Are Aspies automatically entered into Special Ed these days?

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When I was a kid I was mainstreamed in school, but I can't help but think that if I was in school today, I would be in special ed due to being diagnosed with Aspergers. It just seems to me that if someone has aspergers today, that they're automatically steered into special ed, regardless of learning ability. Am I right or wrong?

I don't know much about how special ed is structured these days, but when I was younger, it was segregated and the kids in it had intellectual disability.

Well, I think maybe it depends on their level of functioning. I think Aspies are thought to be high-functioning / intelligent. Maybe if your question asked about Autistics----but, even then, it would depend on their level of functioning, I would think.....

(I'm an Aspie with a rather high IQ, but I was put into Special Ed back in the 60s----just because I was weird {low-functioning, maybe?}, I guess. I hadn't been diagnosed, then, but my mother thought I had Autism----turns-out she was right----I can't imagine how she knew about it in those days, though----and she badgered the Vice Principal to death about something being wrong with me, so they gave me a bunch of tests, had me see the school Psychologist, and put me in Special Ed; then, took me out.)

Wow. My mom also thought I was autistic (not sure where she learned of it from) when I was an older child. No idea why she thought this, but at the time, Asperger's wasn't a diagnosis. Autism was still considered extremely rare and the doctors who saw me said I was not autistic because I could speak. I fit the criteria for AS and was diagnosed in adulthood.

I think it often depends on the parents attitude towards autism. I know people with very severe autism who went to mainstream schools and got straight A's (albeit they did have classroom assistants). I also know people with less severe autism who couldn't read or write as teenagers because their parents hadn't gave them the chance of going to a mainstream school, even though they were perfectly capable.

I'm very glad my parents kept me in mainstream education.

Well, for one thing there is no such thing as a diagnosis of Aspergers, since the DSM 5. Another thing, you are not put into special ed just because you have a diagnosis. You are put into special ed because you need additional help with school. Not everyone with Aspergers is going to need additional help. I am now a sophomore in college and have never gotten additional help/ assistance for classes. So I think the answer to your question is: do they need additional help with classes or one-on-one help etc? If so, whether or not they are on the spectrum, then they will be in special ed. Being on the spectrum is not an automatic referral for special ed.

A child with HFA or Asperger's is more likely to be mainstreamed than not. It depends on the individual child, of course, but there are many ways they can receive support without putting them in a special ed classroom. Most of them are more than capable of doing the academic work, and just need assistance with social skills, organization, etc.

I was in special ed as a kid and I picked up on the stigma then that it meant you were stupid and ret*d despite seeing some normal kids in there. I even went to a special school when I was 3-5 years old and l was in a self contained room when l was six and seven because of my language delay. Everyone assumed l wasn't very smart. Then when l was 13 we moved and they called it the resorce room.

As an autistic, I was placed in special ed during my lower grades. However, the school I had gone to wasn't very keen to realizing something more was wrong. I was given special accommodations for speech and math, which were my weakest points growing up. In high school, I was placed in resources classes for those with learning disabilities (For those that don't know, resource classes are smaller with less kids in each class. The classwork is modified as well, compared to what someone would learn in mainstream classes).

See, during elementary, I was more or less treated for ADHD and a learning disability. I didn't get diagnosed with autism until I was around 12ish or so. If I had been diagnosed sooner, they might have done a lot more. However, I went to a school in a small town, and the special education system was extremely limited and didn't have the proper resources for someone of my disabilit(ies).

The problems I had were my organization skills, doing homework, staying focused and trying to process everything I had to do in each class all at once too. I had even asked my case manager for headphones to use during class. He didn't really think I needed them, but I had it so bad that I was finding it hard to concentrate even in study hall. ._.