Another kindy question

[namastebiotches]

DS is only 3. He's currently in our school district preschool where he has an IEP set up & all that. He has another year left of preschool. I'm wondering with SN kids.. I know every place is different but do schools typically want the kiddos to try kindergarten out vs recommending another year of preschool? I hope that is the case & if he is having trouble, he can just repeat it (his birthday is right before the cutoff so he's also the youngest kid, at least in preschool right now.)
I'm not exactly sure yet if they have a special ed kindergarten class or not because his preschool is integrated (it's actually only him & a girl who has needs.) Just curious what has been your experience. I know we still have a while to go but it's been in my mind lately.

Eta: I meant I'd rather have him start kindergarten & then repeat if necessary.

[beaf12]

With an iep, your son will not need to meet all the traditional kindy goals, he'll work to meet his iep goals. Of course you don't want him far behind his peers in an integrated class and with a late birthday you could certainly start him late. But just wait and see what his teachers say next year.

[mcribster]

Our son would be the youngest kindy kid next year and they want him to go forward. My instinct is telling me that another year will really help him socially and that we may not need services if we just give him more time. I think every kid and situation is different but it seems like our district almost never holds kids back.

[hopecounts]

Typically they want to move the kids forward on the age appropriate schedule and use the IEP to modify things as needed.
We are redshirting DD because she barely makes the cut off and is in a an ABA school that is a good fit for next year.

[mrsbuttinski]

It's really hard to say.

In over 13 years of participating on ASD fora with parents from all over the country I've seen this play out all manner of ways.

In a lot of places, the district will interpret LRE to mean a class with same aged peers meaning they will not support you in redshirting or retention.

Because there are always new kids being dxd who need a spot in the integrated or SPED preschool classes, most districts are incentivized to turf those who make the kindie cutoff so they can serve the next batch of kids coming up out of EI.

Sometimes parents, opt out of kindie and do services on their own dime only to discover kindie isn't mandatory in their state/district and end up placing their child in first without benefit of kindie.

Keep in mind that students with IEPs can stay in public schools until they're 22, so there's time on the back end to be certain they get everything they need to transition to adulthood. If you opt out of public school for a year, you could miss a whole year of services.

In other places, your district will support this choice and give you the preschool setting for an additional year. They may even suggest it as an option. Your local parent groups would be a better resource for this kind of local information.

IME, a single year at kindie might be moderately useful for certain high functioning kids. But the gap between the social and emotional maturity between a kid on spectrum and their well developing peers broadens over time. DS had a huge leap in social and emotional maturity and skills between 3rd and 4th- he truly "caught up" to where his peers had been at the end of 3rd in many respects. But sometime over the summer they had morphed, as a group, into sophisticated social creatures with a community that was too subtle and complex for DS to be able to hold his own.

Kids on spectrum don't "catch up" until they're 30-ish.

[mcribster]

Jan 22, 2015 10:03:35 GMT -5 mrsbuttinski said:

It's really hard to say.

In over 13 years of participating on ASD fora with parents from all over the country I've seen this play out all manner of ways.

In a lot of places, the district will interpret LRE to mean a class with same aged peers meaning they will not support you in redshirting or retention.

Because there are always new kids being dxd who need a spot in the integrated or SPED preschool classes, most districts are incentivized to turf those who make the kindie cutoff so they can serve the next batch of kids coming up out of EI.

Sometimes parents, opt out of kindie and do services on their own dime only to discover kindie isn't mandatory in their state/district and end up placing their child in first without benefit of kindie.

Keep in mind that students with IEPs can stay in public schools until they're 22, so there's time on the back end to be certain they get everything they need to transition to adulthood. If you opt out of public school for a year, you could miss a whole year of services.

In other places, your district will support this choice and give you the preschool setting for an additional year. They may even suggest it as an option. Your local parent groups would be a better resource for this kind of local information.

IME, a single year at kindie might be moderately useful for certain high functioning kids. But the gap between the social and emotional maturity between a kid on spectrum and their well developing peers broadens over time. DS had a huge leap in social and emotional maturity and skills between 3rd and 4th- he truly "caught up" to where his peers had been at the end of 3rd in many respects. But sometime over the summer they had morphed, as a group, into sophisticated social creatures with a community that was too subtle and complex for DS to be able to hold his own.

Kids on spectrum don't "catch up" until they're 30-ish.

whoops. obvs can't use this new format yet.
I disagree. I would agree with "some kids on the spectrum don't catch up". The jury is out with my kiddo but he has caught up. I understand things accelerate and it may not last but I don't agree with this blanket statement. Kids are on the spectrum for a multitude of reasons and there is a lot of hope for them to catch up (and surpass) before 30.

[mrsbuttinski]

Jan 22, 2015 10:30:04 GMT -5 mcribster said:

Jan 22, 2015 10:03:35 GMT -5 mrsbuttinski said:

whoops. obvs can't use this new format yet.
I disagree. I would agree with "some kids on the spectrum don't catch up". The jury is out with my kiddo but he has caught up. I understand things accelerate and it may not last but I don't agree with this blanket statement. Kids are on the spectrum for a multitude of reasons and there is a lot of hope for them to catch up (and surpass) before 30.

While I do agree that what we put under the umbrella of ASD is likely a range of conditions that have different causes, IME I stand by the notion that "catching up" doesn't generally happen.  

I have had this phenomenon explained to me by more than one well reprected professional. ASD typically brings a delay of 1/2 chronological age; Aspergers with no delays in adaptive skills or language comes with about a 1/3 delay. This is something that is mostly clearly seen watching a child in the context of peers but a well done Vineland- mom and teacher- will generally demonstrate it as well by age 8 or so when more independent skills are expected. This phenomenon is why a lot of kids with more subtle presentations aren't even identified until middle school or beyond.

I have also seen it at work among some of the kids who were older than DS when I entered AS world. I'm starting to see it in the boys on spectrum DS grew up with. Regardless of their education and considerable IQ/talents, they just aren't where their typically developing peers are socially and emotionally. 

Maybe because I'd been watching these young adults flounder and even flame out; I'm seeing  things sort of negatively right now. Even the one who have been very successful academically are behind their peers in terms of things like dating, being fully indiependent in the adult world and acheiving the level of career success one would expect of their level of education/talent at what they do. 

[namastebiotches]

Thanks all for your input.
We actually had a parent teacher conference just last night & I asked his teacher how kindergarten typically goes in our school district. She initially thought I wanted to hold him back in preschool but anyways, they don't hold kids back in preschool. It's up to the parents if they don't feel like their kid is up for kindergarten. She has seen quite a few kids for 3 years but anyhow kindergarten is integrated as well. The special needs kids usually meet with a separate teacher here & there in/out of the classroom. I kind of like that so I guess we'll see. We do have more than a year & a half to go so we shall see. Thank you all.

[mrsbuttinski]

namastebiotches

When it's time to make the choice, ask to observe the class your child will be attending. While those kids will be a whho;e year ahead of your LO when you visit, and you will likely being seeing them later in the year when they're more acclimated to the setting, it can be useful for deciding what to do.

[Deleted]

In our school district it is based on your birthday. DS2 had 2 yrs (completing 2nd now) in the SpEd preschool because of his birthday. This fall he transitions to kindergarten and will be one of the oldest in his class.