Thank you so much, that was very helpful. I will ask for all of those things and we are attending our 1st observation next Thursday. I'm sure I'll have follow up questions at that point!
I found your comment about 1:1 aid and dependency very relevant to what we are seeing right now in Kindergarten. C's aide used to be glued to him, but the teacher and aide both noticed that C tends to want to socialize with his aide more than the other kids. The team is now working on reducing that dependency by having Sheryl work with C to get him started on a task and then she steps back and watches from across to room, only stepping in if needed. They keep emphasizing to me in team meetings how C is making progress but with "lots of support." On some level, this kind of bugs me. I know that home and school are different, but outside of school C gets treated like a NT kid. We treat him the same as his twin brother. He gets same discipline, has same chores, same expectations, he goes to a mainstream day camp in the summer with no aide, participates in sports with no accomodation, sits in church just like the other kids, and he has adapted just fine. At one point I used to "brush him" in church to keep him calm but he started asking for it all the time so I just stopped, and after a while he stopped asking. We still travel, go to parties, drag kids to stores. We haven't changed our life at all. Is it normal for a kid to be so much "more autistic" at school?
School demands are constant. Also, we parents subconsiously "accommodate" our kids since we know them so well. Also, they trust us so much more. All kids are different in different situations. Oftentimes kids on the spectrum behave much better in school than at home. With others, it's the opposite. And things can change over time. You are doing a great job. If you remain alert and flexible, you'll know when a placement is correct and when one is not and when that is changing.Hi there. My son is in K this year and we are starting discussions re: goals and placement for next year. The options on the table are regular ed classroom with 1:1 aide and something called the LOP (Learning Opportunites Program) classroom. I'm going to be observing a LOP class next week, and I sent an email to my special service coordinator asking for a copy of the LOP "program charter." She seems confused as to what I'm asking for.
I'm assuming that for this program to exist, and for it to get funded, someone somewhere must have put together a document describing the program objectives, target student population, teacher requirements and that someone somewhere is measuring its effectiveness. I'm guessing that it isn't called a charter but something else. Is there a specific name for what I'm asking for? Do you have any advise as to what specifically I should ask for and what I should reasonably expect to receive?
This year C is in a reg ed kindergarten with 1:1 aide and pullout for speech & ot. I think he is doing "ok" - definitely not great but it isn't a disaster either. I really want C to be mainstreamed because I want him around NT kids as much as possible, but I sense the school team is leaning more toward the LOP class....
It is vital that you view all the classes that are possible options. Don't discount your take on the particular teacher. While asking for a certain teacher is not allowed, asking for a particular type of class is. You can always make a case that the class that has the teacher you like is the class that is right for your child. Under the provisions of NCLB (which applies to spec. ed. kids, too), parents can ask for the qualifications of their child's teacher. Also, you can ask for a class profile of the students who will be in your son's glass. Of course, personally identifying information will be excluded, but a list of all the IQ scores, the classifications and other pertinent test scores will be listed. Schools don't want to provide this, but can be required to. Also, check your state's special education regulations for "contiuum of services." It might be called something different in your state. What it is is the part of the law that describes the parameters of individual types of classes. Not every permutation of every class is listed. For example, "inclusion classes" are not an official type of class. They are considered mainstreaming. Some schools consider them a type of incorporated resource room. Classes are categorized by the numbers of student to teacher ratio. A typical self-contained class is 12-1-1. Twelve kids, one teacher, one classroom aide. Of course, individual students can have their own aides, but that does not affect the official ratio. Besides the ratio, classes are sometimes constituted for specific reasons. Like "habilitation/treatment" or "behavior management." You can ask how much background any given teacher has in teaching children with autism as well as her formal training in autism education. If you decide to put your son in a mainstream type of class, you can ask that an autism consultant be brought in at the beginning of the year to give "indirect services." That means he or she helps the teacher and therapists understand how to manage your son and the consultant can also be used to do direct training to staff and the aid. Insist that whatever aid is given to your child be trained BEFORE Sept. Sometimes self-contained placement without a one-on-one aide is actually less restrictive. Having an aide can quicky cause aid dependency, prompt dependency and actually keep the child more isolated from the group he's being taught with. These are all difficult questions. Only you will be able to answer them and probably not before you see the actual classes. This is really not a life or death decision. You can always call and IEP meeting after a month or so to change the placement if you think it's not working.