Typical preschool with an aid??

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	Anyone tried this with a moderate to severe autism diagnosis?? Matthew is VERY limitedly verbal... has a large labeling vocab but NOT conversational at all.  The only questions he can answer are those he's been taught to script in ABA (like what is your name and how old are you).  All of his word combos are taught and scripted... no novel language.  He struggles following directions but can do single step if motivated and something he's been introduced to before (like go get your shoes).   He's got one heck of a memory... darn near photographic... and does learn pretty quickly though. Anyway... we are trying to figure out school placement for next year.  School is recommending another year of the intensive program (what he does this year... which is one on one... 4 students in the classroom, 3 teachers, and a therapist in the room at all times).  They gave us the choice between half day (what he's done this year) or  full day for next year.  Which there are pros and cons to each in our view.  Full day is obviously more services which is good but it would mean no nap and rescheduling his private ST and OT and possibly cutting down on his ABA (he gets 20 hours of in home ABA in addition to school). So I asked our ABA consultant what she thought between full and half day.  She and the psychologist overseeing his program are DEAD SET we should put him into a regular typical church based preschool program with an aid and completely forgo the school districsts offers.  I jsut don't see him doing well in that environment... his teachers at school said they didn't even think he was ready for the "regular" special ed integrated classroom yet.  So how on earth could I put him into a totally typical school?? I am just wondering what others experiences have been.  And if any one has any insight for what we should do for placement.  Frankly, that strikes me as a really weird recommendation.  Are you happy with the program he is in this year?  Has he made progress?  Sounds like the school is giving you a pretty decent offer, and you can always reschedule OT and ST.  By age 4, he is probably not going to need a nap.  Bottom line, if you can't see him functioning in a typical preschool, if your gut is telling you NO, then don't do it.  You know your son, you will do what is right for him.  I would be really curious to know why the consultant and psychologist want to put him in a typical preschool where he probably would not have an IEP. Harriet One of the critical factors to success is how well trained and adapt the assistant is.  This could be a disaster if this assistant is not top notch and has good skills for including your child into the regular class.  ....ask the team if you could go half day at the chuch pre-school and half day at the public school I don't think a typical preschool sounds like the right choice.  Maybe the ABA consultant and psychologist have a GENERAL preference for inclusion, but a placement decision has to be INDIVIDUAL.  It sounds like your son doesn't gain language spontaneously, so the rich language environment of a typical preschool would not be a big benefit. How does he handle larger groups of kids in other situations?  Could he handle a class size larger than four kids? I agree that naps should be phasing out pretty soon, but he might still need a big break from demands in his day. My kids have aids in school (weren't diagnosed at preschool age) and I like it, although I know some people think aids foster dependence and various other disadvantages. I have some placement evaluation resources here, if you're interested: http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=26270&am p;KW=placement   My dd Katie is just a couple months younger than your Matthew and very similiar in abilities.  She has no conversational language, can label 100's of objects but says next to nothing independently.  We're working on single step commands and she's learning... but she is no where near ready for any type of NT preschool not even with an aide. Katie attends a full day ABA based program where she gets 1:1 instruction all day.  And while it may seem her communication skills are nil, she is truly thriving in this environment.  Yes, she gave up her nap, in a way - she naps on the bus coming home.  Once she's home from school she has additional therapies.  At one time it was my hope that Katie would attend school with NT peers.  I've since learned that this is what I wanted, not what was best for her.  I've come to realize that Katie needs a program that suits her, not what I want for her.  Right now, this 1:1 based program is what she needs.  All our kids are different, but I personally would hesitate to put Matthew in an NT school even with an aide.  I would opt for a more intense therapeutic environment right now.  I would even go for the full day.  But that's me.  Its hard to figure what's best and sadly alot of times its only thru trial and error.  I wish you all the best in this decision. My son was kicked out of two community/church preschool, even when he had a one-on-one aide. Disaster. My son did not start to progress and even excel until he was in a special ed preschool class at our local public school. I guess it depends on the school district. If you have a good SPED class with good teachers, I would stick with it. The idea of inclusion is way overrated at the preschool level, in my opinion. My dd and ds to regular preschool with an aide.  They've learned alot as have I.   The daily success been largely based on the aide.  We had one aide (who wasn't trained and didn't follow or read the plans etc) and that was bad.   The preschool supervisors were onboard and willing to make needed accomodations to meet their needs.   We've also have some direct support  for the preschool staff from ABA, ST, and OT who come in: observe, make recommendations, and help develop plans.  So, at preschool they incorporate PECS, sign and behavior approaches in the class routines depending on where the area of need is for my kids.   My kid's both also receive ABA and my dd goes to regular kindergarten 2 part days/wk. My kid's are also not adverse to lots of kids, and neither sensitive to noise.. they are more sensory seeking.  Except, for ds touching somethings like playdoh etc and both being adverse to food items. So I would say it takes it alot of communication, collaboration and some frustration.   We do not have "special ed" preschool here it's either regular preschool or no preschool and in home services.  So, there isn't any concept of a child being ready to be included... they are included and participate as they can.
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