3, 5, 8: What awaits?
3 years old—a child ages out of Early Intervention: When Rockwell “Rocky” McCloskey turned three years old, his parents, Alison and Patrick McCloskey of Huntington Beach, California, were told that he was no longer eligible for services, as reported in today’s OC Register. Rocky, who has autism, had been receiving behavioral intervention via the Regional Center’s Early Start program for children under age 3 and had been making “some progress.” The McCloskeys hired an advocate, Debra Borden, of We Are Kids First Inc. in Irvine, to challenge the decision and were successful.
5 years old—is your child ready for kindergarten, perhaps with an aide, and only for part of the day? (My son never went to kindergarten; he is in the fifth grade now.)
8 years old—my son went from the “primary autistic” classroom into the “intermediate” one; this proved a difficult period, as we have sought to continue to emphasize academics for Charlie, while accepting that there may be some limitations about how far he can go with these, and also understanding that his learning may become increasingly vocational. (Not that knowing how to read some basic instructions and to count and keep track of time aren’t academic skills, too.)
It is a transition for Charlie each step of the way, and a transition for me as a parent, and (as I have come to realize) for the school system, who is still seeking to figure out how to teach a child like Chalrie in a public school setting.
Charlie, who will be 11 next May, starts middle school next year. You might catch (detect, that is) autism early, but it is a lifelong journey. 16 may not be such a milestone for Charlie as he will not be able to drive a car, but he will be 21 in just over a decade, and we’ll be walking him, every day and step of the way.
17 opinions for 3, 5, 8: What awaits?
FXSmom
Oct 3, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Our sons are exactly a year apart! Mat turned 11 last May.
Mat went from early intervention to a “special” preschool when he was 3. He did go to kindergarten but he did it twice.
When we moved back to my hometown we decided to space out his school years. He will spend 4 years at the 4-5th grade school, 4 years at middle school and 4 years in high school. He has done two years of 4th grade and now he is on the 1st year of fifth grade.
When he turned 11 and he still didn’t know colors, numbers or even how to write we finally accepted the fact that we need to focus on life skills. That has proven exceptional and useful for him.
It was a great idea for us and works well with transitioning and education him.
Matt
Oct 3, 2007 at 9:27 pm
This is a very common tactic with the Regional Centers. They love to tell you that you age out at three.
After repeated emails and calls to our service coordinator, it took a threat of a lawyer to get them to admit that he was still elligible.
Anne
Oct 3, 2007 at 9:57 pm
3, 5, 8: what awaits? According to my son, 13, 21, 34, and 55, of course!
Kristina Chew, PhD
Oct 3, 2007 at 10:23 pm
And 65…….
chrisd
Oct 3, 2007 at 11:22 pm
My oldest will be 11 later this month. We do not have to worry about middle school until 7th grade (the year after next).
However, we DO have to think about youth group at our church. Junior high starts at 6th grade and I’ve got some real concerns.
I tried to explain this to people in my bible study, but I’ll tell you what, they don’t get it. Probably because Sam’s Asperger’s isn’t “bad” enough.
KimJ
Oct 3, 2007 at 11:34 pm
No one denied services for our son while we were living in CA. However, when they came to provide said services, they didn’t know what to do. They always said they didn’t handle kids like my son. They had nothing to offer. No advice. No social skills/living skills training. After a while, one social worker gave us The Explosive Child and told us to read it, it might help.
He got speech therapy and peer-integration from school.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Oct 4, 2007 at 1:06 am
Matt, from what I’ve read of the Regional Centers, that is a not uncommon experience?
I held up a flashcard that said “boy” and asked Charlie to read the letters, and he identified these loud and clear. When I asked him “what does it say” his response was “Charlie”—he has often been asked to read his name. We keep at it.
Michelle Dawson
Oct 4, 2007 at 7:52 am
Kristine wrote, “And 65…….”
Well, no. The next number in that series is 89.
Thanks to Anne’s son for making my day.
Cliff
Oct 4, 2007 at 8:40 am
Ha! How funny.
Cliff
Melanie, Bobby's mom
Oct 4, 2007 at 8:48 am
It’s scary to read that the little boy was “aged out” without being “aged into” the next step. In our region, the week after we started early intervention at 19 months, we had a meeting to start preschool transition planning for the next year. The day before he turned 3, he had early interention services. The day after his birthday, he was in special-ed preschool. Kindergarten placement, however, is a big unknown right now due to this year’s redistricting process. I really don’t think mainstreaming is an option, unless his behavior changed in an a drastic way the rest of this year. He’d need a whole posse of aides…
Kristina Chew, PhD
Oct 4, 2007 at 8:48 am
I figured I had the number wrong in the series; I was thinking about retirement age! But 89 would be very good too.
Lolasmom
Oct 4, 2007 at 10:14 am
Ha! Thanks, Anne’s son (and Michelle). It took me a sec, but I got it. Lola loves categorization and patterns, too - beats Barbies any day.
Chuck
Oct 4, 2007 at 11:49 am
I believe the more appropriate sequence, when it comes to trouble with boys would be:
3,5,8,12,17,23
FXSmom
Oct 4, 2007 at 2:01 pm
ChrisD, I had the same problem with church. No one got it. No one tried to get it. So we no longer go. We just got tooo frustrated at all of them.
Leila
Oct 5, 2007 at 11:35 am
Today on the OC Register there’s a story saying that the Orange County Regional Center is breaking the state law by denying services to children over 3 years old.
I live in California, thankfully under a different regional center, and what happens according to the law is that the Regional Center is solely responsible for funding the therapies until the child turns 3. After that, the RC shares the costs with the School District (until the child turns 21). Tipically, it’s more difficult to deal with the school districts than with the Regional Centers.
Melody
Jun 12, 2008 at 3:27 am
Yikes, well that’s great to know that the regional center in my county is so stingy with 3-year-olds…what will they do with an 18-year-old like me?
Cliff
Jun 12, 2008 at 3:32 am
Oh, man, I would have aged out of my education (even with the fact that I have one of those highly-considered outcomes)? That’s uncool.
Cliff
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