Kristie1978
02-05-2006, 09:09 AM
Hi,
I just joined this group, I work in the "after school" daycare at the local elem. school. This is a large group of students (anywhere from 60-85 kids) they range from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade. We don't keep the grades seperate, we meet in the cafeteria and also go either to the playground or the gym depending on the weather.
A new child is starting tomorrow who we were told has "severe autism", is all the teacher and principal have told us, of course they also told us he is non-verbal, hard to handle and loves computers and books. Not much help,huh? I have worked with kids with Autism before but they were all "mildly autistic" and were very verbal.
I was hoping I could find suggestions,tips,advice whatever to help me help this little guy he is only 6 and I want him to be as comfortable as possible. I know in the classroom he recieves 1 on 1, but I have been told by my the coordinator of the program that "we don't do 1 on 1", I feel that this could be a disservice to this little guy, he will be coming from his classroom that at the most has 15 kids in it to me where I have at most 85 kids, who are loud and can get very crazy! I am one of 3 supervisors that work at my school, we also have 4 other staff memebers who sometimes rotate to the other schools in the district, so the staff could change day to day..which some of the "normal" ( I hate to use that) kids get upset when there is a change in staff, so I could imagine how a child who needs routine and consistency will react..
Also when we go out, we rotate the groups so each group gets a chance to go out first, will this be a problem for him..not knowing for sure when he will go out??
When they first come to the program after school, they come in and sit at the tables until all the children arrive ( they are allowed to talk and such at the tables) this can take up to about 15-20 minutes. We then have announcements where we go over the rules, talk about any issues or things the kids need to do, which takes usually about 5-7 minutes. Then we select tables to get their snack, and if they don't want snack they go and choose a center to play in, when snack is over (everyone has had a chance to eat something..they don't have to eat if they don't want too) we start choosing who will go outside/gym..we do that by grades (pre-k and K, 1st and 2nd, 3rd,4th and 5th) should we have his grade go out at the same time every day?? If so how should explain that to the other kids?? I don't want to label the kid, and I don't want to single him out anymore than I am sure he is already...
I really want to make this as smooth as possible for him, and make it a welcoming enviornment for him.
Thanks in advance for anything you might be able to suggest!
Kristie
I just joined this group, I work in the "after school" daycare at the local elem. school. This is a large group of students (anywhere from 60-85 kids) they range from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade. We don't keep the grades seperate, we meet in the cafeteria and also go either to the playground or the gym depending on the weather.
A new child is starting tomorrow who we were told has "severe autism", is all the teacher and principal have told us, of course they also told us he is non-verbal, hard to handle and loves computers and books. Not much help,huh? I have worked with kids with Autism before but they were all "mildly autistic" and were very verbal.
I was hoping I could find suggestions,tips,advice whatever to help me help this little guy he is only 6 and I want him to be as comfortable as possible. I know in the classroom he recieves 1 on 1, but I have been told by my the coordinator of the program that "we don't do 1 on 1", I feel that this could be a disservice to this little guy, he will be coming from his classroom that at the most has 15 kids in it to me where I have at most 85 kids, who are loud and can get very crazy! I am one of 3 supervisors that work at my school, we also have 4 other staff memebers who sometimes rotate to the other schools in the district, so the staff could change day to day..which some of the "normal" ( I hate to use that) kids get upset when there is a change in staff, so I could imagine how a child who needs routine and consistency will react..
Also when we go out, we rotate the groups so each group gets a chance to go out first, will this be a problem for him..not knowing for sure when he will go out??
When they first come to the program after school, they come in and sit at the tables until all the children arrive ( they are allowed to talk and such at the tables) this can take up to about 15-20 minutes. We then have announcements where we go over the rules, talk about any issues or things the kids need to do, which takes usually about 5-7 minutes. Then we select tables to get their snack, and if they don't want snack they go and choose a center to play in, when snack is over (everyone has had a chance to eat something..they don't have to eat if they don't want too) we start choosing who will go outside/gym..we do that by grades (pre-k and K, 1st and 2nd, 3rd,4th and 5th) should we have his grade go out at the same time every day?? If so how should explain that to the other kids?? I don't want to label the kid, and I don't want to single him out anymore than I am sure he is already...
I really want to make this as smooth as possible for him, and make it a welcoming enviornment for him.
Thanks in advance for anything you might be able to suggest!
Kristie