Hi all. You can see my first post here: http://www.conductdisorders.com/com...-hand-posturing-rigid-finger-positions.46455/
http://www.conductdisorders.com/forum/f8/unusual-hand-posturing-rigid-finger-positions-46455/
DS's main struggles are behavioral right now. He is 4 years old and in part time preschool. He's had a variety of 'phases' since about 18 months mostly including intense meltdowns, some obsessive behaviors, and the main phase right now is defiance and aggression, impulsive aggression, refusal to participate in things, etc. We work with a psychologist and a behavioral therapist. He actually does really well with the rewards / token system the therapist set up. He is a little behind academically and socially, he has some sensory issues, and we're on a wait list right now for Occupational Therapist (OT). He was diagnosed with mood disorder a while back. Autism has been ruled out by several specialists but he does still seem to show some autistic 'features' as people have called it.
Anyway the issue is at school, he's at a private preschool (which is in a public school outside our district) where he was at the year before. But his behaviors have been much more intense recently with hitting/biting/kicking and he is on the verge of being removed from the program. The behavior therapist has been there to show them how to implement the behavior plan but unless she is there every day, they aren't able to handle the behaviors. We can't really afford to hire her or someone to be there each day. We had tried the public school preschool option here at the beginning of this year hoping he'd get services, but he didn't, and the program was unacceptable which is why we went back to this current school where they offer a wonderful program. We could go back to the public school here now because the behaviors are worse and they would see the need for services (and I would insist on it) but at this point I am not willing to put him through another change. If he gets removed from the current school, we will plan to wait until the fall and do as much as we can at home until then. The special education preschool program is self-contained and many have said this would not be a good fit for him.
So here's my main question. He's a young 4 in this 4-year-old preschool. He could go to kindergarten next year but I think everyone who has worked with him would agree he is not ready and would benefit from the extra year. He also already puts a lot of pressure on himself as is obsessive about doing things just right (and with all the other kids writing letters and their names, etc., and him hardly able to draw any letters at all, it is a real struggle for him and I imagine that would be even harder in kindergarten). But, we have to move a year from this summer, so we could enroll him in the new school district in kindergarten the following year too, and then he'd have two years of kindergarten. I have talked to both districts and that would be allowed. The reasons I think it might be a good idea are that the school he could go to in the public school district is a great school, and my understanding is Special Education services are more streamlined in the K-12 grades. There is also no public preschool option for a 'young 5' in the district anyway - so not sure what choice we'd have in the district for him to get services/support in the classroom otherwise. I've also heard that for kids with special needs, it can help to have two years in kindy because they can try to master some of the academic skills and be able to focus on the social skills the next year (something like that??). But again, my main concerns with it are the pressure (emotional/academic/social/etc.) on him and the fact that it's full-day only and we probably wouldn't choose that if we chose a preschool program (probably 3 to 5 half-days).
I hope this all makes sense - thanks so much for any info or advice!!
http://www.conductdisorders.com/forum/f8/unusual-hand-posturing-rigid-finger-positions-46455/
DS's main struggles are behavioral right now. He is 4 years old and in part time preschool. He's had a variety of 'phases' since about 18 months mostly including intense meltdowns, some obsessive behaviors, and the main phase right now is defiance and aggression, impulsive aggression, refusal to participate in things, etc. We work with a psychologist and a behavioral therapist. He actually does really well with the rewards / token system the therapist set up. He is a little behind academically and socially, he has some sensory issues, and we're on a wait list right now for Occupational Therapist (OT). He was diagnosed with mood disorder a while back. Autism has been ruled out by several specialists but he does still seem to show some autistic 'features' as people have called it.
Anyway the issue is at school, he's at a private preschool (which is in a public school outside our district) where he was at the year before. But his behaviors have been much more intense recently with hitting/biting/kicking and he is on the verge of being removed from the program. The behavior therapist has been there to show them how to implement the behavior plan but unless she is there every day, they aren't able to handle the behaviors. We can't really afford to hire her or someone to be there each day. We had tried the public school preschool option here at the beginning of this year hoping he'd get services, but he didn't, and the program was unacceptable which is why we went back to this current school where they offer a wonderful program. We could go back to the public school here now because the behaviors are worse and they would see the need for services (and I would insist on it) but at this point I am not willing to put him through another change. If he gets removed from the current school, we will plan to wait until the fall and do as much as we can at home until then. The special education preschool program is self-contained and many have said this would not be a good fit for him.
So here's my main question. He's a young 4 in this 4-year-old preschool. He could go to kindergarten next year but I think everyone who has worked with him would agree he is not ready and would benefit from the extra year. He also already puts a lot of pressure on himself as is obsessive about doing things just right (and with all the other kids writing letters and their names, etc., and him hardly able to draw any letters at all, it is a real struggle for him and I imagine that would be even harder in kindergarten). But, we have to move a year from this summer, so we could enroll him in the new school district in kindergarten the following year too, and then he'd have two years of kindergarten. I have talked to both districts and that would be allowed. The reasons I think it might be a good idea are that the school he could go to in the public school district is a great school, and my understanding is Special Education services are more streamlined in the K-12 grades. There is also no public preschool option for a 'young 5' in the district anyway - so not sure what choice we'd have in the district for him to get services/support in the classroom otherwise. I've also heard that for kids with special needs, it can help to have two years in kindy because they can try to master some of the academic skills and be able to focus on the social skills the next year (something like that??). But again, my main concerns with it are the pressure (emotional/academic/social/etc.) on him and the fact that it's full-day only and we probably wouldn't choose that if we chose a preschool program (probably 3 to 5 half-days).
I hope this all makes sense - thanks so much for any info or advice!!
