What to Do with My Son for Kindergarten

Hunter's Creek is a great school for children with brain disorders and Autism Spectrum, I've heard. I know a couple who got a home in that area just for their son to go to Hunter's Creek.
And as kindergarten is optional in TX, you may want to consider going to www.aspieinfo.com (an Asperger support site for Houston parents) and see what feedback you can get. Their next meeting in in June.

I am a certified teacher of 17 years, with twin 6 year olds and a 10 year old. I taught in Spring Branch, which you mentioned, and currently teach at a magnet school in HISD. You would be doing your child a disservice NOT to enroll him in SBISD's Hunter's Creek school. That particular district goes above and beyond expectations to meet the individual needs of the students. DO NOT worry or even think about the "special ed" label. You're thinking of how things used to be when you were growing up. It's not AT ALL like that now. See if you can get him in Hunter's Creek summer school to get used to it. Know now that he may need to repeat kinder or pre-k, but that's okay. Good luck!

Hi Aisha-I just had to respond to you. I have been where you are and my heart goes out to you.

My son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome when he was four. The dr at Texas Children's reccomended The Parish School (www.parishschool.org). We spent three years there (2004-2007). We then tried homeschoolong this past year with some success. Then we heard about The Westview School (www.westviewschool.org). It's a school specifically for kids on the spectrum. My hubby and I visited, had our son visit, we all liked it. The lady who started it over 20 years ago is still the head of school. We have our son signed up for the summer programs and then he will start in the fall. We have high hopes.

Some others schools we visited were-
Crossroads School
(www.crossroadsschoolhouston.org)
The New School in the Heights
(www.crossroadsschoolhouston.org)
Briarwood
(www.briarwoodschool.org)
The Redd School
School of the Woods-Montessori
(www.schoolofthewoods.org)

Some of the above schools are more typical others more specialized. Before you make any decisions you shouls visit some schools and check them out, ask lots of questions. I know you mentioned that private schools for him "have children that are completely autistic. Non verbal and handicapped". This is simply not true. All the schools I mentioned are not like that at all.

I will let you know that my PERSONAL opinion is the private school route. I agree that public school could be too much for him. I have seen too many who have to constantly fight for what their child needs. Private gives you smaller classes, more attention and good communication from staff. I also don't feel you are being over protective.

If you want some one on one help, Lori Saruk (____@____.com) at The Carruth Center (www.carruthcenter.org) was a great help and really is good with AS. She does one and one, small group and family. We did her KidScope program for several sessions and it was very successful.

This is a local support group- ASPIE (www.aspieinfo.com). Maybe it could help.

I hope what I wrote is clear. I don't usually type so much. I am a better talker. I would be happy to talk more. You can email me at ____@____.com with any other questions.

Good luck,
H.

I was a teacher at a private Montessori school for 10 years before becoming a SAHM. We had children with all different levels of autism at our school. I had personal experience with a few students who had Asperger's and they did wonderfully in our program. They graduated from our high school. We worked with them on specific social skills and gave them a safe environment to learn the skills they needed. Most of the students were very encouraging and tolerant and having their peers holding them accountable for their behavior helped them learn faster then just having the teacher giving them feed back. It helps children with Asperger's to have others around them who are displaying appropriate social behavior because they can use these kids as models. Putting him in a school where most of the students are more autistic will be a disaster. Check into your local Montessori school.

I am a Special Education teacher in Texas. I have taught PPCD (public preschool for children with disabilities) and Resource. If your child is on level academically but is having some trouble socially I would recommend that you place in kindergarten and perhaps see if some Special Ed staff could come into his classroom and provide some facilitated support. I have paraprofessionals (paras) who do this for our children with emotional disabilties, learning disabilites or other disabilities that impact their success in other areas. I as well go into the classroom and help model for students ways to interact.

PPCD would be something else to consider as well. This class is set up for kiddos 3-5 who aren't quite ready for fulltime kinder yet. They may spend a portion of their day in the PPCD classroom with support (paraprofession/aide) in the kinder classroom for the remainder of their day. Many of our kinder aged kiddos spend their entire day in the kinder class and have support the entire time that they are there. This is a great option because it helps us to identify exactly where the student may be struggling and then we know where and when to target our assistance. In the areas that they are successful we back off and let them work independently, letting them become more independent and confident in the meantime.

