preschool with aid | Autism PDD

Our 3 1/2 yr old daughter just got dx with mild-mod pdd-nos, anxiety, and absense seizures. We are trying to get her into a speech therapy school that does some ABA but it's going to take a while..maybe until Jan for a spot to open. I am thinking about sending her to a regular preschool with an aid but I have no idea how to do that. She has OT, ST, and theraplay right now every week. Anyway, what type of preschools (private) will be open to the idea of an aid and to a special needs 3 1/2 yr old? How do I approach the preschool without scaring them away? And how do I find an aid?--

Thanks!

Mamabear, can you tell me where you live? We're currently doing this with
our ds, and it's been great.

If you want, you can PM me.

Take care!We are also doing this with my son. We already had an established ABA/VB program and hired one of our tutors to be his aid. I just heard word of mouth that a certain preschool has accepted children with mild-moderate autism in the past. I spoke with them to see if they were open to us sending an aid and they were. Let me know what info might be helpful to you.

I'm assuming you've considered the school district's special ed preschool, with an aide provided (if your daughter qualifies).

As far as private preschools go, you might want to contact your local Autism Society of America chapter or support group (www.autismsource.org). Maybe someone can recommend a private preschool based on positive experience.

Good luck with everything.

if you are going private you may want to ask whichever school you are looking for if they know someone suitable for the position. They often have extras' who come in to cover, so theyy could choose someone they are comfortable with. Then, you need to get the aid trained and a little plan of action in place. An aba consultant would normaly do this for you if you have one. Mainstreaming works well for us. Good luck!

Mamabear,
You could also consider Head Start. My son just started (he's 3) and they provided a one-on-one aide for him. His aide is wonderful and I couldn't be more pleased. The Head Start program is very good and free! Normally, you have to be low income to attend, but if your child has a diagnosed disability you can get him in if they have an opening. If they don't have one, you can go on the waiting list.
We're still waiting for the school district to START their testing. They wouldn't accept the evaluations we had, but Head Start did. I think I'm much happier with Head Start anyway. But a good aide makes all the difference.

Thanks Ladies. I am scared to approach our school district in fear they will not help her enough or at all. We have had all the evals thru our health insurance so far but I will research more into our school district. This is all so overwhelming still.