My Son's Psychologist is Retiring. Help Needed!

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I just got news that my son's psychologist is retiring very soon. In fact, his last appointment is this Thursday. I live is a city of 35,000 people, however she is the only child psychologist. There is a child psychiatrist I met with once, however I don't really want to go to him. He had insisted medication for Nathan on our first/only visit. Nathan was only three and a half and slept the entire 15 minutes I talked to this guy. I don't find it appropriate that he suggested medicating my son before he ever got to interact with him first hand. Anyway, there are basically no resources right now. We are kind of left in the dark. With no direction from others, I have decided to take matters into my own hands and try to get Nathan into therapies. I have contacted a speech therapist and visited a local equine therapy (horseback riding for physically/developmentally disabled children). I also decided that I am going to spend at least one hour a night when I get home from work interacting directly with Nathan. I spend a lot of time with Nathan, but I am trying to set aside time without the TV on, no computer or other distractions, and just interact with him. We tried it last night and I think he responded great. We read some books and I got him to color and paint with me, which he usually isn’t interested in, but he seemed to enjoy it last night. I don't know where to go from here, so I’m trying to fill in the blanks until I can find another psychologist outside of town.

Has anyone had luck with speech therapy? What about equine therapy? Any suggestions on what I can try while I’m waiting for things to sort out?

We did speech therapy through Sooner Start and my son thrived, but the woman who worked with him was very familiar with ASD kids. I also looked into getting him speech privately, but I was very unhappy with that experience. I wasn't allowed to be present during the therapy and I didn't like that at all. My son was a lot younger (he was not yet two) but I am still very unhappy if I cannot see or communicate what is being worked on with him. It will prevent me from helping him at home. That's not to say you won't have a good experience. What are you looking for speech therapy for?

By equine therapy, do you mean hippotherapy? I have a friend here who is a very big advocate for it, she feels it's beneficial for her son. They don't really ride the horses in that case. They sit on the horses and complete puzzles and other assorted tasks.

What you're saying you're going to do with him (coloring and reading) will help him tremendously. Taking him out to places like parks and museums are also wonderful, but it's important to plan - you don't necessarily want to go when it's very crowded. These places give lots of natural "therapy" options. It's all kind of dependant on what he needs.

I would also be leery of anyone trying to medicate my child, interaction or not. There is no medication approved to treat autism, and trying to medicate away tantrums and other uncomfortable behaviors will prevent him from learning how to cope with his emotions.

I can't really make any suggestions without having an understanding of what kind of challenges your son has. What do you feel he needs help with?

you live in the US and nathan is 4, right? that means you should be getting services through the school district. they should be able to provide speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy, if he needs them. these services are completely free and mandated by federal programs. contact your local school district and ask about their special education department.

i am curious, what do you use the psychologist for? my 4 yr old son has never seen one except for the initial diagnosis.

do some of you other parents take your child to a psychologist for anything other than diagnosis? we are still new to this, so i wonder if im missing something.

Countess, Nathan's speech problem is mainly echolalia. He has a great vocabulary and pronounces words correctly, but he repeats things the majority. Sometimes, I can get him to answer a question correctly, but the majority of the time, he is a tape recorded, playing back whatever I said to him. I am not sure how speech therapy works for echolalia, but I was told it would be a good start. In regards to equine therapy, I mean therapeutic horseback riding. There is a local ranch that offers this service, however it is not covered by insurance. It will be out of pocket. In fact, the Department of Human Services out here has decided that early intervention programs are not a necessity and are cutting them out do to the budget, or something bogus like that. I'm furious about the whole thing. I intend on continuing to work with Nathan. We do go out a lot to do things together or as a family (with my boyfriend who also comes along and is a great help with Nathan). We go to the zoo and the aquarium a couple times a year. I take Nathan to the park at least once or twice a week. We also go on bike rides after work a few times a week (Nathan can't ride a bike, he sits in the bike trailer thing behind Scott's bike, and he loves it). I'm doing the best I can. If the state and schools can't/won't help, I figure it is all left up to me.

