Hi!!! I'm new to the board. I have a 7 year old son who is in first grade. My son has just completed an evaluation at his school and has been given the go ahead to qualify for special education. They are going to be keeping him the general class but assigning him an aide to help prompt him and keep him on task during his classes. Unfortunately, the only one 1st grade class has an aide which means that he will need to be switched from his current classroom. He has also been approved for 2 days of OT. We are having our IEP meeting in 2 weeks to discuss the outcomes of the evaluations, the plans of moving him and when to make the move. I'm a little nervous, on one hand my son is very friendly and outgoing with other children, and I'm sure there will be some children in the new class that he has already met on the playground during lunchtime or afterschool and he has already met the other 2 first grade teachers at different times. But he is also, not very big on change and I worry that being in a new class without his current friends and a new teacher might be upsetting to him. I'm also wondering exactly how to tell him of this change and how to explain to him the reason for the change. I think it is going to be a huge help to him to have the extra support in a classroom that a teachers aide will provide but I don't want him to feel different or bad about being moved.

Any advise, input would be very, very appreciated.

Kim