"Special ed" vs. 1st grade classroom?

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Hiya all - I have a question for you regarding a decision that myself and hubby are facing right now.

My son is 6 and was diagnosed with Asperger's last year. He did just fine in Kindergarten (awesome teacher), but now with the longer days in 1st grade (and perhaps the teacher), I guess he has become a bit of a handful - disrupting the class, not participating in the activities, not following directions, etc. The school psych has suggested that we put him in a class with up to 5 other kids with various ASDs where there are 2 kids per teacher.

Any perspectives? Should we push for more flexibility/options in the regular classroom (it seems like here he would have a broader social interaction), or would he benefit more with other kids like him (just feeling perhaps more comfortable)?

I really would love to hear all of your thoughts. I just don't know what would be best.

My son has autism and he's 6 in 1st grade and he has aide part-time during the periods of the day that are often harder on him. There is no special ed class so special needs kids are often mainstreamed with an aide (anywhere from a small amount of time to fulltime 1 on 1). That might be an option.

We lived in California when my son was kindergarten, and they put him in a special needs classroom for part of the time, and "mainstreamed" those kids in the regular classroom part of the time. It wasn't exactly an optimal situation, although the special ed teacher was FANTASTIC.

Knowing that the school district leaned towards doing the same type of thing in future years, we moved to Pennsylvania (which is where we were before we moved to California).

In 1st grade in Pennsylvania, my son had a full-time aide. You are right about a lot more social opportunities. Then, in 2nd grade, he had many different aides -- a great idea in terms of having him NOT get too used to one person. By third grade, the need for aides was phasing out, and fourth and fifth grade, he didn't have aides at all.

I do think that, for our son, this was the best-case scenario. If we had stayed in California, I'm afraid the outcome would have been much different. As things are now, my son is fully integrated, no special needs classes, and he has friends. He's very happy with life, even though school is hard and expectations are high. We struggle, for sure, to do what it takes to stay mainstreamed, but I think that it will be worth it in the end. The only thing that I would do differently, if I could, is be in a school district where expectations were not so high. Our school district is ridiculous -- probably due to the parent's high expectations -- in what they expect the students to achieve. If I could, I would live in a place like Seattle, where we almost moved last year, where things are just more relaxed.

Keep us updated on what you plan to do for your son!

Kris

My son is in kindergarten, and he is in a class with 5 kids on spectrum, 1 teacher, and 2 aides. He does mainstream out (with an aide) for things like gym, art, lunch, etc. This seems to be working well for him; with his sensory issues and meltdowns, we felt that a large mainstream classroom would be too much for him to handle full-time.

I'm on a timer at the library so I can't type much. If you do a search in this forum, I have threads about this very problem. Though, my son is "classic autistic", not Asperger's. He's at age range for academics (above with most) and speech. Socially he's still a couple of years behind.
Really you have to determine what your goals are for your son and what you expect the school to do for him. Are you sending him there because you can't afford to do anything else? Are you wanting "expert" help for him and expect the school to teach him social skills? Are you just wanting him to go to school and learn academics?
You really have to know how to answer that before you can ask the school for anything. Otherwise, they'll just run you around and waste your time. While he is in his "formative" years, I wouldn't really panic that any one experience will be miraculous or catastrophic. But you don't really want the school to use his dx as a means to "warehouse" him.

My son has benefited most from having the safety net of being enrolled in a special ed classroom, while attending regular ed fulltime. But don't expect your school to understand how that works. We're considered "pioneers" or "breakthroughs" and we have to fight almost all the time for it to work. I just don't want him in a segregated situation where he's listening to fairy tales all day and tinking on the computer. Nor do I want school staff to call him "defiant" or "disrespectful". It's very difficult when you have a so-called "high-functioning" special needs student.

Try to ask your son what it is that makes him do what he does in class. Is it noisy? Too much waiting? No reliable routine? It's this time of the school year that schedules change for new classes or activities and it will throw off autistics. This was the exact time last year that my son just fell apart at school and they were unwilling to help. (they had no special ed class, go figure) Has he been observed by the school psychologist? Do they profess having a method to teaching autistic kids?
Finding out this stuff is so important for you to make a judgement about how helpful they are, how able they are and just what you're willing to put up with.
I'll check back when I have more time.

