AS and gifted.....meeting with the school principal tomorrow

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Help!

Now that we have an official diagnosis (other than ADHD) I am hoping that this meeting will be a little easier than previous meetings.

The argument that I have gotten from the school in the past is that his behaviors do not warrent special services or an IEP because they do not affect him academically. So, they will only treat him "behaviorally"...ie: send him to the principal's office, or other consequences.

I am trying to come up with a list of his AS traits and correlate them to how they would potentially "affect him academically"

Anyone have any ideas- anyone been in this situation, and what worked for you?

BTW- he was evaluated for the gifted classes and didn't qualify...which is a load of crap- even the TAG teacher was surprised- because he's very smart and he's bored in regular classes, which is where some of the behavioral issues come from.

The big one that I am going to mention is a problem, because I do not know if there is a specific term for it (I'm sure there is- scientists have a term for everything) But, my argument will be that his organization of thought will definately affect him academically if he is not given assistance or an alternative teaching tool. for example- when he reads, he is able to comprehend very well, if given specific questions to answer, but would be unable to write a book report or even provide a synopsis on what he wrote. Or- given a math problem, he would be unable to show how he got the answer, but he knows the answer. Make sense?

He also has poor handwriting- and I'm hoping that after the OT evaluation he had that specifically addressed that, he will receive assistance with it.

His major issues, are his impulsive issues- boundary issues, social issues, some sensory issues, etc. His last teacher was able to recognize that he is a visual learner and needs steps written down in order and he will do fine, but to verbally give him a list of instructions will send him over the edge. But, how do I define these issues in a way that "affects him academically" so that they understand? I know that they remove him from the class when he displays this disruptive behavior- and shouldn't that have an affect on his academics? If he is in the principal's office everyday instead of in class......

Any ideas would be extremely helpful! Thanks!

You are going to run into a wall of prejudice. Check out the article just posted by Blessedmom to give you some insight. Z's official dx with the school is extreme ADHD even though his IEP deals with many of his Aspie traits. He has been dxd with Asperger's by his Psychiatrist but due to a mix-up (by the school,surprised?) it hasn't gotten into his official record. Because we have been informed the school system considers those on the Autistic Spectrum to be brain damaged and unteachable we are hesitating to have that put into his records at this time.

My suggestion would be to hammer on the No Child Left Behind laws. Threaten to go as high as you need to if they won't provide services he needs. We only got as far as the local School Board but were ready to go State and even Federal if necessary.

With your child you will have to scream, holler and be prepared to make a general nuisance of yourself until they act just to get you off their backs. Ie. it took us 3 yrs to get Z tested for the Gifted and Talented Program. he scored so far above their charts we were told his IQ is actually than his "official" record.

On his IEP insist on specific goals to be met such as working on specific behavioral issues that may hinder his learning, speaking out of turn, interupting, volume control, etc. Work on these with him and remember he can be retested for advanced services again.

Not only do we have to take small steps with our children but we also have to take baby steps with their educators. Sad but true.

Keep us informed about your progress and the best of luck.

My Gramma would like to say: Here are some issues to Avoid. We learned the hard way.

If I didn't know better, I would say you were describing my grand daughter, and to a T. Our school was entitled to the Special Ed classes and teachers for these children. Yet they just would not comply with it here in this school system. Yes, they got funding for it, yes, they set it up in name only. But to follow the rules, write out instructions, notify us in the event of a problem, they didn't. They set up a special ed room and teacher, but this teacher had other classes to teach at the same time, he was only able to allot her 5 to 10 minutes. The rest of the time she sat there alone. Teachers treated her like dirt. There were a couple who tried to help, but they didn't realize what was wrong, the teachers were never informed. During that short time Jen was on the Honor Roll for one quarter. Then the help stopped and she got mostly F's and non passing grades.

Her mother went to school for the meetings, they listened, agreed, and then didn't change a thing. One teacher helped her as best he could, but he couldn't do it all. You have to be very insistent with them at all times, you have to get on them every time something is not done right, no matter how small it seems.

My grand daughter had an Advocate, but she was not all the great, she went to some of the meetings, and then tried to do all she could to make her bend to fit what the school wanted, in other words, comply with the school, the school did not comply with her. She would meet with us here at our home before a meeting, we would go over all the problems, Jen would tell her exactly what was and was not being done, how she was made to feel, what she needed and etc.. Then at the meeting she would not up hold Jen, but side with the school. She needed written instruction and it was not given.

Jen was hauled to the Principal many times, they threatened her with calling the cops and the list goes on with some nightmare issues. They never informed us of any problem, we learned through Jen, then we contacted them. Only one time did we get a phone call from the office, and that was the time Jen dressed down the principal good and proper and told him what he should be doing, and that she knew all he wanted was the money they funded him. Plus a few other things. Jen is a black and white person with no gray in-between area, it is either right or wrong, and you always choose right and truth.

To make a long story short, we pulled her out of school and contracted her High School through the American Correspondence School in Chicago. When schools treat your child this way, they don't really want to be bothered with them and would rather you remove 'their problem'. They tried to cut her classes down to half days and 4 subjects, which would lose her credits needed to graduate. Jen wanted a high school education in the worst way no matter the cost to her well-being, she put up with their disrespect and put downs for over a year. But there came the time we had to do what was best for her. And her Dr. had written to them and he was ignored as well. He agreed with us, that removing her from the public system was best for her. We considered getting a lawyer for awhile, but we knew they would lie and do all they could to make it look bad for Jen. So we took her out.

My advice is to know what you want, need and have the right to, then stick to it and pin them down every time, even if it is a small issue. These children have an equal right to an education and within the established programs and laws to get it the same as all students.

TurtleJen's Grandma, Vonnie

Wow, I think a lawsuit is in order in VA, no health experts anywhere that I'm aware of, consider Autism Spectrum Disorders to be "brain damage", Autistic people merely have different neural connections and view the world very, very differently. AS certainly would affect the child academically in some way, just hard to determine what.
If I hadn't gone to school in a very, very wealthy area when I lived up North (RI), I probably would've suffered "brain damage" at the hands of the public school system that would've permanently messed me up. As it was my math teacher in 6th grade *insisted* that my IQ is so high I can't *possibly* have trouble learning anything I want, I could only have trouble learning the way it was taught, and she figured out that I am a very visual learner and modified her teaching accordingly. I consider myself extremely lucky to this day and when I go back to RI I decided to search her out and pay her a visit and let her know how well I'm doing. I am a "late-bloomer" just starting grad. school at age 27 but still it's in large response to her that I went from being considered possibly learning-disabled in mathemathics to reading college & graduate level texts in highschool.

check out the wrightslaw website.............lots of good info on there about advocating & also info on there about behavioral supports, etc

I found the local branch of the Gifted Children's Assoc. very helpful.