I think it is awesome to have an autism preschool. I like that the children are able to learn at their own pace. It is amazing that there are many ways to communicate. ❤
💯. I think its so cool of Simon’s preschool to have so many visual aides to help out their students and create communication skills which are crucial in those first stages of life.
My son was absolutely miserable and his mental health struggled greatly when he was in a mainstream public school setting. He’s perfectly verbal and brilliant so the school wouldn’t even consider another placement. We homeschool him now. If he could go to an autism school where differences are supported and accepted, he would have thrived. There’s no reason to throw kids into typical classes where they don’t fit in. We wouldn’t even dream of putting a neurotypical child in an autism room so why do the reverse? I love that Simon has that wonderful environment to learn in.
Simon is so lucky. Long ago in 1968 - they don’t have that pictures communicating. I can see pictures. Hard for me without that. I learned sign language. If hearing people so I can do that. If I meet your family. I use that.
I think Simon has many skills, including good verbal and motor skills, and is probably ready to join a regular school if you are comfortable with that. For my son, also age 4 with mild asd, he just started kindergarten (in Canada) but has an assistant assigned to him and 2 other special needs kids. I think as long as the school administration and teachers are supportive and experienced with special needs, then it should be fine. Especially since Simon is quite a smart and capable boy. Also, want to say that I really enjoy your channel and I've learned so much from your videos as well ☺️
@@7AheadfamilyThis works well as long as Simon is adequately able to communicate hunger, thirst, and other needs to his teachers by the time he starts kindergarten. If so, then the main choice is whether to enroll him in half day kindergarten or full day kindergarten (if you have that choice where you live). In my case I started half day kindergarten just before age six (my birthday is near the end of the year). The deciding factor in my case was that at age five-and-a-half I was still very much in the middle of toilet training. Simon seems to be about two years ahead of where I was in that area so as long as he doesn’t have a significant amount of regression in this area he should be ready for kindergarten by next year (probably by late Summer or early Autumn).
When I was in school and I was asked to cut out a shape on a piece of paper (such as a circle, a square, or a star) the scissors that I used were smaller and had a rounded tip. That was how they set up these activities until about four or fifth grade in my classes because it was the safest option.
Even at age of 15 I couldn't cut out a square on the lines or a circle I didn't know till few years ago I was properly autistic and maybe have dysprexia certainly never learnt to rides bike well ,or hop, skip ,do forward rolls, catch it hit a ball tie shie laces
I would say this is true overall but I wonder if maybe having more integration and interaction with neurotypical students might reduce the chances of regression in some students at a later age (such as kindergarten or first grade).
I used pecs back when I was at my autism preschool as well. For me I spent a lot of time at my autism preschool but I also had times where I was in a regular preschool and/or kindergarten class with neurotypical kids but my aid was with me.
It looks like ideas about education change over time. I just rewatched the first day of preschool video and I saw part of the picture with the “chewy” on it in that video. I didn’t notice that before. When I was in school it never occurred to any educators (as far as I know) to allow chewing because back in the 1980s no one understood the function of stimming (or what stimming is) and its importance in certain situations for relieving stress.
I was just doing some computer networking exercises a short time ago in preparation for an exam that I am studying for in connection with my work and I noticed that in the instructions for the exercise words like “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those” appeared quite a bit in the instructions. This reminded me of the picture that I saw in this video yesterday depicting the meaning of these words and some other words like them. I noticed when I looked at the picture that the pictures for such words as “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those” would have been confusing for me without the words being written above them. I guess I should not be surprised by this because from what I remember I only started using and understanding those words myself by third grade (or maybe even fourth grade) at age nine or ten. When I was in school in the 1980s I was one of two students in my class on the spectrum. As a result my teacher (most likely) did not realize that it was necessary to teach these words and other ones like the ones in that picture. I’m guessing that that diagram is probably something that did not exist yet in the early-to-mid 1980s (but I don’t know that for certain). I noticed yesterday from looking at that picture that certain illustrations were easily recognizable to me like the stop sign and the international symbol for “do not enter”. Some of the other symbols were less familiar to me. One (seemingly unavoidable) limitation of such a diagram is that it only teaches a single use for a word. For example it teaches the meaning of the word “go” as in “to go from one location to another”, but it does not teach any of the well-known secondary meanings (like “Does this food (or other object) go with that one” (to name one example)). In my case I eventually learned these secondary meanings, but it was at least by kindergarten age for the more simple secondary meanings and by middle school (or even high school) age before I learned the more complex meanings after seeing many examples. I don’t remember exactly how I learned the meaning of “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those”, but no doubt it was a result of years of seeing many examples. From preschool or kindergarten age it probably took me four or five years of examples before this finally “clicked” (as the expression goes). It probably took this long for me because I was still level two at that age. If I was level one it might have taken less time, but I guess I will never know for certain. I only have my own perspective to base this on and I have not yet read about how long it takes to typically learn these and similar words.
