I finally got DS into a speech program but i'm not sure i'm ready for this!

[Babymakes3]

DS is almost 3.5 and we've had him tested a few times but he is finally into FDLRS speech program! To give you an idea of where he's at speech-wise he scored less than a 55 on the CCAP (avg is between 85-115) and his speech intelligibility is about 20% where a typical 3 yr old is 75% (this means you would only be able to understand 20% of what he's saying where most 3 yr olds you could probably understand about 75% of what they are saying).
So obviously he realllly needs this.

I had his eligibility meeting today and then we established an IEP for him. They are placing him in an intensive therapy program that is 4 days a week for 3 hours each morning. It's a classroom setting with no more than 12 kids in the 3-4 yr old range. I am a SAHM and ds is rarely left with anyone else. I was getting all my stuff together just yesterday to work on registering him for VPK and trying to comes to turn with my baby going to school but now he'll be starting next week. It's actually at the public elementary school that I went to and I went to get my registration paperwork today. Next week is a 3 day week to begin with for public school but he'll only have 2 days there so we thought it might be a good introduction time.

I know he needs this but I feel like i'm doing the wrong thing! I'm not ready to give him up and there have been some tears (mine) shed this afternoon already. I mean he's little and just potty trained (can't do the pants on/off and potty on/off thing by himself yet though) and then add in his food allergies on top of that and i'm pretty much a nervous wreck!

[elephantmeg]

aww hugs. Hang in there

[jellibeans]

I was pretty sad on my ds first day of preschool. I took him by myself, let my baby at home with a friend and geared up for him to sob and not want me to leave. Well, he walked in and started playing and never looked back! I was crushed:( But it is soooo comforting knowing that he loves it. I hope that your ds loves it too and take that time to do something for yourself!

[crl]

I sent ds at 2 1/2 for speech, five days a week, morning preschool. It was hard on both of us, but by the end of the first semester his articulation issues had resolved! It was astounding.

Catherine

[carolinamama]

It is so hard to send our kids to school at first. But after you guys adjust, his speech will improve and you may just find that you enjoy the time to yourself.

As for the potty-going, when DS2 trained last year, I sent him to school in sweatpants everyday. They were so much easier for him to handle. I'm not a sweatpants mom as my boys wear jeans or LE climber pants daily, but it was worth it. I got a few pairs from Walmart for $2 each!

[acmom]

I think it is totally normal to feel that way! I taught a preschool special needs program that sounds very similar and I think most parents felt very similar to you at the beginning (I have my own 3 year old now and I know I would too!).

I would be open and talk to the staff about your concerns (allergies, potty training etc). We always found it helpful to get all the info we could from new families prior to kids starting in our program bc we really wanted to get to know both family and child and make the transition as smooth as possible.

The sweatpants (or other easy pants) are a good idea to help with the potty. I know in my class we always had many kids that still needed help with the potty or weren't yet potty trained, so we were very accustomed to helping with that.

The good news is that I think many kids adjust better/faster than we think they will and he will make so much more progress in that setting vs just a speech session once or twice a week. Good luck!

[sste]

Aw.

But, keep in mind three hours is PEANUTS!! That is drive him there, come home take shower, unload disher, hop on BB, and drive back for pick-up.

My DS is currently attending three hour prek and it "feels" extremely short.

[AngelaS]

That's the type of program they suggested for my dd when she was almost 4. I wasn't comfortable with it and instead she got one on one help from the elementary speech therapist 2x a week for 30 minutes. That worked out great for us.

[cono0507]

My son was speech delayed with poor intelligibility and did a similar half day preschool program at our local elementary school at the time for intensive speech therapy. Half day, 4 days/week. By the end of the school year, he no longer needed an IEP or any further speech therapy. It was a great, gentle way for him to start school and he loved it.
He has food allergy too and while the kids didn't eat lunch there, they did have snack. I provided a supply of safe snacks they kept in the classroom for him for days when he couldn't have the provided snack or if there was any question about the ingredients. (I still do the same and have a stash of safe snacks in his first grade classroom for days when kids bring in birthday cupcakes or the like). We never had a problem. Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly for you as it did for us.

[maestramommy]

:hug: he will be okay, honest. And this will be great for him!

FWIW, I almost enrolled Arwyn in a 2s class way back, but she was still so babyish looking I couldn't do it. She just had speech once a week with an SLP who came to the house. At 3 it was clear her intelligibility still was low (50%), so I enrolled her in the public preschool with an IEP. She still wasn't potty trained, luckily they don't require it. You should see her pic on the first day of school, she was probably the same size Laurel is now! And she cried at dropoff on and off for the first month. But she did great otherwise, made so many strides in that first year.

[katydid1971]

DS was in a program like this and it made such a world of difference. I think he was upset for about the first 10 minutes but after that he was so happy to "play" with everyone. He would look forward to going to be around other kids and play the new games. Its always hard to let your baby go but it is for the best for him. Soon you will be alright with it too. I sat in my car in the parking lot the first week, just in case he needed me ;)