RE: Advice needed

[Guest guest]

Casey,

It sounds like you have some good options. If you don't mind me asking why is in a private school? It's just a factor for me, I have always kept my triplets together to foster that "bond", I know the day will come when I'll be gone and I pray Zack's sibling will want to help him. Anyway, we are at our local school, Zack is in 1st and will be repeating and NIck & in 2nd going on 3rd. It seems that is doing really well being included so as long as she is learning the more time in w/ her "typical" peers the better. I would first find out how the resource class at your local school works. Ask them when she would go (days, hours), for what reason(curriculum, social), and who would be teaching her (teacher, aid, tutor) , how many students would be there etc. Resource is very often a great area for 1:1 (like MATH). Zack went to a Reading Resource teacher last year 4X a week for 1 hour w/ typical 1st graders and it was fantastic! I know that 1st grade is alot harder than Kindergarten and the curriculum moves faster. Zack can not keep up w/ the MATH lessons and leaves for the last hour and a half for Math. If is not at your local school and resource doesn't offer her enough then maybe the "1 school away" is a good choice. Having Zack at school w/ his 3 siblings has given their friends a chance to see that Zack is just like everyone else, he justs needs more help sometimes. They have also learned how to be that "helper". Zack's brother Nick as already decided he is his brother's keeper, every morning when they get off the bus, he takes him to the media center then gets himself to class. At aftercare his brothers help if he has any problems (zipping pants etc) The teacher's have all commented on how caring his sister and brother's are, I think that all of us grow when we are given the chance to help others. Let's face it Zack needs their help.

The best advice I can give you is to know 's rights under IDEA, she can be included and she must have all the supports and services she needs to make her successful. She must be learing toward her IEP goals. Unfortunately so often the school has a tone either very "inclusive" or not at all, so visit your choices and get a feel. We started Kindergarten in a school that thought we were bonkers to have Zack in w/ regular kids! When we moved the new principal thought it was the only place to start! Here in Florida if 1 child has a special program need and it is in an out of zone school, their siblings can go to that school on a variance. We fight every day for Zack, he still need more than he recieves but he's doing well and as always very happy at school. I could go on for ever, if you want you can email me @ igercak@...

Irene

Jake 9

Zack DS, , 7

advice needed

Hello,

It's time for 's "program review", where we discuss how she is doing and a tentative placement for the fall. I need people's BTDT experience about some of her time being in a resource room vs. a self contained class. We have a meeting next Wednesday and I want to get in my brain what I want to argue for.

Currently she spends 70% of her day in a general ed. Kindergarten and 30% in the self-contained K. This is 2 schools away from our home school, and a pilot program for the self-contained K, with each of the 7 children also having a full slot in the general ed class, where they spend as much of their day as they are ready for. She won't attend this school next year, as it only has this pilot program.

My options for next year are:

Our neighborhood school: The self contained class is not a good fit for her, even for part of her day. It is designated a "medically fragile" school, with a full-time nurse, so a lot of kids with high medical needs are bused there, and the result is that the academic level is not high enough for where is right now.

So, if I want her placement to be "general ed 1st grade, with pull out as needed", the pull-out would be into the resource room (which I don't know much about, but will go visit next week, along with visiting each 1st grade class)

One school away: The self-contained class is a much better fit. She could, like this year, spend a great part of her day in general ed, but her "non-general ed" time would be in this self-contained class instead of in a resource room. They would bus her to this school, which is only 2 miles away.

My thoughts:

I'd like to make a choice that has the best chance of working for several years. I want her to join a community and stay in it, not move from year to year.

will stay in his private school at least 2 more years, but then MAY attend the neighborhood school for one or two years (but it's not very likely). He would not ever attend the school "one over" from us. They would not let him "choice" in.

I don't know a thing about how a resource room works. Is it likely to be more or less one-on-one instruction dealing with specifically what needs? Do your kids find it distracting to have kids of many ages coming and going?

I want to BELONG in the general ed class and not just be a visitor. Does going to a self-contained class for 30% give her a second community to belong to in a way the resource room doesn't, or just pull her away from truly being a part of the general ed class?

I think I'd have an easier time arguing for more time in general ed if her core placement is there, and she would have more in-class modified instruction/assignments and less pull-out to either self-contained or resource room.

Thanks for whatever advice you want to offer!!

Casey, mom to (DS) and , 6

[Guest guest]

Choosing school is allways hard. Our son is right

now in Swedish Kindergarten and will be in a

general ed. classroom next year (he is in the

same class as his twin sister). The school has

never had students with mental disabilities and

the principal has turned out not to be very

helpful. Our only other option is the special

school, but we know he thrives in an inclusive

setting. In fall 2004 we were in Alabama and the

twins went to kindergarten and had an wonderful inclusive experince.

We have decided to counitniue fighting for a good

inclusive setting, next week my husband will

attend at the political shool-district meeting (a

little hard to translate as I guess our

schoolsystem work so different) and hand over a

personal letter to the politicians informing them

that they and their decitions is important.

