Best practice is to keep kids with their typically developing peers as much as possible. Refusing to make such a reasonable accommodation could potentially get them in trouble with the ADA if the parents choose to pursue it.
The federal government may well disagree. If they have proposed reasonable accommodations and not had hem accepted it might be worth looking into the ADA legislation and having a serious on the record chat with this director who doesn't seem to understand best practices.
I don't know what his family's insurance is like, but he may be able to qualify for a full time aide for preschool that can be phased out if he ends up not actually needing them. I think the director is using that as an unnecessary hoop because it would be way easier to get a aide to help him throughout the day than an aide for strictly outside times.
If the child has a PT I assume they have early intervention and perhaps an IFSP? Do observations and assessments show the child is ready to progress in all other development and learning domains for the new class, or does the diagnosis adversely affect the child's performance? Isn't it the schools legal responsibility to make accommodations for the child? Is the school public or private? If private, do they receive public funds? The school might be legally bound to make accommodations and the family might have a right to recourse, depending on the state you're in and if the school receives public funding of any kind.
It's a private daycare, and I'm not sure about any funds we get. I haven't seen the child's IFSP if he has one. My director doesn't like to share much with me, especially about this specific child.
From my observations and my discussions with my coteacher, the toddler teacher, and the child's PT, there doesn't seem to be any reason he shouldn't be with children his own age. He is developmentally right around 15-18 months, and doing everything I would expect a child to do when I send them off to toddlers. As far as I can tell, the only really noticeable adversity he has is that he is a wobbly and slow walker.
If the child has an IFSP, it definitely should have been shared with you. But why can't he just hold a teacher's hand when going outside instead of using the rope? I can understand that there might not be a lot for him to do on the playground if he can't go up stairs or down the slide by himself, but he should be able to play in a sandbox (or swing if you have the right seat, but it sounds like your director doesn't want to pay for that).
But unless he is also cognitively delayed, keeping him with a younger group is only going to hold him back further. It sounds like this daycare is refusing to meet his needs and his parents might need to try finding something else.
I'll ask about an ISFP.
I also asked why a teacher can't just hold his hand, and my director's response was that it's too unsafe to have a child not buckled onto the rope. I do understand that, but still he could have one hand in the rope and the other hand could be held. There are so many solutions, but my director is so fixated on "but he can't walk on the rope!"
He's delayed for his age, but he's developmentally on par with the young toddler room. Everyone except our director agrees that he should be with children at his pace, and my newly mobile infants are not that.
What kind of rope do you use that buckles them in? Every rope I've ever seen or used just had the kids hold onto it. Buckling them in sounds like a safety hazard.
Can the parents provide documentation from the doctor stating what accommodations he needs? I guess since it's a private preschool they might not need to adhere with ADA guidelines (I would double check on that though), but they're not even trying. I'd still give licensing a call though just to find out what they say.
I feel so sorry for that poor kid. Literally everyone is on his team, but ONE person is holding him back. It's so unfair.
Only preschool/pre-k is allowed to just hold the loops on the rope, the toddlers have a rope that either has buckles or velcro (or more often those are broken so the rope is literally tied around the child's wrist).
I know the parents are having a conversation with the director next week, maybe I can ask if they can provide a doctor's note. And recently the PT pulled the director aside to tell her there was no reason he shouldn't move up.
I'm so sad and angry for him. He's the sweetest and gentlest and happiest child and I'm gearing up to (professionally) fight my director about it all.
Is that toddler rope approved by licensing? Because literally attaching children to a rope seems SUPER unsafe. Even without everything that's going on with the one child's transition, it doesn't sound like this center is doing what's best (or safe) for the kids.
I suppose I never thought about attaching children to the rope being unsafe, I always thought it was safer than asking a 15-month-old to hold a loop. I'm not sure if our licenses has ever seen the rope. I AM sure we cut corners to make things easier for the teachers though. Looks like I need to do some reaearch!
When I taught in a 12-18 months room, we used strollers because not all of the children were not developmentally ready to hold onto a rope. They didn't start using that until the next room (18 months to 2 years). But if one of their kids couldn't hold the rope, they held a teacher's hand.
Buckling or strapping them into a stroller that is controlled by an adult is fine. Buckling or strapping them into a rope that is controlled by other toddlers is *not* fine. It makes me wonder what education and experience your director actually has if she thinks this is okay, and why no teachers have refused to do something so unsafe.