I wish I was born and resided in a state in America like Utah because 99% of the locals there are heavenly nice unlike Memphis Tennessee where that city unfortunately was my birthplace . I’m currently a high school student and for the past 3 years I’ve been exposed to the most toxic social dynamic environment of 99.9% menacing students , administrators & half of the teachers / substitutes there to the point were it’s seems near impossible for me to show up there because of my level 1 autism . I have even been excessively verbally harassed because of my appearance & autistic symptoms . The displinary measures for the special education class at my school is also bad where the disability students are disciplined the same like the neurotypical students . Being forced to be surrounded by that negative environment for 7 hours every weekday is my worst nightmare come true . I have 7 more months until I graduate class 2025 but it’s like the most painful 7 months to get through ( bad social environment , hard classes , senior financial dues /stuff , etc ) . What’s your honest advice , 7 ahead ?
So sorry you have had such a struggle. Trials can be very difficult, especially ones that last a long time, but you are getting close! Hang in there and try to find allies and friends to help you. Maybe you should hang out with us in our ASD club. Shoot us an email and let’s chat. Support@7-ahead.com
@@nicekitty6988 she really likes it. She was at a hospital for 18 years and they didn’t show much appreciation. It was also too much work and stress. She is here at a different place now and is really liking it better.
I think I remember working on the same worksheets as I see in this video (or substantially similar ones) when I was in school as late as about third or fourth grade (age nine or ten). Sometimes I would find that to be boring depending on how well I was doing on a given day.
I wish education in preschool and the first four or five grades was more visual when I was in school in the 1980s. If it was I might have learned some concepts earlier than I did.
Do they also work with Simon on verbalizing hunger, thirst, etc? I know Simon is often able to verbalize these things because I have seem him do this in other videos (including some from at least a year ago). At this point it’s probably mostly a matter of remembering to verbalize needs (at least on a typical day when he is feeling healthy, is not too stressed out, and has a good amount of energy).
I think I might have been as old as five when I learned to word “dentist” even though I probably had at least one or two dentist appointments before that. For some reason even though I have a number of verifiable memories from this period (and a bit earlier) I don’t really remember much about this specifically at the moment.
When you asked Simon the question that he chose not to answer it looks like he probably thought that you were telling him what to do when you were actually just asking him what that one picture meant. Looking back I think my response in that type of situation might have been similar even as late as third or fourth grade (depending on mood and stress level). But given that education wasn’t that visual when I was in school I guess I will never know for certain.
If they can handle a regular classroom yes if not then a self contained classroom is better. Or one on one teacher my grandson did that last year one on one. This year self contained classroom.
I think kids on the spectrum should spend some time with neurotypical kids even at the preschool age as long as everyone is properly supervised. Bullying is fairly rare at the preschool age but on occasion it can happen.
I paused the video and looked at the words and pictures and most of them are fairly intuitive but there were maybe about five or six that I would have difficulty guessing without the words above them.
I wonder if maybe Simon is afraid of the flushing sound. This could happen if he’s going through a period of increased sensory sensitivities. If this is happening you will want to address this to keep his toilet training on track and hopefully prevent any regression in this area. That would sometimes happen with me starting when I was about that age. For me that tended to go in cycles from about age four until well into grade school.
Also if there were any changes to the school plumbing recently that might cause the sound of the toilet flushing to sound different and in turn that might cause some nervousness. For example, are these the same toilets as last year or did they recently install new ones?
Good morning. I observed Simon a lot because I have a 3 years old who doesn’t make sentences yet but he said words. He has about 50 words but I am not sure if his behaviors are normal or not. He’s just overly active but it’s scary. This is my first child at age 40.