Yours

- in Sweden

Mamma till tvillingarna Xerxes (DS) och

Zacharina, födda 990129 och lillasyster Majken född 030513

(Mother to the twins Xerxes and Zacharina, born

1999 - 01 - 29 and little Majken born 2003-05-13.)

[Guest guest]

There is a great book, “My Friend

Isabelle.” Available at Woodbine House (bookseller for special

needs books; same name .com for web site) and has a Teacher Guide you can

download or order. My experience is to tell other children with openness and

honesty. ing the acceptance of differences is a great preschool

theme.

Hope this helps!

Suze (mom to Nic and Kris

Identical/13/Opitz and Gavin 5/DS)

From: Multiples-DS [mailto:Multiples-DS ] On Behalf Of mrsimoffshore@...

Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006

10:58 AM

To: Multiples-DS

Subject: Advice

needed

My 3 1/2 yr old twins, and , have DS. They started preschool last Wed at a private

preschool with typical children. They are doing well and love it, but a

question has come up.

What should the teacher say to the children in the class (a 3 year old

class, with some children soon to be 4) when a child asks why something is done

differently for my boys? For example, and are generally

at the head of the line to keep an eye on them. Or at snack time they

both drink out of straw cups since they haven't mastered the open cup

yet. Also a couple of the kids who are almost 4 and very verbal, today on

the play ground, wondered why started playing with them without asking

first. and know sign language (approx. 200 signs each), but aren't very verbal at

all. And most of their signs are used when they hear someone else saying the word or when looking at a book,

not usually for requests. I know something needs to be said to

the other children, but not sure what.

Any advice from those who have gone before me would be

appreciated.

Thank you,

a

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[Guest guest]

I'll have to look at that book. Haven't heard of it before.

I was just pretty open to kids when they ask. I just told them my girls went at a slower pace and took a little longer to catch up. I used to come up with some better things, but it has been a along time since they have been that young!! lol

Gayla

There is a great book, "My Friend Isabelle." Available at Woodbine House (bookseller for special needs books; same name .com for web site) and has a Teacher Guide you can download or order. My experience is to tell other children with openness and honesty. ing the acceptance of differences is a great preschool theme.

Hope this helps!

Suze (mom to Nic and Kris Identical/13/Opitz and Gavin 5/DS)

From:

Multiples-DS [mailto:Multiples-DS ] On Behalf Of mrsimoffshore@

aol.comSent: Monday, September 11, 2006 10:58 AMTo: Multiples-DS

Subject: Advice needed

My 3 1/2 yr old twins, and , have DS. They started preschool last Wed at a private preschool with typical children. They are doing well and love it, but a question has come up.

What should the teacher say to the children in the class (a 3 year old class, with some children soon to be 4) when a child asks why something is done differently for my boys? For example, and are generally at the head of the line to keep an eye on them. Or at snack time they both drink out of straw cups since they haven't mastered the open cup yet. Also a couple of the kids who are almost 4 and very verbal, today on the play ground, wondered why started playing with them without asking first. and know sign language (

approx. 200 signs each), but aren't very verbal at all. And most of their signs are used when they hear someone else saying the word or when looking at a book, not usually for requests. I know something needs to be said to the other children, but not sure what.

Any advice from those who have gone before me would be appreciated.

Thank you,

a

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[Guest guest]

Someone mentioned the book- " Taking Down syndrome to school " . Can buy it from

specialneeds.com for $11.95

---- mrsimoffshore@... wrote:

>

> My 3 1/2 yr old twins, and , have DS. They started preschool

last Wed at a private preschool with typical children. They are doing well and

love it, but a question has come up.

>

> What should the teacher say to the children in the class (a 3 year old class,

with some children soon to be 4) when a child asks why something is done

differently for my boys? For example, and are generally at the

head of the line to keep an eye on them. Or at snack time they both drink out

of straw cups since they haven't mastered the open cup yet. Also a couple of

the kids who are almost 4 and very verbal, today on the play ground, wondered

why started playing with them without asking first. and

know sign language (approx. 200 signs each), but aren't very verbal at all. And

most of their signs are used when they hear someone else saying the word or when

looking at a book, not usually for requests. I know something needs to be said

to the other children, but not sure what.

>

> Any advice from those who have gone before me would be appreciated.

>

> Thank you,

>

> a

>

>

>

> ________________________________________________________________________

> Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security

tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free

AOL Mail and more.

[Guest guest]

Hi a,

If you just read the e-mail I just sent regarding "Everyone Counts" video and booklet then that is what I strongly suggest. There are two video's and one is just for preschool thru kindergarten. It is only 4 minutes long and it's great; I watched it for my 4 1/2 year old's class. I was also considering showing the teacher maybe 10-15 signs that are needed on a constant basis as uses sign and words. Lucky for me the teacher knows most of the popular signs and uses them with her class anyway. Signing Time has some great fun video's that maybe the class could watch or you could buy the sign language cards at Staples or a store like that and send some in with the teacher. I would definitely send for the video "Everyone Counts". It might have been about 30.00 or 40.00 dollars but it was worth it. The address is National Down Syndrome Society 666 Broadway New York NY 10012. I don't have the phone number but I'm sure there is a website.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

Sherrill

[Guest guest]

Hi Sherrill,

Thank you for the e-mail. So far, I had the boys' early interventionist with Easter Seals tallk to the children. She talked about how everyone was different, etc. She had them raise their hands for who had blue eyes, brown hair etc... Then answered questions. I think it went pretty well. Does the "Everyone Counts" video talk specifically about DS or just how everyone is different but valuable?

