Re: Ready for Kindergarten?

[Guest guest]

I can't tell you what to do, however, I can tell you how things went

for my son (now 6 in 1st grade and in process of formal dx) last

year in Kindergarten. DS was always " quirky " . He was 4 at the time

he entered Kindergarten, but turned 5 a week or so into school.

After the first 6 weeks we had parent teacher confrences. I know my

ds is very active, but he does concentrate (NASCAR and Trains are

his interests). He can and does play for hours quietly in those

subject areas, or sit through 4 hour races on tv (sounds are an

issue for him so going to the tracks wouldnt be a great idea.)

Anyway, after 6 weeks, his teacher tells me he has ADHD or at least

he needs to be tested for it. I explained why I didn't think that

was correct, but that I was willing to work with herto try to

improve his behavior at school. He's impulsive, aggressive, very

intelligent, loves his topics of interest, and throws outright rage

type tantrums when hes bored or upset/frustrated. By Christmas

break, his teacher agreed that it wasn't ADHD but that something was

not right with his behavior and social interaction. At about the

same time he was seeing a therapist who suggested that ADHD seemed

very unlikely, but that Asperger's might be what was going on.

Several sessions later, I was told that no in fact ds did not have

Asperger's due to the fact that you can touch his shoulder/back.

This didnt sit well with me as I had done some research, and he

really does fit most of the criteria. Well I had told ds's teacher

about the possibility and she had another of the teachers in the

school observe him (other teacher had an AS student in her class).

She stated there were alot of similarities (I didn't get this info

until the last few days of school). DS was in trouble probably 3/4

of the school year. He was made fun of and wasnt treated very

nicely by the other students. He cried alot after school. However,

he learned to read (very high on his priority list) 6 weeks into

kindergarten. He also learned some basic math (which is now well

above where it should be). Other than that he was bored and got

into trouble alot. We do have a preliminary dx as 100% classic

Aspergers, but need the official dx and testing to get things going

with the IEP etc.

I don't know if any of this will help or hinder you. For my ds, I

think I might send him to kindergarten again if I could roll back

time. I only say this because he wanted to much to learn to read.

I could have taught him, but he is very vocal about telling someone

when they aren't " following the rules " or " doing something the right

way " . I didn't want the notes coming home saying to please stop

teaching him as the teacher is tried of being told she is doing

something wrong by a 5 year old. Reading opened alot of doors for

him, so that part was good, but the social side was horrible. I

guess I would say you know your child best, if you thing the bad

outweighs the good then go with the pre-k again.

Amarith

ds - 6 yrs, prelim dx AS, formal testing in process

no meds as of yet.