PPCD Program in Texas

No, it is hard to get them in! Schools are pleased as punch to kick them out because it saves them money. They are grinch gate keepers who will likely not give your son as much as he needs, will resist serving him at all, and you may find yourself in a no mans zone with no preschool you can afford being willing to take him, but the school refusing services because he is not disabled enough!

If he needs to be in PPCD, he won't make it in preschool, or the preschool will be asking you to hire an aide, or you will see that preschools for kids with disablities are thousands of dollars per month. PPCD is there for kids who need an IEP, and if his ECI therapists are recomeding it, you should take it. I promise you, the goal is to get him ready to be put into a regular kindergarten class because it costs much, much, less and that would be something called the least restrictive enviornment.

If your son is only recieving therapy from ECI, you need to know that they have a very low standard. Not that they are bad, just that they opperate under IDEA, and once he moves on to PPCD he will also be covered by IDEA, and all the school and ECI is required to do is to make him functional. You want to maximize his potential. If you Have not invested in a full Developmental Evaluation of your son, you should get one, and start all the therapies that are recomended in addition to what he gets through the state.

If you can get him into PPCD, and a therapist who works for the state said he needs it, send him. Get private therapy and a full evaluation, and take advantage of his young age, and maximize his potential. You will not be sorry you did.

M.

I agree with Martha whole heartedly! My son was in PPCD in Mesquite. The school is going to give you the minimum, you have to fight for every service and they don't tell you all of the options for services. My son was diagnosed by the school as PDD-NOS and our developmental pedi agreed with the diagnosis. Get a developmental pedi to do an assessment. If you do decide to put him in PPCD I highly recommend Mr. Michael Schlegal at Tisinger, he is awesome! There is so much you have to learn, this is your son and you should be prepared. If you wanna talk about it, call me ###-###-####.

Hi I had my daughter in that program when we lived in spring ,tx . She is now 10 and still get service's to help her. The program was good for her but i did'nt like that she was with other kids that were far more delayed then her. My thought was how can she learn to speck if she's around kids that babble. But it was a good program at the time .

My son is 3 also, he will be 4 in November and he is in the PPCD Class here in Edinburg, TX, I personally am very happy with all the progress he has made, he speaks a lot, he can actually communicate, when it was just crying and screaming in the beginning. I was apprehensive about him being with children functioning at lower levels than him, but all his class seems almost at the same level, and he has his own IEP. Also, when I signed him in, they gave me a notice that I can voluntarily withdraw him from the PPCD class, so I don't think it'll be a problem, check with your school district but I'm certain its the same.
My son was also home until he came in, he is really happy, he likes it, and he has started interacting with the other kids, so I think its also a good social experience.
Whatever you decide, remember you are the mom, only you can know and choose what's best for your child, not even the school can tell you what to do, make sure you're comfortable with your decision. Good Luck!!!