Parent Teacher Conference

We had Christopher's parent/teacher conference last night.  He continues to do well overall but has some definite deficits.  He has mastered the concept that people have names and knows his friends at school.  Socially, he will give his friends a hug and play with them on occasion.  There is more success when he is outside and is in a "tag" sort of mood.  He still prefers parallel play or complete independence. Communication continues to improve.  There are a lot of times that I still can not understand what he is trying to say but he is saying it in full sentences. 

I think my biggest concern is his need for "adult support" (as it is written in his IEP).  Essentially, this means he requires a teacher's aide to be with him individually ALL of the time.  He gets a little more freedom during free play activities.  He will not sit for circle time or for table activities for extended amounts of time without an adult with him.  This is a skill he must have by kindergarten.  A teacher with one classroom aide for 20+ kids will not be functional for him when he needs this much support in a class with 10 kids, a teacher and 2 classroom aides.

Academically, I think he will be a successful learner but I think it may take longer or a different route to get there.  He can identify some written words but they are words he uses frequently with Thomas, You-tube or other things he wants to type to bring up on the computer.  I haven't tried to have him type Christopher lately. He was getting pretty close to that before.  One of the recommendations listed was for us to post words around the house labeling objects.  We also work on counting and letter identification all of the time.  Perhaps his greatest strength/interest will also be a hindrance, he loves the computer, TV and Kindle Fire but we need to pull him out of the world of electronics and be able to focus on other things.

We have come a long way but we still have so much more to do.