Don't you just love how high his pants are in this picture? He always wears them high, but his shirts usually cover it. :)
Now that Indie is done with Kindergarten we had a big decision to make as to where to place him next year. His Kindergarten teacher would have him go to the regular class for a while each day, but he wasn't ready for it. He wasn't disruptive, but he wouldn't engage. He can't learn in that environment yet. We feel very blessed to have had two good options for him. A lot of people don't have the options that we do for their children with autism. In the early spring we applied to have him entered into the lottery for Spectrum Academy in Pleasant Grove. It is a charter school dedicated to teaching children on the autism spectrum. In April we found out that he had another option of going to the district autism class room. So we did a lot of research and looked at the pros and cons of both options.
For Spectrum: Pros; the teachers, aids, occupational therapists and other workers are all highly trained for dealing with ASD children. The classes are smaller, 12 kids per with a teacher and aid. Cons; It's a 30 minute drive each way. Children with severe behaviors can be distracting and Indie may even begin to imitate them. Access to a regular classroom is available, but limited to a nearby school. And this is only the second year the school has been in operation and is still working out the kinks.
For the district classroom: Pros; Smaller classes, similar structure to his Kindergarten class room. He would be bused by the district to a much closer school. He would be in a regular school and have access to a regular class room at any time. Cons; while the teacher is specially trained any other staff are not necessarily trained.
After fasting and praying we consulted with Megan Heath, someone who has helped us with Indie in the past. After talking to her about Indie's trajectory and the two options she gave us this advice; at this point, Indie would do well in either setting and would continue to make gains. Seeing as your long term goals for him are to have him mainstreamed and going to school with his siblings and neighbors, the district classroom may be the best option.
So, while we know that some people would think we are crazy to pass up Spectrum, we have decided to go with the district classroom. A few days after we made this decision I called Spectrum to decline his spot. After the phone call I had a good cry to release the stress. I felt at peace and it felt good to relieve the stress that I had been feeling over making this decision. And we honestly feel like this is where Indie needs to be right now on his journey.
