autistic support classroom for gifted child with HFA?

[Guest guest]

My son will be 5 by Sept. and has HFA. The SD thinks he has AS because his

verbal IQ is very high, and he scored very well on his academic testing,

qualifying for their gifted program. However, as demonstrated on the Vineland,

he does struggle with socialization and some perseverative behavior, poor

handwriting, and attention issues. When we went through our first IEP meeting

with the school district last month, the other team members wanted to place him

60% in an autistic support classroom. 40% in the regular classroom. I visited

that classroom, and the children all seem much more severe than my son with many

behavioral issues. I worry that my son would not get much attention in that

room and might pick up new behaviors. The other IEP team members argued that my

son needed the smaller class size and the structure of an AS classroom.

Currently, he is in a private preschool with a 1:1 ABA therapist, which has

worked well. We plan to send him to a private Pre-K next year at our own

expense next year with the same 1:1 plan and see if he can handle the transition

to a larger classroom with support. Is it typical of IEP teams to want to put

even HF children in an autistic support classroom? I would have preferred a 1:1

in the regular classroom to help him focus, but I was told that only the lowest

functioning children are eligible for one. Next year, I will go through the

process with an advocate and see if that is a possibility. I was also very

concerned about the regular Kindergarten teacher's comment that my son would be

put at a separate table in a corner of the classroom, and that " I shouldn't view

that arrangement as punishment, because the other kids will bother him

otherwise. " None of these plans sound like LRE to me--in fact, it's a big step

backward to where he was always fully included with a 1:1. I hope my son can

handle it in private school with the very minimal services, and then we can

supplement with social skills training and OT privately. Any advice would be

appreciated. We don't seem to " fit " anywhere into our public school's AS

program, nor does he seem very welcome in the regular classroom. Thanks.