BellaOnline Forums Family Special Needs Children Early Intervention to Preschool Transition

Families of children with special needs transitioning to preschool programs ask many of the same questions that interest mainstream parents looking for a welcoming, safe, and enjoyable experience for their two and three year olds.

If you have any advice or questions, please share them here!

Pam W
SE of Seattle


Transition to Preschool from Early Intervention
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One of the things that helped us was being able to have a daily record of what goes on in the classroom. We found that the teacher benefits from having key information on how to deal with your child available up front is a big help, including the basics on emergency contact information, important medical information, etc.

Then, you can set specific goals or things to monitor each day, and make it easy for the teacher and parent to monitor that. Having an ongoing record of actual behaviours and progress is invaluable when it comes to preparing an IEP or even funding for that matter.

The other way that it helps greatly is when supply teachers, or new educational assistants, co-op students and teachers come on the scene. The more quality information that is available easily (ie. without having to go through bureaucratic hoops, or even ask) the better.

You can get a parent-teacher communication book that you can customize for your needs here:
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I have some advice based on what I encountered. I was told that the public schools have a closed door policy. That means I have to call ahead and make an appointment to drop in to see how my non verbal child is being treated.

My advice if you encounter this

RUN THE OTHER DIRECTION.

Never trust anyones word on how your child is doing in any program. Get it and see for your self. If you are not allowed to walk in to see what is happening take that to mean that SOMETHING is happening that they don't want you to know about.

Ok I'm done...for now

I know that moms who are able to volunteer at schools even if they don't spend time in their own child's classroom find out more than they expect to learn about what goes on in 'closed' classrooms.

Recently a family that put a cassette tape recorder in their child's backpack to find out what was going on in the classroom discovered that their child was being yelled at and even struck by the school bus driver.

It's sad but true that these things happen sometimes. The same list of 'what to look for' that are encouraged for moms of mainstream preschoolers to use to find the most appropriate preschool should be what families of children with special needs use when visiting school district classrooms.

Transition to Preschool from Early Intervention
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