Reply to Anyone BTDT? Autism/Not-Autism? Starting Kindergarten Next Year

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Anyone BTDT? Autism/Not-Autism? Starting Kindergarten Next Year"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I'd do the private for Kindergarten, then reevaluate for 1st grade.  Why?  Because what is helping him right now is two things:
1. being in a mixed NT and SN preschool and
2. being in a small group of 12 children and 2 teachers

Re: #1 - you say he isn't receiving anything excdept for speech twice a week.  And that's technically true, but believe me, the teachers who work with 1/2 SN and 1/2 NT children at that preschool know how to work with children who need more time, who are slightly rigid, who need more transition, know how to help children learn social skills they don't "pick up" etc.  So they are working in a different manner than a kindergarten teacher would with 22 children and 1 teacher (or perhaps 1.5 teachers, as some have a 1/2 day paraprofessional - which is really just an assistant)

#2  - you're right, a smaller group of children allows him to be more successful as he can get to know all the children better (and they him), he isn't as overwhelmed in a larger, louder, classroom, etc.

So I think I'd stay go to private for Kindergarten, where your younger child can do PreK, and not do any other testing right now.  You would have to get your own speech therapist because privates won't offer anything like that and IEPs are for if he's at a public.

Then by spring 2019 (his kindergarten) you'll have a better sense of whether he's caught up with NT children and could go to public OR would do better at this smaller school for a few more years OR whether he really does need additional assistance that can only happen by reactivating his IEP at a public school.

I think you just don't know, and if you can afford it and it makes your life easier with pickup/drop off for both kids (bonus!) then I'd do the private school.  You do NOT need to tell them anything about any diagnosis - although if he needs support then telling them why he acts in specific ways or needs specific supports is important - leaving them in the dark doesn't help him or them.  But you could say he has a significant speech delay that has gotten a lot better, and he continues to have speech therapy to address this. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics