delaying kindergarten for an autistic child

[ez]

has anyone kept their autistic child in prek for an extra year? Was this something you had to fight for...I wouldnt mind some specifics...thanks so much!

 

[Libbyt]

Do you mean holding the child back in a preK classroom within the school system? If so, then his/her IEP team would probably be charged with making the decision on moving forward or not - depending on whether or not an additional year in preK would allow him the opportunity to develop additional skills.

If you mean holding the child back in a day care-type situation, before entering public school, you would definitely want to at least make a referral to the public preK system since they are required to provide services to children with disabilities beginning at age 3. A public preK slot may be available......typically (in the situations I work in, anyway) a public preK slot would be higher quality and would better meet the needs of a child with special needs so as to be prepared for school.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My son has a July birthday and didn't enter kindergarten until he was 6. We started an evaluation by the school system when he was 3. I wasn't happy with the speech therapist at that time so we ended up getting a private evaluation and private therapy. We had him evaluated again when he was almost 5. He had been attending a private mainstream preschool up until then. The school district qualified him for speech services which were provided by a special ed teacher since she was also a speech therapist. After getting to know my son, she recommended that he join her SDC preschool class. The following year when he was 6, he started a mainstream kindergarten class. He was diagnosed with PDD when he was 5 but when he was 7 he was exhibiting more Asperger characteristics and everyone agreed that it was the proper diagnosis.

Apparently, my son's situation was an exception. Kids don't normally get to stay in SDC preschool an extra year if they meet the cut-off age for kindergarten. At first he only qualified for speech but the teacher's recommendation and the fact that there was room in her class allowed him to attend up until he was almost 6.

I am now working in the same SDC preschool program as an aide. Normally, kids who meet the cut-off (December 1 in California) have to advance to kindergarten the next year. We've had a few exceptions where kids stay an additional year. It's usually because the parents push very hard to justify it and often involves attorneys and advocates. The district tends to cave in when it's really pushed. Most kids are sent through to SDC kindergarten. Very few of our kids are mainstreamed immediately after our class. A few mainstream by 2nd or 3rd grade.

So, if you're wanting your child to stay in a public school SDC class for another year of preschool, it may be difficult to get the district to agree. They'll want to make room for the incoming kids. If your child is in a private preschool and will be mainstreamed for kindergarten but you think he/she is not quite ready yet, holding them another year is a good idea. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

 

[Kaler131]

Yes, my son with Aspergers turned 5 last June and we decided to keep him in preschool (a special needs preschool) for an extra year. He will be 6 this June and start Kdg. in August. The extra year did WONDERS for him and he is soooo much more ready for Kdg. this year! I'm so glad we kept him back an extra year!!
We had no issues with the school in keeping him another year (it's a public school system preschool)....in fact, they sugguested it to us for consideration, but it was up to us to decide.

 

[bookwormde]

A lot of states have regulations that children must start school at 5, if there is a “placement” other than kindergarten, which is more appropriate for your child’s needs, that can easily be done if you have a formal educational classification under IDEA and have an IEP team and associated IEP in place. It is as simple as having the IEP team make a determination of what is best to meet your child’s individual needs. If you do not have an IEP (of the preschool equivalent) it may be much more “complicated”.

I am not a big fan of “holding a child back” since often it is done with the false assumption that our children will “mature” typically. Now if there is an aggressive and effective plan in place within the preschool to develop and support the skills that will help him/her more successfully and “comfortably” integrate into kindergarten, then it may have value in some situations.

bookwormde

 

[Hasil72]

We did. DS was a July b-day and already enrolled in the district's disabled preschool program and we along with the "team" decided that it would benefit him to stay in preK for an extra year before going to Kindergarten. I don't regret it but DS, now 9, will always tell people that he's in third grade but really should be in fourth grade.

 

[LuvsTinker]

We held our son back. His classroom was a combined Pre-K and K class and he was actually in K. His teacher advised us to hold him back due to a range of issues she felt he wasn't ready for 1st. He has a Dec. b'day.

I'm glad now we did hold him back because socially and developmentally he would not have done well moving on.

His school is multi-grades. He just finished 2nd grade today and was in the same class, same teacher, for two years, now he'll move on to a new class next year - which is a 3rd/4th grade class.

 

[brergnat]

It really depends on WHY you feel the need to hold him back an extra year. A lot of times, the reasons you *think* you need to hold him back can just be the main set of goals you can have written in the IEP to be worked on the next year.

My son (high functioning Autism) will be starting K in the fall. He has been in public school pre-k for the past two years (SDC class).

Academically, he is ready for about 2nd or 3rd grade. SOCIALLY, though, he's not even ready for K, but we are forging on, and EVERY SINGLE GOAL in his IEP next year focuses on social skills/attention issues/co-operative play/communication. There is not one single academic goal in there. I think he needs the challenge of a new environment, for one, and he needs to be kept with his peers, and move along at the same pace as everyone else.

