if there is that much sit down/ learning time I would recommend requesting a shortened day so he can adjust and slowly increase time. We started out full day kinder and it’s like what you described above and my son couldn’t handle it. He has minimum day right now and full day Fridays and we are going to increase the time mon-Thur soon. I wouldn’t recommend Montessori for your kiddo or any autistic kid for that matter. I think learning how to sit and the structure is better if you are planning on public education throughout high school. It’s better to teach them young to the structure of school. Just my opinion, some might not agree but I happen to know about it because I was going to school to be a teacher. I personally want my son to have fun at school but I want him learn now that it is learning time too, and not to associate it fully with playing. It’s already hard because in kinder they play lots of music and then first grade gets so serious, I’m honestly nervous. He will do fine just make sure if he is struggling first week to ask for shortened day with increase over time. You don’t want it to be something your son associates with stress or anxiety. It took a while for my son to relax because he was so overwhelmed with full day. Now he loves school and asks to stay longer. If you ever have any questions, ask away. 🙂

Remind me- does your son have much in the way of verbal ability? Our son is semi nonverbal, so his class is really structured and has a lot of aides and pull-out sessions (OT, speech, ABA, etc, in half-hour to hour sessions). I agree, school should be fun! Even for older kids, if possible, but who knows how often that is accomplished =) For Max's class, basically their days are broken down into 10-15 minute increments when they're in the classroom. I am very impressed by his teacher's ability to organise all of that. I suppose that your son's class would mirror the amount of structure and routine required by his classmates.... depends on their ability to sit, their behavioral tendencies, etc. At a kindergarten level, there SHOUDL be lots of fun and interactive "work"... and given their autistic natures, kids should be given lots of learning through play, sensory activities, etc. Before I had my own kid, I was a special ed teacher in London, and worked primarily with autistic kids; I had a kindergarten class for a few months and that's what we did, play-based activities, with various levels of structure and monitoring depending on each kids abilities. A day running from 8 to 3 would be a long one! But as long as the curriculum and teaching skills were structured and well organised, it could be great for your son. i hope you find a good place for him! =)

oh man kindergarten was such a busy year Tereus had constant homework on fridays he would have tons of homework, when i was in school I remembered that kindergarten was the easiest, they don;t even have a rest period here but Tereus diagnosis wasn't so terrible his autism wasn't displayed until the 2nd grade year after tramatic events happened at school for him.

That sure helps! Hope you guys find a program that will work well for him!

@A MyAutismTeam Member he is verbal. Thanks for the insights- it’s helpful.

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