Guest guest Posted April 5, 2001 Report Share Posted April 5, 2001 In a message dated 4/5/01 6:57:37 PM Pacific Daylight Time, writes: > 's principle attends? Yeah, why? Aren't they all supposed to attend?? The diagnostitician (can't spell) all his teachers, therapists, my advocates, people from MHMR, and princ. or assist. princ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 I have been through exacally what you are talking about. My son was already five in December the year we had to choose. Academically he was right on cue, but socially and verbally he was very far behind. He was attending Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Physical Therapy. We opted for keeping him in Pre-K for an extra year to give him the opprotunity to catch up somewhat with the other kids on social skills. He started Kindergarten this year and was able to attend regular classes for all but two hours a day. The school that he attends does not have classes every day for Kindergarten and he was attending Pre-K 4 days a week. We opten for doing repetative Kindergarten which simply means that he basically has to complete the same papers twice a week, sings the same songs twice a week, and gets to learn the same things with two different sets of kids. I think that this gives him a lot more social opprotunities and opens his horizens as far as everything not being exacally the same. One day he may color his bunny blue and the next dat it might be brown. It really worked out good for him. He has gotten good marks and has learned to read and do addition and subtraction just as fast as my typically developing older son did. If you have any doubts that your child is not ready then go ahead and wait. It was well worth it for us. Let me know what you decide and keep in contact with me if you like. Have a great day and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 OK... My personal opinion.. You know your child.. But the way I decided.. Was.. I figured.. I Could handle the life skills teaching... Until it became apparent that my child would need more.. But until then... I wanted them to teach him!! Teach him the skills that would allow his brain to do what it is capable of.. My child was non verbal .. And now is a great kid of age 10 and almost to grade.. On everything.. While in a special Ed class... He does grade four work and grade 5 work... ( his age would be grade 5.. So he's only a little behind academically.) This is the same child.. They recommended for life skills. If your child gets older.. And is clearly not able.. ( meaning there is a mental retardation or further diagnoses.) then.. Allow them to go life skills.. But start out with shooting for the stars Hon.. From there.. You can lower the bar if you need to.. But.. Its a lot harder to get them to go from life skills to academics.. In my experience. -- ( ) ARD Meeting Hi, I and my wife met with the school for the annual ARD meeting today for my son who is 4.5 yo. They are currently recommeding a lifeskills class with 90 minutes of kindergarten every day. Apart from the language delay (and it is significant but he is definitely verbal), he can easily qualify as high-functioning or aspergers. So, at this time we are faced with several choices: 1. Regular pre-K with an aide. 2. Lifeskills class with 90 minutes of kindergarten 3. Lifeskills with 180 minutes of kindergarten I am totally confused as to which path to follow as all of them have their pros and cons. The one thing that I do not want to do is to underestimate him and put him in a class where he'll get bored. I have a feeling that lifeskills class is going to be pretty boring for him. The problem is that the goals that they listed for him (e.g. greeting people with reminder), he is already doing them 90% of the time at home. But, for whatever reason, he does not want to do it for his teachers. So I know that he is perfectly capable but won't do it for his teachers. Next alternative: pre-K with an aide, means he is staying one year behind. He will be below his academic level, but since he was born in August, it might give him a chance to catch up a little bit in terms of maturity. I also know that he cannot handle regular kindergarten because of his maturity and lack of focus. He gets distracted very soon. But academically, I feel that he can handle the curriculum. Has anyone else on this site gone through a similar dilemma? I would love to hear your opinions. __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Thanks Janie and with your wonderful replies. I think at this time, I too am leaning toward repeating pre-K with an aide. we are rejecting the school's IEP based on a life skills class. I am attaching the letter that i am going to mail to the school district tomorrow. would love to hear your comments, suggestions, do-nots, etc.: Here is the letter: This is to notify the XYZ ISD that after careful consideration of {son}’s IEP goals for next year, as proposed by his PPCD staff, we do NOT feel that a placement in a life skills class is appropriate for {son}. We are proposing a program where {son} will be going to a regular pre-Kindergarten with the help of a one-on-one aide appointed by the school district. Most of the goals listed in his proposed IEP have not taken into consideration the tremendous improvements that have occurred in the past few months in {son}’s behavior and general skills. At home and other settings, such as friends’ homes and shopping centers, {son} is performing most of the goals listed in his IEP about 90% of the time. We strongly