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[-]Does anyone see a downside to having a SEIT in class? I have a 3 year old whose pre school teachers found him to be tough to control - and asked me to get him evaluated, which I did. I find the idea of evaluating a three year old so ridiculous - its literally like evaluating a moving target, because he has really changed a lot over the past few months at home in the summer, and post the "evaluation" - Anyways, the preschool director is keen on having a SEIT in class with him, even though the evaluation report does not recommend a SEIT, so she has suggested that I take a letter form the school recommending a SEIT when I go for my meeting with the school board. I am thinking that if I can get some help in the classroom for free, maybe thats a...
8 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreThanks for the reply. My son has trouble doing what the other kids are doing and "transitioning" from one activity to another. But he is not aggressive and I feel that he has already made a lot of progress in behavior over the summer. I am not overjoyed at the thought of a SEIT - I feel like the teachers are kind of pushing him off to special ed, instead of trying a little more, or maybe - just letting him do some growing up.
[ Reply | More ]I work in a preschool. If they are recommending it for your child, PLEASE take advantage of it. A good SEIT can effectively redirect your child when he's distrated, keep him on task and moving along with the group, and instill behaviors that will set him up for school forever. It's not about getting free help. In general, the SEITs don't work with the other kids in the classroom. But when the group is moving from music to the classroom or walking to the park, the SEIT can be with your child and remind him to keep his eyes front, hands to himself, etc. It's like getting your child into good sleep habits--you want to take care of this earlier rather than later. Good luck!
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I'm sorry to tell you this, but it's not ridiculous to have a 3-year-old evaluated (that would've been too late for many kids I know); if they recommend it for your kid, he needs it. Denial is not just a river, I'm afraid. The downside is, I hate to say, that no good MS private school will take your child if he/she had a SEIT. Then again, if you don't get one, he won't get in anyway b/c the teachers and school will be annoyed with you and will think your kid a nightmare. I'm giving you the cold hard facts. BTDT. And SEIT has everything to do with special ed.
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[-]Ocular albanism - anyone have any experience with this? My neice was just diagnosed at 12 weeks with it. They live in boston so getting help from perkins school and top docs. We have read all we can online. just wondering if anyone has any first hand experience with it.
2 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreYes, a good friend of mine's daughter was diagnosed with this some 15 years ago. She is visually impaired and also extremely fair. She received services at school and also from special programs that deal with the visually impaired. She is quite brilliant and is doing extremely well at the most competitive public high school in Manhattan. She will never drive a car, and she does need to hold a book very close to her fact, and she cannot read a blackboard in the classroom, but other than that she is doing fantastic and is a very happy and impressive young lady.
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[-]Anyone having chronical hemorrhoid bleeding issues? any good solution to stop the bleeding? I had my on and off for 3 weeks now. doctor don't usually help me in the past and rather not go for the laser or rubber band mini procedure since they don't cure it and the hemorrhoid comes back. Any home remedy help?
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[-]DO NOT use Regina Skyer (attorney). Her work is sloppy, her firm is unresponsive and she almost screwed up our case beyond repair. If you are looking to file for pendency to maintain your special needs child's service coverage from the board of ed look elsewhere.
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I know - why do you think I went to her in the first place? What a disappointment! I am really surprised at the qualtiy of her work. Maybe she used to be good but she seems really distracted now and did some errors a secretary or paralegal could easily have fixed. Even when I pointed them out she just got defensive and told us to leave.
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I second that. Do not use her. She charged me a $450.00 consultation fee and recommended that I pursue a school that she told me was an ABA school for my autistic son and when I went to the DOE and told them that I wanted to transfer my son to this school the DOE told me that it was not an ABA school. I told Regina and she said she was surprised. She is a child advocacy lawyer in NYC and she should know which schools are ABA and provide ABA therapy and which ones do not. I am filing a complaint against her with the BAR association. You should do the same. Departmental Disciplinary Committee for the First Department 61 Broadway, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10006 (212) 401-0800
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[-]Sensory Integration Gym recommendation: Smile Center, NYC. I wholeheartedly recommend the Smile Center and clinical director Markus Jarrow. Our son's first session with Markus was magical. Markus immediately engaged our son with his focused, energetic and upbeat demeanor. He made eye contact with our son, who often avoids it, and held his gaze and his attention with his vibrancy and acceptance. As he spun around the room on suspended contraptions, he had the biggest smile I'd ever seen - it brought me to tears. He was so embraced, safe, and free to move and express himself in the gym setting and with Markus' safe guidance and encouragement. Markus explained more to me and I was able to see my son in a new light. Markus is both intuitiv...
4 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreHoly SPAM, Batman. Even some of the misspelled "I want to recommend my fabulous nanny..." posts are more subtle than this.
[ Reply | More ]Hi, it's me, the mom. Hello, yes I posted this on multiple sites - let me know if there are other sites I missed! My husband and I feel truly grateful for the impact that Markus has had on our son, and by extension, on our family. I've authorized the Smile Center to give my contact deets to anyone who would like to talk to another mom (not sure if it helps or hurts to say i'm ivy grad, mba). More about our son and our situation - because his issues are relatively minor, and it was really a struggle to figure out what was going on. His teacher suggested we do an eval when he was 4, we did the Board of Ed, and he passed everything. Very frustrating that we missed the real issues. Revisited just before he turned 6 when there were more classro...
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[-]6 y/o DS just officially diagnosed with mild autism--PDD-NOS. He gets therapies already (since 2 y/o) and is in special class already. Doing great and everyone has high hopes. Is it weird that we aren't upset by the diagnosis? I know if we got it officially years ago, we would have freaked. Now, it's just a label but not defining. Does this make sense?
