Jack is getting a lot more words but I wouldn't really say that he is "talking" in any way that anyone other than I can understand. He is certainly hearing but I do not know how much he gets. When he is looking right at me he is actually understanding a lot. When he is not looking at he he hears, but I am not sure how much he understands. I was told that learning speech requires hearing and overhearing. Kids overhear so much of other people's conversations. Jack really can't overhear so it limits him a lot.
Jack's birthday is November 28th. In my school district the birthday cutoff is December 1st. If a child is 5 before December 1st they can start kindergarten that year. Jack will be 5 next year two days before the cutoff. I asked the special ed coordinator if I can hold him back and start him the next year. She said I can do that but then he will lose all his preschool services. He gets speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and services of a teacher of the deaf. There is no way he will be ready for kindergarten next year. I have the choice to send him to kindergarten at the deaf school. They have a kindergarten first grade combo class that is located in a public school. It is in East Islip which is almost an hour bus ride for Jack. If he goes to this kindergarten I can always have him repeat kindergarten in our home district. I know it is a year away but all the planning will have to be done in a few months because there are limited placements. All the placements require tons of meetings and evaluations and it can be an exhaustive process. I would guess all the decisions will have to be made by January.
When Julianna started kindergarten she was writing her name, reading many words and understanding some math. Her birthday is January 8th so she was one of the older kids in the class. It seems like Jack is years behind where Julianna was at this age and she was testing behind for a long time. Jack has progressed the most physically. He was testing in the 3rd percentile in overall physical assessment just over a year ago. Now he can do anything a child his age can do and more. He is very physical and he really likes sports. I am going to get him into some organized sports activities but he may have issues following directions.
Julianna is loving her new school. She enjoys sports and loves to read.
Here are some first day pictures.
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So nice to read an update. I am in awe of how big your kids are, and amazed at how Jack has caught up physically! Is there any way to challenge (threaten/etc?) the rule about Jack losing preschool services. He was premature so can't you argue that his "adjusted" age is younger, or something? Seems like he'd benefit from an additional year with this setup. At the same time the deaf school's program sounds pretty great (but an hour bus, ugh, so not good). Is it a total communication or an ASL-only environment? Love the idea of him having full access to ASL but also oral. Good luck with the big decision. His progress is simply incredible, great job Mama!
ReplyDeleteIf I don't put him in kindergarten next year he will lose the pre-school services but they will let him do kindergarten twice. It seems so strange but it is in the NY State education law. They will only count adjusted age until age 2.
ReplyDeleteHis school uses the auditory oral approach. No ASL at all, just oral. He is really starting to get a lot of words. We went out to eat and there were crayons on the table. All of a sudden he said"I want the blue one". Inearly fell off the chair. It is usually one or two words at a time but we do get an occassional burst. I think he might just be quiet by nature, unlike his sister.