feel that at this time, his self-help skills and general interaction skills are emerging rapidly, satisfactorily and consistently. Therefore, life skills is neither a concern, nor is it appropriate to set the IEP goals on things that he is already performing adequately. Please refer to the attached Appendix A ({son}’s self-help skill set) for further information. The alternative that we are proposing consists of a full-time pre-K with a one-on-one aide, with frequent pullouts from the mainstream class to provide other services such as speech, pragmatics and P/E. We are already using techniques such as floor-time at home to help with self-help/life skills and cognitive development. {son} is also receiving private speech therapy/pragmatics for three hours/week. Given the out-of-school services, we feel that the school should focus on his academics, socialization and pragmatics (in this order) in the least restricted environment. However, we also recognize that {son} is emotionally immature for his age due to his diagnosis of autism. Therefore, instead of exposing him to kindergarten at this time, it will be in his best interest to go to a pre-kindergarten with the help of an aide. This is the most appropriate setting for various reasons: 1. It would increase his exposure to other children who do not have a disability. This would serve as a positive role model for {son} given that mainstreaming is the ultimate goal. 2. It would allow {son} to gain more maturity to be able to handle kindergarten in 2007. 3. {son} is not a distraction (anymore than a regular pre-K student) to other children, neither is he aggressive. A full-time aide will make sure that he stays on task. 4. {son} has demonstrated that, with a little prompting from his parents, he wants and often does join other kids in the park – such as see-saw or slides. A regular pre-K, therefore, provides the best environment to encourage and extend this behavior further. A separate life skills class would be too restrictive in terms of providing opportunities for socialization and pragmatics. We feel that, given his emerging skills, the proposed IEP underestimates his abilities based on past experiences, instead of taking into account the tremendous improvements he has shown in the past few months. It also fails to take into account emerging skills. {son} needs to be given another chance to prove otherwise, before we send him to a life skills classroom. Therefore, we are rejecting the IEP as discussed on May 1, 2006 and are asking to reconvene as soon as possible to discuss other alternatives. Thank you, Yours sincerely, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx May 2, 2006 --- janiemop30 <jsilance@...> wrote: > I have been through exacally what you are talking > about. My son was > already five in December the year we had to choose. > Academically he was > right on cue, but socially and verbally he was very > far behind. He was > attending Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and > Physical Therapy. > We opted for keeping him in Pre-K for an extra year > to give him the > opprotunity to catch up somewhat with the other kids > on social skills. > He started Kindergarten this year and was able to > attend regular > classes for all but two hours a day. The school that > he attends does > not have classes every day for Kindergarten and he > was attending Pre-K > 4 days a week. We opten for doing repetative > Kindergarten which simply > means that he basically has to complete the same > papers twice a week, > sings the same songs twice a week, and gets to learn > the same things > with two different sets of kids. I think that this > gives him a lot more > social opprotunities and opens his horizens as far > as everything not > being exacally the same. One day he may color his > bunny blue and the > next dat it might be brown. It really worked out > good for him. He has > gotten good marks and has learned to read and do > addition and > subtraction just as fast as my typically developing > older son did. If > you have any doubts that your child is not ready > then go ahead and > wait. It was well worth it for us. Let me know what > you decide and keep > in contact with me if you like. Have a great day and > good luck. > > > > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 very well done! Your son is lucky to have you for an advocate. Want to write mine when and if I EVER get to that point? (just teasing...) Toni Adnan Rafiq wrote: > Thanks Janie and with your wonderful replies. I > think at this time, I too am leaning toward repeating > pre-K with an aide. we are rejecting the school's IEP > based on a life skills class. > > I am attaching the letter that i am going to mail to > the school district tomorrow. would love to hear your > comments, suggestions, do-nots, etc.: > > Here is the letter: > > This is to notify the XYZ ISD that after careful > consideration of {son}’s IEP goals for next year, as > proposed by his PPCD staff, we do NOT feel that a > placement in a life skills class is appropriate for > {son}. We are proposing a program where {son} will be > going to a regular pre-Kindergarten with the help of a > one-on-one aide appointed by the school district. > > Most of the goals listed in his proposed IEP have not > taken into consideration the tremendous improvements > that have occurred in the past few months in {son}’s > behavior and general skills. At home and other > settings, such as friends’ homes and shopping centers, > {son} is performing most of the goals listed in