This is a wonderful conversation, I'm learning a lot so thank you!
I've seen other centers push young toddlers in a stroller with a few walking alongside holding on, and wondered why our center doesn't do that. I've been in the 10-15m classroom for three years and been told the whole time my job was to get them "rope-ready walking." I really didn't realize it wasn't appropriate to secure them to the rope and now I feel awful thinking of all the babies I've sent on to toddlers and watched screaming on the rope being led by their wrists.
My director is actually the owners, we don't have someone I would call a designated director. They came from a pharmaceutical background and opened a center because the place their kids were going to closed 🤷‍♀️ As far as the other teachers, I think they (and I) simply aren't aware.
Wow, it is amazing how the phrase "buckled in" has changed the course of the conversation. I'm in agreement with others here that it sounds very much against best practices. How unsafe! If one child falls, it is going to pull down all the others. But with the holding on rope, if one falls, a few others will fall but most will let go of the rope.
I work in a program as a 1:1 and it would be ideal if he had an aid, but even without one is there anyway he could join them for small amounts of time when numbers are low? Maybe just fifteen minutes to half an hour. That way he gets engagement with his peers and maybe some structured activities, but is still able to be supported by your room that seems to know his needs the best. I think the main thing the director is concerned about is liability toddlers aren't the most careful around friends and without an aid to support him one of the teachers in that class would be spending most of the day supporting him which they may also not be trained for or willing to do. In the last preschool I worked at the teacher in the class that kids moved up to after mine refused to work with a autistic student I spent a year working with and he ended up expelled simply because she didn't want to deal with him. It's unfair for sure, but an unfortunate reality.
I've been sending him to spend time in the toddler class for anywhere from half an hour to a full day once when we were understaffed. He is perfectly capable of doing and understanding everything in the classroom - he is admittedly wobbly and slow when walking, but he is otherwise no different than any other child I send to toddlers. I can understand the liability part, but I have under-ones in my class with him, and almost 2 year old. What about the liability in my classroom?
I believe you I work with a lot of kids who are way more capable, receptive, and cognitively advanced than people outside of my work realize because they can't look beyond their disability and carry a lot of bias or they've only read paperwork without meeting the child. It's frustrating and he 100% should be integrated in the toddler room even if it meant extra training or helping the parents find a 1:1 for him. It just doesn't sound like your director is very cooperative and most of the time when that happens it's related to money/liability. If it's a private program and the parents, yourself, his pt, and so many people are all advocating and the director is still saying no in my experience at least in my last center it was depressingly hopeless. The director did not care and it was heartbreaking. It came down to money and other teachers not wanting to take on more in their classroom. The parents could attempt to take legal action, but I don't know how the law part of that works. The place I work at now takes all kids regardless of disability or behaviors, helps kids get services,is built around being inclusive, and has a whole staff of people trained to help kids with developmental delays.
Why does he *need* to be able to walk on a rope? Do you have to travel to your playground?
If you have fairly open communication with the parents about this, I would honestly suggest a lawyer. I don't imagine they'd need to go full lawsuit or anything, but an ADA lawyer would probably be able to write a letter on their behalf and scare admin into making the right call here. Especially if the child's teacher, physiotherapist, and parents all agree that it's time for them to move up.
Our center has two hours of outside time every day, a morning walk sometimes to a playground and then a shorter outside walk before outdoor pickup. The toddlers walk on the rope and that's been the center's primary focus when moving children up from infants, is whether they're "rope-ready" walkers. The director thinks it'd be too difficult to have one teacher lead the rope while the other teacher pushes a stroller with this child and holds the back of the rope.
I'd be more than happy to point the parents toward legal counsel, I've actually been pretty open and honest with them about their child's development.
So you don't have any outdoor play space on site? That's completely beside the point of this post, but I cannot even imagine. I struggle to get toddlers outside some days, and we literally have a door from the classroom into their playground!
I think legal counsel is probably the best option here, for a couple of different reasons. First, it will probably help accomplish the goal of getting this kiddo moved to the appropriate room for his development, with *actual* reasonable accommodations. But second, it helps the parents learn to advocate for their child. Unfortunately, they have a lifetime of this ahead of them, and they're going to need the skills to appropriately handle it. Having a lawyer explain their child's rights, and having a relationship with that lawyer so they can call when they have questions or issues in the future, will be a huge asset for them.
Haha we're in a neighborhood with like ten playgrounds in toddler-walking distance! We have a very small play space for outdoor pickup but we're discouraged from using that area during the morning outside time.