In general, I see very few reasons to "hold a child back". I really do feel that it does more harm than good. I think many times, parents do it because THEY feel that they want their child to be "the best in the class" and they will get this by having their child be the oldest, smartest, etc, and that extra year will do that for them. I think children need to be stimulated and challenged in order to learn, both academically and socially. My son will be one of the youngest and smallest (physically) in his class. And you know what? I don't care in the slightest.

 

[Libbyt]

I agree with you, Brergnat! And, also, sometimes we see that kindergarten teachers WANT you to hold the child back one more year. (What, bake them another year in the same environment they were in and see if they're "done" next year??)

My son is typically developing and has a late July birthday. A couple of weeks into the year, his kinder teacher sent me a nasty note saying "your child is one of 2 in this class who cannot WRITE HIS NAME!" The hint being: take him back home. My response was "I'm glad you've got the whole year to work on that!" Over the summer I had done some basic stuff with him on writing, he just wasn't ready to do it so we didn't pressure him. He ended up later being identified as academically gifted, is an honor student, working on his Eagle Scout, and is focusing on getting an Air Force Academy appointment! I'm not sure how things could have turned out better if I'd held him back???

Anyway, the point of that story was sometimes parents DO know their children better than teachers, and should trust their own instincts. If the OP strongly feels that his/her child needs to be held back, and presents valid reasons, that should be considered by the IEP team. My observation with my special needs child has been that school systems are perfectly willing to take on the responsibility of educating your child if you relinquish control to them and say "you're the experts, only you know what's best." But they do what's most convenient for them, for their staff, for their facilities - not what's ideal for the child. Parents have a responsibility to contribute to decision-making for their kids' education!!

 

[mom22bless]

My son has an August birthday and I did NOT red shirt him!!! He started K 4 days after turning 5.

Asperger's has nothing to do with the educational capacity of a child's brain so I didn't feel it was appropriate. He is already the tallest in his grade now so I didn't want to make it any worse. He is fine educationally. He is one of the youngest kids in his grade but was reading great when he entered K. He actually was a whole year ahead of my daughter regarding reading. She didn't learn until she was 6. Next year he'll be in 4th and she'll be in 1st.

I read a study about it and by 5th/6th grade the differences that you see early on by holding a child back disappear and can actually hinder them socially.

 

[mechurchlady]

It depends on the school situation and the child. I was born October 24th and a normal kid would have been fine in school back then. I am a neurovariant as is my mother. My mother has unfounded fears and is a doom machine who can only see failure in anything I do or anyone else does. I have SID/SPD and other neurovariances. In my case my mother should have gotten help, Dad should have taken me to Florida to live away from her, and I should have gotten intense therapy physically and mentally. That said, I was not ready for kindergarten. I was too young but that would not have mattered if I had coping skills and was a normal kid.

It takes the school and the kids medical people like his psychiatrist and pediatrician to decide if he is ready for kindergarten or not. As stated above there are other options like going to kindergarten but having an aide or various forms of therapy. There are options.

 

[Forevryoung]

It's interesting- Around here, if the county is paying for a private special needs preschool program, they will not hold the child back for kindergarten and will instead have the child repeat kindergarten if necessary.

This is because our preschool programs are funded by the county while grade schools are paid for through "school districts."

The choice to hold your child back is not available if you want your child to continue receiving services because technically they aged out of their CPSE program.

Just the way it is around here.

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

If it were me, i would send them to kindergarten. We put our HFA son into kindergarten against my better judgement. i thought he wasn't ready. He struggled but did okay, then he hit first grade and he really struggled. We decided that he wasn't strong enough on the basics to move up to 2nd grade, so he repeated and did phenominal. He is and probably will be always 2 steps behind his peers but waiting till we really saw the need for him to stay back was the best decisions. Will I ever keep him back again, no. It was a one shot deal. Reason being he is getting bigger (he is already 5'2 at 9 years old!)and he needs to make friends who will be with him as he moves on. Those social bonds can sometimes be more important than the educational lessons learned. On a side note my son took the CRCT (Georgia State Testing) and passed again, for the second year in a row!!!

 

[Piper]

In our district, we cannot hold back in preK. What our school has done in the past is to put the children in K (an all day program) They spend the morning and lunch in Kindergarten (which includes specials -- art, music, P.E.) and then they spend the afternoon session in my p.m. class (PreK)

Usually getting a "double dose" of the basics is enough to move them on to first. We also had some on the Kindergarteners who are reading well above level go to a either a first or second grade class in the afternoon (depending on their reading level) Then some were pulled for resource, speech, extra help, etc. There is no stigma attached to spending part day in one class and part in another -- the kids want to do it. I also have kids from older grades coming in to read to my students. Some come as a reward for mastering a concept, others come because it is a non-threatening way to practice reading a lower level book than their peers are reading, still others might come because they are having a difficult time in their personal life and need the extra love and attention found in my classroom. (Four year olds can be very ego-stroking in their admiration for older kids)

This approach benefits everyone. My kids have role models and get extra one-on-one attention and the older kids get the help and/or attention they need.

 

[Hasil72]

My son is typically developing and has a late July birthday. A couple of weeks into the year, his kinder teacher sent me a nasty note saying "your child is one of 2 in this class who cannot WRITE HIS NAME!" The hint being: take him back home. My response was "I'm glad you've got the whole year to work on that!" Over the summer I had done some basic stuff with him on writing, he just wasn't ready to do it so we didn't pressure him.