Azurecrayon, yes I do live in the U.S.; however the school can't help me right now. Let me explain my current situation. I live in a town of 4,000 people with one school which is divided for the different grades. This school does not have Pre-K. They start at Kindergarten, which Nathan is not old enough for. I work in a larger city of about 35,000 people which is 20 or 25 miles from where I live. It is also in a different county than where I live. This is also where Nathan goes to daycare and where all of my DHS services are provided. This city has a lot of schools, including Pre-K and I have been told some of the schools actually have programs in place for children on the spectrum. The problem is, I can't get Nathan into any of these schools because we don't actually live in the city. They make you provide concrete proof that you live within the district (like a home lease or utility bill with your name on it) before you can enroll your child. I can't provide this, so he can't get help from the school. I tried to contact the school in my small town to see if they can help even if my son is not in school, and they have not responded to any of my inquiries. So basically, the schools are no help. At least, not now. As far as the psychologist goes, I'm honestly not sure what she does. We go in and she asks me about how Nathan is doing, then spends some time alone, interacting with him. I don't know that she is doing anything beneficial, but the area I live in is not very helpful in directing me in the right direction. The psychologist gave us the original diagnosis and after that, she has been scheduling Nathan in once every two weeks and only for an hour. As hopeful as I am, I don't think it is providing any benefit or harm. One hour every two weeks does not seem nearly enough to provide any lasting effects.

First of all, you are doing a wonderful job with your son. Keep in mind that your interactions and unconditional love and support for him are the BEST thing that can be done for your son right now. Just keep engaging with him giving him lots of hugs and attention. Reading to him is great, and modeling proper speech for him will help him. My son had lots of echolalia as well. He is 5 now, and it is fading. He has been getting speech therapy for a few years now. So IMO, speech therapy is going to be way more useful than a psychologist. I would definitely recommend that.

I could be wrong, but if your son has special needs, and his home school does not provide services, then the closest school (even if you do not live in the district) should be required by law to enroll him. The school that would be my son's home school does not offer special ed services, so we go to the closest school that does.

As far as a psychologist goes, I think she is probably just interacting with your son, and that is about it. What else can she really do? I considered taking my son to one too, but after more consideration, I decided that therapists and teachers who are trained in ASD are probably more capable of coming up with things to help my son. So I think you will be okay at this point without the psychologist. I am holding off even discussing medication until my son is at least 7 or 8 yrs old. And then it would only be to help him with ADHD symptoms if he still needs it then.

I am running out of time right now, but when I have a little more time, I will post some things that they have done with my son in school if you are not able to get him in school until kindergarten.

Hang in there!! !!

I think you are right Countess. Even if he does not attend school, they are required to give him the services that he qualifies for.

They did work on a lot of things with my son in Pre-k when he was 4. I am not sure I will be able to cover everything, but here are some of the key things:

My son has trouble with play and interacting with other children, so they did a lot of play. The speech therapist was in the classroom for about 2 or 3 hours per week, and she did speech with them in a play type setting. Doing crafts and small cooking projects. Playing with trains,cars,dollhouses, etc......

They did lots of art projects---finger painting, playdough, glitter, glue, and also my son had trouble holding scissors, so they worked with him on cutting.

They had outside play time, and rest time. They ate breakfast and lunch in the classroom and worked on social skills some during that time.

They did sensory things like playing with shaving cream and other textures.

They also did music therapy with the kids, singing lots of nursery rhymes and kids songs.

They worked on letter recognition and the sounds of letters. You could make flash cards with pictures on them of things that start with each letter and help him get the sounds of letters down. They also worked on learning to write their name.

My son also got individual speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy while he was there.

I hope this helps----I hope that maybe you can get your son into some type of program, but if not, then I think some of this will definitely help.

One other thing you might consider is finding an occupational therapist to come to your house once a week if you can afford that. But, honestly, I think the school system should be doing this for you.

did a little digging, found this contact you can try for help.

source: http://www.education.com/reference/arti ... oma_State/
Programs for Children with Disabilities: Ages 3 through 5
Angela Kelley, Preschool Coordinator
Special Education Services
Department of Education
2500 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 510
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599
(405) 522-4513
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.sde.state.ok.us

check with the state dept of education's special education services (if you dont call the previous specific contact). they have to monitor individual school districts compliance with federal IDEA laws and might be able to tell you what to do to get services. they will handle any complaints against districts, too, and you should be able to file a complaint if the school is refusing to provide services.
Special Education Services
Department of Education
2500 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412
Oklahoma City OK 73105-4599
Telephone: (405) 521-4873

also found the info below, its OKs laws regarding special education. you may need to go down to the school districts main offices and talk to someone in the special education department. if you formally request in writing that they evaluate your child, they cannot refuse. they are required by law to evaluate your child and provide services to children with disabilities. if the school district cannot provide services, they must have arrangements with another district or transfer your child to another district who can provide services. read these laws over, and take a copy with you if you need to to get the ball rolling.

source: http://www.sde.state.ok.us/Law/LawBook/ ... A_XIII.htm
important stuff is bolded

Section 264. Programs for Children with Disabilities.