his > IEP about 90% of the time. We strongly feel that at > this time, his self-help skills and general > interaction skills are emerging rapidly, > satisfactorily and consistently. Therefore, life > skills is neither a concern, nor is it appropriate to > set the IEP goals on things that he is already > performing adequately. Please refer to the attached > Appendix A ({son}’s self-help skill set) for further > information. > > The alternative that we are proposing consists of a > full-time pre-K with a one-on-one aide, with frequent > pullouts from the mainstream class to provide other > services such as speech, pragmatics and P/E. We are > already using techniques such as floor-time at home to > help with self-help/life skills and cognitive > development. {son} is also receiving private speech > therapy/pragmatics for three hours/week. Given the > out-of-school services, we feel that the school should > focus on his academics, socialization and pragmatics > (in this order) in the least restricted environment. > > However, we also recognize that {son} is emotionally > immature for his age due to his diagnosis of autism. > Therefore, instead of exposing him to kindergarten at > this time, it will be in his best interest to go to a > pre-kindergarten with the help of an aide. This is the > most appropriate setting for various reasons: > > 1. It would increase his exposure to other children > who do not have a disability. This would serve as a > positive role model for {son} given that > mainstreaming is the ultimate goal. > 2. It would allow {son} to gain more maturity to be > able to handle kindergarten in 2007. > 3. {son} is not a distraction (anymore than a regular > pre-K student) to other children, neither is he > aggressive. A full-time aide will make sure that he > stays on task. > 4. {son} has demonstrated that, with a little > prompting from his parents, he wants and often does > join other kids in the park – such as see-saw or > slides. A regular pre-K, therefore, provides the best > environment to encourage and extend this behavior > further. A separate life skills class would be too > restrictive in terms of providing opportunities for > socialization and pragmatics. > > We feel that, given his emerging skills, the proposed > IEP underestimates his abilities based on past > experiences, instead of taking into account the > tremendous improvements he has shown in the past few > months. It also fails to take into account emerging > skills. {son} needs to be given another chance to > prove otherwise, before we send him to a life skills > classroom. Therefore, we are rejecting the IEP as > discussed on May 1, 2006 and are asking to reconvene > as soon as possible to discuss other alternatives. > > > Thank you, > > Yours sincerely, > > xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > May 2, 2006 > > > > > --- janiemop30 <jsilance@...> wrote: > > > I have been through exacally what you are talking > > about. My son was > > already five in December the year we had to choose. > > Academically he was > > right on cue, but socially and verbally he was very > > far behind. He was > > attending Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and > > Physical Therapy. > > We opted for keeping him in Pre-K for an extra year > > to give him the > > opprotunity to catch up somewhat with the other kids > > on social skills. > > He started Kindergarten this year and was able to > > attend regular > > classes for all but two hours a day. The school that > > he attends does > > not have classes every day for Kindergarten and he > > was attending Pre-K > > 4 days a week. We opten for doing repetative > > Kindergarten which simply > > means that he basically has to complete the same > > papers twice a week, > > sings the same songs twice a week, and gets to learn > > the same things > > with two different sets of kids. I think that this > > gives him a lot more > > social opprotunities and opens his horizens as far > > as everything not > > being exacally the same. One day he may color his > > bunny blue and the > > next dat it might be brown. It really worked out > > good for him. He has > > gotten good marks and has learned to read and do > > addition and > > subtraction just as fast as my typically developing > > older son did. If > > you have any doubts that your child is not ready > > then go ahead and > > wait. It was well worth it for us. Let me know what > > you decide and keep > > in contact with me if you like. Have a great day and > > good luck. > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 The message is loud and clear except for which plan you are pushing for. In the first paragraph you propose Kindergarten with an aide and later on in the letter you suggest the alternative which is pre- k. I was a little confused as to which way you were feeling comfortable about most. Great job on the letter though. > > > I have been through exacally what you are talking > > about. My son was > > already five in December the year we had to choose. > > Academically he was > > right on cue, but socially and verbally he was very > > far behind. He was > > attending Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and > > Physical Therapy. > > We opted for keeping him in Pre-K for an extra year > > to give him the > > opprotunity to catch up somewhat with the other kids > > on social skills. > > He started Kindergarten this year and was able to > > attend regular > > classes for all but two hours a day. The school that > > he attends does > > not have classes