Preschool in Fall/Home Program questions

[Guest guest]

I'm really struggling and hope 'those who have gone before' can give

me some guidance. My son is 3 and currently attending MMEC's summer

program. His IEP is in place with Medina City Schools. Our options

for the fall are MEEC 2 days/week @ 2 hours a day (would apply for

the scholarship and then add a home program), 4 days/wk @ 2.5 hours

a day at Medina's preschool or a combo of Medina/MEEC (2 and 2) but

MEEC would be out of pocket and Medina would probably dumb down his

IEP quite substantially.

I looked at FCLC out in Tallmadge and didn't think that was a good

fit for him. The drive doesn't bother me - he's my only child and

I'm a SAHM. He's high functioning and definitely needs peer

modeling. Any suggestions/opinions on the options I've described or

anywhere else I haven't thought of yet?

Also - for those of you who have home programs, where in the h,e,

double hockey sticks do you start? With a consultant? Please,

please, please share your experiences with me!

Thanks so much - Cate

[Guest guest]

Cate - First off, I think it's great that you are preparing for your son's IEP meeting!! I don't know what MEEC stands for. I'm not from Medina. However, if you've visited both MEEC and Medina's preschool and thought both were a good fit for your son, then that's great. But I'm a bit perplexed as to why the school would dumb down your son's IEP! In fact, you and the school should first write up the IEP goals and services based on your son's evaluation before you even consider placement - that is if the school follows federal law ;-). Not to say that you shouldn't be doing your homework and exploring options of placement and the like. Anyway, once you have the IEP the suits your son, then you can make an appropriate decision about placement - and the school will not be able to dumb down the IEP!! I have met parents who wrote their son's IEP so that he would attend the special ed preschool

in the morning (and get ST, OT, etc) and then in the afternoon went to private preschool paid for by the school district. They did this by including typical peers into his IEP goals, such as " will take turns with typical peers during structured play," so that the school had to place "" into a classroom with typical peers. For this family, placement wasn't either/or, and they definitely didn't sacrifice their son's education and services for the right placement! That would go against IDEA. I don't know if MEEC is a private preschool or not, but if it's the LRE (least restrictive environment) where your son can meet his IEP goals, then the school district is obligated to pay for it - unless they have a similar placement in a public school setting, or unless they create a similar classroom just for your son. And one thing I've noticed as a mom of a special ed child is that if the school creates something

for one child, they can think of half a dozen or more other students who will benefit from it as well. When my son was in preschool, I wasn't as savvy as the parents I've mentioned earlier. He ended up going to the public preschool for 2 1/2 per day and 25 hours of a home DTT/ABA program (which we paid for out of pocket). We went with the Cleveland Clinic Outreach program, and we knew of the Columbus Children's Hospital's program, but now there are so many more options. If your son is high functioning, you probably would want to check out VBA (verbal behavior analysis) - my son's main deficit was and is pragmatic speech and social skills, and VBA's focus would help remediate that. I'm sure a VBA consultant has posted in this group. I can't think who she is off the top of my head. I'll look into it. And there is STEPS from the west suburbs of Cleveland. You might want to check into all your

options, meet with the persons who would be working with you, observe them working with similar students if possible or explore their educational philosophy if not. Please keep us posted as things progress! Your son is lucky to have you in his corner!! , mom to Bobby, 8 and autistic (plus 2 more).