IEP Mainstream Wth Aide or Special Day Class

I had this very dilima with my oldest son many years ago. I was lucky that his K teacher was the same as his 1st grade teacher. She new him as well as I did and convinced me to give it a try, he could always be re-mainstreamed if needed.

It was the best thing I did for him in his early years of schooling. By the 3rd grade he had him mainstreamed, with a lot of provisions but getting those few basic years in with teachers who knew how to work with him made a huge difference.

I'm a regular ed teacher, and I have had many kids with autism in my room during the past eight years because I work very well with them. Put him in the regular ed class with an aide! If he is on the higher functioning side (I'm guessing based on the diagnosis of PDD-NOS), he will truly flourish with a one-on-one aide there to support him. As long as you can help provide academic support at home, the social benefits of the reg ed class are what make it worth it. If he was going to be dismissed from special ed prior to the inclusion of autism criteria, then he is academically ready for first grade. Otherwise, he would've met the criteria for learning disability. Have a honest discussion with the school's administrators to determine the first grade teacher that would best meet your son's needs.

FYI, the reason they are probably pushing for all-day special education classes is because it's cheaper for the school. They don't have to pay for a one-on-one aide.

My thoughts are that he will be like the kids he is in class with....

I say that because in my experience kids just do that. If I put my grandson in the gym classes with kids his age he acts like them, he is 5 and they are 3, 4, and 5. He will get to running around and not paying attention. If one child starts moving around and wiggling he is likly to start break dancing and bouncing off the walls, then in effect setting off the rest of the class.

If I put him in the class for 5, 6, and 7 year old kids he stays in line, he listens better, there are many less distractions.

He is like a chameleon. What he sees he does but to a greater extent.

So I always try to put him in the class that offers the most structure so that he will be more likely to act structured and in control of himself.

It does not always work out that way, he will just have a brain fart and go off running or bouncing off the walls but it is much less likely to happen in a structured environment.

I think given the options you have I would go towards the regular classroom. Of course they would want you to do the other, they save about $25K per year not paying an aide for him plus any other extra costs associated with him.

My grandson is in Pre-K for 2 more days. At Christmas time the teachers aid left to be a SAHM. They replaced her with 2 aides. One deals with my grandson and one other child, the other one is more like a normal teachers aid.

The teacher spent more time dealing with my grandson that she did teaching.

For Kindergarten they are putting him in with regular kids. I hope they have an aide in there for him. I think he does better with the one on one help. She is not assigned to him per say, but in there for the group of boys that are more likely to disrupt the class.

I work with a number of spectrum students in middle school. I am an aide at a local middle school, and work in the content (Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Math) classes. I have probably at least one student on the spectrum in each class. Sometimes, if the student is at a high enough level academically and socially, they are in gen ed classes without an aide. Some of my students need support only in certain classes, where their academic skills are weaker.

My duties include keeping them on task, reading assignments/tests to the students, helping monitor problem behaviors, reminding them of appropriate behaviors, and things like that. I will frequently take a group of students into the hall to read the textbook and work on worksheets..... I do work with one student that is in the "special" class as a home class, but goes to resource math and language arts, and general ed social studies and science...... she is much more severe with her behaviors, though. (I am only in 1 class with her. She gets support from another aide in her other gen ed class, but doesn't have an aide in her resource classes.) She obviously needs the extra support from the special class. Her IEP goals are primarily social acquisition, though. (We do not have resource science or social studies available at this grade level, or she would be in those, as well.)

I also assist any student that needs assistance.

If possible, I would keep him in the mainstream classes with an aide as long as possible.... that way, as you said, he is modeling the behaviors he sees ffrom "regular" students.

Does he work willingly with you on academic things? Is he willing to do homework with you? You may have to have your own "mini-school" in the evenings, going over the lessons learned. Are you planning on having him in some kind of summer school/academic program? He might benefit from this, by not losing as much knowledge over the summer.

Most likely, his IEP accomodations/modifications could include reduced work load, extended time for assignments, and things like that. Other modifications would be added as the academic rigors increase.

ETA..... work with the counselors and principal to see if you can get him into a class that is more "controlled" ....... one with a quieter atmosphere, less chaos, something like that. Most of the autistic students I work with benefit from a more structured classroom.

Good luck..... it is a tough decision.

Have you spoken to anyone at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund? They are located in Berkely and can be helpful in talking through issues. I believe you still have the right to an aide for you son, but I don't know for sure. Good luck and I wish you the best. Special Education can be very confusing and you have to remain to be your child's advocate. Document everything!