Thanks, I may need to use that one with my DD next year in 1st grade!

 

[ireland_nicole]

we didn't repeat prek, but did repeat K, and it was the best thing for DS. Though fe doesn't have a dx of autism, he does developmental delay, a speech impairment, some ocd, and very ADHD. At the end of last year, he couldn't recognize sight words, or write his name, wasn't socializing with any of the other kids, etc. Although the principal at the school insisted on sending him to 1st with an aide, thankfully we were transferred to a new school right around the corner from our house. They, and a teacher who knew him from the other school, really heard our concerns and supported our choice to repeat. Now, at the end of that year, he's reading halfway through first grade level, and is on grade level in his writing, and interacting better w/ peers. He does get 2 hours/ wk of inclusion support for social skills, and OT and speech. But now, for the first time in his life, he verbalizes that he's "smart". He wants to read, he is doing 3rd grade math (and beyond), he's a much more confident kid. If we had put him into first grade before he was ready, I really believe that we would have required much higher levels of support for him, and potentially damaged his confidence and ability to succeed academically and form relationships w/ peers.

 

[BeckyScott]

I don't remember it even being brought up as a possibility.

For my DS, however, there was a big difference between his social skill and his academic skill. His academics were definately ready for kindergarten, beyond that even. So he didn't need preschool-level academics, and probably would have been bored by them, and that may have led to a whole new set of problems.

I think that is what our school system was looking at, so there wasn't any question that he was ready for kg. He did require support (for kg it was a one-on-one para in a regular classroom) but because he had been to a SpEd preschool they were already aware of the social issues and the life skills things.

But that is something you might want to consider. Realize that in preschool, the curriculum is focused on basic letter recognition, identifying colors, that kind of stuff that kids on the spectrum sometimes will excel. If those academic skills are in place, you know he's going to get bored with another year of all the easy work and then there might be problems that pop up because of that. They can deal with social deficits in kindergarten, and kindergarten does tend to emphasize that a lot, since there are kids who didn't attend any preschool and kg is their first exposure to that kind of setting. I would push big-time for a para, if you're hesitant, and a bunch of push-in social skills.

 

[disneymami]

I don't think keeping your child in preK is the answer. You need to find the right setting for your child. If your school district cannot provide a special education kindergarten class where the class size should be restricted to 8 (which is optimal, 12 is ok) then i would insist that you request a full time aide that will be assigned ONLY to your child, not the whole class. When my autistic DD entered K she had already spent 2 years of special education preschool where she was in an ABA center and the class size was limited to 8 children. In K she was in the special ed room with her aide the whole day. In first grade and 2nd grade she contined in her special ed classroom with her one-to-one aide. In the fall she will move to 3rd grade out of district.
See a child neurologist if you have to get the official diagnosis. your school district is supposed to run its own tests to determine if a disability exists and what the IEP should say. But keeping her back in pre-k is not the right approach IMO.

 

[SpecEdismyLife]

I have to agree with disneymami.

I am a paraprofessional that has spent the last 2 years working with a HFA student at my son's elementary school. My son is more of a moderate to severe case and he is in the life skills room at the school. One of things to consider is district services. When a HFA student goes through the public school setting, in most states their eligibility is determined by their yearly IEP. If your child ever gets to be on grade level, which would be fantastic obviously, they might only qualify for special education services until they are 18. Only in more severe cases would the child qualify for services through the district until they are 21. This depends on level of disability, current diagnoses, etc. If they are retained and only qualify for services until they are 18 this could cause a special needs child to go through an entire year of school with no services (their senior year).This is not the case in all states but it is here in Texas and it is one of the reasons why they really don't like to retain students with IEP's unless they are severe and everyone on the team is sure they will most likely qualify until they are 21.
This being said, we did hold back our son and have not regretted it, but the consequences for him are not the same as a child with HFA. I would recommend starting your child and requesting a facilitator, paraprofessional or whatever is your district's equivalent of a one on one aide.

 

[lucigo]

Have you talked with the school about what your options are for K? My son just finished K, but when I went to his IEP I was given several choices. A regular classroom with an aid (for the class not just for my son), a varying exceptionalities class (VE) or an autism unit. Academics aren't an issue for him and I felt he would be bored doing preK again. I chose to put him in the VE class, which had 10 kids including both K, 1 and 2nd graders, 1 teacher and 1 aid. He also went to the autism class for an hour in the afternoon for more intense communication skills. By the end of the year we phased out the autism class. He was reading on a 2nd grade level and doing 1st grade math, so his teacher was using those things to work on our real issue, social skills. He still has a long way to go but K was a very good year for him. He had so much more expected of him and he was a different child by the end of the year. He will be in the same class next year (as a 1st grader) and is exactly where I believe he needs to be.

Without knowing your specific needs, I would say you should at least look into your options and explore the possibility that repeating K if necessary would probably be much more beneficial than repeating preK. Good luck with your decision!