every day for Kindergarten and he > > was attending Pre-K > > 4 days a week. We opten for doing repetative > > Kindergarten which simply > > means that he basically has to complete the same > > papers twice a week, > > sings the same songs twice a week, and gets to learn > > the same things > > with two different sets of kids. I think that this > > gives him a lot more > > social opprotunities and opens his horizens as far > > as everything not > > being exacally the same. One day he may color his > > bunny blue and the > > next dat it might be brown. It really worked out > > good for him. He has > > gotten good marks and has learned to read and do > > addition and > > subtraction just as fast as my typically developing > > older son did. If > > you have any doubts that your child is not ready > > then go ahead and > > wait. It was well worth it for us. Let me know what > > you decide and keep > > in contact with me if you like. Have a great day and > > good luck. > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Well written!!! And accept nothing less. I am not sure about in your area.. But in mine.. The diagnoses gives your child a RIGHT to an aide/and facilitating accomodation.... So keep that in mind if they say NO .. There is no $ for a one on one aide... This can sometimes be like buying a house.. With offers and counter offers.. But accept nothing less and don't be cornered into anything you aren't comfortable with. You sound very reasonable and I will only assume that your mannerly letter will get you what your son needs.. However.. If not.. Don't be afraid to bring out the big guns.. Depending on the situation. -- Re: ( ) ARD Meeting Thanks Janie and with your wonderful replies. I think at this time, I too am leaning toward repeating pre-K with an aide. we are rejecting the school's IEP based on a life skills class. I am attaching the letter that i am going to mail to the school district tomorrow. would love to hear your comments, suggestions, do-nots, etc.: Here is the letter: This is to notify the XYZ ISD that after careful consideration of {son}’s IEP goals for next year, as proposed by his PPCD staff, we do NOT feel that a placement in a life skills class is appropriate for {son}. We are proposing a program where {son} will be going to a regular pre-Kindergarten with the help of a one-on-one aide appointed by the school district. Most of the goals listed in his proposed IEP have not taken into consideration the tremendous improvements that have occurred in the past few months in {son}’s behavior and general skills. At home and other settings, such as friends’ homes and shopping centers, {son} is performing most of the goals listed in his IEP about 90% of the time. We strongly feel that at this time, his self-help skills and general interaction skills are emerging rapidly, satisfactorily and consistently. Therefore, life skills is neither a concern, nor is it appropriate to set the IEP goals on things that he is already performing adequately. Please refer to the attached Appendix A ({son}’s self-help skill set) for further information. The alternative that we are proposing consists of a full-time pre-K with a one-on-one aide, with frequent pullouts from the mainstream class to provide other services such as speech, pragmatics and P/E. We are already using techniques such as floor-time at home to help with self-help/life skills and cognitive development. {son} is also receiving private speech therapy/pragmatics for three hours/week. Given the out-of-school services, we feel that the school should focus on his academics, socialization and pragmatics (in this order) in the least restricted environment. However, we also recognize that {son} is emotionally immature for his age due to his diagnosis of autism. Therefore, instead of exposing him to kindergarten at this time, it will be in his best interest to go to a pre-kindergarten with the help of an aide. This is the most appropriate setting for various reasons: 1. It would increase his exposure to other children who do not have a disability. This would serve as a positive role model for {son} given that mainstreaming is the ultimate goal. 2. It would allow {son} to gain more maturity to be able to handle kindergarten in 2007. 3. {son} is not a distraction (anymore than a regular pre-K student) to other children, neither is he aggressive. A full-time aide will make sure that he stays on task. 4. {son} has demonstrated that, with a little prompting from his parents, he wants and often does join other kids in the park – such as see-saw or slides. A regular pre-K, therefore, provides the best environment to encourage and extend this behavior further. A separate life skills class would be too restrictive in terms of providing opportunities for socialization and pragmatics. We feel that, given his emerging skills, the proposed IEP underestimates his abilities based on past experiences, instead of taking into account the tremendous improvements he has shown in the past few months. It also fails to take into account emerging skills. {son} needs to be given another chance to prove otherwise, before we send him to a life skills classroom. Therefore, we are rejecting the IEP as discussed on May 1, 2006 and are asking to reconvene as soon as possible to discuss other alternatives. Thank you, Yours sincerely, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx May 2, 2006 --- janiemop30 <jsilance@...