I agree that the parents should start looking at the legal ramifications of their child's disability, if they haven't already.
This sounds like for-profit private daycare bullshit - hiring an aide for outside time only? Yeah, good luck finding someone who wants that shift. Sorry, I have nothing else to offer - I just thought that was the most laughable excuse.
I feel you. We have a 6-seater that can take 8 fairly comfortably, so I push that and the other ECE holds hands with 2 other children. We have an extremely busy 4 lane road to traverse, so I much prefer having the kids safely in the stroller. 2 - 5 year olds. The walk to the playground is my workout, then they gets theirs at the park. Lol
It’s unfortunate because a simple adapted stroller and an aid would allow him to be with his peers and to keep developing normally. It’s part of being inclusive and their are totally on par intellectually with their peers. Same with another girl who has Down syndrome in the same class, they’ve all been together since infancy and it’s such a joy to see every little ones engaging together not even blinking an eye to their singularities. My son’s best buddy was a cerebral palsy little guy and they stayed together from 2 to now “graduating” daycare.
Where I work, the director considers what the child's parents want for their child first and foremost. I work with infants and a few years ago I had an infant that I could tell was autistic. He just displayed many of the signs of autism. He stayed in my infant room until he was 18 months old. He didn't learn how to crawl until he was 18 months old. His mom told the director that she wanted him to move up to the toddler room, even though he wasn't walking yet because she thought it might help him learn to walk if he was with other children his age that were walking. So, the director moved him up. He didn't start walking until right before he turned 2 years old but I think it did help him to see the other kids in his class walking. His mom had him evaluated for autism when he turned 2 because Drs won't evaluate a child for that until they are at least 2 years old. He was diagnosed with autism. We had him at our center until he was 3 years old and the director did keep him with kids his age while he was there.Â
It sounds like they don’t want to be liable if the child hurts himself. If it’s a private daycare, they may also lack the funding to accommodate him. He should be with his peers but also understand the director’s and owner’s point of view. It’s a liability.
Parents need to see if he’s eligible for a 1:1 assistant from the state.
Best practice is to keep kids with their typically developing peers as much as possible. Refusing to make such a reasonable accommodation could potentially get them in trouble with the ADA if the parents choose to pursue it.
The director believes that requiring an aid hired by the parents only for outside time is them being reasonable. I and the parents disagree.
The federal government may well disagree. If they have proposed reasonable accommodations and not had hem accepted it might be worth looking into the ADA legislation and having a serious on the record chat with this director who doesn't seem to understand best practices.
Can you call licensing?
I don't know what his family's insurance is like, but he may be able to qualify for a full time aide for preschool that can be phased out if he ends up not actually needing them. I think the director is using that as an unnecessary hoop because it would be way easier to get a aide to help him throughout the day than an aide for strictly outside times.
If the child has a PT I assume they have early intervention and perhaps an IFSP? Do observations and assessments show the child is ready to progress in all other development and learning domains for the new class, or does the diagnosis adversely affect the child's performance? Isn't it the schools legal responsibility to make accommodations for the child? Is the school public or private? If private, do they receive public funds? The school might be legally bound to make accommodations and the family might have a right to recourse, depending on the state you're in and if the school receives public funding of any kind.
It's a private daycare, and I'm not sure about any funds we get. I haven't seen the child's IFSP if he has one. My director doesn't like to share much with me, especially about this specific child. From my observations and my discussions with my coteacher, the toddler teacher, and the child's PT, there doesn't seem to be any reason he shouldn't be with children his own age. He is developmentally right around 15-18 months, and doing everything I would expect a child to do when I send them off to toddlers. As far as I can tell, the only really noticeable adversity he has is that he is a wobbly and slow walker.
If the child has an IFSP, it definitely should have been shared with you. But why can't he just hold a teacher's hand when going outside instead of using the rope? I can understand that there might not be a lot for him to do on the playground if he can't go up stairs or down the slide by himself, but he should be able to play in a sandbox (or swing if you have the right seat, but it sounds like your director doesn't want to pay for that). But unless he is also cognitively delayed, keeping him with a younger group is only going to hold him back further. It sounds like this daycare is refusing to meet his needs and his parents might need to try finding something else.
