So the school year is coming to a close, and we are starting to think about Kindergarten classes for Jojo.
When Jonny started Kindergarten, he had barely turned 5 and he was still napping in the afternoons. They recommended half-day developmental kindergarten for him, and we heartily agreed. Half the students in the developmental program have some kind of additional needs, and the other half are what are called “peer models.” 2 para-educators assist the Special Ed teacher.
Well, a week into the school year, the district cancelled half-day Developmental Kindergarten for all the public schools around us. Jonny was forced into All-Day Kinder and all the schools were forced to either double their Kindergarten class size, or hire new teachers only a week into the year.
Jonny was simply not ready for all day. He ended up napping through half the class and eventually ended up repeating Kindergarten.
Fast-forward 5 more years. Jonah is graduating into Kindergarten and we just found out they have COMPLETELY eliminated Developmental Kindergarten throughout the district.
The only option for many of the kiddos is simply Gen-ed. One teacher for the class. No para-educators. No additional supports.
Some of the kids simply need more 1:1 support, and without it, they just fall farther and farther behind.
And it’s just not fair. It’s not fair to the teachers. And it’s not fair to the kids…
We struggle for supports. Always, it seems we are fighting for supports for our kids. Fighting for our future.
It get’s so tiring. But it’s so important to advocate for them. Because, sometimes it seems that nobody else will.
(From A year in the life of Autism)