My son turns 3 at the end of June, and ages out of Early Intervention just in time for summer break. He will start inclusion preschool in the fall, with therapies in the self-contained room. He is considered "mild."
I don't want him to go the whole summer without therapies or socialization. Any suggestions of programs or classes he should take or do?
Thanks in advance!
My son, 14 now, also aged out at three in June. We had the early intervention people start looking for appropriate therapies for summer about now. They found ARC which is an agency that for my area works like that and also an Easter Seals program that I got him into, good luck.
Our son started new Speech and OT when EI ended over the Summer. We used park camp and swimming that allowed us to join him. He also attended a social skills group that trained interns. His ABA started towards the end of the Summer. Some park classes will provide aids. The library usually offers Summer programs. You can look for a Speech camp or social skills group. An Early Start for your Child with Autism is a great book with strategies for parents from The Early Start Denver Model. If reading time is limited a good one is More than Hope for Young Children on the Autism Spectrum.The Hanen Center has some good DVD'a and books.
SPEECH- your insurance should cover it. OT possibly IF he has fine motor issues.
"mommy" and me classes where you can be there to help him, but he can learn about routines, rules, directions, language and sharing his space.
Does he get ABA, speech, ot? That us what we did for the few months after ei ended and preschool began.
For the socialization end you can check with your states DDS services, Department of Developmental services and see what programs they have going on for the summer. You would have to do some paperwork to get your child in the DDS system first though.
In regards to therapies if you cant get your insurance to pay, and in a lot of places they wont, you have to reach out to your school district for services because in most states they are responsible to provide them. They are going to want to have evaluations done so you cant waste time and you need to start early. Then they are going to base what you get by what those evaluations tell them.
If they think your child is higher skilled than you do , this my present a problem and you would have to fight them on it.