CST meeting

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I had a very busy morning!!! We had a meeting about my 6-year-old (the one with

Asperger's) and his recent testing. Then we had a meeting about , where

we got a little summary of how he's doing and signed the paperwork allowing them

to do his evaluation (he'll be 5 in April so this is the school-age evaluation).

His teacher says he's doing well. He imitates and follows the other kids in the

class much of the time, except in circle time where they all sit in a row...she

has sit next to her and across from the other kids sometimes, which

helps.

She told us that they've ordered a GoTalk! for , with 20 words. If he

does well with it (which they're thinking he will), they'll do a full assistive

tech eval. He's using PECS and sign and following sign and spoken commands. He

and his aide have an incredible rapport and she truly LOVES him (and he LOVES

her!). She does his DT with him and his sensory diet stuff.

Academically, is matching well, and sequencing letters for his name.

They're working on sequencing patterns, too, as a preliminary to sequencing

other words.

OT-wise, he's learning well and is a willing participant. He's cutting nicely

with self-closing scissors, he's able to dress and undress (if the shirt is

loose). They're working on drinking from a cup.

PT is using derotation straps with his Sure Steps. He's getting stronger with

them and not in-toeing as much. He's much more stable and he's got much better

stamina.

So they're going to assess him using a test that's mostly interviews and stuff,

rather than having him do tasks. He's not likely to be very cooperative.

For next year, they do want to advance him to kindergarten. I'm thinking, he's

doing so well where he's at, why not keep him there another year, but they think

he's ready to move on. We'll talk more about that at the next meeting after his

testing. They would like to put him in the autism class, rather than the MD

class, because of several things, really. DT/ABA for one, and the behavior plan

will work more like the current class. He'll also have the sensory diet built

into the day (which is something they do in the autism class but not the MD

class). The CST manager said that for now, the autism class is the right place

for him, but later on when the MD class moves to more life skills\vocational

teaching, he will probably move there. Like middle school-age, not any time

soon.

I'm great with keeping him in the autism room and do feel that the teachers

there are better equipped to help him...they'll be more likely to promote

communication, will incorporate the sensory diet and activity, etc. But I'm not

so happy about promoting him o kindy. The case manager said that everyone on

the team says he's ready, but academically, he doesn't seem ready to me. I just

dunno. Am I ready for homework? SIGH.

What do you guys think? I have an appt at the T-21 clinic with Dr. Pipan the

day before our next IEP meeting and I'll be very interested in what she says.

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" We will either find a way, or make one! " -- Hannibal