Inclusion

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

This morning my husband and I went to an "inclusion workshop". Has anyone on this list done full inclusion with supports and curriculum modification? I'm really ready to place my Tammy (9) in a school program. Up until now, I've homeschooled her (and her older 2 NT sisters) and besides realizing that she is needing more socialization, I am really getting wiped out physically. She needs so much attention and work this year...I've added PECS (which have helped tremendously) social stories, tokens, and we have seen a lot of improvements in her language and understanding. It was really exciting when the district was doing evaluations. They found out that she had grown a full year in social/language since Sept 99. She is still below her peers academically, but has always been around typical kids and adults, so when we started looking for placement in a public school program, the "county" classes just don't seem appropriate for her. Most of the kids in the "county classes" have little or no language, and offer little as far as role modeling for her. It is a dilima for me because I realize that many "autistic classes" we've visited are set up for the types of problems we have in teaching these kids...but the whole reason I wanted to get her in school is for some type of socialization. We have no cousins or relatives close by, we don't attend a church and even though the community has social recreational classes, they usually are only for an hour, cost me more $, and are only once a week. We had her in brownies for the past 2 years, but the troop broke up...and they only got together everyother week! I've struggled finding consistant socialization for her for the past year...and have her signed up with several activities for this purpose (horse vaulting, community training, swimming at Special Olympics, and a friend comes over once a week to "play" with her). Still, it's not the same as learning to be a student with other students. I've even played with the idea of an afterschool program, but most of the kids her age that go to afterschool programs are just doing their homework. So....now I'm considering the possibility of inclusion...in a regular classroom with supports. The district has already agreed to offer her speech (group and one to one) OTSI, and was going to start her 3 days a week for an hour...but in a special language delayed class. Most of the kids talk, a couple don't. There are 9 in the class...compared to 20. They are willing to give me a l:l/shadow for her. I'm reconsidering (haven't signed the IEP yet) putting her in with typical age appropriate kids with typical language development instead. The only problem I forsee is she might get so excited to see all those kids in one place that she might initially act out.

Confused in California,

bj