The thought of ds having to start primary school in 18 months' time fills me with panic

[emkana]

He has dwarfism and developmental delay, mainly speech-wise, but also in other areas. I'm fairly confident that he will catch up but he needs time. Was talking to his portage worker today and she will arrange a meeting with the edpsych to discuss things, but from reading on here it seems I shouldn't get my hopes up should I?

I am with you emkana. 2010 seems a very short time away, and with a current IEP of "stay at an activity for 5 minutes", can't imagine DD having a full day at school!

Yes I have been in panic mode too. DS1 was dx with ASD in December and there is a general attitude of "he'll be fine" when I mention primary school to the preschool, Salt etc., but I am struggling to see it myself atm.

it varies so much from area to area - some areas seem to quite happily allocate 1-1 helpers etc to kids with no statement - whereas some don't. Will you have much choice of school, or because of older siblings will he have to go to a certain school? Just if you have a choice of school you can visit and ask lots of searching questions of head/senco as to support they give. Personally I was most interested in the schools that got kids with below average attainment on entry to average attainment at SATs - i.e ones that improved kids iyswim and were used to dealing with kids that weren't "flying" from the word go. Remember also that language problems are not that unusual these days - I think it may be as high as one in ten kids - so schools should have experience with that issue.

In terms of language problems - I also worried myself sick about schools - but despite DS ending up in M/S without support apart from sporadic SALT visit to school - things have gone much better than I feared - a combination of DS improving and a lovely caring school.

Hi Emkana
I remembeeing lieithh ds2 & the thing that really helpd both him & me was the the fact that he attended OT group sessions for the year beforeehe started recceep.
It gave him that extra intensive support but also gave the OT the opportunity to really identify the area he struggles with most & discuss with the school before he started.

Can you ask & see if there is anything similar that will benefit you & your ds.

Sorry
Not sure if its the Gin or my useless keyboard but my post should of started....
I remember feeling the same with DS2...

yeh i can understand the fear my son is due to start this year and alredy going struggle as hes a July baby let alone he has Gd and no speech im jusst hoping that statement goes through ok

Has he started pre-school/nursery yet? Hopefully your EdPsych will be as good as ours at identifying what needs to be addressed prior to school. My DS(Aspergers) has an inclusive place with one-to-one help and became a different child by the first half term. Apart from his double incontinence, I'm now confident he will cope while at school, thanks to his wonderful pre-school. In March before we met the EdPsych and any mention of inclusive places was made, I felt sick at the thought of him even at pre-school. A lot can change in a very short time so hang on in there.

Lou, don't worry, J still had a target of 'stay on task for 5 minutes' when he was 6 and in Y2!

It is a massive jump for parents - I remember being terrified for J, but it becomes normal pretty quickly.

I agree with TC that a caring school makes all the difference.

Thanks everyone. I would feel so much better if he could start a year later, but after everything I've read on here I am not hopeful.

Thanks everyone. I would feel so much better if he could start a year later, but after everything I've read on here I am not hopeful.

Thanks everyone. I would feel so much better if he could start a year later, but after everything I've read on here I am not hopeful.

Thanks everyone. I would feel so much better if he could start a year later, but after everything I've read on here I am not hopeful.

sorry

I'm terrified too. DD due to start in Sept and the thought of it makes me sick with worry. She has significant speech delay and a few other attention/interaction/understanding problems (not really sure what these all mean) current IEP is to be on a task for 3 minutes. Can't imagine her coping with it all, having had some very thoughtless insentive comments from smug mums over the last few years the thought of coming into contact with even more smug types also petrifys me! Not sure what the answer is - but your not alone in having all these worries, we just need to take it one day at a time!

Thanks for the reassurance - just filling in the dreaded DLA form for the first time. Have only got to section 10, but everything looks so bleak! This board is great for knowing you are not alone, and you will always find someone with similar stuff going on!