Hi, I have been in your shoes and know what a stressful decision that is! My son is finishing up 4th grade this year, and has always been fully mainstreamed with a 1:1 aide, but next year we are going to switch to a non-categorical sdc for 5th grade. The nature of the work this year, where the kids are expected to sit at their desks for extended periods of time listening to the teacher talk has not suited his needs well, so we need to make a change. He's been really stressed and anxious about school this year, where as prior years (preschool through 3rd grade) he LOVED school and would be sad when it was a weekend and he couldn't go to school. If at all possible, can you arrange with the principal to observe the classrooms (all the ones that are possibilities for your son - the typical first grade class, the autism class, the other sdc's, etc.) to help you make a decision? When we decided we wanted a change next year, I arranged to see 3 different sdc's that are my child's grade level, and they were vastly different. One of the 3 looked like it will suit my son's needs perfectly. I am not a big fan of the "autism" classes (at least in my area) but in your area they may be great. My son does not have problematic "behaviors" and I didn't want him to pick them up at school. Our experience w/ full mainstreaming was awesome up through 3rd grade, even though some of the curriculum needed to be modified. The peer role models were wonderful for modeling social skills and appropriate behavior. It's kind of hard to choose something without seeing it in action, meeting the teacher, etc., but maybe you'll be able to see your options before making a decision. Best wishes!

Guess I am a bit confused. The evaluation the school did states he does
not require special ed but a private evaluation says he is autistic! That is
quite a jump. Based on that I would put him in the mainstream class with an aide. If that does not work go with the special class, but I would certainly give the mainstream class a go of it. I always had an alternate plan for
my daughter if what we thought would work, did not. My school district
was very easy to work with. It is a tough decision but since you have such
a vast difference in dx I would start with the least restrictive setting. If he models behaviour I would definitely go with mainstream.

I used to work as a school psychologist for a district that had alot of students on the Autism spectrum and also taught in summer school for Autistic students in elementary. I'm a parent now as well.
It largely depends of course on your child and I do agree that sometimes students start to become dependent on their aides who are there to help the teacher guide the student in whatever activity is being done. I worry sometimes that teachers in a mainstream just sort of let aides almost become the teacher for the child because they have so many other students to manage.
With that said, an SDC program might be helpful for a student. After having worked in different schools with varying types of SDC programs, each one can look very different from the other. Mild/Moderate seemed to have a lot of students who were higher functioning and had some minor behavior issues related to autism that were easily manageable.
Alot of kids in SDC needed alot of structure and predictability with their day. Schedule boards were very important for start of day and if something was going to be different that day...then it was helpful if a teacher could plan for that ahead of time and put it on the board.
Mainstreaming into subjects that your child is successful at can be very helpful. Hopefully with improved skills and learning to understand and regulate their emotions, your child may be in mainstream all the time later with support.
You can ask to see the proposed program, ask questions that concern you, and go from there. Trust your gut since you know your child best, but also know that he can learn new skills. If your child has speech therapy or other services - they can also be very helpful with getting your child into a mainstream. Sometimes speech therapists hold a "lunch bunch" with kids who are on the spectrum along with kids who are "normally" developing in hopes of giving them the start of appropriate communication. Social groups are helpful, too.
I wish you luck and hopefully you will find the right fit for your child. Most importantly, though, be on top of the process and advocate for services that you think he needs. In my experience, most schools really do want to help your child be successful in a way that also helps them foster indpendence.

I don't believe that he is getting dependent on the aide. I really don't. They said that after they got the autism eval - they would have said that before you gave them the eval if this were truly the case.

I've known children who needed aide support for several years, and then leveled with their classes and were able to go it on their own, either from effective medicine (one child had lots of petite mal seizures) or from basic tutoring. Other kids get an aide for more than a year - why is it only YOUR son that is "dependent"?

Say no to the special ed class, and provide your son with lots of reading and math help during the year. And keep the aide.

Good luck!
Dawn

Before staying home to have our 2 boys I worked w/kids w/disabilities who were included in reg.ed. all day. I was the aide for that child as well as the whole class & I will tell you from personal experience, the child does get attached to the aide. I worked for the district in SF. Instead of having the same 1:1 aide, we rotated in 2 hour shifts so that the child didn't become attached & dependent on us. I worked for ht district for a long time starting of in segregated SDC, then w/a teacher who's idea of inlcusion was to stick her whole class (8 kids) in a reg. ed. class w/one aide. This is NOT inclusion. Finally I moved to kids who were fully uncluded. So, I've see how it all works & honestly, the kids I see who were fully inlcuded & that I've kept in touch w these past 11 years, are very independent, socially appropriate & are now working adults. If you're child is already doing well in a reg. ed. class & that's where you're happy w/him being there, then push for the continuation of full inclusion. If his IEP team is in agreement on this & it is written in his IEP, then by law, the district has to follow that. I would also push to only have the aide at the times needed for him academically & encourage that aide to be support ofr the class as a whole to avoid attachment & dependence. He will pick up on what is age-approprriate social skills from the kids his age. He can then have the support as needed to augment the cirriculum to fit his academic needs. Good luck!

whichever choice will provide the most structure & the most benefit for him...both academically & behaviorally. To say that he is becoming dependent upon the aide is not a bad thing....as long as she is moving him forward. If she is passive in her approach, then perhaps she is an issue. :)

In your post, I really focused on the fact that you believe the mainstream class will move too fast for him. If this truly is the case, then I would vote for the specialized class. Put him where he'll get the most of his opportunities!