Sunday, 25 April 2010
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School wants to mainstream my daughter, please Help?
My daughter, Raven is a five year old with autism. For the last two years the school she attends has kept her in a small preschool setting, they now want to mainstream her into kidergarden, she does not meet most of the criteria for this.She does not yet write, barely speaks at all, she wanders all the time, in other words she needs constant supervision and direction. In the preschool setting they have been using a picture schedule and a lot of one on one. She does not read, only a very limited amount, she is not yet pottie trained, in fact she's scared to death of the toilet. These are just a few of the things they think she will magically be able to do next year. We've been recieving help since she was diagnosed three and a half years ago.
I am lost, don't know where else to turn.
I am scared to death that with a class of twenty plus children and one teacher, they are not going to be able to give her the time or the guidance she needs, not to mention she is what's called a "runner", if she's not being watched she will wonder away, she's not affraid of it.
She has done it before, and if they don,t notice, what then???? Please, is there anyone out there that can help me ???
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Comments (14)
Homeschool her. Show her you care enough to not hand her to strangers.
don't sign the iep
If they try to mainstream her (ex. change her IEP to that setting) all you have to do is NOT SIGN the IEP and they can't implement it without ALL team members agreeing to it.
Your daughter sounds a LOT like my son at that age and he was in a regional education setting for autistic children ... very low student to teacher ratios (typically 2:1) and sometimes he even got 1:1 for the majority of his day.
Fight the fight until they give you what your child deserves and is able to handle!
Don't sign the IEP until it is one that you know will work for your daughter.
Just home school here. That's not illegal...yet.
Does your school district have an ILCS or separate "special ed classroom"? Depending on the district and where you live, this should be an option available for parents. I work in an elementary school ILCS, and our district provides transportation for all our students. We serve the entire district, so our kids are bussed in from wherever their 'home' school is. Talk to your administrator to see if this is an option. Your child should definitely be placed in an environment where she can succeed!
We've got a high teacher-to-student ratio in our classroom, and I can't imagine our kids in a regular school setting. Wishing you an easy 'fight', if you have to fight at all!
I teach a Grade 1 class in Canada and I have a student who sounds similar to your daughter. He is in a regular class, but with the full-time support of an ABA-trained teaching assistant.
Homeschooling. Or just slam the school with lawsuit after lawsuit, they'll learn to watch her.
@Bluekiller2025@xanga - It used to be illegal. I think it still is in some places. Even where it's not, it's still extremely regulated.
@NightCometh@xanga - Strangers who do not care. You forgot the last four words.
Homeschooling - all right for those who have the leisure to do it! I did it for a bit but neither I nor my kid enjoyed it until I got him into a group of three with a proper teacher we employed. If its not an option for you or you don't want to lose the major peer group socialisation factor, then just absolutely stick to your guns. You are entitled not to change an educational plan, it generally can't be forced on you.
Can you get a one on one assistant for her? That is what my husband and I did when they mainstreamed our little girl. Once the school provided a para-professional, then we agreed to the IEP in the traditional classroom.
Why would mainstreaming be a problem for your daughter? The most complete answer to this question will at least guide your advocacy & IEP concerns. You would help develop the IEP that requires your approval & signature and that would obviously result in full time assistance. With all this in place your daughter would definately benefit from the individual support and training she would receive with the opportunity for modelling and practice of skill development with her age peers. Expect the best for your daughter and from your daughter as you monitor the situation and request IEP reviews as needed. Draw on all resources available to you and your daughter ~ all the best for all of you.
unfortunately many school districts try to mainstream as many kids as possible for budgetary purposes. not sure what the solution is honestly, but I've heard of this happening a lot
*edit* also, unlike what some people are saying, homeschooling is not some magical cure. many people are simply not equipped to home school their children and it can be very difficult to do, especially for a child with special needs. there's nothing wrong with needing a little help and a little break every once in a while, and millions of people come out of public schools every year and go on to do great things