Re: kindergarten?

[Guest guest]

Dear Pat,

Thanks. It was hard-won wisdom. I wish I had known ahead of kindergarten that my

daughter has Aspergers and had done this. However I've discovered that it also

works well for each year of school to do a " see the new classroom/ meet the

new teacher " etc ahead of time. It also pays off for the parents to meet ahead

of time with the new teacher (possibly including the old teacher) to get " ahead

of the curve " before the next school year,

Sigh,

Rose

From: Tammy G. <tamarama303@ yahoo.com>

Subject: [Autism_in_Girls_ and_Women] kindergarten?

To: Autism_in_Girls_ and_Women@ yahoogroups. com

Date: Saturday, April 25, 2009, 8:48 AM

I have a 4 yr old with hfa who'll be 5 in July and starting kindergarden in the

fall.  Her special ed preschool teacher asked if we'd prefer she attend her

'local' school or another school in the district where there are autisim

classrooms/more autism specialists.  We opted for the school with the most

support.  We won't have her IEP until late next month so I'm not sure what her

day will be like.  She spends more of her time in a 'regular' preschool class at

the district's pre-school now, so I expect they'll mainstream her as much as

possible.  She seems ready academically (knows her colors, shapes, letters,

numbers, etc.), but her speech is still 1-2 years behind her peers, which of

course impacts her socially. 

My question for the group is, have you ever held your child back a year to see

if her speech could 'catch up'?  If so, are you glad you did?  If you haven't ,

do you wish you would have? 

With her birthday being in July, she's going to be one of the youngest kids. 

I've considered having her repeat 1st grade or some other early grade...she' d

only be slightly older than most if I did.  

Also, any advice about transitioning to a new school would be helpful.  I'm

worried how those 1st few weeks will be.  Riding a bus for the 1st time, new

school, new teachers, new friends, new 'after care' program, so much change!  To

top it all off, we'll be in San Diego for 12 days visiting her grandma and going

to Disneyland just before school starts (we return on a Saturday, school starts

on Tuesday).

thanks,

Tammy