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A. One of the major concerns that parents have as they and their children make the transition from an early intervention program to preschool is getting adequate related services. I would suggest trying the following: 1) Meet with EI personnel (and parents) and discuss the issue and ways it can be resolved. Perhaps the preschool program shifts to more of a consultation model than direct service model? If this is the case, provide information to the EI program about why this is done and give evidence of the effectiveness of a consultation model? ( ***see below for help with this) Perhaps you could also provide information about the preparation classroom teachers get to carry out therapists' recommendations throughout the child's day. Share information about child development at age 3 and older that would support less therapy and/or a different model of service delivery. Be willing to talk about the different criteria for services between the EI and preschool programs. 2) Invite parents to observe how therapy is delivered in the preschool program so they can begin to feel more comfortable that their child's therapy program is being implemented throughout the school day. 3) Encourage parents and EI personnel to talk with parents who have made the transition and see that their child now receives adequate therapy in the preschool program. 4) During the initial period of transition,consider providing the amount of therapy requested by parents, then gradually lessened as the child and family feel more comfortable in the new environment. This might have to be written into IEPs and/or additional IEP meetings held to change the therapy. *** A recent volume of Young Exceptional Children ( 2 (3)) has an article by Stacy Meece Scott, R.A.McWilliam and Lisa Mayhew "Integrating Therapies into the Classroom" ( pgs. 15-24) which provides a list of research findings. These include:
A. It's hard to respond to this, not knowing what form the principals' lack of cooperation takes. Is there difficulty finding time to meet? A place to meet? Getting substitutes if the meetings take place during the day and teachers have to be relieved from teaching duties? Could the meetings somehow occur during pre or post planning days for teachers? Could teachers receive some form of compensation from the Early Childhood program for meeting before or after regular work hours? Could the Early Childhood program fund substitutes for the Kindergarten teachers? Are there any teachers or parents that the principals know and respect that could tactfully discuss the importance of these meetings with the principals? Could you work to develop a district-wide policy requiring these meetings? Q. I've just come from an IEP meeting where the team decided that a very small five year old child should stay in pre-school another year--because he is so small. The parent supports this. I don't think this is right---shouldn't a child be with his age appropriate peers? A. I don't know that size should be a criteria for remaining in the pre-school program an additional year, but I do think that many children benefit from that additional year in a preschool program. Is the child likely to be small in relation to peers her entire life? Perhaps the child could gain some independence or other skills that would make Kindergarten an easier and less threatening place to be by remaining in the preschool program another year. I don't know that one year is critical, especially if the child can move up through the elementary years, etc., with the same group of children. I support placement with same-age peers, but, even in general education, there is an increasing tendency to have children without disabilities spend an extra year in preschool if they have summer birthdays and or seem to need additional time to mature, so I don't think being six and entering kindergarten is going to be stigmatizing to the child. In addition, it will be less stigmatizing for the child to do this at a young age, rather than later in his educational career. I think one of the beauties of being in early childhood education or early childhood education is that we can be flexible because of the wide variability in child development. This seems like a time to support parental wishes and work to make the child's additional year in preschool one that will truly prepare her for kindergarten. (On a personal note, I plan to have my daughter do two years of kindergarten at two separate schools because she will be five in August and I see more advantages to being the oldest in a class than being the youngest.) Q. I am looking for training curriculums for preschools/daycare providers on inclusion. Also, do you have any suggestions to help with the transition of children with PDD into a traditional Head Start? A. You might try the following curriculums: Mainstreaming Young Children: A Training Series for Child Care Providers by Patricia W. Wesley. Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC Creative Preschool Model, available from Dr. Pamela Phelps, Creative Preschool, 2746 West Tharpe, Tallahassee, Florida 32303 To help with the transition of children with PDD to a traditional Head Start program, I would suggest some preparation of the staff at the Head Start before the child(ren) begin(s) to attend. Discussions about supports that will be available, the needs of the children, etc., would probably be beneficial. Teachers probably also need to understand about PDD -- what it is, its effects on development, etc. Also, information about supporting the children's behavior, social skills, and communication abilities would probably be needed. Teachers at Head Start should have information about all this BEFORE the child(ren) make the transition. |
