Problems with School!

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My 3rd grade son was dxed a month ago by a ped. neurologist with mild aspergers. The school won't accept it and they don't want to evaluate him. His grades look to good, trust me he has a 504 and his teacher helps him a lot plus we work extra hard at home and use a tutor. His grades would not be like this with out all the help and corrected and exempt papers. Do I have to let him fail before they will evaluate him? Why won't they just accept the Dr's dx? I live in N. Texas is it just us or all schools like this? Here are my sons syptoms, what do you think?

Always been in to one thing
Talks about that one thing even if we don’t want to hear it
He knows everything about that item

talks very loud
sensitive to noise
sensitive to smell
He hates tags in his clothes
He will put his clothes on backwards often

chews on his shirt
He spins when he is happy
He paces when he gets excited
He acts very young for his age
He doesn’t mind telling people just what he thinks

He takes everything literally
He sometimes repeats himself over and over
He will sometime just laugh to himself
has always been in his own little world
gets upset very easy over the smallest things
He is very unorganized

Routine is important to him
He doesn’t show empathy
He only has one good friend

As a baby he did everything late
Walked at almost 16 months
Talked at 27 months
He was a difficult toddler

Even with all of his quirks he is a great kid and my hero!

I'd say that the school is ignorant of the autistic spectrum, as it seems they don't understand high-functioning autism. If I were you I'd start with finding out if your state has an "Autism Association" and seek advice on how to deal with the school. Probably the main answer is to locate the special needs support service who deal with autism for schools in your area (if one exists).

can you get a child advocate ?....or talk to the neurologist about how to get the school to understand ?

I am a school psych and have a son with mild aspergers. My child has been on an IEP for articulation but we are going the private school route for now (he will be entering kindergarten) just because it's smaller. If we end up going the public school route, he will have an IEP!!

A lot of times, school districts just look at academics. This is often times where schools fail. Social skills are an important piece of academic and school functioning. At my school, we put kids who are mild Aspergers on IEP's so that the language therapist can work on social skills stories with them and also work on pragmatics such as appropriate turn taking skills. It works great. We have a wonderful speech therapist who specializes in that area. Unfortunately, most schools aren't so lucky to have someone like we do.

The biggest question is what would an IEP do for your son? How would things change for him as compared to a 504. In order to fight this, you really need to be prepared to answer that question (i.e., social skills goals...).

Has he had an OT evaluation? What about an cognitive test? It would be interesting to see if he has a Nonverbal Learning Disability that sometimes goes hand in hand with individuals who have Aspergers. That could affect him the higher he gets in school.

When you disagree with the school, you can go through due process. I would first contact the director of special ed or lead school psychologist and talk with them. You really need to indicate why you think "specially designed instruction" would benefit your son.

I would definitely fight to have him put on an IEP!
They are merely looking at academics and not the whole picture. They need to look at the whole picture.

A advocate will be my next step, I've have a few phone #'s. I have a meeting in the morning I'm going to see how it goes before I take the next step. I'm worried about the cost of a advocate, but if he needs it we will find away.

Yes, I had a OT evaluation done (outside of school) and they said he needs 18 months of OT 2 times a week. I'm on the waiting list for that. He will start a social skills group in the summer ( outside of school).

I also did have some educational testing done in the fall (outside of school) his cognitive problems T-score was 72 (I'm not sure what it means) and his IQ is 88.

The neurologist also dxed him with ADHD and he is on meds. He does focus better, but it's not a magic pill we still have gaps with his learning.

Thanks!

You are on the right path with an advocate. An advocate would help you navigate through the system.

What do you mean 18 months of OT?? How can someone put a time on OT?

The reason why I asked about OT is that OT services could be another reason you can bring up to get him on an IEP. In most states, OT is a related service and you can't get the OT unless your child qualifies in other areas. If he shows difficulties in school and those needs are directly impacting his educational performance than he may be able to get that as well. That is another thing you can bring up to advocate for him to have services.