The federal government has changed how special education is delivered now. Kiddos aren't to be pulled from their general education classroom and set into a Resource classroom. Rather, special education staff is to go into the general education classroom to provide help. This doesn't always apply to kiddos who are violent or have severe disabilities. We still try to get those kiddos into the GE environment as much as possible as their peers provide better behavior modeling than their adult teachers can. So if your current teacher are talking about placing him in SE, SE is a very different program now, so don't let it cause you to panic. Also, I would met with your home school and ask for an ARD. These are meetings that include a general ed teacher, a special ed teacher and the principal or assistant principal. You can talk discuss your child with them and find out what sort of programming they can offer to help him be successful.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to send back any questions.

Ang

Dear Aisha--I understand your fears. My recommendation would be to put your son in public school kindergarten. Even if he is in the special ed program, it will be up to the ARD Committee just how much support he gets and in what classes he will need the support. Asperger's syndrome children are very high-functioning, and I would hate to see your child denied the opportunity to excel in the regular classroom setting. He needs to be around children his own age who have developed the socialization skills that he lacks. He will learn quickly what is appropriate behavior and what is not.

By the way, I do have a little experience in this area. My 26-year-old son is autistic and mentally retarded, and my biggest problem has always been knowing when to let him try something, even if I don't think he's ready. We want to protect our kids from failure and disappointment, but we are not doing them any service if we don't let them at least try.

Give your child an opportunity. Just be sure to make your wishes known in the ARD Committee. You want him in as many regular ed classes as he can handle. If he's on level with his academics, there is no reason that he can't be in regular classes with some assistance, perhaps an aide that can be "faded" when he doesn't need them anymore.

Think about what you want for him and ASK FOR IT. He has rights according to state law, and the school is required to give him certain things. You definitely want to look into what his rights are. Any school district can give you a copy of their parent handbook which contains these rights.

May God richly bless you as your begin this exciting chapter in your child's life!

Certain public schools (ours included) have wonderful programs for all kinds of autism. My daughter has an autistic child in her class and while she doesn't have asperger, she thrives in inclusion. She had some rougher years starting out as she was prone to tantrums and would get overstimulated, but the school has matched the incentive program that the parents use at home and my daugther's fourth grade class have become very protective and maternal towards her, both protecting her from bad situations but making her do things they know she's capable of herself. It's really quite special. In addition, she has a paraprofessional with her all day to ensure that she neither disrupts the rest of the class or gets overwhelmed by anything going one (she has trouble with loud noises and changes). Truly, it depends on if you want him to be seperated from the mainstream, but from what I understand about asperger's, it's primarily a socialization thing and the para assigned to him can help him that way. Some of it is trial and error and it may be stressful as you figure certain details out but all Kinder moms are wondering if their kids are in the right place. Special Ed is not such a scary label and it CAN be removed once he is able to function on his own in class. An asperger "child" we know does just fine, is now in college, drives around town on his own etc. He would stay by himself with his laptop round the clock if allowed, but his parents still make sure he stays social.

Hang in there. And happy mother's day!

My son is on the other side of the autism spectrum. He was diagnosed pervasive developmental disorder (not otherwise specified). He also has ADHD. He has been in PPCD since he was 3. Now he's in Kinder, and doing quite well. They started him out with an hour of PPCD each day, but dropped it in January, feeling he had outgrown it.
Public school can be a lot better than most people realise. The teachers are there to help, and will be there for all of the ARD meetings. You just have to make sure that communication is strong. If what the teachers send home each day isn't enough, give them a notebook to write in every day. This holds true no matter where you have you son.
I do agree with the one woman who suggested Montessori. IF you have a good one nearby, it can be one of the best places to try.
On the positive side, Most of the greatest people in history have had some sort of autism, and most of them Asperger. There minds work in such a different way, that they are able to find sollutions that no one else thinks of. I know it doesn't help you right now. But, it sure gave me the peace I needed to know that my son will grow up to function just fine in society, and might do something great with his life. Somehow, that has made this difficult journey a tiny bit easier to bear.
Good luck. I hope you find the help you need.