> wrote: > I have been through exacally what you are talking > about. My son was > already five in December the year we had to choose. > Academically he was > right on cue, but socially and verbally he was very > far behind. He was > attending Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and > Physical Therapy. > We opted for keeping him in Pre-K for an extra year > to give him the > opprotunity to catch up somewhat with the other kids > on social skills. > He started Kindergarten this year and was able to > attend regular > classes for all but two hours a day. The school that > he attends does > not have classes every day for Kindergarten and he > was attending Pre-K > 4 days a week. We opten for doing repetative > Kindergarten which simply > means that he basically has to complete the same > papers twice a week, > sings the same songs twice a week, and gets to learn > the same things > with two different sets of kids. I think that this > gives him a lot more > social opprotunities and opens his horizens as far > as everything not > being exacally the same. One day he may color his > bunny blue and the > next dat it might be brown. It really worked out > good for him. He has > gotten good marks and has learned to read and do > addition and > subtraction just as fast as my typically developing > older son did. If > you have any doubts that your child is not ready > then go ahead and > wait. It was well worth it for us. Let me know what > you decide and keep > in contact with me if you like. Have a great day and > good luck. > > > > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 i looked again at the first paragraph and cannot find an instance where i am asking for a kindergarten program. i guess i am referring to it as pre-kindergarten in the first paragraph which might be confusing at first glance. i will change all references from pre-Kindergarten to simply pre-K. thanks for reading the letter and giving me pointers. --- janiemop30 <jsilance@...> wrote: > The message is loud and clear except for which plan > you are pushing > for. In the first paragraph you propose Kindergarten > with an aide > and later on in the letter you suggest the > alternative which is pre- > k. I was a little confused as to which way you were > feeling > comfortable about most. Great job on the letter > though. > > > > > > > > > > I have been through exacally what you are > talking > > > about. My son was > > > already five in December the year we had to > choose. > > > Academically he was > > > right on cue, but socially and verbally he was > very > > > far behind. He was > > > attending Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, > and > > > Physical Therapy. > > > We opted for keeping him in Pre-K for an extra > year > > > to give him the > > > opprotunity to catch up somewhat with the other > kids > > > on social skills. > > > He started Kindergarten this year and was able > to > > > attend regular > > > classes for all but two hours a day. The school > that > > > he attends does > > > not have classes every day for Kindergarten and > he > > > was attending Pre-K > > > 4 days a week. We opten for doing repetative > > > Kindergarten which simply > > > means that he basically has to complete the same > > > papers twice a week, > > > sings the same songs twice a week, and gets to > learn > > > the same things > > > with two different sets of kids. I think that > this > > > gives him a lot more > > > social opprotunities and opens his horizens as > far > > > as everything not > > > being exacally the same. One day he may color > his > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 thanks again, Chris. you have no idea how much your email, alongwith janie, has helped me reach this difficult decision. but based on everyone's input and my own gut feeling, i think me and my wife have made the right decision. i'll keep you guys posted. by the way, is there anyone here from Texas? i wanted to know what their stance is regarding one-on-one aide? --- <cmcintosh5@...> wrote: > Well written!!! And accept nothing less. I am not > sure about in your area.. > But in mine.. The diagnoses gives your child a > RIGHT to an aide/and > facilitating accomodation.... So keep that in mind > if they say NO .. There > is no $ for a one on one aide... This can sometimes > be like buying a house.. > With offers and counter offers.. But accept nothing > less and don't be > cornered into anything you aren't comfortable with. > You sound very reasonable and I will only assume > that your mannerly letter > will get you what your son needs.. However.. If > not.. Don't be afraid to > bring out the big guns.. Depending on the situation. > > -- Re: ( ) ARD Meeting > > Thanks Janie and with your wonderful replies. > I > think at this time, I too am leaning toward > repeating > pre-K with an aide. we are rejecting the school's > IEP > based on a life skills class. > > I am attaching the letter that i am going to mail to > the school district tomorrow. would love to hear > your > comments, suggestions, do-nots, etc.: > > Here is the letter: > > This is to notify the XYZ ISD that after careful > consideration of {son}’s IEP goals for next year, as > proposed by his PPCD staff, we do NOT feel that a > placement in a life skills class is appropriate for > {son}. We are proposing a program where {son} will > be > going to a regular pre-Kindergarten with the help of > a > one-on-one aide appointed by the school district. > > Most of the goals listed in his proposed IEP have > not > taken into consideration the tremendous improvements > that have occurred in the past few months in {son}’s > behavior and general