My Becca will be 3 in September so I'm trying to figure out what would be best for her. I've been told that putting her just in the special ed. program would be detrimental and I agree....she needs to be around her typical peers. I started her in a daycare 3 mornings a week just to see how she did and other than some separation anxiety she does seem to enjoy it. The problem is we can't afford daycare that we don't really need. Most of the preschools around here require the kids to be potty trained. They are more affordable but I've been told she would need an aide because "they don't do diapers". The problem is I don't think Becs would be approved for an aide and I'm not convinced she'd need one either. She can be a handful with getting into things and she does still put stuff in her mouth sometimes but I don't know what types of things the IEP team would consider to determine if an aide is necessary. Do any of your kids have an aide at a typical pre-school? I don't mind sending her to the special ed. program 1 or 2 days a week for her therapies but I want to balance it out.

I should have mentioned.....her biggest "issue" is that she's not speaking yet but she signs pretty good. I taught the daycare teachers her most common signs and they understand her just fine.

Noah was in pre K for 3 years with mainly special needs children. Only a few of them were just speech delayed. I really think it was the best thing for Noah. He met 2 other children with Ds that were just like him. He just loved a little girl with CP who couldn't do much for herself and while the other's sort of ignored her, he held her hand and had so much compassion for this child, it was unbelieveable. Noah didn't talk a whole lot in those 3 years, mainly I think because the other children didn't speak much. But I really don't have any regrets with sending him there. The teachers and aide did not care that he wasn't potty trained and worked every day on this with him. They worked on the little things like ROUTINE, and where to put your bookbag, and which chair is your chair, and how to clean up and put things away. They really prepared him for school and it was great. Noah will have the rest of his life to go to "regular school" and this year was wonderful, as his speaking really picked up alot having 25 typical children in his class.

In the special needs preschools in Ohio they have typically developing peers in the classrooms (not sure of the ratio) along with the kids having special needs. In our school district they are actually quite selective of the peers to make sure that they will be a good role model.