Advice on picking a school

[DanielleJ]

My little boy is on the spectrum and he is going to start pre K next fall. Our public school system has a Spanish immersion school, and I added his name to the wait list. I am just wondering if it is a bad idea to add another language to the mix when he is still struggling with communication.

He is verbal and has no cognitive delays, but right now, he has a lot of trouble understanding abstract questions and a lot of the time, I have to phrase things in kind of a strange way for him to catch my meaning.

I really would have loved to have had an opportunity like this as a child and I don't want to deny him the experience, but I am wondering if would be too overwhelming to someone who still has some trouble communicating in his native language.

Does anyone have any insight on how they would have felt as a little kid starting in school for the first time? Am I overthinking this?

 

[GadAbout]

Aside from language, what other challenges do you foresee for your child in Pre-K? Has he been in preschool or group daycare, and how is that going? They say in early child education, it's really social behaviors, conforming to rules and structure, and so on, more than curriculum and scholastic achievements, that is most important. Would he be arriving at Pre-K with some experience, or has he been mostly at home up till now?

There's also the consideration whether this particular school is diversity friendly, or more academic achievement oriented. Ask if you can observe the pre-K, and pay close attention to the interactions of the children with teachers and with each other. Can you imagine your child fitting in there?

 

[Major Tom]

My little boy is on the spectrum and he is going to start pre K next fall. Our public school system has a Spanish immersion school, and I added his name to the wait list. I am just wondering if it is a bad idea to add another language to the mix when he is still struggling with communication.

He is verbal and has no cognitive delays, but right now, he has a lot of trouble understanding abstract questions and a lot of the time, I have to phrase things in kind of a strange way for him to catch my meaning.

I really would have loved to have had an opportunity like this as a child and I don't want to deny him the experience, but I am wondering if would be too overwhelming to someone who still has some trouble communicating in his native language.

Does anyone have any insight on how they would have felt as a little kid starting in school for the first time? Am I overthinking this?

Our son who has ASD-3 and is nonverbal goes to a Japanese school, but we speak English primarily at home. While he can't speak, he can understand both.

I myself have ASD-1 and I've immersed myself in the language for the past 12 years or so, and I find it very frustrating however. Just the other day I went to city Hall and could only understand about 20% of the language. I ended up running home with my tail between my legs and going to sleep, because I couldn't get the necessary paperwork done. I also cannot read or write the language and it's a severe handicap in my opinion.

Anyways, I think it really depends on the individual how well language immersion will work. Probably for NTs and people on the spectrum alike. It's always good to know another language, but if you can't grasp the language, it can also be VERY frustrating.

I hope this helps.

 

[Crossbreed]

@Major Tom , are you in Japan?

 

[Aspychata]

Found a preschool that taught my daughter some Spanish. Think it's super important to expose them to languages early on. This was an extremely supportive preschool. But l ended up homeschooling her by 2nd grade. Then she went to performing HS in small little town which she loved. She learned guitar, (discovered she wasn't a singer)