You might want to ask his doctor about having him evaluated. This way you can begin early interventions as soon as possible. From what I have read and what I have seen on this and other channels early interventions usually make a big difference in terms of when developmental milestones are reached.
i have autism also level two just found out i had last april im 26 now i have trouble doing something sometimes combing my hair trying to get a mullet hair cut
Hi I just have a question because I feel like you would know more than anyone else I could ask my 3-year-old had a evaluation and it just says that he was diagnosed with a medical development delay and I don't really understand what that means it doesn't say that he has autism in there if he did have that would they have to write that down in there or are they the same thing. I keep reading the package over and over again
Great question! A medical development delay can mean that when a child is slower to develop skills than their peers, or doesn't reach developmental milestones as expected. Developmental delays are different from developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder. With early intervention it helps your child progress with their delay❤
@@7Aheadfamily thank thank you so much for responding I guess I'm just confused because it says that he my son has a a medical development delay and it says it is a disability but it just doesn't say that it's autism so I really don't know I guess I will find out on Friday it's just all confusing to me
I think I was in first or second grade before I was able to verbalize that I did not know something. One of the first times I remember verbalizing that I did not know the answer to a question was on a Saturday morning in second grade CCD class when I was around eight years old.
It’s not always possible to tell from a short video. I was actually level two (“moderate”) when I was his age and on a typical day most people didn’t notice it. This was back in the 1980s and I was first diagnosed at age two in the late 1970s during a neurological exam shortly after my two year checkup. I’m currently level one. Also symptoms can often become more subtle as a result of a combination of therapies and the passage of time. It never actually goes away. However, many people learn to compensate to some degree over time.
I think it is awesome to have an autism preschool. I like that the children are able to learn at their own pace. It is amazing that there are many ways to communicate. ❤
Thank you for sharing!❤❤
💯. I think its so cool of Simon’s preschool to have so many visual aides to help out their students and create communication skills which are crucial in those first stages of life.
Thank you for sharing!❤❤
Simon is such a smart kid and I think it’s amazing to have an Autism preschool. I’m Autistic and I’m in my third year in Secondary school.
Thank you ❤️. And thank you for sharing! I’m glad your school is going well for you. 😊
My son was absolutely miserable and his mental health struggled greatly when he was in a mainstream public school setting. He’s perfectly verbal and brilliant so the school wouldn’t even consider another placement. We homeschool him now.
If he could go to an autism school where differences are supported and accepted, he would have thrived.
There’s no reason to throw kids into typical classes where they don’t fit in. We wouldn’t even dream of putting a neurotypical child in an autism room so why do the reverse?
I love that Simon has that wonderful environment to learn in.
Thank you so much for sharing. ❤️ agreed! Simon and Ezra both did very well at this preschool, and Ezra really needed it. 😊
Simon is so lucky. Long ago in 1968 - they don’t have that pictures communicating. I can see pictures. Hard for me without that. I learned sign language. If hearing people so I can do that. If I meet your family. I use that.
Thank you for sharing your story!💜
I think Simon has many skills, including good verbal and motor skills, and is probably ready to join a regular school if you are comfortable with that. For my son, also age 4 with mild asd, he just started kindergarten (in Canada) but has an assistant assigned to him and 2 other special needs kids. I think as long as the school administration and teachers are supportive and experienced with special needs, then it should be fine. Especially since Simon is quite a smart and capable boy.
Also, want to say that I really enjoy your channel and I've learned so much from your videos as well ☺️
Thank you so much for sharing. ❤️ We appreciate that, keeps us going. 😊 yes, I think Simon will be great in a normal school probably soon here.
@@7AheadfamilyThis works well as long as Simon is adequately able to communicate hunger, thirst, and other needs to his teachers by the time he starts kindergarten.
If so, then the main choice is whether to enroll him in half day kindergarten or full day kindergarten (if you have that choice where you live).
In my case I started half day kindergarten just before age six (my birthday is near the end of the year). The deciding factor in my case was that at age five-and-a-half I was still very much in the middle of toilet training. Simon seems to be about two years ahead of where I was in that area so as long as he doesn’t have a significant amount of regression in this area he should be ready for kindergarten by next year (probably by late Summer or early Autumn).
I went to an autism preschool in 2010 -2012. It was such a fun place. It was very similar.
Thank you for sharing!❤❤
When I was in school and I was asked to cut out a shape on a piece of paper (such as a circle, a square, or a star) the scissors that I used were smaller and had a rounded tip. That was how they set up these activities until about four or fifth grade in my classes because it was the safest option.
They do that in most elementary classes to grade 4/5.
Even at age of 15 I couldn't cut out a square on the lines or a circle I didn't know till few years ago I was properly autistic and maybe have dysprexia certainly never learnt to rides bike well ,or hop, skip ,do forward rolls, catch it hit a ball tie shie laces
Wow I think now Simon has lost his ASD diagnosis ....Great to see him and Ezra ...Good luck boys 🤩🤩
Autism preschool is definitely a good idea
I would say this is true overall but I wonder if maybe having more integration and interaction with neurotypical students might reduce the chances of regression in some students at a later age (such as kindergarten or first grade).
