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SherryinWI

After reading so many comments of children having an aide in school, I was wondering if this is very common for our children to have. How in the heck did you get one? What were some of the reasons to qualify for one or get one? Should my child have one?

Nate is currently attending a Special ed preschool classroom 3 mornings a week. The class is mixed with peer model students and students with IEP's. The class is now up to 9 students and 3 are peer model however, it would be difficult to pick out just who those peer model students are. Nate is the only student with an obvious disability. I worry when he gets to Kindergarten with him not eating and how they will manage this. Not issue now with such short class days and they will give him his bottle at snack time. Good thing he has another year of preschool because just maybe this will not be an issue.

Would love to hear from other parents. Our plan is a general Kindergarten classroom at our neighborhood school which does not house special education in it. Before I approach school with concerns I want to be armed with more information.

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Sherry
Evan 12, Olivia 11, and Nate 8*

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LovelyKennedy · Posted: January 13 2009, 1:17 PM Post subject:

Kennedy does not have an aide...she is in an inclusion kindy.....18 students, 4 with IEP's I believe. At her IEP meeting before kindy, we all agreed we didnt think she needed an aide.. We are comfortable with her school...my other children went there as well.....it is an early childhood center that only includes pre-k thru kindy. She is doing tremendously well in this environment and has shown no need for an aide this year. Next year is another story.....if we push to mainstream her into 1st grade, she will most definitely need one...the kids need to be so much more indepenent in the elementary where they teach grades 1-3. We shall see....but i look forward to responses as we may need to tackle this subject at her next IEP in May!

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Nicola · Posted: January 13 2009, 3:20 PM Post subject:

Gianna starts kinder in a few weeks. She will have an aid at least 3 1/2 hours a day, although the school is still trying to find funding for more aid time. Gianna has also had an aid two hours a day at preschool, although I suspect that the aid really spent very little time with her and just was an extra pair of hands in the room.

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DanielsMommy · Posted: January 13 2009, 4:32 PM Post subject:

Daniel is in an inclusive PreK class. 5 mornings per week 2.5 hours per day. No 1-1 aide. There are 11 students....4 typical and 7 with IEP's. His school is also an Early Learning Center which only goes up to kindy. I believe he will stay there, hopefully in an inclusive setting right through kindy. Then we will see where he is at and decide from there.

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mackenziesmom · Posted: January 13 2009, 8:32 PM Post subject:

Mackenzie is in regular kindergarten class and has a 1:1 aide. She also had a 1:1 aid for preschool. The school board called a meeting and her therapists came in to explain her needs. I would get as many people as you can to advocate that he needs an aide. For Mackenzie the reasons were safety that she could run off or she would still put the odd thing in her mouth so she could choke. She also needs help going to the bathroom, getting dressed and help keep her on task. Having an aid has really benefited Mackenzie. I would really push for one. I was really worried we wouldn't get one for Mackenzie but we were really lucky we didn't have to push for her to get one and her aides are absolutely amazing with her.

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SherryinWI · Posted: January 15 2009, 7:49 AM Post subject:

Thank you for your responses. An aide may be needed for Nate in Kindergarten if he still has the eating issue as he may need that extra help and monitoring to get in his calories during the day.

I asked this question to feel the waters. A local boy with fragile diabetes, who is non-verbal but has a large vocabulary with ASL, sensory and very active with Down syndorme was told an aide is not possible unless he was a child with a trach. However, the mom has serious issues with the class since they no very little about diabetes, do not know ASL and not outright willing to learn or meet them half-way, and the teachers complain about having too many students in the class and having too large of caseloads. Sometimes you wish teachers would just shut their mouths, but other times you appreciate their honestly but it doesn't make a parent feel good that the teacher is indicating that they can not handle their class and feeling overwhelmed.

Please say some prayers that her advocacy and local resources assist her in getting immediate remedy of this scary situation. Her son needs a 1:1 aide and by your responses it helps to show that she is not being overdemanding to request one.

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Sherry
Evan 12, Olivia 11, and Nate 8*

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moody216 · Posted: January 21 2009, 6:07 PM Post subject:

Nick is in K with a 1 on 1 aide all day. He has behaviors that require someone to be there at all times...the main one being eloping. He will bolt for the door. It is clearly a safety issue. Other than that he needs help eating (which is now just a behavior problem as well...he can feed himself). Also he needs assistance in the potty. In addition, the aide helps him with all his assignments. It was just obvious in our case that he would need it. Up until K he didn't have a 1 on 1. In the specialized preschool they had three teachers for the class of 10 or less.

