re-apraxia and preschool

[Guest guest]

Jody,

I was like you two years ago. My son was 2 with apraxia. At first I refused to

send my son to preschool (6 weeks before his

3rd birthday-so he could start with the other kids). He had few words and had

only been left with a relative babysitter for a

few hours a couple of times. After looking into the preschool (2.45 hours,

great teachers and good agenda) I agreed to try 2

days a week with the understanding I would pull him out if I became

uncomfortable. It was hard because I had not sent my

older son to school until Kindergarten at 5 1/2. The first day he screamed for

an hour, the next 1/2 hour, etc. After the first few

days he would only scream until I was out of sight. It took a quarter for him

to stay without crying. I would check back during

the class however and he would be having fun. By the end of the year he was

going 3 days a week and upset he couldn't go

more. At the end of the school year he was talking in short sentences and had a

mountain of words. Also my older son who

didn't start until 5 is socially delayed (but he also has ADHD). Part of

pre-school is learning to follow rules (line up, sit in circle,

etc.) If only going for a few hours a week that should not be a problem. Young

children going all day would need more

freedom I would think. I'm a SAHM but many of the other kids go to a babysitter

after pre-school where I assume they have

fewer rules. If you do send your son check in on him at unexpected times to see

how he is doing. With my son I had to be

sneaky because he would stop listening to his teacher and run to me if he saw

me. Also some pre-schools are bad and you

don't want to keep a non-verbal child in a negative environment which might

delay his speech even more. Good luck. Dawn