I used pecs back when I was at my autism preschool as well. For me I spent a lot of time at my autism preschool but I also had times where I was in a regular preschool and/or kindergarten class with neurotypical kids but my aid was with me.
Thank you for sharing!❤❤
It looks like ideas about education change over time.
I just rewatched the first day of preschool video and I saw part of the picture with the “chewy” on it in that video. I didn’t notice that before.
When I was in school it never occurred to any educators (as far as I know) to allow chewing because back in the 1980s no one understood the function of stimming (or what stimming is) and its importance in certain situations for relieving stress.
Thank you for sharing!❤❤
I was just doing some computer networking exercises a short time ago in preparation for an exam that I am studying for in connection with my work and I noticed that in the instructions for the exercise words like “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those” appeared quite a bit in the instructions.
This reminded me of the picture that I saw in this video yesterday depicting the meaning of these words and some other words like them.
I noticed when I looked at the picture that the pictures for such words as “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those” would have been confusing for me without the words being written above them. I guess I should not be surprised by this because from what I remember I only started using and understanding those words myself by third grade (or maybe even fourth grade) at age nine or ten.
When I was in school in the 1980s I was one of two students in my class on the spectrum. As a result my teacher (most likely) did not realize that it was necessary to teach these words and other ones like the ones in that picture. I’m guessing that that diagram is probably something that did not exist yet in the early-to-mid 1980s (but I don’t know that for certain).
I noticed yesterday from looking at that picture that certain illustrations were easily recognizable to me like the stop sign and the international symbol for “do not enter”. Some of the other symbols were less familiar to me.
One (seemingly unavoidable) limitation of such a diagram is that it only teaches a single use for a word. For example it teaches the meaning of the word “go” as in “to go from one location to another”, but it does not teach any of the well-known secondary meanings (like “Does this food (or other object) go with that one” (to name one example)). In my case I eventually learned these secondary meanings, but it was at least by kindergarten age for the more simple secondary meanings and by middle school (or even high school) age before I learned the more complex meanings after seeing many examples.
I don’t remember exactly how I learned the meaning of “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those”, but no doubt it was a result of years of seeing many examples. From preschool or kindergarten age it probably took me four or five years of examples before this finally “clicked” (as the expression goes). It probably took this long for me because I was still level two at that age. If I was level one it might have taken less time, but I guess I will never know for certain. I only have my own perspective to base this on and I have not yet read about how long it takes to typically learn these and similar words.
Simon is a big boy now he's always being such a cutie even ezra❤❤❤❤
Thank you!❤
I wish I was born and resided in a state in America like Utah because 99% of the locals there are heavenly nice unlike Memphis Tennessee where that city unfortunately was my birthplace . I’m currently a high school student and for the past 3 years I’ve been exposed to the most toxic social dynamic environment of 99.9% menacing students , administrators & half of the teachers / substitutes there to the point were it’s seems near impossible for me to show up there because of my level 1 autism . I have even been excessively verbally harassed because of my appearance & autistic symptoms . The displinary measures for the special education class at my school is also bad where the disability students are disciplined the same like the neurotypical students . Being forced to be surrounded by that negative environment for 7 hours every weekday is my worst nightmare come true . I have 7 more months until I graduate class 2025 but it’s like the most painful 7 months to get through ( bad social environment , hard classes , senior financial dues /stuff , etc ) . What’s your honest advice , 7 ahead ?
So sorry you have had such a struggle. Trials can be very difficult, especially ones that last a long time, but you are getting close! Hang in there and try to find allies and friends to help you. Maybe you should hang out with us in our ASD club. Shoot us an email and let’s chat. Support@7-ahead.com
My mom works at an all Autism school as an SLP. I think it’s a k-12 school, about 30 kids/students enrolled.
What does she think about it? My son is 4 with Level 3 autism.
@@nicekitty6988 she really likes it. She was at a hospital for 18 years and they didn’t show much appreciation. It was also too much work and stress. She is here at a different place now and is really liking it better.
0:02 yea! 😢😭 so cute
It was!❤
I think I remember working on the same worksheets as I see in this video (or substantially similar ones) when I was in school as late as about third or fourth grade (age nine or ten). Sometimes I would find that to be boring depending on how well I was doing on a given day.
Thank you for sharing with us❤
I wish education in preschool and the first four or five grades was more visual when I was in school in the 1980s. If it was I might have learned some concepts earlier than I did.