skills. At home and other > settings, such as friends’ homes and shopping > centers, > {son} is performing most of the goals listed in his > IEP about 90% of the time. We strongly feel that at > this time, his self-help skills and general > interaction skills are emerging rapidly, > satisfactorily and consistently. Therefore, life > skills is neither a concern, nor is it appropriate > to > set the IEP goals on things that he is already > performing adequately. Please refer to the attached > Appendix A ({son}’s self-help skill set) for further > information. > > The alternative that we are proposing consists of a > full-time pre-K with a one-on-one aide, with > frequent > pullouts from the mainstream class to provide other > services such as speech, pragmatics and P/E. We are > already using techniques such as floor-time at home > to > help with self-help/life skills and cognitive > development. {son} is also receiving private speech > therapy/pragmatics for three hours/week. Given the > out-of-school services, we feel that the school > should > focus on his academics, socialization and pragmatics > (in this order) in the least restricted environment. > > However, we also recognize that {son} is emotionally > immature for his age due to his diagnosis of autism. > Therefore, instead of exposing him to kindergarten > at > this time, it will be in his best interest to go to > a > pre-kindergarten with the help of an aide. This is > the > most appropriate setting for various reasons: > > 1. It would increase his exposure to other children > who do not have a disability. This would serve as a > positive role model for {son} given that > mainstreaming is the ultimate goal. > 2. It would allow {son} to gain more maturity to be > able to handle kindergarten in 2007. > 3. {son} is not a distraction (anymore than a > regular > pre-K student) to other children, neither is he > aggressive. A full-time aide will make sure that he > stays on task. > 4. {son} has demonstrated that, with a little > prompting from his parents, he wants and often does > join other kids in the park – such as see-saw or > slides. A regular pre-K, therefore, provides the > best > environment to encourage and extend this behavior > further. A separate life skills class would be too > restrictive in terms of providing opportunities for > socialization and pragmatics. > > We feel that, given his emerging skills, the > proposed > IEP underestimates his abilities based on past > experiences, instead of taking into account the > tremendous improvements he has shown in the past few > months. It also fails to take into account emerging > skills. {son} needs to be given another chance to > prove otherwise, before we send him to a life skills > classroom. Therefore, we are rejecting the IEP as > discussed on May 1, 2006 and are asking to reconvene > as soon as possible to discuss other alternatives. > > > Thank you, > > Yours sincerely, > > xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > May 2, 2006 > > > > > --- janiemop30 <jsilance@...> wrote: > > > I have been through exacally what you are talking > > about. My son was > > already five in December the year we had to > choose. > > Academically he was > > right on cue, but socially and verbally he was > very > > far behind. He was > > attending Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, > and > > Physical Therapy. > > We opted for keeping him in Pre-K for an extra > year > > to give him the > > opprotunity to catch up somewhat with the other > kids > > on social skills. > > He started Kindergarten this year and was able to > > attend regular > > classes for all but two hours a day. The school > that > > he attends does > > not have classes every day for Kindergarten and he > > was attending Pre-K > > 4 days a week. We opten for doing repetative > > Kindergarten which simply > > means that he basically has to complete the same > > papers twice a week, > > sings the same songs twice a week, and gets to > learn > > the same things > > with two different sets of kids. I think that this > > gives him a lot more > > social opprotunities and opens his horizens as far > > as everything not > > being exacally the same. One day he may color his > > bunny blue and the > > next dat it might be brown. It really worked out > > good for him. He has > > gotten good marks and has learned to read and do > > addition and > > subtraction just as fast as my typically > developing > > older son did. If > > you have any doubts that your child is not ready > > then go ahead and > > wait. It was well worth it for us. Let me know > what > > you decide and keep > > in contact with me if you like. Have a great day > and > > good luck. > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Subject: Re: ( ) ARD Meeting Thanks Janie and with your wonderful replies. I think at this time, I too am leaning toward repeating pre-K with an aide. we are rejecting the school's IEP based on a life skills class. I am attaching the letter that i am going to mail to the school district tomorrow. would love to hear your comments, suggestions, do-nots, etc.: Here is the letter: This is to notify the XYZ ISD that after careful consideration of {son}'s IEP goals for next year, as proposed by his PPCD staff, we do NOT feel that a placement in a life skills class is appropriate for {son}. We are proposing a program where {son} will be going to a regular pre-Kindergarten with the help of a one-on-one aide appointed by the school district. Most of the goals listed in his proposed IEP have not taken