@ohatch, thank you for your explanation! We are about to have our son evaluated and even though I've read about autism, I still feel very ignorant in the subject. Your perspective helps a lot! ?

My son has aspergers and is in regular classes but is pulled out twice a week for speech and twice a week for social skills.

I mean, I'm autistic. I was never in special education. My struggles living in a society that wasn't built for me didn't revolve around academics. My grades were fine. Honestly it's because I'm autistic that I was so passionate about learning. Science was always fascinating to me, so much so that I even asked Santa for a telescope and other space stuff. Autism isn't an intellectual disability. Autism is a different neurotype. It's like the world is full of Windows computers and autistic people are Macs or Linux. Macs are not broken Windows computers, they're just Mac computers, they run differently.

Yes. My daughter started ese preschool on her 3rd Birthday in Feb, her goal is to be in a regular kindergarten class. She will have 2 1/2 years of preschool and then hopefully she can transition into a regular class. The preschool has been great for her they help us with potty training and she gets to interact with other lids. She learned hi and bye from her peers.

Xavier I didn't do early intervention because I just wanted to bad to be a phase and that he will grow out of it. But it never happened. This morning I was angry/sad and cried my eyes out. I know is not the end of the world but all I want is for my baby to thrive. I do have another child he's one and I'm constantly looking for signs I'm just being paranoid.

This is good information. I need to be more positive and accepting of his diagnosis. I think I'm still in the denial stage as well. I just got my son diagnosed at an autism center, and will be getting him evaluated at his school district soon. I never dealt with any if this before, and have zero family that has. My husband did substitute for special education classes before becoming a middle school math teacher. Even he wasn't too surprised our son was on the spectrum. I just assumed our son was just energetic, and fidgety. I wish I started early intervention before his brother was born. ?

I have known some very successful students and adults on the spectrum. His needs are simply different, but your school should work to identify and address these areas of need. He is still young and has a lot of time to progress. As another commenter stated, reading at home makes an incredible difference! My most successful special education students had active reading lives (I teach high school English inclusion classes, which essentially include special education students in mainstream classrooms).

That's great @amadae. I can't wait for my son to communicate with me. He says a few words and a few two and three word sentences.

Many on iep will still be in mainstream. Depending on the severity of autism, his growth and his needs. By kindergarten many will be with A mainstream class.
There are government based preschools to help our developmentally delayed try and catch up by kindergarten. To help them be as equal and ready to learn as possible.

My son was non verbal, violent, and disruptive. We set him in the special needs preschool. Now as a incoming 2nd grader. He speaks fluently. His violence has lowered tremendously. That he is no longer a threat to others safety. And his behavior is over all great. That next year he will be in regular classes with out an aid. Still has is iep and services.

Thank you so much ladies. I had my IEP meeting today. He scored below average in every category. They told me he had some autism characteristics. So all his paperwork say he's in the autism sprectrum. I just want my son to thrive I'm excited for him to start preschool.

If he is in special education for preschool they will be giving him early interventions. You will be part of the iep team this is an individual education plan for your child. It will be rewritten every year including a special ed, gen ed, you and any other therapist he might work you. Potentially you can also get services from the government through ddd. Special education does not mean your child will not learn it means he may learn differently but that is okay. Also working with him at home does make a difference. Reading is very important. Also I am a special education teacher so if you have questions feel free to talk to me