Do you tell school of Asperger's diagnosis?

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My 7 year old son was diagnosed with Asperger's at the beginning of the year, he also has ADHD. He currently goes to a private school and we will be sending him to public school next year. I will be telling the school about his ADHD diagnosis, but is it worth it to tell the school he has Asperger's? I'm concerned about "labeling" him as it is pretty mild Asperger's.

What do you all recommend?

Don't tell them unless you are requesting specific services because of it.

My sons are also both dxed with Aspergers and ADHD, and are currently in grade 3. The school know about both dxs. The aspergers dx opens up services to them such as a social skills group, specialized speech therapy and OT, but the most important benefit from having the AS dx is the change in attitude and treatment from staff members towards my sons. The staff require themselves to be more patient and involved than they would otherwise be. They don't view meltdowns or misunderstandings as "bad" behaviour, but instead look carefully at how they can help and teach my sons, and modify the learning environment to reduce unnecessary stress.

For us it is very helpful for the school to know (actually crucial), in order for my sons to be given the best chance of being academically and socially successful at school. The staff are as discreet as possible about not emphasizing differences or disclosing the dx to members of the school community.

If your son is doing well in school, both academically and socially and doesn't require any extra support or understanding, it's really up to you about whether or not to share the dx. I understand your concerns about labelling. However, it is possible that your son may require more support as time goes on, and you may miss out on services that could benefit your child that you don't even know about.

What about setting up a private and confidential meeting with the principal/resource department of the new school, discussing possible services, as well as your concerns about labelling and the negative consequences that may come from it? Then you will have some concrete information about the new school, with which to make your decision.

I would tell. It can only help the teachers/staff, but so many of them don't reaaly understand Asperger's so maybe you could provide them with a couple of books on ways to interact with Aspie kids. You definitely should look into what the school can offer as far as services go.....we just started going down this road this year and it's such a change from last year when they thought he just had behavioral issues (and his is not overly severe either but every time there was noise in the classroom he would lose it completely).

good luck!

Yes. You should be ready to arrange an IEP at the drop of a hat.

A more important step, is to get an official looking letter from his old teachers, detailing the problems they see, and what techniques were effective in helping him deal with them.

Don't throw away that old experience. It is worth something.

I think you're supposed to inform your child's school about all their disabilities they have so they understand your kid better. When you tell them you kid has AS, they won't assume your kid is being a smart ass if he takes something literal and assume he isn't cooperating just because he isn't following through because he didn't understand the instructions. Also if he has a meltdown in class, they won't assume he is being a spoiled brat and having a tantrum because something unexpected happened or he got overwhelmed by something. They would know to let him know ahead of time about a upcoming change so he will be prepared for it by then. Not all aspie kids meltdown of course when a change occurs, some might just have troubles adjusting to the change but not meltdown so it would seem like to the teachers the child is misbehaving and isn't cooperating. I was that way as a kid.

Thank you all. I emailed his psychologist and we have an appointment with his psychiatrist on Thursday, so I'll get their take on it, too. I wasn't going to tell the school, as his current school has no idea and we are doing very well. You all have given me something to think about. I'll make an appointment with the principal and go over his diagnosis with her.