On Wednesday, I saw the school with the full-intergration program that I was excited about for Elise & B. It was an awesome school, but I do agree that Elise is just not ready for it yet. I think it would be very overwhelming for her because there is a lot of group time, something that is just so difficult for her right now. As an example, there was one boy there, who I guess was there on an IEP, that really spent most of his time on his own instead of participating with the group. The teachers did attempt to involve him, but he just didn't seem to fit. It was clear to me that this is how Elise would be at the school. It wouldn't be terrible for her and it would expose her to lots of typically developing peer role models. It's now my dream goal for her. I dream that this will be the appropriate setting for her by kindergarten in the fall of 2012.
On Thursday, I visited the school that the school district has recommended for Elise. It was surprisingly a very nice school. I wasn't overly excited by it though. I agree that out of the two schools, this is the one where Elise currently belongs. However, I just don't believe that it's better than her at-home ABA services. The kids are all autistic and there is just no social interaction. I asked the lady providing the tour to me about that and she agreed that it is wonderful and important for autistic children to be exposed to typically developing role models. Her point was just that it's a balance between what Elise needs most at this stage of development. I get what she was saying. In all honesty, if I have to chose between the intensive autism program I saw on Thursday versus the full intergration program I saw on Wednesday as to what will provide the most educational benefit to Elise right now, hands down the autism program wins.
Coming out of this, I do understand the school district's recommendation more now. That said, why can't I have the best of both for her? Well, from what I can tell, it doesn't really exist. In my mind, the closest I'll find for this would be the PreSchool Mixed (PSM) classroom that we decided long ago we wanted for Elise, back before we even knew about these non-public school options. This is a program for children with a variety of special needs that is within the public school system. The classroom we saw does include some typically developing role models from the neighborhood who attend with their mothers. Hubby and I had a good feel when we briefly saw this classroom. It's a limited number of hours each week which will allow Elise plenty of time for outside private speech services as well as her at-home ABA.
Today I'm feeling bad that I even feel the need to maintain this blog. It really helps me sort things out clearly and modify my long term and short term objectives for Elise as needed. I do spend a lot of time dwelling on the challenges we have with Elise when the bottom line is that we have her with us and she is physically healthy and wonderful. Autism is awful, but it's not life threatening. Sometimes, I need to learn to step back and thank God for the blessings we do have. I just so desperately want her to be everything that she can be and right now her autism is seriously in the way of her potential. If only it could just step aside and allow her to fully blossom.
Yesterday I took B & Elise to the zoo in Santa Barbara. It was a big trip to do alone with them, but it all worked out. Elise was overstimulated by the experience and did throw some tantrums there. Nothing too out of control. Today she seemed really distant most of the day. She was stimming a lot more again. I'm trying to figure out if anything precipitated this rough day. I've indentified the following:
1. Elise did not take her Zoloft until 2:20 pm today. That could quite possibly have lead to her irritability.
2. Elise was so overstimulated by the zoo visit on Saturday, that she continued to be out of sorts today.
3. Elise ate pupusas with beans and cheese last night and then had oatmeal made with milk this morning. This is two dairy items.
Other than these, I'm clueless. I think I have to go with #1 now that I see this written down. I'll keep #2 & #3 in mind for future trials, but it's all kind of moot since #1 would definitely have a very real effect on her body and consequently her behavior. Note to self - DO NOT allow us to run out of orange juice mixer for Elise's Zoloft again.
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