annmarie

[Guest guest]

I know Charlyne wrote to you - she is a great advocate for keeping a child

included in the regular school setting.

My son was not dx with ASD until he was 12 and he is also older - so here is

another view. He was in regular school setting from age 5 until age 10,

fully included in the regular classroom - tantruming, refusing to sit, much

of the time, but integrated withhis body in the class. Some years, he was

in a great classroom with collaborative teaching and OT and SLP both in a

group and in individual settings.

After he was 10, we moved and his age group was part of the middle

school. Here we oved him to his first self-contained classroom with a

teacher who treated all the kids as if they had a leraning disability. IF

Elie was out of order, she sent hiom to OT for sensory input. The best part

of that year was OT - I really began to see how OT for his SENSORY NEEDS -

not just fine motor, could help him live a life.

The next year we transferred again. This time to a small school district

who had a 25 year experienced teacher for the 'multidisability' class. HE

WAS WONDEFUL. Again, Elie was self contained but not all day. HE took

arts, computer, and social studies with his 6th grade classmates. OT, SLP

was sometimes good and sometimes miserable, but now he was on a sensory diet

- which we wrote into his IEP> This is the year he learned to read - and

lost his reading ability 3 separate times - reading to where he was in what

is called STEP 2 books and then not even being able to read rhyming books.

So very sad!

Then we moved again after 4 years. Elie was now 15 and while some of his

behaviors were better, he still couldn;t stand crowds or noise or being in a

room with too much furniture and he would lash out- hirtting someone for no

apparent reason. The local h/s was not a possibility as he could not change

classes in a building of over 1,000 people. The slef contained classroom

was wall to wall desks with barely room to move, and the curriculum was set

- not individualized. We decided to allow the school district to send him

to a privatae day school 45 minutes away (on a good day) where he was in a

selfcontained school of children with muti-disabilities - some cognitive,

some phys, some psych. He was fne there until our last move.

Here in GA, he went to the local h/s. HE was in a small (6 kids ) self

contained class with a teacher and 2 aides and he took PE with the football

players, was able to at lunch in the cafeteria, had a fantastic OT/PT

therapist, an OK SLP, and a fantastic teacher. HE actually started to work

at a real job at the local college.

Sorry this is sooooo long, but I think you can see that the TEACHER may be

more important than the setting. But the right therapies to meet your

child's needs are also vital.

So were I you, I would start with a developmental pediatrician. We went to

a large teaching hospital where a developmental Team of peditrician,

educational psychologist, OT/PT/SLP/ behaviorist - all looked at our son and

gave recommendations.

This was done in 2-3 visits. And Elie really showed his colors there too.

HE floor flopped, he ran away, he refused to follow directions - and he

hugged every one and asked their name. It took us until he was 12 to learn

to do this - don''t wait as we did!!!!

> I thank all of you who responded. I'm at work all day today and

> have a lot of information to look at and sort through. At least I

> have a direction now. I am going to take him to get more

> professional testing and find out for sure. I have ordered books

> too, one just arrived. The shock is lessening and my anger is

> increasing. My six year old deserves better than a preschool and

> this school district is poor at best. I am so disgusted with them, I

> really feel they just can't do any better. My initial reaction is to

> get him out of there as soon as possible. I do feel they are dying

> to ship him off, but isn't that better than him staying with

> them? Camelot school in Hoffman

> Estates called me and has set up a meeting with to see if

> they can met his needs. The director said they have music therapy,

> swiming once a month, etc. Does anybody know of someone who has

> attended?

>

> Everytime I have visited my son in his present school, he has

> been sitting around a table with other children (all verbal) and a

> teacher's helper sits right behind him and guides his every move.

> They're usually making a craft project. He gets frustrated and might

> throw a crayon and the helper just picks it up and does all the work

> for him. This is his OT therapy. Yesterday, I emailed this OT

> therapist and asked her if she always works with in a group

> setting or is there ever any one on one. Also what specific

> activities is she working on. Her response, " Yes I see Mikey in

> group settings. That is how the program here is-I am part of the

> program integrated in the classroom. We work on many activities such

> as: cutting, drawing, coloring,manipulating small objects and hand

> strengthening tasks. I hope that answered your questions. " Well I

> guess she really got specific! Is this normal? They have never been

> able to move beyond Mikey conforming to their simple schedule. It's

> obvious that he is not on the other children's level and he has made

> zero progress. He doesn't sit well for storytime, tabletime, etc.

> Should a child be expected to cut out and color a bear before he

> knows how to hold a crayon properly?

>

> Sorry for going on and on. You all have helped the light bulb go

> off in my head. I will have to fix this mess without this school's

> help. THANK YOU....

>

>

>

--

Sara - Life is a journey- we choose the path.