Hello Aisha,

Are you in the Spring Branch School District? You mention Hunters Creek and I assume you mean elementary? Special ed is a vehicle to get your son help. Not necessarily a bad label. But a "label" can be a way for your child to get needed services. So it doesn't have to be a bad thing to need special ed services.

My child is a special needs child with developmental delays. He does not have autism, but one of his impairments is social skills. He is in second grade at Spring Shadows Elementary is the Spring Branch School District. He is mainstreamed into a regular ed classroom with access to special ed resource room.

My understanding is that unless the child is too impaired to be mainstreamed at all in a regular ed classroom, this is the way they do it in Spring Branch from kindergarten through the third grade. (Not real sure what they do after that.)

The school question is not an easy one for sure. Right now, we think our son needs more than he is getting in a mainstream classroom, but the district just keeps trying to treat him like a regular kid when he has issues that need more special ed interventions.

He does ok in the mainstream classroom much of the time, but there other times that when he has outbursts that he needs redirection for and not the same typical punishments that regular kids get. But this is whole other story!!!!

Anyway, feel free to call or email me. My cell is ###-###-#### and my email is ____@____.com

Sincerely,

K. Howell
Mother to 8 year old Caleb and 5 year old Weston and wife to Wayne

You might want to contact the Monarch School (www.monarchschool.org) It is a school for kids with neurological disorders, including autism spectrum disorders. The people there are really nice and they could at the very least point you in the right direction, even if that school is not the right one for your child. Good luck!

Have you checked with your public school to see if the speech services will still be available when your son is kindergarten age, if he doesn't attend public school? My daughter will be kindergarten bound for the 2008-2009 school year and requires services offered by the school district(including speech). She is currently receiving services, but I was told she will not be eligible for services when she is kinder. age, unless she is enrolled in public school. She is not autistic, but she has cortical visual impairment(legally blind), which also affects her social skills. She is age appropriate in her development, with the exception of her motor skills and speech. We faced the same dilemma about her attending public school, because she is very high functioning for being "disabled". Contact your local school district and request that evaluations be done and they will come up with an "individual education plan" specifically for your son's needs. You are not required to enroll him in their plan, but it can help you to decide what direction to go. My daughter will be enrolled in the regular kindergarten class, but will go to a "resource room" for specific services (i.e. speech and visual services)
Otherwise, there are many private speech therapist and most health insurance policies cover speech therapy.
A speech therapist may also help you to determine what path to take, as many of their clients have autism.
Hope this info. helps.

Aisha,

Check out the Parish school. I noticed you mentioned Hunters Creek I am guessing you are in the Spring Branch ISD school district. We as of this moment do not have a diagnosis for our son. He is going in for the testing and eval on May 19th. He has been at Bendwood for 2 years in their PPCD program. I has been a total blessing for us.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I would love to help if I can.

M.

Hi If you want to you can get in touch with me. I also have a son on the spectrum. He is very high functioning, he is mainstreamed in a typical class in our public school (HISD) I also work with kids who are autistic. It's too long to write everything in an email, but feel free to exchange info. I will tell you my experience (our) with the schools, therapy etc..
____@____.com
M.

Aisha, Hang in there. You do sound scared and these are all true feelings. You will find the right place for him because you are looking. Just keep doing what you are already doing and the answers will come. Follow what is in your heart. Know the best thing for him is that you are aware and taking steps to help him.

There are many public schools that do a great job for children with Asperger's. I know that the Katy ISD has a great program. It could be worth moving to a different school district so that your son can get the propeer support in school. Most private schools are not going to have the funding or specialty programs that your son needs. Public school is required to meet your child's needs. You may want to look into getting an advocate to represent you when you meet with the school board. Also, investigate which schools in your district have the best Asperger's program and then request to be transfered to that school. It may require you driving further to take your son to school but it will be worth it if he recieves the proper help that he needs. A private school would probably also be a longer drive but you would also be out the cost of tuition. The public school system is required to provide the appropriate assistance for your son. His needs should be met and the public school system has the funding to do it. You are just going to have to fight for your son's rights probably with the help of an advocate. Good luck to you and your very precious little boy. My prayers are with you.