We had our 1st pre-school eval
realisticdreams
member
P had her first appt with the regular psychologist this morning, who seemed kinda clueless on how to help us get her to let us cath. (She used to be a social worker at a spina bifida clinic so that's pretty good). She just basically said that it's not rocket science why she won't let us, she just doesn't want too.
Our first pre-school visit was this evening. We go back late June for our eval meeting. Apparently our county doesn't embrace the same definition of developmental delay as the state does.
"Developmental delay" means a disability affecting a child ages two by September 30 through six, inclusive: (34 CFR 300.8(b);[ 34 CFR 300.306(b)])
- (i) Who is experiencing developmental delays, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development, or (ii) who has an established physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay;
- The delay(s) is not primarily a result of cultural factors, environmental or economic disadvantage, or limited English proficiency; and
- The presence of one or more documented characteristics of the delay has an adverse affect on educational performance and makes it necessary for the student to have specially designed instruction to access and make progress in the general educational activities for this age group.
Local school divisions determine the criteria for being found eligibile for services under the developmental delay category.
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/special_ed/early_childhood/index.shtml"
Which sucks. We should be able to qualify because of an OHI problem is..they think P is already cathing. And I didn't exactly correct them, because technically she will be by September and I didn't want to miss our window of opportunity for getting this to work.
The other problem is they said all of their 2 year olds are non verbal and P is not..so they don't want her in the 2s class. I guess it's not just as easy as switching her to 3s because of her bday (Nov 7th)..The 3s and 4s have neuro-typical peer models SO we can always fall back on that. They could suggest P to be a peer model (which was kinda weird to hear..) and that would get us in the preschool as well. It would only be 2 days/week but i'm OK with that.
So basically now we wait, and the eligibility meeting is going to involve a lot of people and a lot of arguing and trying to get us in. Should be super fun..not.
I really didn't know that P wasn't a 'cognitively typical' 2 1/2 year old. (She started talking at 20 months..) In the last month I had 3 medical professionals who had never met her before ask me what age I thought she was functioning at. I had no clue. One lady said she would have to do a formal eval but not 2 1/2, the psychologist said closer to 5 some people at the spina bifida clinic at VCU said 4-5 and the teachers today said 5.
I don't think she's a genius by far, I would have never even said she was advanced because I had nothing to compare it too. The shrink said the fact that she is a little advanced cognitively is going to either help or hinder medical aspects of her life and I guess so far..it's hindering because she can't control the emotion that comes with understanding that she does need to do something.
ETA: I am in no way trying to be all "omg look at my super smart child!" I guess it's just nice to hear she's advanced in something every once in a while. We were told from the beginning they didn't know exactly how her stroke would affect her brain function and it would kind of just be a wait and see. And i'm well aware that just bc she's a little advanced now doesn't mean in 3 years she won't be on the same level or start to fall behind. We have pushed her very very very hard, i'll be the first to say sometimes I feel like I pushed her TOO hard. The hours..and hours on end that I made her walk after they told me she may not be able to walk. I know it's paying off but i still have a little bit of guilt over it. So I guess this is my AW for the month, because I don't usually AW anything with the girls. Again, I do not want to offend anyone, because medically she is struggling.
Re: We had our 1st pre-school eval
Don't apologize. If a bunch of professionals threw me that bone I would be chewing on it like a rabid dog!! LOL You deserve some good news, lady, and lil' P deserves to have something come easily. Like you said, she may plateau out in a few years, but at least for now she (and you) can focus on something else.
My kid eats like a rock star, and I brag about it and I thank God for it, because I know how hard it is for many of the mamas and LOs here. We all have our things we are grateful for and can celebrate.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
All three of you are so kind with your words i'm literally almost crying. I feel like we are constantly being throw around with so many diagnosis and things coming to light that we NEVER fit in..anywhere! I was kind of like great! now we can't fit in here either.
Auntie, the lack of being able to potty train is why I want her in the public pre-school. We live far out but i've called all of the pre-schools in the city and NONE will change diapers (they said they aren't health dept certified to do that?) and absolutely aren't willing to learn how to cath her, etc. So technically speaking she's being denied education outside of the public school based on her medical issues, which wall fall under OHI. I was hoping her CP diagnosis would get her in no questions asked but our county doesn't do the "diagnosis that has high probability of delay." She is just atypical in that she does more with her left side than her right, etc. Plus she has some serious self soothing issues (like, she has none..) and she is never around anyone but adults and doctors.
Atleast I know I tried and if nothing else, next year we can try to get her in again under the OHI or as a peer model.
I can just imagine a frazzled SN mom off in a corner workin' that bone. LOL!
RD. This is great news to hear! Congrats!
It's kind of blurry because her surgery was when she was 20 months old, and I don't remember her talking at all really then. We started speech at 15 months, I believe and she basically said nothing.
Between 20-24 months she started saying full blown conversation sentences. I know one time the ST came and she said nothing and she came back and was like holy cow what happened. Now she will say pretty much anything, can carry on a full conversation, I think the most i've counted was a 12 word sentence.
Wow! That is amazing! They definitely do seem to start talking a whole lot more at certain ages whenever they are developmentally ready. My DS is far more interested in motor skills and I guess that is part of why he is doing so well in that area despite the CP. As for us, we'll keep working with the ST!