PPCD (spec ed preschool) experiences... | Autism PDD

Our IEP meeting in May was put on a 10 day recess, we meet again in 1 1/2
weeks. The day before, we are requesting to see the PPCD class firsthand,
so we get an idea of the students there etc. But, I would like to know your
first-hand accounts of your PPCD class(es). Specifically, the childrens'
abilities, what the curriculum entailed, and also, what (if any) negative
behaviors your child picked up being in that setting.

THANKS!Elle2239311.289224537I have no idea what a PPCD class is.  However, you have the right to visit and observe any class that they propose your child be placed in.  Also, you have the right to request a "class profile."  That means you can get a list of the IQ's, classification and relevant test scores of ALL the kids in the class they are proposing for your child (with the kids' personally identifying information blacked out, of course). You can even ask how many of the children have BIP's in their IEPs.

Tzoya,
PPCD is Public Preschool for Children with Disabilities.  That's what it's called here in Texas, too.  I guess it's your standard Special Ed preschool class. 

I'm also waiting to find out about our PPCD class.

 

We had 2 years of Early Childhood (in IL that is what it is called).

Year 1 - He was in a class with 8 other kids.  Mostly non-verbal or marginally verbal ASD.  Full day program.  1 teacher, 2 aides.

Year 2 - He was in a class with 8 other kids.  This was a "cross-categorical" class.  Included kids with ASD, ADD/ADHD and speech/language impaired.

Both years very good experiences.  SpEd is managed on a county level here.  The plus side is they do a great job placing kids in classes with other kids of similar abilities and issues.  For example, they do not place ASD kids in class with ED/BD (emotional disturbed/behavior disorders) kids.  The downside is that it's rare for a SpEd child to be in their home school.  Each school district hosts a number of special ed classes.  Since there are so many different programs odds are your child would be bussed to a different school than their home school.

We call it Early Chilhood Special Education its thru the public school system.

This is exacly how our class worked.

 

[QUOTE=WIMomOf2]

Where I live, it's called Early Childhood.  The children had a wide range of abilities.  Some kids were extremely verbal, some did not speak at all.  Some kids were potty trained, some were not.  There was one child who used a walker.  Another girl was legally blind.

My older son never picked up on anything negative from another student.  My youngest son had a non-verbal boy in his class who made strange noises.  My youngest thought it was funny and would mimic him at home.  He eventually stopped doing this.

If any of the kids misbehaved, I would hear about how so & so was naughty.  The teacher was very experienced and handled the class really well.  We never had any problems.

As far as the curriculum is concerned, they had themes each week/month. They would do art projects, sing songs, and make snacks that tied in with the theme.  They had circle time in the morning, during which they would talk about the weather, the calander, and sing songs.  They worked on Kindergarten readiness skills, such as learning their upper and lower case letters, indentifying numbers, learning shapes, learning colors, singing the alphabet, rote counting, counting objects to 10 (1 to 1 correspondence), and writing their name.  They also had time to play and work on social skills.

We were really happy with the program. 

[/QUOTE]

Our cirriculum was very similar to WiMom's--I too, live in Wisconsin, so I don't know if that is a statewide thing.  Mason went 2 1/2 years--he did have an IEP that included speech and OT also.  He went M-Th from 8am-10:30am--he did switch to the afternoon class about 2 months into his second year on a recommendation from his teacher, because she thought Mason fit in with those children a little more than the morning children. 

One thing I liked was that once a month (on the Fridays off) the teacher would come to our home for about an hour and play games and do projects with Mason...it was techinically an evaluation to see his progress, but the games included numbers, letters, writing his name etc...they had a "score" that we were to aim for, that said academically he was ready for kindergarten.

edited: the classes included ages 3-5--the reason for the switch was because there were more 4 & 5 yr olds in the afternoon class and a lot of younger kids in the morning class who wore diapers and since we were working on potty training with Mason-she thought it would be better for him to be around other's who were training or already trained...plus the speech with older kids was better for Mason too.  I thought it was great that she noticed that and made that suggestion to us.

