Hi Jason,

    Has the school district done its testing yet? Its a Federal Law - Public
Law 94-142 for a special needs child and her right. They must place her in
the least restrictive environment and provide her with some assistance.

   Using Amber ( Right Hemi) as an example - she was tested for Kindergarten
by Fairfax County and found eligible. I checked the program and was apalled
by the sheer number of kids and the fact they had 1/2 day classes. I put her
in a special pilot program for private schools - she was in a class of 12
and had a therapist come in several times a week and work with her and it
was an all day class. Once she began the County Schools here in Virginia
(Fairfax) they had started a program of max kids for 1st and 2nd grade of
15. She had an IEP and an Physical Disabilities Itenerant teacher wich came
in twice a week to work with her. My experience was postive. Amber started
school solely for special needs kids at a younger age - 22 months - so she
was aclimatized to the class room environment.

  I would not worry about the term Special Ed - it covers everything today.
While conveys bad stuff to older folks - In truth the Special ED dept here
is broken up into what the childs needs are - Orthopedic, MR, Visual, etc.
Amber is classified as Orthopedically Impaired and she is entitled to
adaptions where needed and X amount of time from the Physical Disabilities
Itenerant teacher - PDI. She is even in Gifted/Talented or Honors classes
and has taken Advanced Placement Courses.

                            Brightest Blessings - Trisha



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jason Kruse PA [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 12:57 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Starting Kindegarten
>
> Hello everyone-
> Well Lauren started Kindergarten yesterday. FYI, she
> is 5 years and 3 months, mild left hemi and hypotonia.
> She was given the green light from Rainbows an early
> child hood development center that she should be able
> to attend K this fall.
>
> We put her in a summer learning day care to help
> acclimated her to a more structured environment and
> she had a few problems early on with "listening" but
> that improved and there were no more problems.
>
> The first day of K my wife states that the teacher
> looked stressed and stated that she didn't listen
> well. This is NOT a suprise to us because she becomes
> aloof at home as well and we have to spend extra time
> with to get her to focus and about not listening to
> our instructions or requests but with time and
> consequences she "catches on". I feel that is she is
> not as mature and most kids her age and I think this
> is part of her global delay. The principle is very
> supportive about watching her for 3 weeks to determine
> if she need special education. Im intimidated by the
> term but don't know what it really entails. When and
> how does someone progress out of special ed and how is
> it determined who goes there or not. We are going to
> have a sit down discussion next week with the
> principle and teacher to discuss everything about her
> condition and our prospective and expectations.
>
> I would love to here your alls Kindegarten experiences
> with your kids
>
> Thanks
>
> Jason-dad
> Jason Kruse, PA
> Family Medicine East
> Heartland Research Associates
> Kansas PA Temps