Re: New here - What about preschool?

December 30, 2006

Hi Janice,

My son has been in the county special-ed preschool 5 mornings a week since he

turned 2. We're in Fairfax County and have the option of either staying with

the home based Early Intervention program or to the public school at 2 - at 3

they must enter the schools unless there are significant reasons why they

cannot. My son sounds much more involved than yours - he has significant

cognitive delays in addition to being non-verbal, but he LOVES school. And I

love it to because I have a few hours a day to myself to do research, clean the

house, etc. and I don't feel guilty about not interacting with him every waking

moment. He is able to get PT, OT, ST there and the school provides good

structure for him, which he needs. He's so charming and sweet he can weasel his

way out of working for me. He works much better for his teachers - little

stinker. Anyway, I feel like it takes some of the pressure off me and I have a

few hours where I'm not shuttling him around for other

private therapies or trying to follow through with whatever exercises we're

working on at home.

Of course all school systems are different and the teachers and therapists who

work in the classroom can make or break how therapeutic it can be for the child.

Just like a private ST can. You just have to have great communication with the

teachers about what is going on the classroom and be a strong advocate to be

sure your child is getting what he needs.

Good luck in your decision,

, mom to Cordis, 3 today!!!, seizure disorder, developmental delays,

non-verbal

my3siamese <my3siamese@...> wrote:

Our son turned 3 in Oct. He was diagnosed with speech apraxia this

month. He has seen a SPL through the school system, and I am

currently taking him to see an independent speech therapist 2 times

per week. He seems to enjoy his sessions with her and she says he is

making progress.

The SPL has suggested a preschool program through Head Start. We

went and did a " trial run " of it for a couple hours. I was

surprised, since I am a SAHM (he is always with me) I didnt know how

he'd be with being left alone. Well, he wasnt really alone - we were

watching through an observation room, LOL. Anyway, he seemed to be

OK with it. Though the other children all talked much better than he

does. The SPL through head start said at this point they consider

him " significantlly delayed "

This is a head start class with 5-6 other kids and 1 special ed

teacher and two teachers aides.

I am thinking about sending him 2 days a week to the afternoon class

which is about 2 to 2.5 hours, and continue with his speech

therapist, which is two 30 minute sessions per week.

Just wondering if anyone else tried the preschool route at this age

and how it worked for you? His speech therapist thinks it would be a

good idea. I'm a little worried he may get frustrated around kids

that can talk so well, but she said they might be good little models

for him.

I honestly was not going to entertain the idea of preschool at all

until MAYBE the year prior to his going to kindegarten, more for

socialization. But I realize here we are talking about 2 different

things as the teachers at head start would be helping him with his

language.

Anyway, please let me know what you think and any experiences, good

or bad.

Thanks!

Janice

December 30, 2006

Hi Janice,

My son is 2 and a half and started preschool ( " playschool " )this

fall. He goes for 3 hours 2 mornings a week. It is a regular

preschool, and as far as I know he is the only child with any

delays/issues there. His SLP had suggested it, and I thought it

would be a good idea to get him around more children for social

reasons as well as speech.

I was worried about it because my little boy is VERY attached to me

and we haven't even left him with baby sitters (which are always

family) much. At first, it was tough. ALL the kids cried, and I

didn't think I could go through with it, but I toughed it out and

after 2 weeks, he was fine. In fact, he came around quicker than

some of the other kids. Now he LOVES it. I mean absolutely loves

it. The school is great; the teachers are great. It's just a

really good fit for him.

Aside from his enjoyment and the extra stimulation the experience

brings him, it has helped him open up and he does communicate more.

Being around other children will not magically make a child with

apraxia speak, but it does expose them to the whole concept of, " I

have to express myself to make my needs known; " it kind of turns up

the desire to make the effort, I think. It also seems like the

experiences trigger more opportunities to piece the language

together. For exp, his teachers told me he loves to paint at

school, and at home we've been working on gerunds. He opened a new

book he got for Christmas, which had pictures of paints on the first

page and he got a big smile on his face, pointed to the picture and

said, " painting! " So I think school just adds some rich

experiences, which is helpful to development overall.

The most important thing is to find the right school for your child

and to give the whole thing a chance because it will be tough at

first, but for us it's been great.

>

> Our son turned 3 in Oct. He was diagnosed with speech apraxia this

> month. He has seen a SPL through the school system, and I am

> currently taking him to see an independent speech therapist 2

times

> per week. He seems to enjoy his sessions with her and she says he

is

> making progress.

>

> The SPL has suggested a preschool program through Head Start. We

> went and did a " trial run " of it for a couple hours. I was

> surprised, since I am a SAHM (he is always with me) I didnt know

how

> he'd be with being left alone. Well, he wasnt really alone - we

were

> watching through an observation room, LOL. Anyway, he seemed to be

> OK with it. Though the other children all talked much better than

he

> does. The SPL through head start said at this point they consider

> him " significantlly delayed "

>

> This is a head start class with 5-6 other kids and 1 special ed

> teacher and two teachers aides.

>

> I am thinking about sending him 2 days a week to the afternoon

class

> which is about 2 to 2.5 hours, and continue with his speech

> therapist, which is two 30 minute sessions per week.

>

> Just wondering if anyone else tried the preschool route at this

age

> and how it worked for you? His speech therapist thinks it would be

a

> good idea. I'm a little worried he may get frustrated around kids

> that can talk so well, but she said they might be good little

models

> for him.

>

> I honestly was not going to entertain the idea of preschool at all

> until MAYBE the year prior to his going to kindegarten, more for

> socialization. But I realize here we are talking about 2 different

> things as the teachers at head start would be helping him with his

> language.

>

> Anyway, please let me know what you think and any experiences,

good

> or bad.

>

> Thanks!

> Janice

>

December 30, 2006

HI

Thank you for your reply. We just got our son started in this

process in November, and here they won't do home visits once they

are 3, and he turned 3 in Oct.

What is nice though is they let me choose whatever I want to do as

far as sending him. So if I try the afternoon program and want to

switch to mornings I can, or vice versa.

They've all told me he is where he should be at with his motor

skills, etc. His comprehension seems to be good to. There just is a

big gap in what he understands, and what he can clearly say.

I'm you're right about the structure. I was surprised, having never

had any experience in this, I guess I had imagined it would be

something like a daycare with kids crying and teachers frazzled,

LOL. but it was not like that at all. The structure was amazing. Its

so nice they have an observation room there.

I completly understand about the time to yourself, to. It gets so

stressful somedays, I think it would be a good " break " for both of

us.

Thanks again for your reply,

Janice

December 30, 2006

Hi, yes I know just what you are saying, our son has never had

babysitters either, other than my husband's sister and that has only

been a few times.

He likes being around other kids. The day we took him to the

preschool (we watched through the observation room) he was

fascinated by all the other kids and was really taking it all in.

This would be through Head Start, and I have to say they've been

really helpful so far. I can pick and choose what days and times I

want to send him. And increase it or decrease it as we see fit.

I just wish they had a little more of " middle of the road " schedule,

LOL. They only have mornings which would be 8:30-12:30, or

afternoons which is 12:30-2:45. The morning session we think would

be a little too much for him, at least at first.

I think we are going to try the 2 afternoons per week for awhile and

see how it goes. If he really likes it and its going well I can

always increase it or change to the longer morning schedule.

Thanks again for your input!

Janice

December 30, 2006