Committee meeting results

bkeane619 · October 2014

We had our meeting today. We got 2 days a week for OT and PT. Preschool however was a difficult decision. Everyone agreed that his class now is not a good fit. We discussed integrated preschool which was what I thought was going to be the way we were going to go. There were concerns that because his IQ scores were so high that it might not be the right fit. Then a SEIT was discussed and new smaller class preschool as well as Montessori. As of right now we will get the SEIT everyday for one hour and they can go to school/community with him. We went directly to Montessori school after the meeting and liked what we saw and that DS might be better off there than a traditional class but we didn't give them any info about our son's issues. The thing is we don't know if they will let a SEIT in the class. The committee suggested we wait a couple days and call anonymously.
We got his FBA the other day and his behavior in school is pretty horrible. They feel due to sensory issues and over stimulation. They also noted they saw multiple autism spectrum symptoms during the observation.
Has anyone used Montessori? Are we making a mistake not going to integrated preschool?

hopecounts · October 2014

I'm not sure Montessori and ASD like quirks and classroom behavior issues would be a good fit.

there is a great deal of focus on independent work/direction and it may be better for him to work on classroom skills (peer interaction, working with a group/following instructions/etc) now then later but that is just based on my understanding of typical montessori.

I would be afraid that it may reinforce certain issues rather then helping him learn to adjust to a typical classroom. But 'montessori' can mean a fairly large range of things so it would likely depend on the specifics of the school you are looking at.

Hiccup15 · October 2014

I can't tell you if you are making a mistake or not. I think it really depends on your child and the specific Montessori school and integrated preschool.

We had DS1 go to a Montessori preschool and it did not end very well. DS1 doesn't have any official diagnoses yet, but he does have ASD like quirks, anxiety, and will most likely be diagnosed with ADHD.

I had only heard wonderful things about this specific Montessori school. We ended up touring it 3 times before starting DS1 and right away I thought it was an amazing school and it was just perfect. Well, it still is an amazing school and is perfect for the right child.

We found that DS1 is just not the right kind of child that benefits from that type of environment. I feel bad because if we were really paying attention to DS1 and not just what we thought of the school, we would have realized that he wouldn't flourish in that environment

bkeane619 · October 2014

Yea, I would hate to enroll him and things go bad again like in his current class. He loves to go to school and I feel bad now he isn't going to be going for at least the next month until we make a decision. If anyone has a SEIT how does that go? Ugh, I'm so torn as to what to do.

bkeane619 · October 2014

fredalina said:
DD is in Montessori. She has been in daycare centers as well as Montessori, and I can say that while she has had some struggles with Montessori (she has SPD and ADHD, not ASD), she does better there than in "traditional" daycare centers. This year is her best year by far. Learning isn't really a problem as she is learning, but she is bright so some of it may be that. But behavioral expectations are the problem, and ADHD contributes as well as SPD. A lot of Montessori primary classes (preschool-kindergarten) are pretty large, including DD's. This creates a lot of opportunity for distraction. This is the biggest problem for DD by far.

I have toured a lot of Montessori schools. Probably 10 or 12 now. They are all different in how they are run. One of them I call "the zombie school" because when I toured, the primary class was silent. Not quiet, but sterile quiet. These are 3 to 6 year olds. There should be SOME noise, SOME quiet talking. One of them was far too noisy. Kids running around and NOT working at all. Director walks in and suddenly it gets quiet. Not a well run classroom, clearly. A good Montessori is peaceful but will have a little "hum" or "buzz". That can be somewhat distracting. Most of the schools I've toured are in between. And then there are the occasional that use the word Montessori but don't seem to follow Montessori teachings much. One of them actually uses laptops and Khan Academy math in the class every day. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it's not Montessori.

One great thing about Montessori is that the teachers (generally) really appreciate the kids for who they are. They don't (usually) label kids, or let the kids feel like they aren't liked because of their behaviors, etc. They are accepting, and teach a sense of community, and empathy. It sometimes feels like the slow approach to some types of social thinking, but it is a pretty solid path too, if that makes sense.

I know a few people who use Montessori schools. Here is what I perceive as their situations from talking with them:

1) Me. Kiddo has ADHD and SPD (seeker). There are behavior problems but I really feel it is a better fit for her and me than public school would be. We are looking to possibly continue Montessori for elementary. Classrooms get smaller and calmer so I think it will be an even better fit.

2) BFF has a son being evaluated for ASD, language delay, always a little slow on milestones, kind of the quiet watcher type (we joke our kids are opposites). At 4.5 he went down a slide for the first time in OT. So a sensory avoider. He was only in a toddler class (not primary level) at a school I consider poorly run. One of the things about Montessori is kids are responsible for their own work. In his case they would leave him frustrated because he couldn't (or possibly wouldn't) finish self help work. So he would sit at the door without his coat on and they didn't help him because he was supposed to do it himself. Not cool! I was furious when I heard. He definitely could have used encouragement, and would have gotten it at my DD's school, but I can see how the Montessori method could be poorly applied to this situation. She took him out and home schooled him for preschool but is realizing he is not doing that well with it. She moved to the country and her only option for school is public school and she is not happy about it. She is considering moving back to the city.

3) Another friend has a son who is very likely ASD (but not evaluated) at another Montessori (the one that uses laptops in elementary). She loves the school. Her son is thriving there. He is learning so much and they are able to help him work all around to prevent him from being in one special interest subject matter, etc. She is looking at keeping him in Montessori for elementary.