emerald_52139311.3069444444 Here in FL they are called ESE Pre-K. Payne LOVED his prek once we got the right teacher/ ass't. He learned so much. His class had pictures EVERYWHERE. They ate breakfast in the class together. It was WONDERFUL - I still tell his prek teacher when I run into her that she was my miracleworker. I love when people ask me about her too...now if only I could find a way to replicate her so that she can continue teaching Payne b/c it would be selfish for me to steal her from the little ones.
Payne's Mom39311.2405324074Here also they call it PreK - I want to see also what it will be like

Where I live, it's called Early Childhood.  The children had a wide range of abilities.  Some kids were extremely verbal, some did not speak at all.  Some kids were potty trained, some were not.  There was one child who used a walker.  Another girl was legally blind.

My older son never picked up on anything negative from another student.  My youngest son had a non-verbal boy in his class who made strange noises.  My youngest thought it was funny and would mimic him at home.  He eventually stopped doing this.

If any of the kids misbehaved, I would hear about how so & so was naughty.  The teacher was very experienced and handled the class really well.  We never had any problems.

As far as the curriculum is concerned, they had themes each week/month. They would do art projects, sing songs, and make snacks that tied in with the theme.  They had circle time in the morning, during which they would talk about the weather, the calander, and sing songs.  They worked on Kindergarten readiness skills, such as learning their upper and lower case letters, indentifying numbers, learning shapes, learning colors, singing the alphabet, rote counting, counting objects to 10 (1 to 1 correspondence), and writing their name.  They also had time to play and work on social skills.

We were really happy with the program. 

http://idea.ed.gov/static/partCNprm 

This is the federal law on EI.  Each state implements it very differently.

Thank you everyone...and (as always, you are a Godsend!!) tzoya, your
info is awesome! I thought we could observe the class, but didn't know it
was a right of ours, nor all of that other information. Calling & writing in
for that today. THANKS!

Marilyn--we are in TX (I went ahead & changed the post name, I thought
it was that name throughout). I'll let you know what I do find out, but I
think it varies widely from district to district. We are in Fort Worth area.
Feel free to PM me.

Thanks Payne'sMom & WIMomOf2 for your experiences. I'm back & forth
whether dd will do well in this program. Ultimately, I think she will.
There are many things she needs help with, the things other kids her age
are already get. If anyone has more stories to share, please do! Elle2239311.2906712963[QUOTE=WIMomOf2]

Where I live, it's called Early Childhood.  The children had a wide range of abilities.  Some kids were extremely verbal, some did not speak at all.  Some kids were potty trained, some were not.  There was one child who used a walker.  Another girl was legally blind.

My older son never picked up on anything negative from another student.  My youngest son had a non-verbal boy in his class who made strange noises.  My youngest thought it was funny and would mimic him at home.  He eventually stopped doing this.

If any of the kids misbehaved, I would hear about how so & so was naughty.  The teacher was very experienced and handled the class really well.  We never had any problems.

As far as the curriculum is concerned, they had themes each week/month. They would do art projects, sing songs, and make snacks that tied in with the theme.  They had circle time in the morning, during which they would talk about the weather, the calander, and sing songs.  They worked on Kindergarten readiness skills, such as learning their upper and lower case letters, indentifying numbers, learning shapes, learning colors, singing the alphabet, rote counting, counting objects to 10 (1 to 1 correspondence), and writing their name.  They also had time to play and work on social skills.

We were really happy with the program. 

[/QUOTE]

This is pretty much how his PPCD PK was and was not very long from 8-12 or from 12-3 it was made of 3 & 4 yr olds. I think the younger ones would go in the morning and older ones in the afternoon. When they would stand in line they would hold onto a noodle which had rope on it and they would alternate line leaders, I guess it helped them stay in line better and they looked so cute too!

I think PPCD is different in every district.  We were in Frisco, Texas.  I found that the 1:6 ratio was good for the children who were mild on the spectrum.  Our child was more severe.  We could see small improvements and kew he could do so much better with a 1:1 approach.

Also, some districts have special PPCD classes for those with language delays.

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