Dominic's Parent Teacher Conference

Dominic is doing extremely well at school. So well that they think he would do great in a more normal preschool setting. He will still be on an IEP but normal preschool. How does this make me feel? Extremely happy! I can't believe it. Little backround. Dominic goes to what is known as EI- Early Intervention. It's a preschool but made up of children with developmental disabilities. Most of the children are there for minor things like Dominic's speech and behavior, but there are some with more indepth complex problems such as blindness, deaf, down syndrome, motor skill problems, Autism, MS, etc. I knew what his school was like as far as classmates and it pleased me because I wanted him to be exposed to being around children that have some disabilities so he understood that they were just like him but in a wheelchair, using a hearing aide, a cane, etc. He's made great bonds with the kids and considers them all his "friends."

Dom's teacher had nothing but praises for me. She said that he's making an effort on everything and his fits are less and less it seems. They are still there but not as bad as they were (hitting teachers, kicking, etc.) Here's a few things he's doing great at.

• On Cognitive-Row counts to 6 then starts skipping #'s
• recognizes all the basic colors except brown and black
• understands basic patterns
• places things in order by size
• recognizes his name in print
• On Language- says his first and last name
• knows gender and age
• speaks in 2-3 word sentences, progress being made on 4-5
• Follows 1 and 2 ste directions
• understands some positional concepts. Up, Down, In and out. On and Off
• Points to Same, different, big, little, more, less, tall, slow, fat, hot, cold
• Self-Help: tries a varity of foods
• can use cup and bowl
• washes and drys hands without help
• can undo zippers, takes off coat, uses toilet with no help
• can nearly point to everything except for wrist, ankle, waist, hips, heel.
• Social Skills: follows the routine
• follows directions
• knows staff and classmates names
• initiates interactions with adults
• pays attention now for 3-5 minutes!!!! That's great!
• Fine Motor: dominant right hand
• can complete a 20 piece puzzle
• builds a tower of 10 blocks
• self portrait with 3 details (arm, stick torso, legs)
• snips paper
• Gross Motor: walks upstairs
• jumps down from things without falling
• balances on one foot
• walks on a balance beam
• throws, catces and kicks a ball
• jumps with 2 feet

Here's what we need to work on though. Social skills are still not all there. He's having a hard time with asking adult permission, sharing, watching and listening, waiting his turn, attempting to solve conflicts with peers, initiateing an activity with others such as "hey let's play with this.."

His language is there but he's still not able to follow 3 part directions yet. Cognitive and Language still need alot of work There are still some positional concepts he doesn't get yet such as between, behind, etc. He can't answer questions yet either which I knew that. He can't hold a pencil without clenching it and still doesn't like to attempt coloring in the lines. It's more or less scribbled. He doesn't recognize letters or numbers yet. Catagories he doesn't understand at all. We'll get there. I expressed my concerns about if we do put him in a new preschool setting that he would fall backwards. She said she would work with the teacher. They would also send a speech therapist to the school to work with him. Overall it went really good and I was pleased!