Post by dannysmom on May 1, 2008 20:13:31 GMT -5
Ok, so in my area, the first part of the process to transition is the eligibility meeting. Well, as expected he qualified. Due to his birthday in June, it's a little tricky with school and the ESY. So the Director of Special Ed attended our meeting today to speed up the process for the transition. His actual IEP will be May 21st....but we learned alot today about his placement.
For now, he will remain at his daycare. His daycare is a fully licensed school that has accredited teachers, therapist on staff. So, even though our city has cut all programs at satellite locations....they've agreed to let Daniel stay at his daycare for the last week of school as well as the extended school year. I was VERY happy.....I didn't want him to transition to the summer preschool and then transiiton again to his preschool class in the fall. So Yeah
They also told me what his placement will be for the fall. 5 days a week.....1/2 days in a reverse mainstream class. 8 kids with IEP's and 4 peer models. I asked about full days and they said their full day programs are self contained and a child his age really would do better with 1/2 days. The elementary school that houses the integrated class is not my local school.....but a few miles away. As luck would have it, my cousin is the guidance counselor in this particular elementary school. Although she's not too familiar with the preschool program (she's there for the elementary school kids)....she knew the teachers, therapists and overall said it was a good program.
So, while I've dreaded today for so long....it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I had this fear that once the school department got ahold of him...it would all about his weakness, areas of need and things he couldn't do. It was actually the total opposite. The had so much positive feedback about all the things he CAN do....and while yes, he's delayed, they just focused on how well he did with the testing....how positive they are about how well he's going to do in school....it was just alot better than I expected.
Also, I'm not sure how other states work.....but here, they did NOT provide an IQ score. The eval specifically stated that the child is too young to determine a score. He also received his offical label by the school department as developmentally delayed. She said our city (or maybe even the entire state) has raised the age that kids can keep that DD label to 9 years. Not sure what that really means for Daniel......I guess they give kids time to learn and grow before they truly can asses their IQ. But I'm happy for now...happy my little guy can stay right where he is until September....and happy he'll be close by at my cousins school and we will just hope for the best.
So, anything in particular I should be aware of before this actual IEP? His PT said one thing she wanted noted was due to his small size, she wanted a special chair ordered so he he could get in and out of it himself without getting hurt. I'd love to hear any suggestions on things to ensure I ask for at his meeting.
Thanks for reading my looong post.
For now, he will remain at his daycare. His daycare is a fully licensed school that has accredited teachers, therapist on staff. So, even though our city has cut all programs at satellite locations....they've agreed to let Daniel stay at his daycare for the last week of school as well as the extended school year. I was VERY happy.....I didn't want him to transition to the summer preschool and then transiiton again to his preschool class in the fall. So Yeah
They also told me what his placement will be for the fall. 5 days a week.....1/2 days in a reverse mainstream class. 8 kids with IEP's and 4 peer models. I asked about full days and they said their full day programs are self contained and a child his age really would do better with 1/2 days. The elementary school that houses the integrated class is not my local school.....but a few miles away. As luck would have it, my cousin is the guidance counselor in this particular elementary school. Although she's not too familiar with the preschool program (she's there for the elementary school kids)....she knew the teachers, therapists and overall said it was a good program.
So, while I've dreaded today for so long....it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I had this fear that once the school department got ahold of him...it would all about his weakness, areas of need and things he couldn't do. It was actually the total opposite. The had so much positive feedback about all the things he CAN do....and while yes, he's delayed, they just focused on how well he did with the testing....how positive they are about how well he's going to do in school....it was just alot better than I expected.
Also, I'm not sure how other states work.....but here, they did NOT provide an IQ score. The eval specifically stated that the child is too young to determine a score. He also received his offical label by the school department as developmentally delayed. She said our city (or maybe even the entire state) has raised the age that kids can keep that DD label to 9 years. Not sure what that really means for Daniel......I guess they give kids time to learn and grow before they truly can asses their IQ. But I'm happy for now...happy my little guy can stay right where he is until September....and happy he'll be close by at my cousins school and we will just hope for the best.
So, anything in particular I should be aware of before this actual IEP? His PT said one thing she wanted noted was due to his small size, she wanted a special chair ordered so he he could get in and out of it himself without getting hurt. I'd love to hear any suggestions on things to ensure I ask for at his meeting.
Thanks for reading my looong post.
