Age Three
Age three, suspected developmental delay or disability, kindergarten is looming in the near future, and already your child's entire lifetime has been saturated with fear of the unknown for loved ones and occasional surges of hope. You are fortunate to have had the intervention, support, and kindness of Ashland County's MRDD Early Intervention Program, but what now? Three years of growth have perhaps yielded a definitive diagnosis of your child's condition, what do you do now?
As a resident of Ashland County there is a natural, productive next step which is the Ashland County MRDD's Pre-School Program. This opportunity, housed at the Dale Roy School, is a joint collaborative effort with the Tri-County Educational Service Center to offer pre-school intervention and instruction to 200 children ages 3-5.
Dale Roy School's proud history in Ashland again shines brightly as it offered the first pre-school services in 1974. In that first class, eight students with disabilities were instructed. Now with the evolution of the pre-school concept and federal regulations, classes now have a total of twelve students, eight of whom have developmental delays or disabilities and four typically developing peers. This student blending is a little known feature that yields compassionate, win-win results for all students and our community. Originally the hope was that those individuals with challenges could model, experience, and benefit from interaction with their non-affected peers. This does happen, but the typically developing student also reaps great benefits from this interaction. There is nothing better than teaching at a very young age respect, understanding, and appreciation for those who are different.
Before we go further, please realize this isn't your father or mother's kindergarten encounter. Not just playtime or babysitting, but the Ashland County pre-school experience is based on Ohio's Early Learning Content Standards in the areas of language arts, social studies, math, and science. All teachers are degreed, licensed and utilize age-appropriate play based instruction. Don't worry, kids still have the time and opportunity to be kids. Most importantly a decisive majority of those students with developmental delays move into regular kindergarten in their home school district.
This pre-school chapter of the "Dale Roy Story" is possible through effective teaming with Tri-County Educational Service Center. Parents and guardians have the choice of full day, half day, or itinerant (home based) pre-school services. Additionally therapy, nursing, and psychological services are available as needed. By federal law there is no charge for the student with developmental delays or suspected conditions, and the typically developing student fee is based on a sliding scale. Also no affected individuals can be denied pre-school services.
As a resident of Ashland County with concerns for your child, you have excellent opportunities available to you. How do you access them? How customer-friendly is this entry into the merging worlds of education and care for those with disabilities? If you have been involved in Dale Roy's Early Intervention Program you are probably aware of the possible transition into the pre-school level. If not on this route simply call the Tri-County Educational Service Center at 419-281-4239. Staff members will come to your house to do an initial assessment to begin the process of meeting the needs of your child.
Pre-school education is light years away from what most of us experienced. Greater understanding of human development and the identification and knowledge of genetic and environmentally caused disabilities are the driving forces behind the critical importance of intervention and education for our preschoolers. Ashland County provides several different excellent pre-school opportunities, but it is the Dale Roy and ESC collaboration that unites the educational, medical, and therapeutic components of intervention.
This segment of the "Dale Roy Story" can best be summarized as kids learning from kids and compassionate informed adults making it possible for all to flourish. This does not happen everywhere, but it is in Ashland County.
Next we move into the school years. No Child Left Behind, Educational Reform, Accountability, IDEA, IEP's are all to be dealt with. You are involved in the life of someone with a disability, what do you do? Public school, Dale Roy, home school? The "Dale Roy Story" continues next month with this portion of the journey.