Jumping in with a ?

Re: Jumping in with a ?

• abs05 member

  July 2013

  Well, you know our situation.  We qualify for speech and OT through EI, but receive it privately instead because it is cheaper and we are able to get it more often.  We won't have our meeting with the school district until the fall.  I have no idea what to expect or even what I want.  With the apraxia diagnosis from her SLP I don't know if that will qualify us for the school district preschool or not.  Still lots of uncertainty, and transitions always make me nervous.  Oh well.  Get used to it, right?    Good luck with your CPSE meeting!

  

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• lite-bright member

  July 2013

  This is the first of many transitions that both of you will have to make. EI and the school district programs are separate, with separate funding and staff and goals, so I think it's *highly* unlikely that you could stick with your team. Their job is to serve kids through the EI period of birth-three, and your daughter is aging out of that and will transition to a new, preschool team.  

  The goal of educational services and EI are very different, and it may take some getting used to. EI is a family-based approach that takes the family's education and integration into therapy into account -- it's often done in-home because of that. Educational services are focused on the child, and their needs in order to function in a classroom and gain an education, and services take place in the classroom or in pull-out situations -- parents are not at school, so they're not involved as observers or participants. You will be involved in the process of setting goals, setting the amount of therapy time in IEPs, evaluating progress, etc., and you can definitely talk to the team about what you can do at home and I'm sure they'll be glad to make recommendations -- but I think the reality is that there is going to be more distance than you're used to between you & the therapies, because that is just the nature of the transition to school. 

  If you want in-home therapies to continue, or to have the same therapists for long-term, you're probably looking at having to hire them privately.  

  We were going through the dx process with DD1 just before she turned three and didn't get an actual dx until three, so unfortunately we were only really involved with EI long enough for them to refer us to the school district. After two years of working with the preschool team, we're transitioning to the kindergarten team. We couldn't stay with the preschool team even if we wanted to. Every year brings something different, and I feel lucky that we were able to have the same OT and SLP for an extended period of time (more than two years, for the OT)-- but when you switch between EI and preschool, preschool and kindy, eventually grade school to high school, etc., this is part of the process. 

  And just as an FYI/aside, you may find that two days is not sufficient/recommended by the team if she is given placement in a district preschool program. I was planning to start my DD1 with 2-3 half days a week and ramp up to four in the second year of preschool, and when we sat down with the preschool team at our first meeting, they basically said that they wanted her four half-days in order to get all of her therapy time in without compromising her classroom participation. So she did four half-days a week for two years. We had the option to decline that, of course, but I'm so glad we didn't, because it truly was the best thing for her. 

  Good luck! 

  
  
  DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010

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• Irisheyes1247 member

  July 2013

  lite-bright:

  This is the first of many transitions that both of you will have to make. EI and the school district programs are separate, with separate funding and staff and goals, so I think it's *highly* unlikely that you could stick with your team. Their job is to serve kids through the EI period of birth-three, and your daughter is aging out of that and will transition to a new, preschool team.  

  The goal of educational services and EI are very different, and it may take some getting used to. EI is a family-based approach that takes the family's education and integration into therapy into account -- it's often done in-home because of that. Educational services are focused on the child, and their needs in order to function in a classroom and gain an education, and services take place in the classroom or in pull-out situations -- parents are not at school, so they're not involved as observers or participants. You will be involved in the process of setting goals, setting the amount of therapy time in IEPs, evaluating progress, etc., and you can definitely talk to the team about what you can do at home and I'm sure they'll be glad to make recommendations -- but I think the reality is that there is going to be more distance than you're used to between you & the therapies, because that is just the nature of the transition to school. 

  If you want in-home therapies to continue, or to have the same therapists for long-term, you're probably looking at having to hire them privately.  

  We were going through the dx process with DD1 just before she turned three and didn't get an actual dx until three, so unfortunately we were only really involved with EI long enough for them to refer us to the school district. After two years of working with the preschool team, we're transitioning to the kindergarten team. We couldn't stay with the preschool team even if we wanted to. Every year brings something different, and I feel lucky that we were able to have the same OT and SLP for an extended period of time (more than two years, for the OT)-- but when you switch between EI and preschool, preschool and kindy, eventually grade school to high school, etc., this is part of the process. 

  And just as an FYI/aside, you may find that two days is not sufficient/recommended by the team if she is given placement in a district preschool program. I was planning to start my DD1 with 2-3 half days a week and ramp up to four in the second year of preschool, and when we sat down with the preschool team at our first meeting, they basically said that they wanted her four half-days in order to get all of her therapy time in without compromising her classroom participation. So she did four half-days a week for two years. We had the option to decline that, of course, but I'm so glad we didn't, because it truly was the best thing for her. 

  Good luck! 

  I've talked with our team about the transition and they all are able to continue with her, as their agencies continue for preschool. I guess I was planning the 2 day preschool specifically because I do want them to still come to the house and not push into class, because I want her school time to be in addition to her therapies. But maybe they will recommend a program for more time like that.But you do bring up a good point that I didn't really think of - parents are not really participants at school. Up until this point, we've just been working so much on being consistent with her teachers, it has become a little bit of a security blanket.  

  

  My Big Fat Messy Life

          

  
  

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• ali0608 member

  July 2013

  I don't know your DD's specific issues, but I just wanted to say that our preschool program has been awesome with DS.  He's grown SO much socially and it has been great for him.  They don't work on his food issues, but other than that, he's grown up this past year.  We are doing private speech for his food issues.  The school district doesn't work on food since it's not an educational issue.  He goes five days a week for 2 1/2 hours. 

  My only advice would be to listen to the school and see what they recommend.  You may be able to work in a schedule with everything your DD needs.
  

  

  

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