Also, was there a verbal/nonverbal difference in his IQ? Just curious.

Also, was there a verbal/nonverbal difference in his IQ? Just curious.

I can't find it on any of the paper work, it could be I just not seeing it.


I had my meeting and the school gave me a letter of refusal , so they won't evauate him. I'm on to the next steps a complaint with the state of TX., and a advocate.I'm so upset with my school!

I'm sorry that you are going through this. The school does not care so much about the label or results of an IQ test. As long as he's keeping up with the school work, they will find him ineligible. I do suggest you get an advocate. I don't know how much they are in your area. Where I live, it's about $100 per hour...which is much cheaper than an attorney.

I was told several times during the IEP process (i homeschool now after the heck we went through) that my son had to fail in a placement before they would make changes. They documented each and every one of his failures until they had a paper trail and then changed things (for the worse). Even still, we were denied adequate services. If your son is not having significant academic issues and is not having behavior issues, they will let things ride.

it's possible, that if you are in financial straits, that you can get an advocate on a sliding scale fee.....

I found a non profit group to help me. I gave the school a letter requesting an indepent evaluation if they turn me down then we have a hearing.

My understanding is the school has to do an evaluation if the parent requests one. I was told to put the request in writing and send it by registered mail. This way, you have proof that you made the request and proof that they received it. They have certain time frames they have to follow so you should receive a consent to evaluate form to sign and return and then the clock starts ticking.

If, after receiving your written request, they still refuse to evaluate, I'd contact your state's Department of Education to ask for their recommendation on what to do. With the DOE behind you, you may get results.

If not.....I learned early on that having an advocate present at every team meeting can be a sanity saver. I won't attend a team meeting without mine.

After a long fight last year, I did get a advocate. My son is finally going to get his FIE from the school. It's a start, I hope they see the same dx the Dr. did or I'll be back at it again. The head of special ed as already questioned the fact that the Dr. put on his report that my son "most likely has probable mild aspergers"and then he goes to list a lot of symptoms he has . I tried to tell her they don't have a blood test for AS & guess it can't ever be 100%. I'm going to try to go back to the Dr. before school starts and get another report the school will accept it a little better. Atleast, on Aug.25th my son will walk in school ahead of where we were last May. I'm so glad about that. I told our advocate he has a awesome job helping parents help their kids.

unfortunately, schools seem to latch onto the words "most likely", and then figure they have a way to dispute the dx........

All I can say is holy cow!

I can relate to the trouble you are having. I'm sorry you have to deal with all the drama, but your son is really fortunate to have you advocating for him, it will make a huge amount of difference for him later.

I have a 12 year old that has "mild Asperger's" and he cannot function with out a lot of help and without medication. I don't know who came up with term mild, because for he and our family, it doesn't feel mild!

I think people get really confused because he "looks normal" and is quiet in social situations. They might think everything is okay but as parents, we know it's REALLY not okay for him.


He said that he gets stuck in a thinking world and we are working with him now more than ever to verbalize things, odd because he used to be hyper verbal.


I feel like I'm rambling and a bit off topic, but I just wanted to encourage you, because it will get better, the initial fight is usually the most nauseating.

I have met another child my son's age and he is much further behind because he has been in few programs. I can really see the difference early intervention makes.

He's going to OT 2x a week and skills trainging about everyother week. I do feel like we got a late start not getting him Dx till he was almost 9, and we wasted all of last school year with them not doing a FIE. The good thing is I have always him some kind of extra help and I've worked hard with him since he was 2.

my son didn't get dxed until 13.....i think one of the hardest parts of AS for him is that "he doesn't look disabled".....people have a tendency to think he's a smart-mouthed boy- when really he just doesn't understand what they're saying to him.

i think others have a hard time accepting his dx because "he's a smart boy".........ah well.....he's doing well these days. if only i could get him to tell others that he doesn't understand what they're saying.