Everyone has a different experience with what type of school works for your extra-needs child, all depending on the area you live in and what types of services are available. I know of several families that have moved out of Utah to be eligible for better school services. (Considering UT ranks the absolute LOWEST for amount of money spent per pupil as of July 2009, that obviously is a smart move for any family – yikes).
We lived in the Salt Lake City School District when Hamhock was diagnosed at age 2 1/2. He had already been receiving minimal services with the state’s Early Intervention program, administered by DDI Vantage. At age 3, the SLC school district offered a special-needs preschool 2 mornings a week. Are you kidding me? For a child with autism, THAT SIMPLY ISN’T ENOUGH. That was our biggest reason for running our own private ABA therapy in our home, and avoiding the endless fighting that would have been required to fight for more services from the school district with their minimal budget (please legislators, we need to start putting much much more money into our schools!).
As part of the ABA program, I enrolled Hamhock in preschool at age 4 to start working on social skills, school setting, following rules, etc. The preschool program I chose was run by the Granite School District, which only cost $110/month for 4 days/week, 3 hours/day. The preschools take place at the elementary schools, so its a great program to get your child ready for Kindergarten and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, like most private preschools do.
During that year of preschool, we moved into the Jordan School District (now Canyons School District). I had Hamhock tested with the JSD special needs program to determine which services he would qualify for in this new school district. In both behavioral and speech testing, he qualified too advanced for their current preschool program. Their recommendation was to have him enter Kindergarten and ‘see’ how he does, at which point we can discuss IEP needs.
I wasn’t interested in fighting to have him in a preschool where the children were far less functioning than he is, and since he did so well in his preschool in Granite District, we kept him there. He made several friends and overall had a fabulous learning experience.
As I was researching Kindergartens (charter, CSD public or GSD public), it became apparent that keeping Hamhock at the same elementary school for Kindergarten in the Granite School District would be the best choice to start. Our CSD neighborhood school runs Kindergarten from 8:20 – 10:55 (ugh). Whereas, GSD Kindy is from 9:05 – 12:05. Since Superboy’s preschool is from 8:45 – 11:45, I need something around the same times. I like the school set-up, too: a private playground just for Kindergartners, and a private entrance directly into their classes, so they don’t have to interact quite yet with the big kids. The rooms are big, airy and have windows. Hamhock has several friends already, and I’m glad that he can look forward to his buddies on the way to school.
Hamhock attended a regular public school Kindergarten (Granite School District, Upland Terrace Elementary) without an official IEP. He had speech therapy and support from the school psychologist and behavior specialist.
He attended first grade at a regular public school (Canyons School District, East Sandy Elementary). He is completely mainstreamed, with a very understanding and approachable teacher, and I have been able to work with her to accommodate anything he’s needed, so we haven’t done an official IEP yet. He didn’t get speech therapy. He did get support from the school psychologist once a week. He met with a small group of other boys on the spectrum and they did games and activities to support social skills.
As of August 2011, he is enrolled in a regular, public charter school (Alianza Academy) for second grade. He has an IEP for speech therapy and OT. The Alianza model is perfectly suited for kids with learning challenges. I love it!