The several school districts of Oklahoma are hereby authorized to provide special education and related services necessary for children with disabilities as hereinafter defined. Two or more school districts may establish cooperative programs of special education for children with disabilities when such arrangement is approved by the State Board of Education. Funds may be expended for school services for an additional period during the summer months for approved programs for qualified children with disabilities, provided their individualized education program (I.E.P.) states the need for extended school year special education and related services. Children with disabilities shall mean children, as defined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), P.L. No. 105-17, who are three (3) years of age.

Provided, on and after July 1, 1991, children from age birth through two (2) years (0-36 months) of age who meet the eligibility criteria specified in Section 13-123 of this title, shall be served pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Early Intervention Act. The attendance of said children in special education classes shall be included in the average daily membership computations for State Aid purposes.

The State Board of Education is authorized to modify and redefine by regulation the eligibility definitions whenever such modification is required to receive federal assistance under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), P.L. No. 105-17. Rules developed pursuant to Section 18-109.5 of this title shall provide for such modification and revised definitions.

It shall be the duty of each school district to provide special education and related services for all children with disabilities as herein defined who reside in that school district in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), P.L. No. 105-17. This duty may be satisfied by:

1. The district directly providing special education for such children;

2. The district joining in a cooperative program with another district or districts to provide special education for such children;

3. The district joining in a written agreement with a private or public institution, licensed residential child care and treatment facility or day treatment facility within such district to provide special education for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, children who are blind or partially blind or other eligible children with disabilities; or

4. Transferring eligible children and youth with disabilities to other school districts which accept them and provide special education and related services for such children, with the district in which the child resides paying tuition therefor as hereinafter provided. For those students who transfer pursuant to the provisions of the Education Open Transfer Act, the receiving school district shall assume all responsibility for education and shall count the student for federal and state funding purposes according to the provisions of subsection B of Section 13-103 of this title. (70-13-101)



Section 266. Authorized Provisions for Education of Exceptional Children.

A. Any school district in the state may provide suitable facilities and employ qualified teachers and therapists for children with disabilities, either in schools, classrooms, or in other places as the board of education of the district may deem advisable. When a school district cannot provide special educational facilities and qualified teachers, a child may be transferred pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 4 of Section 13-101 of this title.
B. If a child with disabilities is transferred to a school district other than the district of residence of the child pursuant to the Education Open Transfer Act the following provisions shall apply:
1. The receiving district shall establish availability of the appropriate program, staff, and services prior to approval of the transfer;
2. Prior to the approval of the transfer of a child on an individualized education program (IEP), a joint IEP conference shall be required between the district of residence and the receiving district; and
3. Upon approval of the transfer, the receiving district shall claim the child in the average daily membership for state and federal funding purposes and shall assume all responsibility for education of the child. For state funding purposes, the State Department of Education shall include the appropriate grade level weight and all category weights to which the pupil is assigned pursuant to the provisions of Section 18-201.1 of this title when calculating State Aid pursuant to the provisions of Section 18-200.1 of this title, regardless of whether the receiving district provides education to the student using traditional in-class means or via online instruction. When applicable, the receiving district may apply to the Oklahoma Special Education Assistance Fund for assistance in meeting any extraordinary costs incurred.

C. Transfers authorized by this section shall be made under rules adopted by the State Board of Education. When a child with disabilities or pregnant child is unable to attend any school or class in the district of residency, the board of education of the district may provide for home instruction for the child. The State Board of Education is further authorized to cooperate with any school district in the state to make it possible for a child with disabilities to attend the regular school by making special provisions for the transportation of the child, or for special equipment, devices, books, supplies or other facilities, or for special instruction within the regular school building. The provisions for services and transfers as provided for in this section shall be made with consideration of the least restrictive environment and IEP requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

D. Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, a transfer granted for a child with disabilities pursuant to paragraph 4 of Section 13-101 of this title for three (3) consecutive years to the same school district shall automatically be renewed each year. The district in which the child resides shall continue to pay tuition as provided for in paragraph 4 of Section 13-101 of this title. (70-13-103)

Note: Amended by SB 2109, Sec. 3 of the 2010 Reg. Sess. Effective July 1, 2010.

Provisions of this Section as to transfers of exceptional children supersede general school transfer statutes. January 13, 1984 (AG No. Op 83-79)