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Kindergarten options for my ASD kid

M

Maj99

New Member
Hello,
I have a 5 years old son with ASD. He has severe speech delay and can
only speak and follow simple sentences with 3-4 words. Currently, he is getting
ABA from a therapy center. We are planning to admit him in kindergarten. We
actually have following two options, but can't decide which one is best for him:

1. Admit him in a less renown school with less special education facilities, but
provide a shadow teacher from the therapy center. He can participate in normal
kindergarten class as much as possible with his therapist. His therapist strongly
suggests to keep him around neurotypical peer so that he can learn more from
them.

2. Admit him in a renown school in a "special ed" class. However, his therapist
can't shadow him since the school doesn't allow anyone from outside. His class
teacher will decide when to send him in normal class. So, he will get less
interaction with his neurotypical peer.

We are very very confused. It would be great if anyone can provide me
some advice regarding this issue.

Thanks.
 
Maj99 said:
However, his therapist
can't shadow him since the school doesn't allow anyone from outside.
Click to expand...

This would concern me.

What reason do they have for this rule?

I don't know which approach is better for him....I think which school is best depends more on how the staff and the other children treat your son and how the staff teach him than how much exposure he has to neurotypical peers.

How much any autistic person can learn from neurotypical peers depends on more than just being around them....it depends on how inclined the autistic kid is to pay attention to and interact with or copy other kids, on how well the autistic kid gets along with the other kids, on the behavior of the other kids, on how the other kids treat the autistic kid, and on how comfortable the autistic kid is in the school environment....a child that is constantly overwhelmed won't learn anything as well as a child that is comfortable.
 
the_tortoise said:
This would concern me.

What reason do they have for this rule?
Click to expand...
That's what the special education coordinator of my county told us. They allowed it before, but not any more.
I guess, there may be conflicts in methods which they both follow (the special Ed teachers and the therapists
in the center); or, it may be the authority. I'm not sure.
The therapy center also acknowledged that and suggested to admit him into a school in another county
where they have access and can send a shadow teacher for him.

Thank you for your reply.
 
Maj99 said:
That's what the special education coordinator of my county told us. They allowed it before, but not any more.
I guess, there may be conflicts in methods which they both follow (the special Ed teachers and the therapists
in the center); or, it may be the authority. I'm not sure.
The therapy center also acknowledged that and suggested to admit him into a school in another county
where they have access and can send a shadow teacher for him.

Thank you for your reply.
Click to expand...

You are welcome. I suspect you'll get lots of responses in time.

If it were me I would want to send my child to a school where independent oversight was possible, where they didn't exclude outside therapists/aides. Refusing to let outside aides/therapists in makes me wonder if they are extremely inflexible in their methods of working with the children or if they use behavioral management/teaching methods that many would find wrong.....to me it would be a bad sign/red flag as far as the kind of treatment and education my child might receive.....

I think individualization is extremely important in education, to ensure a child has the opportunity to reach their full potential -- for all children, but especially for children with special needs.

(Note that I do not have any children, I am an autistic adult.)
 
First impression, the first one sounded better to me.

I think I read/heard ABA is basically a form of torture? Is it not? Have you had the opportunity to observe it much? Maybe I'm thinking of something else.
 
That 1st option sounds the best to me. Hope whatever choice you go with that it all works out for your family.
 
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