Thank you for sharing with us your story❤
here in Australia, children with Level 1 and without intellectual disabilities go to mainstream preschool and school
Do they also work with Simon on verbalizing hunger, thirst, etc?
I know Simon is often able to verbalize these things because I have seem him do this in other videos (including some from at least a year ago). At this point it’s probably mostly a matter of remembering to verbalize needs (at least on a typical day when he is feeling healthy, is not too stressed out, and has a good amount of energy).
Thank you for sharing with us❤
I think I might have been as old as five when I learned to word “dentist” even though I probably had at least one or two dentist appointments before that. For some reason even though I have a number of verifiable memories from this period (and a bit earlier) I don’t really remember much about this specifically at the moment.
Thank you for sharing with us❤
When you asked Simon the question that he chose not to answer it looks like he probably thought that you were telling him what to do when you were actually just asking him what that one picture meant.
Looking back I think my response in that type of situation might have been similar even as late as third or fourth grade (depending on mood and stress level). But given that education wasn’t that visual when I was in school I guess I will never know for certain.
Thank you for sharing with us!❤
Can you please share your other kid s school
If they can handle a regular classroom yes if not then a self contained classroom is better. Or one on one teacher my grandson did that last year one on one. This year self contained classroom.
Thank you for sharing!❤❤
I think kids on the spectrum should spend some time with neurotypical kids even at the preschool age as long as everyone is properly supervised. Bullying is fairly rare at the preschool age but on occasion it can happen.
Thank you for sharing!❤❤
I paused the video and looked at the words and pictures and most of them are fairly intuitive but there were maybe about five or six that I would have difficulty guessing without the words above them.
Thank you for sharing❤
I love this video
Thank you!❤
He looks like he's not down with using the rr at school. 😂❤🙁
I wonder if maybe Simon is afraid of the flushing sound. This could happen if he’s going through a period of increased sensory sensitivities. If this is happening you will want to address this to keep his toilet training on track and hopefully prevent any regression in this area.
That would sometimes happen with me starting when I was about that age.
For me that tended to go in cycles from about age four until well into grade school.
Also if there were any changes to the school plumbing recently that might cause the sound of the toilet flushing to sound different and in turn that might cause some nervousness.
For example, are these the same toilets as last year or did they recently install new ones?
Good morning. I observed Simon a lot because I have a 3 years old who doesn’t make sentences yet but he said words. He has about 50 words but I am not sure if his behaviors are normal or not. He’s just overly active but it’s scary. This is my first child at age 40.
You might want to ask his doctor about having him evaluated. This way you can begin early interventions as soon as possible.
From what I have read and what I have seen on this and other channels early interventions usually make a big difference in terms of when developmental milestones are reached.
@@thomasschoeck9080 thank you.
i have autism also level two just found out i had last april im 26 now i have trouble doing something sometimes combing my hair trying to get a mullet hair cut
Great video
Thank you!❤
Goog idea 😀😀
Thank you❤❤
i wish my school was like simons school ... mine wasnt nice
We are very sorry about that❤❤
Hi I just have a question because I feel like you would know more than anyone else I could ask my 3-year-old had a evaluation and it just says that he was diagnosed with a medical development delay and I don't really understand what that means it doesn't say that he has autism in there if he did have that would they have to write that down in there or are they the same thing. I keep reading the package over and over again
Great question! A medical development delay can mean that when a child is slower to develop skills than their peers, or doesn't reach developmental milestones as expected. Developmental delays are different from developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder. With early intervention it helps your child progress with their delay❤
@@7Aheadfamily thank thank you so much for responding I guess I'm just confused because it says that he my son has a a medical development delay and it says it is a disability but it just doesn't say that it's autism so I really don't know I guess I will find out on Friday it's just all confusing to me
I think I was in first or second grade before I was able to verbalize that I did not know something.
One of the first times I remember verbalizing that I did not know the answer to a question was on a Saturday morning in second grade CCD class when I was around eight years old.
Thank you for sharing!❤
How you diagnosed your child that he has autism?, he looks fine !
It’s not always possible to tell from a short video. I was actually level two (“moderate”) when I was his age and on a typical day most people didn’t notice it. This was back in the 1980s and I was first diagnosed at age two in the late 1970s during a neurological exam shortly after my two year checkup. I’m currently level one.
Also symptoms can often become more subtle as a result of a combination of therapies and the passage of time. It never actually goes away. However, many people learn to compensate to some degree over time.
Autism doesn’t have a specific look. And his autism is mild.