Kindergarten Screening

This morning was Blake's kindergarten screening. I wasn't sure if we should do it or not. He has a multi-factor evaluation (MFE) anyway, so it isn't necessary, but I thought it might go well. This is what he thought of a shirt with a collar and buttons. I should have known better.

Anyway, we got to the school and they directed us where we needed to go. We got to the gym, and he was wimpering already. He wasn't excited about this at all. I talked to the teacher for a minute. She was Drew's kindergarten teacher and she directed us to the first station. He cried and clung to me for a good ten minutes. The first stop was drawing shapes. Well. Mr. Blake doesn't know how to draw shapes. After I got him somewhat settled down, he scribbled a little on her paper. We waited while she made several zeros in his book, and moved on to the next spot, which was hearing. I told the SLP that he's never passed a hearing test yet. The thing is, he is so hypersensitive to having his ears touched that he won't allow the headphones to even be put on. The SLP works at an autism unit and asked me if that was Blake's diagnosis. So I gave a quick Fragile X rundown and we moved on. Next stop was vision. Well, I saw the kid before Blake stand on a tape line and recite all the shapes he saw. Well, since Blake can't identify his shapes at all, I told the vision lady that we wouldn't be able to do that one, either.

Next we moved to the word articulation station. Drew's former speech therapist was running it, so she was pretty good with him. He wasn't terribly cooperative, but he did identify some pictures for her. Then, she wanted him to "finish the sentence" with a rhyme. By that point, he was on the floor, and kicking and pinching me.

It was then that I decided for sure that he was pretty much done. I told the kindergarten teacher that we were giving up and she said she understood. We made tentative plans to meet again to discuss Blake and the things he likes to do so she can be prepared for him. We have his IEP meeting for next year on April 16.

He was all too happy to leave, and honestly, so was I. But I must say, I was pleased with his teacher, the classroom aide, and the speech therapist he'll likely have. So, these were good things. Overall, I am glad we went. I am happy with how he did, considering the challenges he has.