I totally agree with everything BugsMom and KimJ have said. I would love to have a class like that for my first grader! But I do think it would be a good idea that he mainstreams into a regular class for certain activities, that way he is getting the best of both worlds. I am fighting like crazy to get an aide for my son! Although the special ed teacher is doing very well with helping him out more than the IEP calls for. That is awesome that your school even offers something like that!! ! Take advantage, when he is older he may be able to cope better and handle a mainstream class!

Best of luck!

Our developmental ped told us not to put him in a completely special needs class. Especially if he has Aspergers, he is going to need that interaction with typical kids.

Our son is in a collaborative class. There are 5 special needs kids (1 hfa, the rest developmental delays) mixing with a class of typical kids between 2 teachers. There are also 2 aides, plus 1 on 1s for the kids who need them. You can honestly not tell which kids are in what class except when the sp needs teacher starts handing out extra flyers to her parents.

If you don't have that in your area, I would push for a 1 on 1 in a reg class.

In first grade, I was in a class that was considered "special education." However, I was reading at fifth grade level. I began to realize that I didn't belong in that classroom because some of the students were older than I was and couldn't read as well as I did. I credit that teacher, however, for really teaching me. My kindergarten teacher was useless.

Thanks so much everyone for your insight, it has been very very valuable... we're still looking into it, it will be good for him to do the special ed. thing as long as there is also ample opportunity for him to mainstream once he's gotten into the swing of things.

Thanks again!

I'm glad I wasn't diagnosed as a kid. If I had been in special ed, I would have been screwed. Firstly because of the lowered intellectual expectations- I was reading at a sixth grade level in first grade, and I was put in the gifted program. Imagine if I was in special ed instead. Secondly, because all the other kids would have seen me as a special ed kid, and I would really have had no chance at making friends. Kids with AS may be a handful in the classroom, and I know I was at that age, but I had a very understanding and sweet teacher. Being integrated with all the NTs, I had to learn to function as well as I could. You see, we may have trouble with appropriate behaviour and social interaction, but we are generally "normal" enough to feel like we don't belong in special ed. I would have been horrendously insulted if I was put into a class with mentally ret*d and severly emotionally disturbed and developmentally delayed kids. We're actually closer to "regular" kids than people apparently think. Honestly, it's like putting all dyslexic kids in special ed, or all depressed kids, or all kids with ADHD. Teachers should be trained to deal with all sorts of students, even ones who are a bit more to deal with. Special ed teachers are there for the low-functioning kids. I agree with everyone who says try to keep him mainstreamed, speaking as someone with AS!! !

Just thought I'd add my two cents worth of experience.

My parents enrolled me in a special gifted-only school for grades 1 and 2. It didn't work very well because AS and "giftedness" (whatever that is) are clearly not same thing. I was still left out and didn't make friends because all the other kids were ultimately still NT.

As such, I would strongly advise you to consider very carefully what you do with your kid. Unless you know for sure that the program meshes with your kid's needs and interests, keep them out of gifted ed just as you should with special ed.

Cameo,

Your experience was quite similar to my own.

My 11yo son has been in an ebd classroom since first grade and I wouldn't have it any other way. Some of these classrooms aren't that good cause it depends on the teacher, but his teacher loves him and there is an aide that helps all 8 of the students and a mental health specialist in the classroom at all times. He had a hard time in kindergaren, not sitting still, going under the tables then getting aggressive when sent to the principle. We tried regular special ed and he kept running off, so when there was an opening in the ebd room, we took it and I am so glad we did. He had his own aide for a couple of yrs and he has actually done better without one because if that aide would ever give someone else attention he would act out. He mainstreams for music and gym and if he keeps doing well for science this yr. I wouldn't want him in the regular classroom because he gets made fun of at times and he is like everyone else in his ebd classroom.

my son is mainstreamed but is pulled out for special ed everyday, but his expectations are not at all lowered just because he is in special ed. He is in 1st grade but reads on a 5th grade level, if not higher. Also, he is in the "high" math class. The special ed mostly deals with his social and behavioral issues.