I also agree with what's being said here.  When I was in school myself,
I was always included (mainstreamed as they called it at that time), but
however I also did an hour or two in the resource room (which was also a
self-contained classroom for some students), I went down there for
reading and spelling because they're my harder areas.  Now as an adult
and a voluntary disability consultant sometimes, I can honestly say that
my parents and educational team did the right thing by doing that with
me, instead of watching my reading and language skills fall behind, just
because they wanted to see me totally included.  Don't get me wrong
here, I like the "Inclusion" idea, but especially in my own case, that
wasn't totally the answer to the problem, especially with also having a
learning disability like I do.  I usually like to ask parents two
questions, with the understanding of answering question #1 before
thinking about question #2.  Question #1 is, what do you want to see
your child doing in 20-30 years from now?  Please don't say "the US
president", keep the answer realistically.  Question #2 is, how will you
accomplish whatever you said on question #1 (again being realistically
in thinking)?  I'm sure that my own parents faced the same questions
when I was littler, and they answered in the best way they knew how.

Good Luck,
Anthony

-----Original Message-----
From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Trisha Cummings
Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 11:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Starting Kindegarten

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