keep her in k4 again?

[melrose7]

To begin with DD1 is 5 and will be 6 in July. She is on the autism spectrum and also has apraxia of speech. She says about 60-70 words, most prompted and only an occasional 2 word combination. we did just get her an ipad to use to communicate though. She went to our early childhood program for 2 years, is in K4 now and I need to decide before our IEP meeting the end of May if I want her to repeat K4 again. She goes right now in the morning for almost 3 hours and then has 5 hours of therapy at home after school mon-fri. Besides have a severe speech delay she still doesn't know her shapes, colors, numbers, or abcs. She has gotten some shapes/colors tests correct but is isn't consistent so I don't know is she is picking the wrong answer on purpose. So my gut is to keep her back another year so she can still have all her intensive autism therapy at home after school and give her another year before she goes full day. The teachers say she likes school and will be fine all day. She's a happy kid who likes people so being at school with the other kids is good for her but just because she likes it there doesn't mean she is going to benefit from a full day. She has an aid with her now but is totally adult dependent that she'll need one all day is she went the full day. Just because she like music doesn't mean she going to get something out of music classes. She can't color in a picture so what is she going to get out of art class. m heart says keep her back but red-shirting isn't popular here and she is 5.5 now with kids that are 5 so not to far ahead but will it be a big deal to be 6 with some 4 going on 5 year olds. One other thing is that my DD2 is going to be 4 this summer and they would be in the same class together. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing either. they get along good for the most part and she plays nicely with her and seems to understand her too. She is also tall for her age so she is bigger than some kids in her class but would only be bigger next year. anyone have any thoughts on keeping back 2 year. oh ya, our school cut off is sept 1

[snowbunnies300]

My DS2 went to 4K with no speech and an ASD diagnosis. He left 4K with some speech (I would say less than your 60-70 words). He knew his ABC's, colors and shapes but needed hand over hand to color.

He is now in K and is talking more and more. He is also reading. He has a full time aide with him. He spends about 1 1/2 hours in the classroom with his peers. The rest of the day he is in the special ed room getting more one on one attention from teachers and aides. The socialization from school is wonderful for ASD kids. Your child gets to see other children and does learn from them. I wouldn't discount music and art classes. Being with other children is just as important as the lessons learned in the classroom. My DS2 still needs hand over hand assistance to do art. He also participated in the winter concert. He was in a little group that played bells during a song. His aide was kneelinig down behind him and held his elbow and helped him ring his bells. He still participated and had a great time even though he couldn't sing the songs. He stood on the risers with everyone else (again aide next to him). DS1 also participates in the winter concert and he doesn't talk at all let alone sing.

It sounds like you would like her to repeat hoping that she is further along developmentally. I would discuss with school whether or not you can start with 4K and if there is improvement that you can move her into K. Another option that I know a another student has done is half day 4K and have day K. He starts the day in K and then after lunch is bused to the 4K location and ends his day there. You would then have to do your at home therapy in the evenings and weekends though.

[Gena]

Will she receive more services in Kindergarten than she would in K4? Is K4 part of the preschool program or is it considered an elementary grade?

We do not have K4 in our public school system here. We have public pre-school (pre-k) and kindergarten. We had the option of having DS do another year in preschool or moving him to Kindy. One of the reasons we chose to move him to Kindy was that he would have access to a LOT more services as an elementary school student than he did as a preschooler.

DS spent his Kindy year in the autism classroom and it was the best placement for him. He thrived there and made lots of progress. This year he is partially mainstreamed in first grade, spending about 60% of the day in the mainstream classroom and the rest in the autism class. Next year, the goal is for him to spend 75% of his day in the mainstream classroom.

You need to find out what services are available at each level see what best matches your child's needs.

[Melanie]

What do her therapists think?

[melrose7]

Right now she is in a regular K4 classroom in the elementary school so it is not a preschool. We don't have an autism or special needs class so the kids are mainstreamed right away. She likes to go, most of the time. Right now she gets speech 3 times a week and OT 2 times a week. I don't think she will get more services even if she is there full day. Possibly PT as she still walks on her tip toes and has some balance issues. Her therapists aren't allowed to go to her school and see her work so they can only base it on what they see at home and what I tell them about school. If she would go to K5 full day we would at least try to have half day 2 times a week so she would be able to have more in home therapy. She only gets this intensive in home therapy for another 2 years so I want to get the most of it.