Physical disabilities - dd starting mainstream nursery. Experiences?

[Summerdaydreams]

Dd is 2.10, Has cp (unable to crawl or walk) and after Christmas will be starting nursery. This evening we had the parents meeting for new starters and both myself and DH have come away feeling completely overwhelmed, daunted at the massive jump this will be for our little girl.
Its bought home the challenges our dd will face in a setting surrounded by children with no difficulties

I have no doubt that dd is ready for all the play and learning opportunities nursery brings, her speech is starting to come on, but it is her mobility which worries me, she just cant move from one thing to another like a physically able child without being carried or helped with walking? And she seems so much younger than her age that it all seems like such a huge step.

How have your little ones got on?

Has the nursery got support in place for her?

In the setting I work in we are able to access funding direct from the Local Authority to support children with additional needs, especially those who need help with moving from one activity to another.

Summer. I read your post and will be watching replies with interest. My dd is due to start preschool in September. Applications to be made in December. She already goes to nursery two days a week and they have preschool places available there. We hope to keep her there as the staff know her and she is comfortable there. She has been going since she was 1 year old before we knew that anything was wrong with her.

Anyway my dd does walk and can get herself about but in her own wobbly and a bit awkward way. I am grateful that she does walk because there was a time that we thought she was never going to walk. She does need extra help though. She can only do short distances, is unsteady and prone to falling. She couldn't manage stairs for example on her own. It's just so hard when you see other 3 year olds running and jumping effortlessly and it is a struggle for my dd just to get about. Intellectually very clever, great speech and she takes things in and remembers them. Her difficulties are purely physical. I too think that my dd seems young. Some of the other ones seem so much bigger and more advanced than her.

I too worry about her going to preschool. My worry is that they take the children out on day trips to farms, parks etc. I know hat she wouldn't be able to cope with walking any sort of distance or uneven surfaces are not good for her. Putting her in a buggy just singles her out as being different from all the other children. She wans to join in but physically her legs are just not doing what they should be doing which breaks my heart.

We have been referred to ed pysch to get a statement so she will be able to get 1 to 1 support. We had hoped by this stage if we put the work in that she would be realitively "normal" and be able to go to school and be just like other boys and girls. But unfortunately this doesn't look like it is going to be the case.

I sympathise with you as I know how difficult things are. Preschool is a big step especially when your child has special needs.

My DS2 was in a similar situation and DS4 will be too. DS2 started walking at 2.10 and he started off slowly, going to a SN preschool at first and then adding in one morning a week in a mainstream preschool when he was 3.5 and gradually increasing the hours at mainstream. It was a big step for both him and me. It helped that there were a lot of only just turned 2 year olds at the mainstream preschool so the difference in abilities didn't seem so big.

Thanks for your replies, Very helpful as always

At the moment there is nothing as such in place other than the staff 'knowing' her difficulties. And even then i dont think they fully appreciate what this means.

I do feel a bit better today though as I managed to speak with our OT who is going to visit the nursery with us next week and look at what might assist dd.

Patience - I will speak to he senco about the possibility of them getting funding for additional help. As I just can't see how she will manage without it.

I just wish o wish that dd could at least cruise reliably that would at least give her some independence.
The whole thing has got me thinking that we probably are going to have to look at wheelchairs, walking frames etc in the near future and it is something I am very sad about. going into an official setting seems to bring with it labels and in that world she will be labelled disabled. whereas in our home life, to her family and our friends she is just dd who cant yet walk.

DGS loved nursery, cried when he came home! Honestly CP children often love the interaction with children their own age as they have been so 'done to' by adults and therapists almost from birth, the normality of a classroom is just like constant playtime!

I agree with zzzzz about settling her in yourself and teaching the staff how to look after her. If she isnt mobile the staff should really do moving and handling training to make sure they not only lift her safely but also look after their backs.

The nursery should definitely be filling in an "All about me" with you to give them as much info as possible.

Personally I would be asking about funding for some one to one, the funding is there for children with SN's and disabilities.

Good luck