monstermama Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Sorry, this is a bit disjointed, but I'm 38 weeks pregnant and my ability to be coherent and rational has basically gone out the window :) For that reason, I'd love feedback from all of you much more experienced parents. I'm a bit overwhelmed. My just-turned-3 year old had his IEP meeting today with the local school district. My concern was his speech delay. We've been working with a private SLP for almost a year now (30 minutes 2x a week) and with Early Start (an hour 2x a week) and while he's made amazing progress, I was concerned that he seemed so far behind others in his age range. We started a twice a week parent participation preschool in September and the difference between him and the other kids was very jarring. With that said, he's made some big strides and just started saying some two- to three-word phrases in the past month. He can't answer most wh- questions, can't tell you his name or age (on the rare occasion he'll refer to himself, he still calls himself "baby"), and isn't able to narrate pretty much anything. For example, just last night while playing he told me "Cookie Monster hungry! Eat cookie!" and I burst into tears because that was the first time he's EVER done anything like that. So, while I expected to hear that he'd qualify for services, I was a little bit surprised that his primary qualification was a probable autism diagnosis. After the school psychologist walked me through the criteria they observed with him, though, I can definitely understand why. He also had his three year checkup today, and I received a referral to a developmental pediatrician to confirm the autism diagnosis, though the first available appointment is in March. In the meantime, I agreed to start him in a 3 days a week preschool at the local elementary school (on the days he's not at the general ed preschool) on a modified schedule, and we're going to reconvene in 30 days to see how that's working. While he loves going to his current preschool, he also has a lot of difficulty separating from me, so I'm honestly terrified of how he'll respond to even the modified schedule of 2 hours away from me (a full "day" of preschool is 4 hours). Some scores from the IEP: BDI-2: both receptive and expressive at 15 months Rosetti Infant-Toddler Language scale: 15 months, with scattered skills up to 18 months GARS-3: 75, autism very likely They also did the Vineland-II but the scores were all over the place. So, with that giant data dump... I guess I'm just asking for feedback about the tests used and whether your kids found special ed preschool helpful, along with any other suggestions for someone who hadn't seriously considered autism before. And warm fuzzies. While I'm still unsure about the autism diagnosis, there is a part of me that thinks I've had my head stuck in the sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 (edited) I would accept the autism diagnosis, because it opens doors for you and services. It's the broadest label to get access to the most things. What you don't want is to get piecemeal, miss the broader diagnosis, and then have them try to yank your speech therapy or this or that. That's great that your speech therapy is doing well and he's making progress. Yes, my ds had issues with wh- words. It's a common part of the mix. You have a long journey. How you take it is your choice. You don't *have* to put him in the longer preschool. Will your state still provide services if you homeschool or are not enrolled in the ps? Our state has a disability scholarship and process for people who aren't enrolled in the schools, so they still get services. Edited November 21, 2015 by OhElizabeth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 My son was diagnosed with autism (autistic disorder and global developmental delay) right before he turned 4 He had a wonderful experience in special needs pre-school. His teachers were lovely people and the other kids were a really nice group of kids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat w Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I agree with both OhE and lecka. We did the PS preschool . My oldest did it three years in a row and it was a very good experience. He got all the therapy offered by PS and a great overall sn teacher. Both boys went all day. Was an all day program. I cannot say enough good about it and the improvements he made. The older lil guy ( I have 5 kids-8 yr gap in between older bio kids and adopted boys that we've had since they came home from hospital) ...anyway...he was completely non verbal except for laughing until he was 3 and a half. Then made only grunts or..sounds and only occasionally. The PS program totally turned him around. We have the whole gammit over here. We used private therapists too . Honestly the PS therapists ( except speech) did more with him than all of our private therapists ( except one there too ) . Take all the help u can get. And. Ya never know, putting him in w reg ed kids may motivate or give him opportunity to imitate which could be a great springboard for improvements. You just never know what will work with these little guys till you try. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I'd go for the special Ed preschool, for sure. The therapists: speech, PT, OT, & sped teacher should all work in the classroom with all the kids. For example, circle time may be planned by the teacher one day to go along with their weekly theme, then the next day by the speech therapist to work on language, with all the kids. Having all the disciplines in the same place every day all day usually works very well, as opposed to "just" getting speech privately a few times a week. You could also qualify for speech & other services at home thru the district in most places, but for kids with lots of needs, it often works better to get them in preschool so all the therapists are working together in a program, rather than speech coming one day, OT another day, etc. Good luck! Hang in there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermama Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 Thank you all for talking me back off the ledge :) I would have loved to do preschool at home with him, but, honestly, I've been at a loss as to what to do with him since all the typical preschool stuff is way over his head. I took pictures of his teacher and the classroom, so I'm going to start talking about it with him tomorrow. The diagnosis was a bit of a shock since all of the other therapists we've worked with have said that he didn't have it.... but, all in all, I understand that label opens a lot of doors for him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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