4) A friend of DD's attended DD's school. She is a lot like Charlotte but more in the range of typical. Spunky but not ADHD, probably. She did very well for 2 years and went to public kindergarten this year. She's adjusting well. Way ahead of peers academically, even in their affluent suburban school.

5) Another friend of DD's at our school has apraxia of speech and was adopted internationally at 3. She is about to turn 7 and started at Montessori at 4.5. Her mom is very ambitious and is talking about college already. The mom had a hard time with the school; full of complaints. They were outside too much (where I am all about outdoor time for my kid), they let K do art all day if she wanted where she (the mom) felt she should be doing more academics. She would say, "Remember I have to get her ready for first grade next year..." (this year, which she thought was a year late already but isn't in this part of the country). Her daughter has some, um, emotional outbursts (tantrums, basically) as is generally pretty immature for her age even if you ignore the speech differences. She pulled her daughter last year and put her in 1/2 day private K and hired a nanny with SLP experience for afternoons. That lasted about 4 months before she put her back in our Montessori. Not sure what happened exactly as she never said, but she was back to complaining about the school in no time lol. She ended up moving to a bigger city across the country and actually chose a Montessori school with a large deaf and hard of hearing program. I don't know much about apraxia so forgive me if I used incorrect phrasing.

6) A former coworker had her son at our school before DD started. She actually strongly disliked it. She was used to getting daily reports with how many bites he ate and how many times he used the bathroom etc, and didn't like that sometimes he had stains in his undies (he was 3 and learning bathroom independence). This school doesn't give daily detailed reports of bodily functions. They trust the kids to eat when hungry and use the bathroom when they need to, etc. They will tell you if there's something you need to know, like an ongoing issue. But some moms like seeing the details and don't like the lack of them. (The school has since started recording lessons and progress in a computer program that sends a daily email. Today Charlotte read story 10-2 fluently and summarized, copied a spelling list, and worked on writing numbers. Yesterday she made a map of the continents.)

I hope this helps provide insight. Feel free to ask me anything or PM me.

Wow great insight thanks! My main concern is DS disrupting a class he can be very aggressive although not malicious. Today we saw a large class and that worried me. I heard of another Montessori school that has a center for kids with issues like DS. I'm going to give then a call tomorrow and see what they say. Do u know if they allow SEITs in the classroom?

bkeane619 · October 2014

@-auntie-‌ Yes it is PT and OT individually 2x a week for an hour each at a center we need to choose. They are supposed to call me today with a couple of suggestions. I don't think it is in a group but I can ask today. He did not get evaluated for speech. They didn't mention anything about social skills programs.

It is possible they did try to steer us away from integrated so they didn't have to pay. They did seem genuinely concerned with what would be best for DS there was a lot of back and forth between them as to what to do. His preschool teacher was there and so was the psych from center who evaluated him and they also thought it was a good idea so I trusted them.

Their thinking towards the SEIT was that he would need to be in a small class size. I agree with you maybe an hour isn't long enough.

As to why to keep information from the Montessori I was concerned they would turn us away. Since they are a
private preschool I assume they can turn us away? I'm not sure how it works. I voiced my concerns and calling at a later time was their suggestion.

I don't know what a BIP is or ABA. I know the IEP needs to have who I am taking him to for the OT/PT services on it so they said once I choose they will send it to me.

I don't want him to leave a program again at all. I feel terrible for him, he loves school.

KL777 · October 2014

I'm glad everyone was on the same page about the current class not being a good fit. I don't know much about Montessori schools, but all of my friends who have children who go to one rave about it.

hopecounts · October 2014

bkeane619 said:

I don't know what a BIP is or ABA.

BIP= Behavior Intervention Plan (a plan for addressing problematic behavior that is geared toward a specific students struggles)

ABA= Applied Behavioral Analysis a therapeutic approach for working with kids who have ASD. Basically it uses reinforcers to reward correct behavior/responses and you repeat until the kiddo learns the behavior/skill. There is an excellent series of videos about it on youtube if you search ABA.

bkeane619 · October 2014

hopecounts said:

bkeane619 said:

I don't know what a BIP is or ABA.

BIP= Behavior Intervention Plan (a plan for addressing problematic behavior that is geared toward a specific students struggles)

ABA= Applied Behavioral Analysis a therapeutic approach for working with kids who have ASD. Basically it uses reinforcers to reward correct behavior/responses and you repeat until the kiddo learns the behavior/skill. There is an excellent series of videos about it on youtube if you search ABA.

The psych who did the FBA did give a series of strategies to use with him regarding a reward system/chart. Maybe they just didn't give me the official name?

bkeane619 · October 2014

Spoke to 2 schools. Montessori said he wouldn't be a good fit. Spoke
To director at another preschool that was recommended and they have an am class 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours with 2 teachers and only 7-8 students. There is also a student already in the class with a SEIT so maybe we can work something out where there are two hours back to back with SEIT in the room.
A couple hours later I get a call from the person who ran our committee meeting and she suggested a very specific SEIT that she thinks would be great for us and DS. She said she will tell it like it is and give let us know if she thinks things are working out or not. She tells me her name and I realize it is the name of the person already in the class from the preschool I spoke to in the am. She said it is very likely the same person because she knows she works with that preschool sometimes. I am going to check it out tomorrow and see how it is. I clarified the OT/PT , I was mistaken. It is 1/2 hour sessions not an hour and it is individual.

bkeane619 · October 2014

We just got back from the preschool and everyone was nice and understanding of his needs. His SEIT was there too and seems amazing! She got to meet him and talk to him a bit. The classroom was very large and only a few kids. Hopefully this helps, if not I guess we will have to go from there. He won't start till the end of the month once the services kick in.

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