Reply to Stay in DCPS or ABA full time for 4 year old?

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Reply to "Stay in DCPS or ABA full time for 4 year old?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] 
We are a little worried that at-home only ABA may not help sufficiently with her social skills and ability to be with a group classroom environment.  She currently already has 1:1 Floortime developmental therapy in the home on weekends, though I understand that is not structured like ABA is.  I think she would struggle with a 1:1 full time approach and I worry she would miss out on social developments.  She did seem to enjoy being around the other kids even if she does not yet understand how to truly engage with them.  Hence the interest in center-based preschool/daycare like environment if we cannot get DCPS to agree to a hybrid.  We have asked DCPS to add more to her IEP and had a lot of difficulty even getting them to add speech even though it was recommended in her medical clinical report, so it seems it would be an uphill battle to get anything more than what is on her plan if we want her in a gen ed classroom. [/quote]

OP - can I ask why you want your child to remain in a gen ed classroom in DCPS if she is struggling? DCPS has other classroom options for ASD kids that may be worth exploring. They are not as fast-paced as the Gen Ed classroom and more time is spent in ensuring concepts are mastered before moving on to new concepts (similar to ABA methods). It may be worth asking if you can tour them to get an idea what they are like. The 12:6 class "looks" like a Gen Ed classroom for the most part, but has a special education teacher and more kids with IEPs; the fully-inclusive classroom is different; and can be a mix of PK3/4 students depending on the school/class.

Your concerns about lack of social opportunities in a full-time ABA program at home are certainly warranted. I'm not sure what your situation is, but school is the main way in which our kid gets to play with other children since we don't have an established friend circle in the city. Our child also really enjoys being around other kids, the school routine, and can follow directions with much repetition and prompting. We found that a more self-contained classroom where they are getting 1:1 supports in addition to modified curriculum was a good fit. We do ABA after school with a BCBA; it's fewer hours but a good mix of school vs home setting (for us).

If you are really struggling with DCPS to get the accommodations your child needs and wish to keep your child in the DCPS system for the foreseeable future, it may be worth looking into hiring an educational advocate. Our experience working with the school administration has been positive, but working with DCPS central is really frustrating and time-consuming so i understand why people opt for that.[/quote]

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