We had another meeting with the IEP team. The IEP programming piece is looking really good, they have given us almost everything we requested. Our advocate was pleased with how it’s shaping up.
We did discuss placement a bit yesterday and that part I’m not thrilled with. They initially recommended a substantially separate classroom, which is a classroom with all kids with special needs, no typically developing peer models. We won’t accept that. I told them I was not comfortable with that idea. They seemed surprised by that and gave me reasons why they’re thinking that way. The main reason being that they think that putting him in a classroom with busy kids will cause him to have meltdowns from all the sensory input. When I mentioned that that was not an issue with him at the drop in daycare we use they all stopped and said they had no idea he even used such a daycare and that it “changes everything.” They also mentioned another classroom they would like us to visit. They call it a transition classroom, it’s substantially separate but the goal is to get all the kids integrated within a few months. We’ll go and look at it but at most we’d consider it for May/June and summer term but we want him in an integrated classroom in the fall.
They still haven’t visited the Beverly program, that visit is supposed to be today. One of the things they did not give us, that we asked for, is a one on one aid who is fluent in ASL. They’ve said they have people who are willing to go to ASL training and the school department is willing to pay for that training. How that person will support Monkey and teach the class I do not know so I’m still not OK with this suggestion. We shall see.