Wake County, NC

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Hello all,

I am fairly new to the boards. My soon to be 5 year old son, JK, will be entering the Wake County Public School System in NC come this August. For the past two years he has been attending a really great development day center in Raleigh. He's done well and has enjoyed almost every moment with his teachers and classmates. JK will be in an AU classroom for his first year of "real" school though we have yet to find out which school he will be attending - so much fun not knowing something as simple as WHERE. Ugh. Is there anyone on this board who has a small child with ASD in the Wake County System?

JK was diagnosed as ASD when he was 2 years old, but it was within the past few months that we consulted a developmental pediatrician. He gave JK a diagnosis of HFA/AS. Some people have told me that my son is not AS because he has a severe language delay. The developmental pediatrician told us that there is debate as to whether or not a severe language delay should automatically exclude a diagnosis of AS. My son babbles non-stop, but it is babbling. He does speak a few one and two word sentences. He will request certain things using spoken words, but it is very difficult to understand what it is he is saying and this often creates frustration for both he and others. He taught himself the alphabet and how to count to 20 and he did so by the time he was 2.5 years. He has been writing letters and numbers since he was 3.5 years. He has done all this on his own with very little assistance from other individuals. He is now spelling words using magnetic, foam, and wood letters - whatever he can find. He will sometimes use a writing instrument to spell words and write numbers, but he prefers to use his toy letters. Once he masters spelling or writing a word he begins to speak that particular word on a regular basis. I am looking forward to when he masters reading and spelling so we may begin to communicate in more complex ways.

It is not a surprise to me that my son is HFA/AS. My husband's side of the family is chalk full of computer programmers, musicians, and high IQ folks with "quirky" habits and lifestyles. My side of the family is full of math whizzes, accountants, engineers, those with mild OCD, high IQ folks with quirky habits and lifestyles, and I do have a first cousin who is HFA/AS - although he is officially undiagnosed as such (when he was a child he was officially diagnosed with a good mix of "disorders" which tend to accompany ASD - this was way back in the late seventies and early eighties).

My DH is a computer programmer and gamer, has an ear for music, has his quirks, and is freakishly smart. I think I'm of above average intelligence, I find math and logic puzzles to be extreme fun, and I have my quirks and strange obsessions. I was not a "typical" child and I find it fascinating that my son is even less a "typical" child - I believe that my childhood prepared me for the role I now play - mother to a spectrum child. I enjoy my son and I actually find that he has helped me to better understand my own past - he has, in a way, helped me to emotionally heal.

Anyways, I am glad to be here and I look forward to connecting with other parents of spectrum children.

-Michelle

Last edited by SoItGoes on 05 Apr 2008, 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hi, I live in Durham with my husband and son. My son has not been formally diagnosed yet, besides at 15 months when he was evaluated and was said to be globally delayed, but I strongly suspect Sensory Integration Disorder or AS. The only contact we've had with the Durham school district so far has been with the CDSA, trying to get him set up for the preschool program when he turns 3 because we only get 30 therapy sessions a year with our insurance, and it isn't nearly enough. He is mostly caught up cognitive-wise, but he has some pretty strong reactions to certain situations. I am hoping with enough therapy he'll be able to be in mainstream Kindergarten by the time he's of school age.

I've also been working with the Chapel Hill TEACCH but after seeing what their evaluation process is like, I want to wait til he's older before putting him through all that. It was a very intense and stressful day and I don't think he'd be able to handle it yet. I don't know if I'm AS yet or just weird, and my husband might be AS but he's got incredibly good social skills.

I don't think we're going to be in the area for much longer though. Durham and suburban lifestyle have been difficult for me to get used to and it looks like my husband's job might not be around much longer either.

My husband and I took JK to the CDSA in Raleigh in June of 2005. JK had just turned 2 years. He was given a diagnosis of ASD and we were referred to the Early Intervention folks. JK received CBRS and Speech at no cost to us (our income at that particular moment in time was embarrassingly low and we had no insurance whatsoever) and he received these for almost a year. Once JK turned 3 he qualified for the Wake County Preschool Program and we were given the option of sending him to a preschool class in one of the local schools or to one of the private institutions that contracts with the Preschool Program. The Preschool Program, if I am not mistaken, is of no cost whatsoever regardless of income as long as you are a Wake County resident. We've been very pleased with the private developmental day center he has attended since August of 2006. We requested an AU classroom for his Kindergarten year as we believe he is not ready for a mainstream setting. I am willing to give the school system a try (I have no experience with them as I was privately schooled for most of my academic career). If we find that the school system is not serving JK's needs then we will either find an alternative setting, supplement with tutors, or I will home-school. I am trying to be very open minded and NOT assume that the system is against my son or my family.

I am currently reading a book regarding IEPs and it's helped me to calm the anxiety and focus on keeping open to what others may say in regards to my son and his education. It's called Guns A' Blazing and it's written by Jeffrey Cohen.

I don't think I am AS, and I've discussed this with my therapist. She agrees, but I was always very unlike my peers until I was well into my twenties. I am almost 31 and I am still self-admittedly different than many other people, but I am better able to adapt and play a role when it's necessary.

I am not too familiar with the Durham area. I am south east of Raleigh, but still in Wake County. Where do you think that you and your family may relocate?

~Michelle

Probably Irvine, Austin, or one of the other cities with more gaming companies. It all depends upon where my husband can get a job.

He taught himself the alphabet and how to count to 20 and he did so by the time he was 2.5 years. He has been writing letters and numbers since he was 3.5 years. He has done all this on his own with very little assistance from other individuals. He is now spelling words using magnetic, foam, and wood letters - whatever he can find. He will sometimes use a writing instrument to spell words and write numbers, but he prefers to use his toy letters. Once he masters spelling or writing a word he begins to speak that particular word on a regular basis. I am looking forward to when he masters reading and spelling so we may begin to communicate in more complex ways.

It sounds like your son has a strong affinity for letters and may even be hyperlexic. Instead of waiting for him to teach himself new words, you could try writing out words on index cards, or even sentences of things you want him to say. For example, if you ask, "What's your name?" you could write out the answer, "My name is Dylan" or whatever. You can do this for any kind of conversation you want to have. The visual cue helps so many of the kids I've worked with. Good luck!

JK's Aquadoodle has been our favorite toy ever. We ask him questions and we write the answers, but this makes no impact on his refusal/inability (which is it? lol) to answer questions. He enjoys watching us write words, but he does not necessarily begin writing or saying words he sees us write. JK does when JK is ready. There is no coaxing this child into doing more than he is willing - even though I know he is capable. We also love our flashcards. I believe that JK knows how to spell many more words than he writes and speaks.

I read that when Einstein was a child he would speak a word or sentence twice in a row. He would speak very softly the first time, so softly that no one was able to hear or understand what he was saying, and the second time he spoke he would do so loud enough to be heard by others. He explained that he did this in order to ensure that he would say the word(s) correctly and be understood with little embarrassment. JK approaches spelling and writing in much the same manner. JK finds a quiet spot to practice spelling and writing, and the moment he realizes that he is being watched he will stop by scribbling over what he has written or scattering his wood/magnetic/foam letters. When he does write or spell a word in our presence (or the presence of other people) he does so with barely a mistake. He is a perfectionist in this manner.