Transitional Meeting

Monday was Wes' transitional meeting into the preschool. We were supposed to do his IEP (Individualized Educational Plan), but he needed to have an adaptive behavioral scale done. This is required by both state and federal government for him to qualify for the special ed preschool.
We needed to take the boys with us because we couldn't find anyone to sit for us. Late morning, everyone is working. The school is just 2 blocks from our house. The ride was too short for Wes who became upset when we were in the car for less then 2 minutes. We met Jodi (his OT and coordinator) and all went inside. When we walked into the preschool area, Wes calmed down and went right in to play. The teachers and paraprofessionals were eating lunch and kept an eye on the boys for us. Wes had no problems being redirected from multiple people and enjoyed all the new sights.
We met with the preschool OT, the preschool coordinator, and the speech pathologist. The school psychologist came later. We discussed Wes' gains in the last year, his likes and dislikes, and the preschool program. I decided that Wes would start immediately on 5 days a week. The class room is 3 days a week with 2 days of intensive behavioral study. At first, I wanted him to start taking the bus right away, but now I'm having second thoughts. I'm worried that all this change will be too much for him and he could melt down the first week or so. I'm considering having him start the preschool first, and add the bus later. The downside to that might be he becomes accustomed to me bringing him to school and fears the bus later. This is such a hard decision! He could prove me wrong on both accounts or I could be right on the money. Who knows with him!
After the meeting, I met with the school psychologist to do the ABS. It was a questionaire about his daily life. How he cares for himself, large and small motor skills, and communication. This should be complete in 2 weeks and the IEP process can begin. We are set to meet on October 11th for that. At that time, Wes will come with again and get to experience the classroom with all the students in there. He won't be expected to participate unless he wants to. That should be really exciting for him!
I'm still very nervous about the IEP. I don't want to set the goals too high, but I don't want to set them too low either. I just want him to do his very best and make some gains especially in his social skills. I'll be sure to follow this up in a couple of weeks!