Berkeley Parents Network: Preschools for Kids with Special Needs

Berkeley Parents Network

Preschools for Kids with Special Needs

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > Preschools > Preschools for Kids with Special Needs

Preschool for Language Delay
Developmental Language Disorder: Appropriate School?
Preschool for 4-year-old who needs lots of support
Planning for Baby with a range of different delays
School for autistic/aspergers 3 year old
Preschool for Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Preschool for Language Delay

Sept. 2004

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for a preschool for our 2 1/2 year old son for the 2005 school year. He has a language delay with expressive being more delayed than receptive but I don't want to put him in a school specifically for delays since he's making such great progress. But I would like a school that has some kind of experience dealing with his kind of delay. We're new to the area and have learned that the application process begins soon for schools! Any advice would be appreciated! Amy

recommended:

Tilden School

Developmental Language Disorder: Appropriate School?

Feb. 2004

My son, who is 2.9 months old was diagnosed with a developmental language disorder(mixed receptive and expressive).He is at a pre school right now, but the teacher has no experience with kids with language disorders, so I am looking for a new school for him. Does anyone know of a good school that has experience with this disorder? I would also like to talk with someone that knows about this disorder and have been trough what I am going right now. He is being seen by a speech therapist once a week,trough Regional Center, and is making progress, but I need more resources. I called Scottish Rite Temple and the waiting list is a year long. I am pretty sure that he is going to be eligible for OUSD in September, but he is turning 3 in May and I need to get him in a different pre school ASAP. Can someone help?? Thanks a lot.

Recommendations received:

The Lake School near Lake Merritt

Other advice:

Do you need just a few hours of preschool, or do you need full days?

For just a few hours:
--Small Voices is an early-intervention program at the Alta Bates Herrick campus in Berkeley. Usually kids go there for free because they are Regional Center of the East Bay clients (call 383-1200 and ask for an intake coordinator to get your boy evaluated).
--Similarly, CEID (in Berkeley; see www.ceid.org) has a preschool program that accepts kids with language delays, 527-5244.
--Finally, if your son turns 3 in May, you might think about having an IEP with the Oakland diagnotic team (870-1760) in the spring--perhaps they'd let your son go to one of the Tilden preschool classes for a month before school lets out in June.

BUT for full days:

In my experience, private preschools tend not to go out of their way to deal with speech-delayed children. I'm sure there are exceptions; for example, I've heard positive stories about Duck's Nest, Chatham School, some of the Jewish synagogue preschools, and the Berkeley JCC. You might try the Merritt College lab preschool or the Mills College lab preschool, too, since they have a more educational focus. Good luck. Been There

There was a preschool program called ''First Step'' at Broadway and Fairmount in Oakland that took kids with various kinds of special needs. It was for babies/kids 6 weeks old to kindergarten, and 4 hours per day were somehow subsidized. I never checked it out, but the contact info I have is Donna Wolf at 238-0880.

Preschool for 4-year-old who needs lots of support

July 2003

What do wealthy parents do for their special-needs preschoolers?

We have a 4-year-old boy who is developmentally delayed. His speech has improved to the point that he no longer qualifies for special-ed preschool in the Oakland Unified School District. However, he is ill-suited to most private preschools because he needs constant direction, enthusiasm, involvement, and attention from the teachers. (Although he is cognitively at age level, he has sensory integration issues in addition to gross motor delays and a smattering of behavior problems.) I have unfortunately found that many preschools in Oakland and Berkeley either will not take on such a kid or are unable to provide knowledgable and appropriate support.

But...we have MONEY! We could hire a one-on-one therapist or a babysitter with special needs training, but my husband and I really want our son to be with typically developing preschoolers for socialization and peer learning. Any suggestions? Is there such a thing as a pricey, integrated exceptional-needs preschool in the East Bay?
Signed,
Will Pay for the Right Preschool

Recommendations received:

Montessori Family School

Other advice:
Check out some of the Montessori Schools in your area. Montessori method is very adapatable to the needs of the individual child. Good luck. Helene

When our son was young, we also looked at Beacon School which claimed to have an interest in special children, but they weren't interested in our son at all.
A special needs parent

I suggest that you use your money to hire an aide who will provide for all of your child's specific needs in a preschool setting. Many preschools will allow a special needs child to join their school if that child has an experienced helper who can help the child assimilate into the environment. Many schools shy away from a special needs child because they do not have the staff to spend so much time with one child, and they also feel their staff may not be knowledgeable about e.g., sensory integration issues and how to address them. Students at local universities who might have an interest in special education might be particularly suitable aides. Just a thought... Kathy R

There are many options available to you in the community. First, I would recommend getting an independent evaluation outside of the school district. The district can and should pay for that, but if you are willing, you can seek this out. My experience shows that different evaluations will have different conclusions and while I am sure you are thrilled to know that your son has improved so much that he no longer qualifies, if it is borderline and you have an independent eval that qualifies him for services, you might still want him to have the advantage of the interventions (through OUSD) that will secure his forward direction. There are many excellent dev. Peds. in the area and/or therapists who will perform this type of evaluation and can forward the results to your district. Legally, the district will need to consider that evaluation and you can then make a case for services from that point. I can direct you further if you like. Additionally, you might look into multi-handicapped qualifications for your son in addressing his SI dysfunction and behavioral issues. This might qualify him for services in order to again achieve that intervention to be secure. We have our son in both a special needs environment as well as a typically developing pre-school. Just as you have probably found, our son will most likely be in a typically developing environment for elementary education and we need for him to see/observe/participate in a typically developing environment as a pre-schooler. There is one program I know of that is particularly sensitive to integration of special needs/typically developing integration and that is Step One, although I am pretty sure there's a wait to get in. My son's pre-school, however, has been incredibly understanding and supportive. They have allowed us to have our son attend as long as we provide an Aide/shadow for him while he's at school. Again, I would be happy to address this in more detail if you would like to contact me. There are many wonderful pre-school programs in the area that I would guess would be willing to work with and understand your son's situation if you explained and provided any safeguards they might require. Best of luck to you and your family. This can be a challenging road, but it is a workable one.

Planning for Baby with a range of different delays

January 2002

My baby (12 months old) is somewhat delayed and is being seen by Early Intervention. I am gathering information on preschools and child care who will take special needs babies/toddlers. She has a wide range of different delays -from several months (mostly truncal and upper body hypotonia) to a few weeks (she is very close to age in language development). She may well "catch up" in the next year but I am collecting data anyway as I suspect most places will have a waiting list. Thanks! Cindy

Recommendations received:

Cameron Preschool

Dandelion Coop Preschool

Hopkins Street Preschool

Step One Preschool

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