Drop Off

[GirlMomma]

I have a DCB2 that started with me in June. Every morning this child is still crying at drop off. His parents say he’s fine on the way. He’s fine getting out of the car, but as soon as they get to my door step, he’s crying. I’ve witnessed it. It doesn’t matter which parent does drop off… he cries. All drop offs are done outside and they are the QUICKEST drop off I have (less than 30 seconds) with a hug, kiss and a bye-bye! Most of the time he’s fine when I bring him inside and sit him down for breakfast. Today it was a little longer than usual.

For being 2, he doesn’t talk hardly at all compared to the other DCK that are his age/younger and saying 5-6 word complete sentences. It seems like all he knows is how to cry, whine and grunt. I have only heard him say five words in total and DCP say that’s what it is at home, too.

Is this normal?? I just think being in my daycare for 8 weeks, he should have the schedule and routine down pat. I was also hoping he’d pick up some words being here, but he hasn’t. I’ve done all the suggestions on the forum, but nothing is working.

[Cat Herder]

Do his parents speak to him or for him?

[GirlMomma]

From what I see, they speak to him. They are working with him on using his words, just like we do here, but there is no improvement. Yesterday, I had a fan going and he pointed to it so mom said “Fan. Say fan.” And it’s like he tried to make the sound but he doesn’t move his lips. Does this make sense? I know he has an older brother, they’re 24 months apart. Maybe he speaks for him? This DCB also still has a pacifier at nap time.

I'm not used to this, maybe it’s normal? My youngest DD has said 5-6 word sentences for a couple of months now and she’ll be 2 next week. Same with another DCK I have. He’s a week younger than my youngest DD and he’s been saying 5-6 word sentences for MONTHS - which I think has a lot to do with having a brother that is only 18 months older.

[Alwaysgreener]

My son wasn't talking at his age level so I called the local school district to get his hearing checked. He passed but then they evaluated his speech and he was behind enough to get some help.He is now closer to his age level but still behind slightly.

Is there is there any questions that the child may have a hearing problem or too much wax or water in his ear?

My niece was behind in speech and was diagnosed with autism. There is online quizzes you can take to evaluate a child for autism. You could read through one of those and see if he meets any of the other markers.

[GirlMomma]

Alwaysgreener I don’t think he’s autistic but I could be wrong. He transitions just fine with the exception of the morning drop off. There has been one or two times he hasn’t cried.

I almost wonder if it’s his lack of communicating means there is an issue speech/hearing.

[GirlMomma]

Alwaysgreener I did one of those tests and it is showing he’s at a high risk for having it.

I mentioned the behavior to my grandmother and
she said she thinks the parents already had him evaluated and know he is autistic and here’s why:

During the interview, DCM explained to me that DCB likes to sit back and watch children, he’s very observant. She knows he doesn’t speak very much.

About 5 weeks into caring for the child, I asked DCM how drop offs went at their previous DC. She said she didn’t do drop offs, DCD did. So the next morning, I asked DCD how they went. He said “Did you ask DCM?” I said yes. He said “What did she say?” I told him that she said he did the drop offs. He said, “Well we had a nanny do the drop offs before.”

I found that really odd that he asked what DCM said but kinda brushed it off that maybe she was too embarrassed to say they had a nanny. But why would the nanny take the boy to another care giver?

Anyways, I don’t know how to handle any of this. I truly don’t know the first thing about caring for a non-verbal, possibly autistic child. My program doesn’t fit the child’s needs. Because we are in a very rural area, I know there aren’t any programs for autistic children. What do I do? How do I even bring this up?

[GirlMomma]

Sparkles I’m very worried they’d say it was discrimination if I termed… even with them withholding info like that.

I will do assessments regularly. If on paper there is no improvement then I’ll look for other resources and suggest those to the parents.

[flying_babyb]

on a reverse of what sparkles experienced: I had a special needs child in my classroom, 10 kids, just me all preschool age (3-4s). This child was non verbal, not potty trained and on day one, the mom (who lost custody soon after) told me to "just put her in a corner, she will be fine". She did great, withn a week she was playing next to the children, they were encouraging her to go to different centers with them. I had her potty trained and in undies by week 2, and by week 3, her "buddy" was no longer needed (whoever was line caboose got to "help" her get places, basically holding her hand and helping keep her focused). So sometimes it can work out.

[GirlMomma]

flying_babyb I like the positivity!! I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works out. Hopefully the parents aren’t keeping anything from me that is pertinent info!

[GirlMomma]

Alwaysgreener Thank you for the insight! I brushed a lot of these “red flags” off. Now that I am piecing the info she gave me together, I believe she knows or at the very least suspects it. They moved into town and were desperate, so I am happy to help her any way I can.