into consideration the tremendous improvements that have occurred in the past few months in {son}'s behavior and general skills. At home and other settings, such as friends' homes and shopping centers, {son} is performing most of the goals listed in his IEP about 90% of the time. We strongly feel that at this time, his self-help skills and general interaction skills are emerging rapidly, satisfactorily and consistently. Therefore, life skills is neither a concern, nor is it appropriate to set the IEP goals on things that he is already performing adequately. Please refer to the attached Appendix A ({son}'s self-help skill set) for further information. The alternative that we are proposing consists of a full-time pre-K with a one-on-one aide, with frequent pullouts from the mainstream class to provide other services such as speech, pragmatics and P/E. We are already using techniques such as floor-time at home to help with self-help/life skills and cognitive development. {son} is also receiving private speech therapy/pragmatics for three hours/week. Given the out-of-school services, we feel that the school should focus on his academics, socialization and pragmatics (in this order) in the least restricted environment. However, we also recognize that {son} is emotionally immature for his age due to his diagnosis of autism. Therefore, instead of exposing him to kindergarten at this time, it will be in his best interest to go to a pre-kindergarten with the help of an aide. This is the most appropriate setting for various reasons: 1. It would increase his exposure to other children who do not have a disability. This would serve as a positive role model for {son} given that mainstreaming is the ultimate goal. 2. It would allow {son} to gain more maturity to be able to handle kindergarten in 2007. 3. {son} is not a distraction (anymore than a regular pre-K student) to other children, neither is he aggressive. A full-time aide will make sure that he stays on task. 4. {son} has demonstrated that, with a little prompting from his parents, he wants and often does join other kids in the park - such as see-saw or slides. A regular pre-K, therefore, provides the best environment to encourage and extend this behavior further. A separate life skills class would be too restrictive in terms of providing opportunities for socialization and pragmatics. We feel that, given his emerging skills, the proposed IEP underestimates his abilities based on past experiences, instead of taking into account the tremendous improvements he has shown in the past few months. It also fails to take into account emerging skills. {son} needs to be given another chance to prove otherwise, before we send him to a life skills classroom. Therefore, we are rejecting the IEP as discussed on May 1, 2006 and are asking to reconvene as soon as possible to discuss other alternatives. Thank you, Yours sincerely, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx May 2, 2006 **** This sounds great! The only piece I would change is at the end when you say he " needs to be given another chance to prove otherwise... " He shouldn't have to prove otherwise - they should be providing appropriate goals and teaching. So I might say something about collecting appropriate data to show he has mastered X number of goals - such as, " If you look at your data, it will show he has mastered X number of goals and that the life skills class is not appropriate. " Roxanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Subject: ( ) ARD Meeting Hi, I and my wife met with the school for the annual ARD meeting today for my son who is 4.5 yo. They are currently recommeding a lifeskills class with 90 minutes of kindergarten every day. Apart from the language delay (and it is significant but he is definitely verbal), he can easily qualify as high-functioning or aspergers. So, at this time we are faced with several choices: 1. Regular pre-K with an aide. 2. Lifeskills class with 90 minutes of kindergarten 3. Lifeskills with 180 minutes of kindergarten I am totally confused as to which path to follow as all of them have their pros and cons. The one thing that I do not want to do is to underestimate him and put him in a class where he'll get bored. I have a feeling that lifeskills class is going to be pretty boring for him. The problem is that the goals that they listed for him (e.g. greeting people with reminder), he is already doing them 90% of the time at home. But, for whatever reason, he does not want to do it for his teachers. So I know that he is perfectly capable but won't do it for his teachers. Next alternative: pre-K with an aide, means he is staying one year behind. He will be below his academic level, but since he was born in August, it might give him a chance to catch up a little bit in terms of maturity. I also know that he cannot handle regular kindergarten because of his maturity and lack of focus. He gets distracted very soon. But academically, I feel that he can handle the curriculum. Has anyone else on this site gone through a similar dilemma? I would love to hear your opinions. I think this is a common problem to face for many of us. It is such a personal choice also. But we chose to put the child ahead with the idea that he will always be behind socially. We did this with both our HFA boys...in fact, our youngest made the cut off by one week and we put him forward because he was advanced academically. Worse than being autistic was being bored and autistic. Lol. Roxanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.