[blindkid] School Programs for 3 Year Old Student in Texas

Richard Holloway rholloway at gopbc.org
Mon Apr 11 19:51:23 UTC 2011


Some more information about his vision situation might be helpful to find the most similar situations to compare. 

We're located in Georgia in one of the largest counties in the state so our county has fairly decent resources for the school system. Sounds like you may also be in an area with plenty of resources but that is usually only a small part of the entire discussion. 

Our daughter has no light perception. She's in public school in second grade and going very well.

Initially, we started her in Private (Montessori) School at age three. This was contrary to a lot of advice from others. They told us all about how poorly that would work. Well, our first year went really well and we were delighted. We had the benefit of support from the local school system because Kendra was not yet age five, so a TVI and an O&M instructor came to the private school to help routinely. Unfortunately, though we never learned why, the second year was not nearly so successful as the first. Same school, same teachers and even the same classroom and mostly the same peers (though the class was a bit larger) but things were just not good.

The bottom line is that you have little recourse in a private school situation if any issues come up, large or small. They can pretty much say you're no longer welcome or modify their offerings at will. We came to feel very much like they were "doing us a favor" letting our child stay at the school-- that's just not a good position to be in...  You still have all your LRE and FAFE options/rights, but those live at public school settings and you'll have to enroll your child there to avail yourself of them.

Also, if you hope to continue past age five, chances are great that you'll have less (if any) support from the school system as well, so I'd say to try your best to find public school situation what will work if at all possible. I suggest you do all you can to nurture those opportunities and relationships with your local school system because if you stay put, you'll be dealing with many of those same people for many years to come.

Feel free to contact me off list for any specific questions. I don't want to talk this issue into the ground in the general forum.

Richard




On Apr 11, 2011, at 2:15 PM, Liz Maberry wrote:

> Hi there,
> 
> I just found this list and have already found so much helpful information!
> 
> I wanted to see if anyone had feedback regarding school programs for a 3
> year old student either specifically in the Houston, Texas area, or just in
> general.
> 
> We are looking at the options being offered by each school district in the
> area, as well as private school options with an Itinerant teacher.  Just
> trying to figure out where to start!  Our son is not quite 2, so we have
> some time, but wanted any suggestions you all had in terms of what is
> important to look for, as well as any specifics you might have in our area.
> 
> Thanks so much!
> Liz
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