Starting Kindergarden

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I have a old a four year old who was recently diagnosed with Aspergers. He is quite smart and I'm sure he could handle public school academically but he has some substantial sensory issues that I think will make it hard for him to be in a large kindergarten classroom. At the same time I am hesitant to put him into a special private school because of the cost and because I am afraid he may not learn coping strategies. Any advice? Right now he is in a six person PPCD pre-school and he really loves it.

I personally would have stayed at the preschool we were at until DS was 20 if I could have! Seriously though, the main part of our kiddos' problems is basically being behind their peers in social and emotional development. Waiting longer to enter Kindergarten gives them a chance to mature more relative to their peers. If it is at all possible for you, I would delay starting K.

What is the PPCD recommending?

When does he turn 5?

Will they provide another year of PPCD if you wait?

What kind of supports are they planning for him in kindergarten?

He was not on the spectrum, and showed no developmental delays, on district testing but his teacher wisely kept him in the the program and suggested we see a developmental pediatrician who said Aspergers. For now it doesn't matter because his teacher agrees with the Aspergers diagnosis and has been working really well with him, but I guess we need to get his re-tested by the school district. It is kind of frustrating. I think the public kindergarten in the area is nice and I will have no hesitation sending my typically developing daughter there when she is older, but I'm not sure that is the best option for my son. Waiting a year to send him to kindergarten is not a bad idea. I will look into that.

I talked to the school psychologist and it sounds like the district is going to accept the diagnosis so that is good. I think I'm going to talk to them about holding him back at his next ARD. Thanks for the advice!

My ASD son is 3 so we are not there yet, however, I am curious about Kindergarten. Do they get the same therapies when in Kindergarten as they do in pre-school?

My high functioning Aspergers son also did awesone in pre school....he was in a small ratio class. he was being declassified for K, this was before his diagnosis. The district was putting him in a reg K, in our district thats 28 kids one tacher. My son wouldnt have done well in that setting, but based on his test scores, etc...that was the only placement they would offer. I decided to homeschool him and it was the best decision for all of us! Once he had his diagnosis, the district refused to accept it, but was willing to give him integrated (he gets speech and OT) which is 26 kids and 1 teacher, special ed teacher comes half a day to work with the teacher not the kids. Not a good situation for my son.

I agree, the pre school setting was great for my son, and if I could have duplicated that in elem school he would be there!

So what do you have to do to get your child in a smaller K class with at least 2 full time educators? My son has communication delays so he was "diagnose" by the school. However, he didn't have all the traits to get the diagnosis from the neurologist.

You need to convince them that it is necessary. We got one because of behavioral issues. Our school had Kinder inclusion classes that has an aide, but honestly the aide spent quite a bit of the time with my son. It was not a hard sell, because they would have had to put him in PPCD for another year otherwise, and this cost them less money.

In 1st grade, the principal had to show the district there was a need, and we we lucky in that the principal was on our side with this, even though the district wanted to cheap out. So we got transitional help for a few months until my son was able to handle the transition to the new school/system better. He is now without an aide but I think that is b/c the teacher is better equipped to handle him, and b/c he matured a bit over the summer.

It helps to get the teacher on board, and the teacher is more likely to help you if there are behavioral issues or you just happen to be lucky and get a really invested teacher. If the teacher does not feel it is necessary, you'll have more trouble. The educational diagnosis should be sufficient, but sometimes you need extra ammo, if you get resistance. You will need to prove that your child cannot get a Free Appropriate Public Education without an aide.

My son is 3 and is currently in a school for kids with developmental delays. I am really happy he is there. The school goes up to grade 12 but he is in the preschool side. I didn't know that I had the option of keeping him in the school past pre-K. Are you saying that I can get the disrtict to pay for him for Kindergarten and even grade1?