I really like Jonathan's preschool teachers. They have been very good with him, they really got to know him and his eccentricities and I am happy with the tests that they gave him a couple of months ago. I know that they really care about Jonathan and they are happy to see his improvements. Today, his teacher started the meeting by telling me how excited she and the other 3 teachers are with Jonathan's exponential improvement over the past month. They still cannot believe how much language he has suddenly developed. But I am concerned that I don't agree with the services they propose the school will provide Jonathan next year.
During my meeting with her, she showed me 3 sections that she had written for the IEP: receptive language, expressive language and social skills. In each, she described Jonathan's special needs, strengths and the goals for the school year. I asked a lot of questions regarding how the teacher will to collect information to match the statistics that they are setting up in the goals' section but she wasn't sure since that is an area where the Special Ed teacher that oversees all the aides would address on Tuesday. However, I pointed out that I didn't see how "attention" was going to be addressed. One of Jonathan's biggest issue right now is that because of his language delay, if he does not understand what is being said, he withdraws and sucks his thumb and zones out. Also, when he cannot regulate all the sensory input (too many kids, too loud) he shuts down and sucks his thumb. So I asked her how this was going to be addressed (prompt him to pay attention) and she indicated that she hadn't thought about it and that she would get back to me. Later today, she wrote me a message saying that she had spoken to the Special Ed teacher and that they both agreed that since Jonathan has that tendency to withdraw if is does not understand or if he is overwhelmed, that they recommended that he stays in a non-cat class 22 hours of the week where he would need closer attention and 8 hours a week in the mainstreamed kindergarden when he does not need so much attention. Non-cat is a special ed class with kids with different types of disabilities that receive closer attention and more specialized learning settings. I am not sure what the non-cat curriculum for kindergarden is.
I am honestly not convinced that this is the best solution for Jonathan. He can keep up academically with regular kindergarden kids. Academically he is at a higher level than kids his age. Putting him in a non-cat class is not what I had in mind. He imitates and observes and I want him to learn from neurotypical kids. I friend suggested that I go see the actual non-cat class, talk to the teacher and check out if the environment will challenge Jonathan enough. I am torn apart on this one.
Jonathan had a great day today. Lots of play. Happy attitude. When he got home today, he and Vanessa played for almost an hour on several pretend games. I then told them that we were going to Joe's Crab and they both got very excited. When we got there, Jonathan wanted to complete the kid's menu puzzle while he waited for his food. When he was done eating, he joined Vanessa for a bit in the playground. He accidentally hit Vanessa, and she came crying to me. He came over when he realized that Vanessa came to tell on him, and told me that he was sorry, that he had "already" told her that he was sorry and they both went back in the playground. The fact that he paid attention to Vanessa's behavior and came to follow up with me on what happened is wonderful.At times he uses short sentences like "mommy, apple juice" and other times he uses really long and appropriate sentences like "mommy, tio Luis is done eating, can we go home now please?". I assume RDI is going to help me help Jonathan speak full sentences. I really want him to go to the mainstreamed kindergarden so he can learn from other kids, but I don't want him to feel too different or rejected, so I need to work hard during the summer to help him speak longer sentences as often as possible.
I got an email late tonight from the teacher where she indicated that after giving it more thought, she thinks that Jonathan might do fine in the regular kindergarden and she is going to talk with the Special Ed teacher again on Monday. However, since the Special Ed teacher already has a mind set, changing it might still be challenging. The teacher sent me the IEP for our review. I will work on it tomorrow.
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