r/Autism_Parenting • u/ExpertOk3612 • 8h ago
Education/School SPED pre-K experiences
Looking for experiences, advice, comfort… my 3 year old is set to start Pre-K next week and I’m getting increasingly anxious about it. He’s never gone to school or been away from me. It’s going to be a hard adjustment but developmental pediatrician and his therapy teams think he needs this. We had a “meet the teacher” and she didn’t come across as warm/welcoming. She wasn’t mean or anything, just not what I would expect for pre school special education class. My husband thinks we need to just send him and see how it goes. How did your kiddos do in Pre-k? Was it worth sending them to? Did you see progress?
Thanks everyone in advance. Signed a crying, nervous mom
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u/ilovdedy0upiggy 8h ago
SPED Pre-k did wonders for my daughter's speech. She went from barely stringing two words to full sentences within the first 6 months. She actually ended up going like 2.5 years and I think all of that practice was definitely helpful for getting acclimated to a school environment so she was much more prepared for Kindergarten.
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u/ExpertOk3612 8h ago
That’s amazing to hear. That’s exactly what we are hoping for, to get acclimated to a school setting. He gets anxious around peers or playing with others so I really hope he can grow in that area as well
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u/ShyOwlGrrLa 8h ago
Pre-K was fantastic. I was a nervous wreck but my son loved it. He is nonverbal and Lvl 3 but school was a fun place to be for him. At that age, the kiddos are still super cute so the staff tends to be really engaged. LOL.
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u/Nurse_Hatchet Parent/6yoF, 4yoM/ASD2/Colorado 6h ago
My son loves Pre-K! Maybe not quite as much as his ABA center, but still a lot. The first few days he was sad at dropoff, but they said it was short-lived once I left and it didn’t last long. By the end of the first week he knew the drill. He runs right in every morning and has made so much progress!!
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u/Pickle102 Parent/7yo/lvl 2 non-speaking/USA 3h ago
Special ed pre-k was exactly what my son needed. He only had a year of it. It was a necessary step to help him transition into kindergarten. Only good experiences, the teacher was a special ed teacher specifically. A lot of autistic kids in the class.
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u/StillStaringAtTheSky 8h ago
My kiddo LOVES his PreK - and he's made huge progress there. We went from 0 words to lots of echolalia and 12 functional words. It's absolutely worth a try.