10 candidates. I got a lot of very qualified applicants - preschool and elementary school teachers and master's students in education and psychology. I recommend doing your own search and casting a wide net--the person the school recommended was much less qualified and good with my son than the person we ultimately found. It was hugely stressful at the time, so I feel for you. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't recommend trying to stick out private if a shadow is needed. Just my two cents but the shadow is very restrictive. I'd try to get into pep.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hired one from Craigslist. I ran an ad, keeping the details hazy, and then phone-interviewed the most promising 5 or 10 candidates. I got a lot of very qualified applicants - preschool and elementary school teachers and master's students in education and psychology. I recommend doing your own search and casting a wide net--the person the school recommended was much less qualified and good with my son than the person we ultimately found. It was hugely stressful at the time, so I feel for you. Good luck!

This was me above. I just wanted to add that one of the most useful aspects of the shadow was getting, through her, a window into what was happening in the preschool classroom each day. We were getting fuzzy information from the school. The shadow's take on how the teacher/school/classroom were working for our child helped us evaluate whether to stay.

[Anonymous]

OP Here -- Thanks for all the helpful responses that actually addressed how to find a shadow. Craigslist sounds like it will be a good start. Has anyone had any luck with Care.com?

For what it's worth, we're not using the OT for diagnosis. My son has already gone through the Child Find process and will receive some services in the fall, and we are currently going through a private evaluation to try to put a finer point on what is really going on. Those processes take time, so I was looking for advice on how to deal with the aggression issues in the interim. It seems likely that keeping him a school environment with typically developing peers is going to be helpful for him in the long run, and I'm looking for a way to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Here -- Thanks for all the helpful responses that actually addressed how to find a shadow. Craigslist sounds like it will be a good start. Has anyone had any luck with Care.com?

For what it's worth, we're not using the OT for diagnosis. My son has already gone through the Child Find process and will receive some services in the fall, and we are currently going through a private evaluation to try to put a finer point on what is really going on. Those processes take time, so I was looking for advice on how to deal with the aggression issues in the interim. It seems likely that keeping him a school environment with typically developing peers is going to be helpful for him in the long run, and I'm looking for a way to do that.

Maybe. My kid with aggression issues stayed at preschool and the shadow made things much, much worse. He understood he was being treated differently, singled out, and had different rules than everyone else and he quickly started to use to shadow to take him out of the room, take him to the playground if he needed a break, etc. Having a shadow is the most restrictive environment. Your son is not developing typically RIGHT NOW, and yes, that could change, but I would push to get him into the preschool, the intergrated one. That would be a much less restrictive environment, When it gets to the point that there needs to be a shadow it is indeed bad enough that you need to change the environment. BTDT.

[Anonymous]

^^ But if I was going to do a shadow, the only way I think it would be helpful and not exacerbate the issues or have the child view the shadow as their own personal butler, as my child did, would be to have an ABA shadow. And that was cost prohibitive for us because we did not have an ASD diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Here -- Thanks for all the helpful responses that actually addressed how to find a shadow. Craigslist sounds like it will be a good start. Has anyone had any luck with Care.com?

For what it's worth, we're not using the OT for diagnosis. My son has already gone through the Child Find process and will receive some services in the fall, and we are currently going through a private evaluation to try to put a finer point on what is really going on. Those processes take time, so I was looking for advice on how to deal with the aggression issues in the interim. It seems likely that keeping him a school environment with typically developing peers is going to be helpful for him in the long run, and I'm looking for a way to do that.

An full evaluation is a good thing.

Personally, hiring through Craigslist makes me nervous. I think on Care.com you filter people by those who've at least had a police background check, which doesn't say much.

The purpose of a one-to-one is to help the child replace positive behaviors with negative ones and phase out their own position. It takes solid training to be a good one-to-one. I could be wrong, but I think Ivymount is the only SN school that uses one to ones. So truly I would start there for recommendations. There are organizations that certify for behavioral training. That may be another source for an aide.

I would also research the public option and therapeutic or inclusive nursery school options as a fallback. GL.

[Anonymous]

OP, FWIW I think it's great you're going with your gut and keeping him at a mainstream preschool despite what some people are saying. This board tends to err on the side of putting kids in more restrictive environments but that's not always the best approach for all kids.

I have two good friends who have children who went through a period of hitting and kicking in preschool. Their school was very understanding and did not require a shadow but the parents did get the kids into private therapy and it helped a lot. By the time these kids were in K they were fine. I hope the same happens for your son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, FWIW I think it's great you're going with your gut and keeping him at a mainstream preschool despite what some people are saying. This board tends to err on the side of putting kids in more restrictive environments but that's not always the best approach for all kids.

I have two good friends who have children who went through a period of hitting and kicking in preschool. Their school was very understanding and did not require a shadow but the parents did get the kids into private therapy and it helped a lot. By the time these kids were in K they were fine. I hope the same happens for your son.

But it's not like there's only one option for mainstream preschools. I have a child who was having serious aggression in a bad preschool environment. At a better school, no aggression. The change was immediate. The good school was mainstream with some inclusion, and just had a more accepting attitude towards kids' differing rates of development. It can be really hard to tell what is causing aggression in a kid this young, and it is reasonable to consider the environment, instead of trying to shoehorn a kid into an environment that is not working. The aggression is likely telling you that the kid feels really uncomfortable and unsafe in the environment.