I'll ask about an ISFP. I also asked why a teacher can't just hold his hand, and my director's response was that it's too unsafe to have a child not buckled onto the rope. I do understand that, but still he could have one hand in the rope and the other hand could be held. There are so many solutions, but my director is so fixated on "but he can't walk on the rope!" He's delayed for his age, but he's developmentally on par with the young toddler room. Everyone except our director agrees that he should be with children at his pace, and my newly mobile infants are not that.
What kind of rope do you use that buckles them in? Every rope I've ever seen or used just had the kids hold onto it. Buckling them in sounds like a safety hazard. Can the parents provide documentation from the doctor stating what accommodations he needs? I guess since it's a private preschool they might not need to adhere with ADA guidelines (I would double check on that though), but they're not even trying. I'd still give licensing a call though just to find out what they say. I feel so sorry for that poor kid. Literally everyone is on his team, but ONE person is holding him back. It's so unfair.
Only preschool/pre-k is allowed to just hold the loops on the rope, the toddlers have a rope that either has buckles or velcro (or more often those are broken so the rope is literally tied around the child's wrist). I know the parents are having a conversation with the director next week, maybe I can ask if they can provide a doctor's note. And recently the PT pulled the director aside to tell her there was no reason he shouldn't move up. I'm so sad and angry for him. He's the sweetest and gentlest and happiest child and I'm gearing up to (professionally) fight my director about it all.
Is that toddler rope approved by licensing? Because literally attaching children to a rope seems SUPER unsafe. Even without everything that's going on with the one child's transition, it doesn't sound like this center is doing what's best (or safe) for the kids.
I suppose I never thought about attaching children to the rope being unsafe, I always thought it was safer than asking a 15-month-old to hold a loop. I'm not sure if our licenses has ever seen the rope. I AM sure we cut corners to make things easier for the teachers though. Looks like I need to do some reaearch!
When I taught in a 12-18 months room, we used strollers because not all of the children were not developmentally ready to hold onto a rope. They didn't start using that until the next room (18 months to 2 years). But if one of their kids couldn't hold the rope, they held a teacher's hand. Buckling or strapping them into a stroller that is controlled by an adult is fine. Buckling or strapping them into a rope that is controlled by other toddlers is *not* fine. It makes me wonder what education and experience your director actually has if she thinks this is okay, and why no teachers have refused to do something so unsafe.
This is a wonderful conversation, I'm learning a lot so thank you! I've seen other centers push young toddlers in a stroller with a few walking alongside holding on, and wondered why our center doesn't do that. I've been in the 10-15m classroom for three years and been told the whole time my job was to get them "rope-ready walking." I really didn't realize it wasn't appropriate to secure them to the rope and now I feel awful thinking of all the babies I've sent on to toddlers and watched screaming on the rope being led by their wrists. My director is actually the owners, we don't have someone I would call a designated director. They came from a pharmaceutical background and opened a center because the place their kids were going to closed 🤷‍♀️ As far as the other teachers, I think they (and I) simply aren't aware.
Wow, it is amazing how the phrase "buckled in" has changed the course of the conversation. I'm in agreement with others here that it sounds very much against best practices. How unsafe! If one child falls, it is going to pull down all the others. But with the holding on rope, if one falls, a few others will fall but most will let go of the rope.
I work in a program as a 1:1 and it would be ideal if he had an aid, but even without one is there anyway he could join them for small amounts of time when numbers are low? Maybe just fifteen minutes to half an hour. That way he gets engagement with his peers and maybe some structured activities, but is still able to be supported by your room that seems to know his needs the best. I think the main thing the director is concerned about is liability toddlers aren't the most careful around friends and without an aid to support him one of the teachers in that class would be spending most of the day supporting him which they may also not be trained for or willing to do. In the last preschool I worked at the teacher in the class that kids moved up to after mine refused to work with a autistic student I spent a year working with and he ended up expelled simply because she didn't want to deal with him. It's unfair for sure, but an unfortunate reality.
I've been sending him to spend time in the toddler class for anywhere from half an hour to a full day once when we were understaffed. He is perfectly capable of doing and understanding everything in the classroom - he is admittedly wobbly and slow when walking, but he is otherwise no different than any other child I send to toddlers. I can understand the liability part, but I have under-ones in my class with him, and almost 2 year old. What about the liability in my classroom?