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[-]Coming to terms with the idea of my son needing special ed and feeling really bad about it. he was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. Anyone else been there done that? How did it turn out for you? TIA.
14 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreYes, SN schools and the related therapies did my child a world of good. How old is your child? Putting your child in the right environnent can be such a catalyst for good things. Do not fear the label. Do what is right for your child.
[ Reply | More ]Also check out the SN board of youbemom. Very active supportive place. Lots on BTDT types.
[ Reply | More ]I will check out that board. Thank you, I was looking for a board! I am in the process of filing for pendency, and just getting so frustrated. Why am I bucking the system if in fact he really needs something more, which he can get in a special ed setting...it just feels so sad to let my dreams and hopes for him go.
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Not BTDT, but have dc with SN. The best thing you can do for yourself and ds is to accept that he needs therapy (LOSE the term "special ed") and then work hard with those therapies to get the best out of him. The earlier the better, but anytime is better than never. Sure, this is not what you wanted, hoped for, etc., but it is what it is. Also remember the spectrum is WIDE.
[ Reply | More ]I might suggest you get more than one diagnosis. We've been told our son had sensory integration disorder, possible autism, audio processing disorder. We've finally settled on language processing disorder. This last one makes sense to us. I'm not suggesting your specialist doesn't know their stuff, but specialists tend to diagnosis many kids according to their specialty.
[ Reply | More ]Thanks. We took him to a pretty good psychiatrist and we did get at least 3 opinions. For me the ASD makes the most sense. Sensory Integration Disorder seems like a tamping-down term for mild autism. He is very smart but he needs things his way or a tantrum ensues. He needs constant input and structure. He's not getting that at regular school - and he's not getting help for overcoming his issues (like needing everything his way). He may also have a learning disability. He's responded well to some medication but not the whole way. He may have ADD as well.
[ Reply | More ]OR from above - Now that you have a (or a few) diagnosis, hopefully you will find he shows great response to the exercises/strategies you learn from his therapy. It doesn't remove or change the diagnosis, but you may feel less bleak about it. GL!
[ Reply | More ]Thanks. feeling so overwhelmed. Just called one special ed school and it is $85,000 a year tuition. Unbelievable.
[ Reply | More ]Are you in NYC? Unless your son is seriously autistic, why can't you stay with current school and go the IEP route? Not so much fun to deal with the DOE and administrative BS, but certainly cheaper than $85K and some great therapists out there.
[ Reply | More ]^^Not to mention he could have a SEIT (someone assigned to accompany him throughout the day to smooth things out) or since he is bright be put in a CT class (mixed class of typically developing and bright SN kids). Another public school program for bright spectrum kids is called NEST.
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[-]What are the differences between Churchill, Stephen Gaynor and Gateway? TIA
2 replies [ Reply | Watch | Morechurchhill focus is LDs, Gaynor - language based learning disabilites, Gateway wider range of issues including some kids I know there with autism (but Gateway never says it takes such kids). Churchill goes through elem and is a non-public funded school,whcih means in many cases DOE pays full tution - no suing needed. Gateway is a funded non-public thru 5th grade. It has a new non-funded middle school. Gaynor non funded and Ithink goes through 8th. This all said many people apply to all three schools.
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[-]DD attends private school. Just went through IEP process and they approved PT, OT and speech therapy. But we just got a call back from DOE (Nancy Funke) who said that therapy has to be presented to unspecified city agencies to see if they can provide. If they can't, then we can try to find own providers and get them approved by DOE. Preference is for therapies to be provided at the school, rather than after school as we preferred. Bottom line is our daughter won't be getting any services before October. Also, if private school doesn't like providers coming on-site, we may be SOL. Any similar experiences out there? Any advice?
3 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreYou've got 2 separate issues - 1) providers and 2) private school acceptance. #1 - DC gets therapy through CPSE (preschool) and is in preschool. Our administrator was more than happy for us to find our therapists and use them during the school day. I would check again to see whether you can proactively search for your own providers. Not sure about OT and PT, but good speech therapists are not always easy to find. #2 - There are some privates that are amenable and accepting of kids with IEPs and others that will look for an excuse to counsel you out and in that case you're right - you will be SOL.
[ Reply | More ]I haven't BTDT, but I will say, as an educator, that you are far better having the services in school rather than at home. Yes, you may be able to oversee what goes on better at home, but at school the provider will be pushing-in and pulling-out. Your child will be better rested and more attentive. Additionally, when the provider pushes in, the teachers will observe what is going on and be able to model that and continue it with your DC between sessions.
[ Reply | More ]We went through this w/CSE. there was a 10 day waiting period (I think) after our CSE meeting. I was told by our provider that it was rare that these agencies pick up these kids to provide them services. It happened once at a school where alot of kids received speech. I would not worry about it-it is unlikely.
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[-]Does anyone know about visual therapy for adhd? See NYT: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/fixing-kids-with-vision-therapy/
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[-]Can anyone recommend a good speech thereapist on the UWS who works with CSE?
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[-]Is Happy Hour 4 Kids a good place for therapy/classes. We don't have an official dx but 3yo ds needs some social skills help.
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[-]Mailed my CSE letter on Aug 2; received response on Aug 6; meeting scheduled for Aug 11.
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[-]Could anybody provide a recommendation for an attorney to advocate for special ed private school funding in Manhattan. TIA
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Regina Skyer has seen her day. She was way too lax in our case and made several careless errors, which, when pointed out to her she still overlooked and ended up filing faulty documents. She gave me a lot of headache I did not need and I hear I am not the only one with this experience. I heard Rosenberg's firm is a mill and not a lot of individual attention. Don't know Lauren Baum or Mayerson. Heard Joanne Simon or Susan Lugar may be good.
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