Stuck and not sure what to do about my son and behavior in school

My son is 5 and in kindergarten. He is in a 12:1:1 (specialized kindergarten). He has apraxia (motor speech disorder and some O/T issues. Cognivitly he is doing fantastic, knows all his letters, numbers and is starting to read. The district did not want me to put him in a special Kindergarten but since our district only has half day, I fought for it so he'd be in a full time setting since he gets pulled for speech so much. Here is the problem, there are only 10 children in his class, a teacher and two aids. Every single day I get a note home telling me that he is being defiant and acting out. I know he is extremely immature especially since he didn't start talking until he was 4, but I don't know what to do anymore. He does not act out at home and is very complipent such as he'll clean up his toys, play nicely etc.

I love the teacher to death and she has plenty of experience (15+ years) but doesn't have experience with an apraxic child. For example, when my ds gets upset she says "use your words" which he cannot. He doesn't have spontaneous language unless it is learned. I was happy he was in a small specialized setting, but I feel that with only 10 children and two additonal aids, she should be able to figure out some sort of behavioral modification for him that could be used to help.

I'm a teacher as well as my husband so I do understand what she is going through. At this point I don't I'm not sure what to do. I was thinking he might benefit from a one on one, but obviously they have enough people in the room for that. Any suggestions????

Re: Stuck and not sure what to do about my son and behavior in school

While he is learning to say words, can he use an individualized picture chart to express what he wants? One apraxic child in my center carries picture cards held by a ring hooked onto his belt loop. He has pictures for "bathroom", "juice", "hug" etc. As he learns how to say certain words in Speech, the picture is removed. It allows him to make his needs known.

Your DC teacher might not mean to be harmful by saying "use your words", but for an apraxic child who CANT, saying that is cruel.


ed to include: The speech therapist who works with the child I know constantly updates his "word list" and supplies it to eveyone who works with him. It includes words he can intelligibly say as well as the approximations, so everyone knows when this child says "oo-ee" he means "cookie"

Message edited 12/1/2010 5:31:11 PM.

Re: Stuck and not sure what to do about my son and behavior in school

Thanks for your response. My son has a larger vocabulary now and doesn't use pec cards anymore. He also did have a dynavox which he graduated from as well. Now that he has a lot of speech he can communicate, but it is the fact that he still can't get spontaneous speech especially when it has an emotional component.

When he is told to calm down and given the words to say, such as, "when you are feeling like this, you can say this." He does well. I'm a little annoyed b/c this is a big reason we put him in a special setting especially since there is one teacher and two full time aids with only 10 children in the room.

I'm thinking about asking for a one on one. I'm not sure what to do anymore. He is really a good, boy and when given a chance he does so well. I feel that the staff at the school has no experience with apraxia what so ever and this is part of the problem to begin with. I was told about this in the beginning so I did know it would be a bumpy ride. It doesn't help that my ds also is not a typical presenting case of an apraxia child either.

Re: Stuck and not sure what to do about my son and behavior in school

Re: Stuck and not sure what to do about my son and behavior in school

Yes, over and over. The teachers were also supposed to go to various workshops to get tools to help them work with children who have apraxia and they have yet to attend any.

Re: Stuck and not sure what to do about my son and behavior in school

There must be a reason why he is acting out. Does he have a behavior chart? Or some sort of reinforcement for when he does the right thing?? I am a special ed teacher and I always try and get them to do the right thing as opposed to concentrating on the wrong thing...maybe he would benefit from one of these behavior mods...I would be surprised if the teacher did not use this yet....fm me if u need some info

Re: Stuck and not sure what to do about my son and behavior in school

Just wanted to send since I feel like apraxia is not something a lot of people understand or know how to treat.

Could some of your ds's behavior be tied into sensory needs ? Perhaps he needs some sensory input or a place he can go to soothe himself when things are overwhelming. Since it's an inclusion class is there a sensory area for the kids ?

Message edited 12/2/2010 9:10:32 PM.