My grandson will be starting kindergarten in the fall, and his IEP is scheduled for May 31. He has attended a daycare for children with special needs since he was about 21 mos. old and has received speech, OT and some PT there. He has come a very long way in the past 3 years. I plan to ask the school district for continued therapies (speech and OT) for 12 mos. a year (no summer break). As I understand, under the IDEA he is entitled to a "free and appropriate public education" [FAPE]. The current day care coordinator agrees it is reasonably anticipated that going without these extended year services [ESY] would translate to significant regression that would not easily be recouped. I would like to know if anyone else has accomplished this and how is was done. We live in Arkansas.
My other problem is day care between the hours after school and the time my single mom-daughter can pick him up after work. His current day care does not contract with the school for after school care services, but that doesn't mean I can't ask for it. Since my grandson still has severe language deficits and has not mastered toileting skills, we do not feel that placement in a regular day care setting after school is appropriate. We would like to ask for extended day services [EDS], but really don't have a picture of what to ask for. Our local county office rep. for the AR Developmental Disabilities Services told us to ask the district for an aide. Isn't reasonable to ask the district to provide the aide for after school care (should he have to attend a regular day care) to assist him with interaction, socialization, language skills development and toileting skills?
Please provide your experience and advice. Thanks. ↓
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