Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Screening

E. had his screening today for developmental preschool. I am not sure why they can't just jump to the evaluation stage of the process, since he has already had so many different tests and evaluations, but whatever. The school district did his screening today, then if they feel he needs to be evaluated, they will need to do that within 35 school days. Then we will see if he qualifies for preschool. If he can go to preschool, he most likely will be placed in the same classroom as his girlfriend, A. and they will be "soooo happy" (in Bean's words). I will be sooo happy too! I hope he can get the help he deserves, for speech/communication, balance and coordination and social/behavior skills. We would be able to cut out OT therapy (he has an appointment late this afternoon) since he would be receiving it there if needed. One thing that bothers me about all this is they are really hung up on the fact that he is learning English as a second language. Well, to be truthful, he never really had a firm grasp on Creole as a first language, from what I understand (correct me if I am wrong those who knew him and understood him). I think he deserves help no matter what the situation is that caused him to be delayed. He is delayed, and if the school doesn't step in now, they more than likely will have to step in during Kindergarten and beyond. To qualify, he needs to be 1.5 standard deviations from the norm in two or more areas, or 2 standard deviations from the norm in one area. If you ask me, and I am no expert, he would qualify for speech alone. But not if they are thinking there is a reason for his delay, meaning there is nothing wrong with his brain. I think the fact that he may have hearing loss in his left ear, problems with balance and coordination that requires occupational therapy, sensory processing disorder AND behavioral issues should qualify him... but we have to wait and see. I should be hearing from them by the end of the week to see if he needs evaluation. Then we wait longer to see if he qualifies. Ugh. Good thing I called them in MAY to get things rolling. Praying for a good outcome!

1 comment:

Grandma N. said...

You can imagine how bad the professionals at the school feel when they have to follow state laws and cannot qualify all the kids that need help. It is so sad to turn children away.