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kittycat3376 · Posted: January 22 2009, 12:28 AM Post subject:

With the cerebral palsy on his left side as well as DS, David is still not standing on his own, let alone walking so once he starts school he will have to have an aide at least for mobility reasons until he can walk, and since they will already have to pay for an aide anyway, it shouldn't be hard to talk the district into also letting her help with the cognitive side of things (explaining the work, helping him with repetitions when needed until he really understands the lessons while the teacher and class are still able to move on to the next lesson and he doesn't hold them back, etc...).

All indications are that he will eventually walk, but with a significant limp, so he will almost definitely start off with an aide, and the need will be reevaluated based on his cognitive abilities once he is walking. Which will be at least 4 or 5 years old, but possibly even as late as 8 to 10 years. I'd say realistically, my expectations are somewhere in the middle of that time frame, around 6 to 8 years old. The good thing is we will have a more accurate picture of his long term cognitive abilities by the time we can decide whether or not to lose the aide than most parents have when that decision is usually made in preschool or kindy.

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ecki · Posted: January 22 2009, 9:49 PM Post subject:

Kayla is in an integrated PreK class with a 1:1 aide.

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lespring · Posted: January 24 2009, 11:15 PM Post subject:

Angela has always had a 1:1. Kindergarten and 1st, and the beginning of 2nd grade she was in the regular ed classroom without any pull-outs. The rest of 2nd grade she was either in the hospital or home, so was completely out of school from the beginning of November to the beginning of March, then on homebound services for the rest of the school year. So, she really didn't have 2nd grade. Crying or Very sad

That was also the year that her behavior fell apart.

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pmjc48 · Posted: January 25 2009, 4:16 AM Post subject:

Nicky never had a one to one in his special school but now he is an adult and goes to a day centre he does have a one to one mainly beacause he is quite vunerable from the other people who attend the centre. He is not very big so could easily be accidently knocked over etc. She is a wonderful lady and we have become firm friends, she thinks the world of Nicky and she is one of the very few people he will go up to and offer his cheek for a kiss.. She takes him on an outing every day, weather permiting, and she basically doess anything he wants. He is so lucky to have her.

HannahsmomUK · Posted: January 29 2009, 2:04 PM Post subject:

We have 1 to 1 aide for Hannah but in the UK its different as you have to apply to the Education Authority to get one

even then it doesn't make it all plain sailing as it doesnt cover any after school clubs which is what I'm experiencing at the moment, but thats another story Rolling Eyes

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Renee Lacey's mom · Posted: January 29 2009, 2:29 PM Post subject:

Lacey is in regular pre-K and doesn't have an aid.. I think it just really depends on their needs and whether you think she needs one. Good luck~

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Yailet · Posted: March 19 2009, 7:31 PM Post subject:

here in South Florida I've heard is really hard to get one, but that is the only way Daniel can go to a regular kinder class, so being that they need to place him in the least restrictive environment then I'm going to do the impossible and get one. Daniel's IEP is in May and I already visited the class he is supposed to be in, spoke to the special ed teacher, and the person in charge of special education. you have to show you will be an involved parent to start on the right foot.

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Googsmom · Posted: March 20 2009, 10:17 AM Post subject:

Brook is just in preschool but she has a snack time/ lunch time aide. Brook has Laringomalasia and a feeding plan is mandatory. It was pretty easy to get. I just showed them some clips off of youtube about Laringo and strider and they were all for it..LOL. I don't see any reason for you not to have one too. They deal with lots of kids and i'm sure they've had a feeding aide before in school. Have you asked what the plan will be?

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Karen · Posted: March 23 2009, 11:43 AM Post subject:

Alexis did not have an aide in pre-k but started with one in kindergarten and has had one ever since. We didn't ask for one - it was just offered when we had her transition from IFSP to IEP. We have been very fortunate with her attendants and she has had the same one for 2 years now. The biggest piece of advice I would offer is to make sure the attendant has the same expections for your child that you do, keep open commuinication and ask lots of questions - every day.

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SherryinWI · Posted: March 23 2009, 1:31 PM Post subject:

A feeding aide....what a great suggestion. Ofcourse I have my fingers crossed that magically Nate's feeding issues just go away before Kindergarten. But in all reality this is exactly what Nate may need. I had hoped to have his T&A and upper endoscopy out of the way on Wednesday and begin feeding therapy again end of April but now this is all changed and we are waiting yet another month with Nate having a cold and croupy cough.

Thank you!!! Thank you!!!

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Sherry
Evan 12, Olivia 11, and Nate 8*

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