Starting school-be honest

In 3 years, DS will start school. Right now he has global delays, the biggest of which is speech. He has made a ton of progress, but he is still behind and he will probably still be behind when he starts K at almost 6.

I know we cannot see into the future, but I am really trying to picture how the whole school thing will work out. Anyone have a DC that is in elementary school or higher? How is it going?

TIA

Starting school-be honest

To be honest DD is doing great....better than I can have hoped. She still has her quirks, sound sensitivities, and few OCD tendencies but all are manageable.

She started K last year not speaking (selective mute), not toilet trained, uncontrollable tantrums that would last 4 hours or more, no social skills and huge sound sensitivity issues.

She now speaks so much you can't shut her up lol, mastered toilet training withing the first month of school, learned coping mechanisisms to deal with the tantrums and hasn't had one in ages (knock on wood), plays with all the kids now, joined Daisy's and is loving it, can read, do math, spells on a 3rd grade level. She is now doing video modeling for other students. It is just amazing how far she has come. I really owe everything to her teacher who I think is the most amazing person in the world. She got DD and understood what her issues where. We worked hard together and she was there for us every single day.

Now she just "graduated" out of the 8:1:1 autism class and is now housed in the 12:1:1 and will start mainstreaming next month. She also doesn't need her 1:1 aide anymore and we will be using a shared.

She is an amazing little girl and every day learns something new, whether it's getting her own napkin to finally drinking from a real cup or memorizing all the exact days of the holidays for the next 5 years lol. It makes you appreciate everything a little bit more!

Re: Starting school-be honest

i was a nervous wreck the min he got his diagnosis at 15/18 months old...

he is now in Kindergarten, he is in a self contained class, in his "home" elementary school and is pushed (mainstreamed) into a typical classroom (NO 1:1 aide) for 1-2 hours a day.

he has made new friends from school (NT friends). he still has trouble communicating with them, but for the most part he tries, they understand him and they love him.

anytime the K classes have activities going on, he is part of it, with no aide. (he is in a K-1 class). yes he has behavior issues, but for the most part, he controls them when needed.

NT children are amazing... they may not fully understand, but they understand enough, some will test his limits and they have received the wrath of AJ, lol, but most know and can sense when he will loose it, and just walk away.

he was in BOCES from ages 3-4 but i always tried to have him interact with his friends that he grew up with, so he was never separated from NT children his own age.

for us, that was a BIG key factor in how well he is doing. he may be in a self contained class 12:1:1, but he still gets all the benefits of mainstreaming with NT children.. lunch, recess, school assemblies, field trips etc.

3 years is a LOOOOOOONG ways to go (but it does go fast) and so much can change...

Re: Starting school-be honest

I have a child that started out in special education preschool. He is on the spectrum, relatively high functioning. Has always been in self contained, with the exception of grades 3, 4, 5 which was inclusion. It didn't work out in Middle School for inclusion, the switching of the classes with the mainstream kids, and keeping up with the work was just too much for him.

He will be in high school next year, which makes me want to cry thinking about since I remember pre-school like it was yesterday. Anyway! He has come a long way. I remember when he couldn't read at all, and then it clicked in 3rd grade. I think the positive role models of the typical kids really helped him progress with that. I've been overall happy with the education he has received thus far!

Message edited 1/8/2013 2:57:39 PM.

Re: Starting school-be honest

DS is not on the spectrum, he is ADHD. He had a lot of difficulty in UPK that we had to pull him out for a SN preschool. he is in Kindergarten this year and has none of the issues from last year. It's quite amazing how they grow and mature.

Re: Starting school-be honest

My DS started Kindergarten this year. The best advice I can give you is worry about this year, and don't get too far ahead of yourself. Three years is a long time and there can be so many changes and so much progress during that time.

As far as how it's going, my DS is in a district elementary school, in a self contained classroom. His speech is still very delayed but he can communicate SO much better than even six months ago. He is bright, though, and is starting to read. He is making great progress and IMO is exactly where he needs to be, with the support that helps him succeed. He loves school and his teacher!

Message edited 1/24/2013 1:37:24 PM.

Re: Starting school-be honest

Posted by dpli

My DS started Kindergarten this year. The best advice I can give you is worry about this year, and don't get too far ahead of yourself. Three years is a long time and there can be so many changes and so much progress during that time.

As far as how it's going, my DS is in a district elementary school, in a self contained classroom. His speech is still very delayed but he can communicate SO much better than even six months ago. He is bright, though, and is starting to read. He is making great progress and IMO is exactly where he needs to be, with the support that helps him succeed. He loves school and his teacher!

Re: Starting school-be honest

If you look at my recent post, at age 2 1/2 DS was mostly nonverbal. I fully credit his amazing ABA teachers for his word explosion. He is 3 1/2 now and is conversational and spontaneous in his speech. It happened so suddenly. One day we were hoping and praying that he would string two words together and the next we was talking in sentences. It is so hard to know where they are going to wind up.