Thanks, guys for your replies. Sorry it took so long to respond...icky cold here, been resting as much as I can.
Anyways, thanks again for the input -and the goals were excellent, NorwayMom, thank you!
Keeping my fingers crossed all goes well!
Evie,OK, I said I was going to take a break from the boards, but this is something I'm really worried about.
Jason is slated to start his sped pre-school on the fifteenth-yay! Half-days, in the morning, five days a week. It seems like a good placement. Transportation is taken care of for right now.
That said...I'm really nervous. It has become clear to me that Jason has a much bigger problem with transitions than I had thought. Our home runs on a routine, so much so that I didn't even really realize it until therapists pointed it out to me as a good thing for him. Hence, he's quite comfortable at home, because the same things happen at the same time every day, for the most part. Upsets in his routine (doctor's visits mostly) that aren't fun are a real nightmare.
When we did the transition meeting, he came with us, and wow, what a mess. Getting him to transition from activity to activity in such a short period of time is going to be very difficult at first. How long does it usually take for kiddos to adapt to the classroom environment? I know that it's possible he could have a "honeymoon" period as well. I just want to get an idea of how difficult this will be for him, so that I don't give up on doing it. KWIM? I know that it should be a really good experience for him, once he gets used to the new routine. It's just that he usually takes months to adjust to big changes!
Sorry for the length, but this has really been weighing on my mind lately. Being sick as a dog myself doesn't help me keep my head screwed on right about this, either. Could really use some advice or some BTDT, if I haven't managed to piss everyone off...
Talk to the school ahead of time. Make sure they have a good accommodating attitude about it. Does he have an IEP? Make sure that includes goals and appropriate methods to help learning to transition, for example social stories, visuals, etc. -- not just "give it time".
Below are some sample IEP goals for transitioning. Good luck with everything!
Content Strand: Sensory Motor
Annual Goal #43 _________ will increase ability to transition from one activity to another ___________ % of time as measured by
____________ (evaluation tool).
Objective #1 Use a visual to transition.
Objective #2 Use a concrete object to transition.
Objective #3 Use a sensory motor activity prior to transition.
Objective #4 Use a sensory motor activity/technique during the transition.
Objective #5 Complete the transition within the time specified by the teacher.
Content Strand: Sensory Motor
Annual Goal #48 ________ will increase ability to calm self when anxious or frustrated _____ % of the time as measured by
________ (evaluation tool).
Objective #1 Take a rest break.
Objective #2 Use relaxation techniques.
Objective #3 Use sensory motor techniques/activities.
Objective #4 Demonstrate appropriate emotions during difficult tasks.
Objective #5 Demonstrate appropriate emotions during transitions.
Objective #6 Demonstrate appropriate emotions during group activities.
Objective #7 Demonstrate appropriate emotions during changes in routine (substitutes, altered bell schedule, etc.).
Content Strand: Classroom/School Skills
Annual Goal #6 ____________ will transition effectively between classes, between activities, from bus to school, from class to
mainstream class, etc. with ____________ frequency as measured by ____________.
Objective #1 Line up appropriately.
Objective #2 Walk in line with other students keeping pace of the leader without making physical contact.
Objective #3 Change promptly from one activity/assignment to another without excessive hesitation or complaining.
Objective #4 Move directly from one location to another without disruption (e.g., classroom to classroom, playground to
classroom, classroom to library, etc.).
Objective #5 Keep hands and feet to self.
Source: http://www.bridges4kids.org/IEP/iep.goal.bank.pdf
Hi Evie,
Abigail, at three (your child's age, iirc) was a transition-monster. She needed a 1:1 aid in her first placement. Even so, she yelled and tantrumed for up to an hour at a time, several times per day.
By the end of the first year, she was doing better, but still needed the aid.
During her second placement, at 4.0, she did not need the aid anymore (though we were in a new, stingier state, so who knows). The long, frequent tantrums resumed, but by the middle of the year, they were much better, and by the end of the year, she was transitioning perfectly and having no problems.
She started mainstream kindy a few weeks ago, and she's had some problems again, mainly when asked to transition from work that she's not finished with (especially drawing). These must not be too severe, though, because the regular ed teacher handled it (and there are 24 students in the class), though we did have a few tense weeks and a few notes home.
She's reportedly doing better, now.
So, for us, it's really been years and this is still a problem, but what we've learned is that it's a bigger problem at the beginning of the year and it improves over the course of the year, and that overall, the duration of the period where she has this problem has gone down each year.
I say, don't worry too much about it - just make sure the school is ready (and they will be if he's in s special ed/developmental placement). Our kids need to desensitize, imo, and need to learn that they cannot control the environment around them through their behavior. This is an important life lesson and I think the only way to learn it is through a long period of desensitization to it. Our kids will have to live in the real world one day, and will have to learn to 'go with the flow' and, recognize tension as it's building, and learn self-calming/de-escalation techniques.
I don't think that the kind flexibility that they will need can be modelled easily at home or in a restrictive, accomodating program, so my advice would be to go with the least restrictive environment and have the folks working with him stay firm and not modify their own behaviors or expectations (within reason) to avoid tantrums.
Rather than bending over backwards with accomodationing his rigidity, I would err on the side of having 1:1 support to deal with the behaviors, but not allow him to have a cushy, self contained existence at school. Until his language is a bit more developed, though, I would imagine that some sort of visual prompting system would be needed. Half the problem with transitions, in my experience, is just not anticipating them. A five minute, verbal warning of an impending transition goes a long way for helping Abigail deal with them.
Make sure self calming techniques and working on transitions is in the IEP, and I, personally, would empahsize the importance of having high expectations of behavior and not going overboard trying to make his life, at school, as comfy as possible to avoid the behaviors - but that's just my opinion based on my experience.