Tardy? Go to jail!

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While I am so sorry to hear about these problems, I feel so validated to know others face the same. I started homeschooling 3 yrs ago when my AS son was 7. He had the bedwetting and was impossible to get going in the morning. The harder I pushed the more defiant he became. I was no help because I believe I have AS and depression. He was late quite often and I know it was very disruptive to him and his class. If we were too late, I was ashamed and let him stay home. I remember when I took his papers from the school for the AS evaluation at the doctor, the teachers wrote that he was often very late and it affected his performance. It really made me feel inadequate as a mother. Thank God that He lead me to homeschooling. Our lives have improved dramatically. We get our work done on our schedule and the pressure-cooker environment is gone. As hard as some of our days are I would never trade for the constant uncertainty of public school. I sincerely believe that most of the school officials just thought my son was spoiled rotten without a real problem before he was diagnosed. I realize that homeschooling is not an option for everyone but it has helped us and I really don't have a solution for anything pertaining to public school. It was as much of a jungle for me as it was my son.

Very true.

Sorry you had to go through that.

I got into one fight with a football player and I'm a girl!

Wow. Great explanation, Ster!!

Catspurr, I am psychopath. I am a school psych., so just your typical run of the mill psycho.

IEP's are flexible. We have shortened school days for certain kids. One child, we had him start an hour later due to his difficulty getting started in the morning and meltdowns. Of course, this was after the parent tried certain things at home first such as a structured morning schedule. We do like to have doctor or psychologist note for this because if we routinely shortened days (especially in the mornings), there are some parents who will take advantage of it - not most. IEP's can be changed at anytime and are flexible, depending on the child's needs).
Most of the time, you can call the school or case manager and get that waived if your son is on an IEP. The school usually talks to the truancy officer who works at the school, who then talks to the court. Also, the team needs to convene an IEP meeting and discuss and amend the IEP, if needed.

Please try not to ever feel intimidated at those fun meetings (I have at least 8 meetings a week during the school year and I know how fun they are for all parties involved). Even doing what I do, when I went to a preschool speech/language IEP meeting for my son, I suddenly became different and almost cowardly. I can't explain it. They were saying nothing but telling me about his articulation issues at the time.

Being on the other side does stink and is VERY hard. Sometimes you have to act if it doesn't come easily for you. Say what you feel should be on the IEP and if they don't agree, fight it. You may have 8 or more people looking at you but don't let that get you down. Parents are essential to IEP meetings.

I will be there in a few weeks myself. My son is starting kindergarten and will most likely have meltdowns. He has a difficult time getting up in the morning and functioning. We all do in our family . I am just worried my son will get kicked out of this private school. We may have to consider public. I am worried myself. I have to start the early morning routine ASAP or we will be hurting. It will be pretty structured.

RE: Stucture - My son works well with his own unique "level" system he made up (i.e., Level One - Cod Liver Oil, Level Two - Vitamin, Level Three - go pee...). Hopefully that will work in the morning. My mom just bought him a very cool atomic clock that projects the time, date and temp in blue on the ceiling. You can wake up via radio, alarm or nature sounds (six to choose from). That MAY help wake him up, hopefully. He and his father are like logs when they sleep. My son has sleep issues but not as severe as most on the spectrum so it may be easier for us. Nate just haws several long-winded conversations per night when he is asleep.

I will start the level morning system in two days as he starts kindergarten.

Press on. Fight for what you feel like your child needs. If something doesn't work, then continue to ask people on here and then change them - at home (routine), on the IEP, etc. Of course, it is important to give something time before you throw it out the window.
Good luck to you!!

Hello Psychopath.

It's going to be a title that will replace Hello Kitty.

cute!