my son was diagnosed today

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What a relief, now we can stop wondering, and take care of his needs properly. We're probably going to have to transfer him to a different district where they are better set up for him. I know we're only starting with this, but I feel the hardest part is behind me.

glad to hear you finally got a dx !

Good stuff.

You've taken the first step on a long road, but finally you know it's the right road!! !

exactly, the past 3 years or so have been a real struggle, everybody is too quick to place blame on parents, I guess it's easier than working to find the root of a problem. I don't want to sound like I'm happy that my son has this, but I am happy that we can finally put a name to it, and take appropriate action.

Unfortunately it's been my experience that people are still going to blame you, the parents, for your childs behavior and dx.

My own mother, lovely woman that she is (hang on while I grab my tongue out of my cheek) asked me the other night what makes us think our son has this, since she never saw any indication of it. She's also not seen our child nor talked to him one time since 1998 (he's only 11 now), and she was the one banging pots next to his head when he was two yelling at me that my baby was deaf. (I said he'd learned to shut her out, as I had. Had only I'd known how true that was!!).

But that piece of paper will allow you to access services at school, and possibly in your city or county, depending on where you live. Depending on other factors, your child could even qualify for SSI payments, which can help pay for therapy and other things your child may need.

Good luck!

Oh, I know, some of my inlaws can't seem to wrap their thick skulls around this. They will learn to live with it, or they won't, my main concern is my son, not what people think of me, never cared about that before, not going to start now.

We're already looking at what servicises are available to him, I want him to have all the advantages I didn't have growing up.

Getting the diagnosis is a step in the right direction - but it is no guarantee of services or that the quality of services will be adequate. So, don't let your guard down and think the diagnosis is the ticket. It is an important part - but so is finding a district that is willing to work with your child. We had 2 diagnosis' for my son before he started K AND he had a severe speech and language delay. The school didn't jump through the hoops for anything except to offer us speech right away and to have him classified as SLI (speech and language impaired) instead of AI. It was a rookie mistake because then they kept putting off out attempts to address the autism. So, don't be too eager to jump at the first thing they offer.

You may get a good response for your district - but it sounds like they were allready being problematic. Do your homework and if at all possible - try and find a local autism group where you can get a feel for some of the districts in your area if you haven't allready. When I did that I was able to talk to other parents who had their children in the same school.

I already expect a fight with the district, but at least now I'm armed. I plan on seeking out a local group to get whatever help I can, I know things aren't going to be easy, but they are going to be fair, and I'm going to do what it takes to make sure of that.

If you are in the U. S., please have a look at Wrightslaw:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/

This is a link to their Yellow Pages for Kids:

http://www.yellowpagesforkids.com/

You can type in your state and it will show you special needs resources in your state. Scroll down to see them after you input your state on the left hand side of the screen.

We have had some fights with my daughter's school district as well, but if you know what your child is entitled to, it helps you know what to fight for.