special day or mainstream wth aide??? pls i need advice

Kelly - posted on 05/29/2012

I understand your concerns fully. I do work in schools with some special needs children. In, my opinion, children do pick up a lot of behaviors while in special needs classrooms, but yes they do get the classwork adjucted more to the level at which they are at. However, if your son has a full time aide, she will be there to assist him when necessary and I believe that this would be your best option. As a parent, I would want to allow my son the most opportunity to thrive both academically and socially.

Stacey - posted on 05/26/2012

Do you think it would help to hold your son back a year? Maybe try the mainstream and then the special classes IF you feel he needs it. I had the option to put mine in either way. I chose mainstream classes with an aide and it has worked wonders. I did not have to put him in any special classes. He does have speech and physical therapy once a week for each. Best of luck to you!

Tracy - posted on 05/25/2012

mainstream with aide!!! For children to develop normally they need normal role models,

Stacey - posted on 05/24/2012

Have you thought about special day then putting him in a team sport or any other sport like gymnastics or martial arts? My husband and I had the same discussion about our 3 yr old! Sorry I know I'm not very experienced with all of this I just thought it might help! Good luck you sound like a wonderful mom!

Anaquita - posted on 05/23/2012

Most, if not all, schools get money for those with a special needs diagnosis. So if they give you lip about not having funds, remind them of this. Before putting your son into the class, ask to sit in on it, to see what it's like. Each school, and district is different. It may be beneficial to your son. It may not be. But check it out before agreeing to anything and then trust your gut on what would be best. My son, who has aspergers, is in a mainstream class 90% or more of the time. The remaining time he goes outside of the class for one on one with a para-educator, who works with him in areas he needs the most help with. One of the para-educators he sees every morning. (She works with him on getting more comfortable with math, so he doesn't have anxiety attacks over tests, and his writing, which is apparently common for an aspergers kid to have issues with. Odd since my kid reads far above his grade level, but there it is. And some social help) And the other once a week. (Social only) And with that (along with behavioral social therapy outside of the school once a week) has done wonders for my son.

Laureen - posted on 05/23/2012

The sd is right in saying that there are less kids and the teacher is more able to provide some one on one services to your child. I would just try it and see where it goes. You as a parent can ask for an IEP meeting at ANY time and the school has 30 days to give the meeting to you. It cant hurt. I have been thru hell and high water for both of my autistic children. I made "friends" in high places in the state dept of ed. Dont let the school district scare you into doing something you KNOW is bad for your child. You are the one who knows him best and can be his BEST advocate! When the schools place these special needs children all they see is $ signs.....the state gives these schools so much money for each student they label as needing services. Dont let them fool you, they have the funds...they really do, but they would rather spend the money where it truely isnt needed. I know in New Jersey where I am from, each student that got labeled as special needs, the district or school got something like 17K. Thats per kid! See now if the classroom has 10 kids in it...thats a whole lot of money right there. Do your homework and put your foot down with where u think he should be.If the staff knows you are a pushover, theyw ill treat you as such.

Patti - posted on 05/22/2012

HI,

I have an 11 year old son (autism) who has been mainstreamed with an assistant for the last 6 years. He actually had the SAME aid until his 5th grade year when she fell ill. She was there to help re direct Bailey in the classroom when he would "wander off" but i think it has done him a world of good to be in mainstreamed classrooms because the Special Ed classroom may be smaller but the issues are bigger so if you have a child who does not cause problems, they often get put in a corner watching TV or looking at a book to keep them occupied while the aid's tend to the more severe cases of disability.
Every year during the IEP they would say " We can't promise Bailey will have a one on one..." and every year I have reminded them that it is our right to have one. It may be more expensive for the school district but it is our right as parents and my childs right to have the best learning situation for HIM. He has had a one on one assistant every year. This year has been tough because he was very attached to his assistant of 5 years and this year he had a new one. We tried last year to rotate assistants (because tehy felt he was too attached) and it just put him further behind because Elizabeth was the only one who made him actually do his classwork. The others have simply taken a more laid back approach.
We are going into middle school next year and he will take (3) classes with the mainstreamed kids and the other three in an LD lab. We have left the "one on one" in his IEP because once you take something off , it's very hard to reinstate.
Hope this helps forn what it's worth! Good luck!

Jennie - posted on 05/21/2012

My son is 9 and is in third grade. He's been diagnosed with adhd and aspergers. He's in a mainstream class and he goes to speech twice a week. An aide comes in for about 45 minutes a day to help him when they are learning something new. So the aide isn't an everyday thing. I wish it was because my son is below grade level in math and writing. My advice to you would be to do what you think is right based on what his needs are. I know as parents we want to make the right decisions for our kids and we just don't know what the right ones are. Just do what you think is best.

Kim - posted on 05/21/2012

Hello!I'm new to this website ,but I feel like you are talking about my daughter when she was that age.My daughter is 11 now and has mild functioning pdd-nos.She is in a main classroom for everything but language arts and math.She is is a smaller classroom for these.Have you tried getting the developmental ped that you had your son evaluated for autism write a letter saying that you would like your son provided with a one on one aide and also that you want him in a pull out classroom for academics .Also I toally agree that sometimes when a child is always in a class room with children who also have special needs ,they will pick up some of the behaviors of the other children.Your son should be able to be in a typica classrooml for social reasons at least at some point during the day regardless of certain behaviors he might do.I'm surprised that they don't let him have a one on one aide then.Maybe you could get the team to reevaluate your son through the school.You are the best judge of what your child might need.It's always a good idea to keep on all of your son's services to make sure that he is in fact provided with a learning plan that works for him.My daughter will be in 6th next year...all different routines ,but the same school until 7th thank god!!!Her teacher wants to provide her with a one on one aide ..I'm agreeing because it's best to take everything you can get while it's there!!Hope this helps!!Let knoe how you make out!