My 4 year old son (diagnosed with SPD recently) is currently in a Co-Op preschool that are making his issues worse. His OT, who is amazing and I respect her opinion said to take him out immediately. She feels it's the worse place for him. I had been feeling that for a while, but wasn't listening to my instinct. Our OT thinks he'd do better with a smaller class and a little less structure. Does anyone have experience with changing preschools? What has worked for your child? I want to find a place where he can thrive and not be "punished" for his behavior. He really likes school and wants to participate in things, but sometimes it's hard. Do you have suggestions for what I should be looking for or questions I should be asking? I'm still new to this so sometimes I still feel out here on my own. Thanks!

I'm a big believer in going with your gut feeling. I had a similar experience with a day care provider, not preschool. I knew it wasn't a good fit for my daughter and she was not doing well there, but I felt bad switching her because I know change is difficult for her to adjust to. I spent two months anguishing about it. Then, thankfully, the day care provider gave her notice because she was moving. I had received a recommendation for a new one, and I went there with my daughter, took a tour, asked a lot of questions of the manager, and knew immediately it was the best place for her. Every day she tells me how much she loves her new day care. She never mentions missing the old one. I wish I hadn't waited two months to change, but I was chicken. The questions I would ask are:
1. Have you had students with SPD before?
2. How much of the school day are the children required to stay seated?
3. Is there a routine schedule of activities each day? Can I have a copy of one to see what a typical day looks like?
4. Which discipline method do you use?
5. (If your son has potty training issues) How open are you to alternative potty training methods? How do you handle accidents?
6. What's the teacher to student ratio?
7. (If your son is on a special diet) Do you have a problem with me bringing all of my child's snacks/food, even on special days?
All of these questions shed light on the school's flexibility, willingness to work with you, understanding of unique needs, and whether they're going to handle things so differently than you do at home that it would confuse your son.
All that being said, no preschool will be totally in sync with your ideas. My daughter attending a very good preschool, but I had two major problems that came up during her two years there. I had to swallow my cowardice and make a big stink about how they handled these two things. It was very stressful, but they did respond to my complaints and rectified the problems.

I'm a big advocate of going with your gut instinct, too, but it might be helpful if you could articulate how you feel this preschool is making him worse. That way you can focus on avoiding those things in a new one. My 2yo really thrives on the structure at his day care, and his acting out is very tied to my attention being divided between the household tasks and his twin brother when he's home. OTOH, his OT visits him at the day care, and she talks with the teachers there about his progress and things they can do to help him. Maggie

Ughhh....the calls and or comments from my boys preschool teacher were horrible!!! I feel for you. A friend of ours who is an OT suggested looking into our school district in that many of them have preschool programs for 3 and 4 year old kids who are diagnosed with sensory/speech/autism. Our son had to qualify for their program, which he did....luckily....because he has a class of 13 kids with 2 teachers and an OT who works at the school. We are fortunate to live in an area with a fantastic school district offering such a program.

You may want to look into your school district to see if they have such a program. Between regular visits with his out of school OT, the in school ot, and his teachers, we are seeing great strides in our little guy and so darn proud of him. Don't get me wrong, there are still days we want to pull our hair out, however, his and our awareness is much more attune.
BTW…most preschools have zero understanding of SPD…thus treat kids who are SPD by punishing them and lashing out on the parents when we pick them up. In fact, the teachers at my son’s preschool would flag us down when we picked him up to “complain” about his actions throughout the day while he stood there with his head hanging low listening to their ridicule. I had a huge problem with this and had a sit down with the director. He used to HATE going to school. Now…he enjoys it and even gets to take the bus.
Good Luck,
Frubsdad

(02-15-2013, 04:43 PM)AnneF Wrote: My 4 year old son (diagnosed with SPD recently) is currently in a Co-Op preschool that are making his issues worse. His OT, who is amazing and I respect her opinion said to take him out immediately. She feels it's the worse place for him. I had been feeling that for a while, but wasn't listening to my instinct. Our OT thinks he'd do better with a smaller class and a little less structure. Does anyone have experience with changing preschools? What has worked for your child? I want to find a place where he can thrive and not be "punished" for his behavior. He really likes school and wants to participate in things, but sometimes it's hard. Do you have suggestions for what I should be looking for or questions I should be asking? I'm still new to this so sometimes I still feel out here on my own. Thanks!

Does your school district have an Early Childhood program? Those teachers have a special Education background and the classes are smaller. Otherwise you educate them and provide him with what he will need to make it through the day successfully. Same thing frubsdad said ( sorry I just read it) that is the best. Early intervention. See if you have an "Easter Seals' like program out there where they can direct you of other schools geared more towards what you need.