The boys have been learning and using sign language for some time now. We love Signing Time. We have all 13 DVD's and been letting the boys teacher borrow them. The assistant in the class knows some sign language, so we will be working with her to use it. I also made individual cards with the important signs and also sign labels for the classroom.

Thanks again for your help. I'll get a copy of the video. I like hearing comments before I buy things.

Have you heard of the book "I'm Ben And I've got a secret?" It's well done and may be a good resource in the future when we are introducing our kids to DS. It just focused too much on DS for what we wanted at this time. We didn't want to separate our boys out any more then they already are. I was really shocked at how observant 3 year olds are. I couldn't believe that the three year olds expect another child to ask to play with them. I guess I'm just so used to my two and how they interact.

Take care,

a

Re: Advice needed

Hi a,

If you just read the e-mail I just sent regarding "Everyone Counts" video and booklet then that is what I strongly suggest. There are two video's and one is just for preschool thru kindergarten. It is only 4 minutes long and it's great; I watched it for my 4 1/2 year old's class. I was also considering showing the teacher maybe 10-15 signs that are needed on a constant basis as uses sign and words. Lucky for me the teacher knows most of the popular signs and uses them with her class anyway. Signing Time has some great fun video's that maybe the class could watch or you could buy the sign language cards at Staples or a store like that and send some in with the teacher. I would definitely send for the video "Everyone Counts". It might have been about 30.00 or 40.00 dollars but it was worth it. The address is National Down Syndrome Society 666 Broadway New York NY 10012. I don't have the phone number but I'm sure there is a website.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

Sherrill

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[Guest guest]

if you are not happy with this school, keep going until you find the right one.Hello all, Thanks for all of the advice lately. Adrienne is 4 and will be running into IQ and such in the near future. I need some advice - I am struggling with her preschool this year. She attends the school district's early childhood special education program. She is not doing as well there as I know she could and I am getting discouraged. She goes 3 mornings a week there. She could go 4, but I feel strongly that we need a few days a week at home together without 'running". Her teacher and especially her speech therapist there feel strongly that if she came one more morning a week it would make all the difference. We compromised the last few months and her ST made some home visits on the day she could be in school. In her IEP 2 months ago, I asked for more communication home. I am getting it - but it is mainly all negative, and I just don't know that Adrienne will ever succeed in that classroom. She is doing well at home and at private therapy - so to have such negative reports home on a daily basis is hard figure out. I had gone to school with her for about a month after the IEP, and they do allow her twin sister Kayley to attend when they have enough help. They report she does better with us around, so I have found a private preschool that is more than happy to have both girls in their class next year. (Kayley is also struggling at her preschool - asking if Adrienne can come , too) We have made the decision to register them there and go that route next year to see how things go - I have good insurance and will do private therapies as I do now, so she won't be missing out on those. Has anyone else had experiences like this? Am I doing the right thing by trying another school setting? Thanks! CyndyMadeline (11), Kayley & Adrienne ds (4)

[Guest guest]

Remember, you are not dealing with a developmental disability. What you

have is a teaching challenge. Don't let anyone set lower expectations

for your child..

Al Veerhoff

Re: advice needed

if you are not happy with this school, keep going until you find the

right one.

Hello all, Thanks for

all of the advice lately.  Adrienne is 4 and will be running into IQ

and such in the near future. I need some advice - I am struggling

with her preschool this year.  She attends the school district's early

childhood special education program.  She is not doing as well there as

I know she could and I am getting discouraged.  She goes 3 mornings a

week there.  She could go 4, but I feel strongly that we need a few

days a week at home together without 'running " .  Her teacher and

especially her speech therapist there feel strongly that if she came

one more morning a we

ek it would make all the difference.  We compromised the last few

months and her ST made some home visits on the day she could be in

school.  In her IEP 2 months ago, I asked for more communication home. 

I am getting it - but it is mainly all negative,20and I just don't know

that Adrienne will ever succeed in that classroom.  She is doing well

at home and at private therapy - so to have such negative reports home

on a daily basis is hard figure out. I had gone to school with her for

about a month after the IEP, and they do allow her twin sister Kayley

to attend when they have enough help.  They report she does better with

us around, so  I have found a private preschool that is more than happy

to have both girls in their class next year.   (Kayley is also

struggling at her preschool - asking if Adrienne can come , too) We

have made the decision to register them there and go that route next

year to see how things go - I have good insurance and will do private

therapies as I do now, so she won't be missing out on those.  Has

anyone else had experiences like this?  Am I doing the right thing by

trying another school setting?   Thanks!

 CyndyMadeline (11), Kayley & Adrienne ds (4)