Guest guest Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 , I think that you should go with your gut feeling of what to do. You know your daughter best. My opinion about mainstreaming is that it needs to be done when the child is ready. 4 years ago Abby would have NEVER been able to handle a mainstream classroom. Now she is in one half the day and requesting-on her own I might add, to have more time in the mainstream first grade. Inclusion is a very controversial subject. I don't think there is actually a right or wrong answer to it. Both have advantages. A smaller classroom means more one on one attention. To a child with sensory issues the hustle & bustle of a mainstream classroom may just be to much. The sounds of 20 voices in a room is much different from lets say 8 or 10. I just saw a VERY heated discussion of this on another list. We all feel passionate about different subjects, however my opinion is that all views need to be respected and unless a child is being harmed there is no reason to make a parent feel bad about the decision that they are making for their child. Like I said before, there are advantages to both Special Ed and inclusion. I just feel strongly that you and your child will know what is right for you at the time. Your daughter sounds like she has wonderful language that has developed, so does Abby. Trust me, she WILL let you know what she wants to do and what she is comfortable with. Abby is VERY vocal about her likes and dislikes now. LOL! I wish you the best in whatever you decide. Pennie Abby's Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 Ally just had her fourth birthday. She loves Dora the Explorer, so we had a Dora party. She is starting preschool in a week or so, which consists of four other autistic children of different development levels. I am hoping after one year in the all autsitic preschool class she can go to a regular preschool. I dont want her to be segregated. But, I also do not want her to feel the pain of being rejected by " regular kids. " We went to the pediatric dentist a few weeks ago, and Ally kept saying hi to this little girl, who looked at her like she was crazy. As is the reaction from other children who do not understand why she behaves different then them. Any advise about this??? Is mainstreaming better or special ed? She has made a ton of progress over the last few months. A year ago she was nonverbal and had many auditory sensativities, which made her scream a high pitched screeeeaaaammmm. Now, she has several hundred words, copes with her sensativities better and is following simple directions. Most of the time she is a very happy little girl, although I see her pain when she tries to play with other children and some of them reject her. Some of them play with her and it makes her so happy. My heart breaks when i think of how I would feel with such social rejection in life. So, I am torn on what to do regarding school, in the future. Right now, its special ed. But, what about the rest of her life. She will have to face a normal society. Any advise would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 ---Thats a tough call. I can only tell you of our experiences and what I chose to do. The best thing I ever did was put her into a full- time daycare where she was in a group of 8 NT children at 4. She made a 90 degree turn for the better in every area of development. Her social skills, speech, beaviors all changed for the better. I believed that the best role models were NT children and not in the special ed class I had her in. In fact she was scared, shy and practically non-verbal there. Thinking that that was the best place for her, I couldn't bare the strictness of the educators, and I truly believed it wasn't doing her any good but more harm being there. She is pdd-nos/adhd, very high-functionning with attention being her biggest deficit. I'm not talking about anyother child but my own. She has always been in the public school system and has always been many years behind her peers socially and it was never apparent until she turned 8 or 9 . She attends social skill group on the weekend to learn how to socialize properly because like your daughter she would still go up and hug someone but only now it isn't acceptable anymore and she has learned to suppress that when greeting people. But my dd is shy and she realizes that she is different and tries very hard to be like the other girls. My own opinion for my daughter is the best is being with NT children, they are the best role models for learning proper social skills. In Autism_in_Girls , " MARK SOMMERFELD " <cmsommerfeld@i...> wrote: > It is a hard road dealing with our kids.......trying to decide what is best > for them. You must realise though, that what you see as " pain " sometimes to > you, may not necessarily be pain to your daughter. I used to go home from > school in tears, when i would hear kids snigger at my daughter, and pull > faces behind her back at times. As she gets old, she is now 9, i have to > understand, that most of the time, she doesn;t even realise what teasing > is..........and what being rejected is..she will go up and try to hug > someone, and they look at her funny, or want to hold their hand, and when > she was small that was acceptable, now it isn;t, so i must try and direct > her not too.........but to her, that is her way of showing..... " i like > you " .......i just simply try and put myself in her shoes now when dealing > with school.......and it really does help......my daughters cognitive is > still so behind it isn;t funny...................as time goes on, you will > begin to see things, and know how to respond....you might not think so > now..............but you will. All the best, CherylS > Ally > > > > Ally just had her fourth birthday. She loves Dora the Explorer, so > > we had a Dora party. She is starting preschool in a week or so, > > which consists of four other autistic children of different > > development levels. I am hoping after one year in the all autsitic > > preschool class she can go to a regular preschool. I dont want her > > to be segregated. But, I also do not want her to feel the pain of > > being rejected by " regular kids. " We went to the pediatric dentist a > > few weeks ago, and Ally kept saying hi to this little girl, who > > looked at her like she was crazy. As is the reaction from other > > children who do not understand why she behaves different then them. > > Any advise about this??? Is mainstreaming better or special ed? She > > has made a ton of progress over the last few months. A year ago she > > was nonverbal and had many auditory sensativities, which made her > > scream a high pitched screeeeaaaammmm. Now, she has several hundred > > words, copes with her sensativities better and is following simple > > directions. Most of the time she is a very happy little girl, > > although I see her pain when she tries to play with other children > > and some of them reject her. Some of them play with her and it makes > > her so happy. My heart breaks when i think of how I would feel with > > such social rejection in life. So, I am torn on what to do regarding > > school, in the future. Right now, its special ed. But, what about > > the rest of her life. She will have to face a normal society. Any > > advise would be helpful. > > > > > > Autism_in_Girls-subscribe > > ------------------------ > > Autism_in_Girls-unsubscribe > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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