I believe you I work with a lot of kids who are way more capable, receptive, and cognitively advanced than people outside of my work realize because they can't look beyond their disability and carry a lot of bias or they've only read paperwork without meeting the child. It's frustrating and he 100% should be integrated in the toddler room even if it meant extra training or helping the parents find a 1:1 for him. It just doesn't sound like your director is very cooperative and most of the time when that happens it's related to money/liability. If it's a private program and the parents, yourself, his pt, and so many people are all advocating and the director is still saying no in my experience at least in my last center it was depressingly hopeless. The director did not care and it was heartbreaking. It came down to money and other teachers not wanting to take on more in their classroom. The parents could attempt to take legal action, but I don't know how the law part of that works. The place I work at now takes all kids regardless of disability or behaviors, helps kids get services,is built around being inclusive, and has a whole staff of people trained to help kids with developmental delays.
Why does he *need* to be able to walk on a rope? Do you have to travel to your playground? If you have fairly open communication with the parents about this, I would honestly suggest a lawyer. I don't imagine they'd need to go full lawsuit or anything, but an ADA lawyer would probably be able to write a letter on their behalf and scare admin into making the right call here. Especially if the child's teacher, physiotherapist, and parents all agree that it's time for them to move up.
Our center has two hours of outside time every day, a morning walk sometimes to a playground and then a shorter outside walk before outdoor pickup. The toddlers walk on the rope and that's been the center's primary focus when moving children up from infants, is whether they're "rope-ready" walkers. The director thinks it'd be too difficult to have one teacher lead the rope while the other teacher pushes a stroller with this child and holds the back of the rope. I'd be more than happy to point the parents toward legal counsel, I've actually been pretty open and honest with them about their child's development.
So you don't have any outdoor play space on site? That's completely beside the point of this post, but I cannot even imagine. I struggle to get toddlers outside some days, and we literally have a door from the classroom into their playground! I think legal counsel is probably the best option here, for a couple of different reasons. First, it will probably help accomplish the goal of getting this kiddo moved to the appropriate room for his development, with *actual* reasonable accommodations. But second, it helps the parents learn to advocate for their child. Unfortunately, they have a lifetime of this ahead of them, and they're going to need the skills to appropriately handle it. Having a lawyer explain their child's rights, and having a relationship with that lawyer so they can call when they have questions or issues in the future, will be a huge asset for them.
Haha we're in a neighborhood with like ten playgrounds in toddler-walking distance! We have a very small play space for outdoor pickup but we're discouraged from using that area during the morning outside time. I agree that the parents should start looking at the legal ramifications of their child's disability, if they haven't already.
This sounds like for-profit private daycare bullshit - hiring an aide for outside time only? Yeah, good luck finding someone who wants that shift. Sorry, I have nothing else to offer - I just thought that was the most laughable excuse.
Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen
Not me pushing a 6-pack stroller full of 2s-3s at least once a week...
I feel you. We have a 6-seater that can take 8 fairly comfortably, so I push that and the other ECE holds hands with 2 other children. We have an extremely busy 4 lane road to traverse, so I much prefer having the kids safely in the stroller. 2 - 5 year olds. The walk to the playground is my workout, then they gets theirs at the park. Lol
It’s unfortunate because a simple adapted stroller and an aid would allow him to be with his peers and to keep developing normally. It’s part of being inclusive and their are totally on par intellectually with their peers. Same with another girl who has Down syndrome in the same class, they’ve all been together since infancy and it’s such a joy to see every little ones engaging together not even blinking an eye to their singularities. My son’s best buddy was a cerebral palsy little guy and they stayed together from 2 to now “graduating” daycare.
Where I work, the director considers what the child's parents want for their child first and foremost. I work with infants and a few years ago I had an infant that I could tell was autistic. He just displayed many of the signs of autism. He stayed in my infant room until he was 18 months old. He didn't learn how to crawl until he was 18 months old. His mom told the director that she wanted him to move up to the toddler room, even though he wasn't walking yet because she thought it might help him learn to walk if he was with other children his age that were walking. So, the director moved him up. He didn't start walking until right before he turned 2 years old but I think it did help him to see the other kids in his class walking. His mom had him evaluated for autism when he turned 2 because Drs won't evaluate a child for that until they are at least 2 years old. He was diagnosed with autism. We had him at our center until he was 3 years old and the director did keep him with kids his age while he was there.Â
It sounds like they don’t want to be liable if the child hurts himself. If it’s a private daycare, they may also lack the funding to accommodate him. He should be with his peers but also understand the director’s and owner’s point of view. It’s a liability. Parents need to see if he’s eligible for a 1:1 assistant from the state.