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Jennyfoo
Velociraptor
Joined: Oct 06, 2006
Posts: 450
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 Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:17 pm Post subject: AAUUUGGHH! Stupid school! |
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Sooo, they are doing psycho-educational assessments on my 5 y/o for his mental retardation and to find out what supports and services he will need. The school psych and nurse scheduled a visit to come out to our home today, so on Monday, I decided to turn in a letter requesting assessments for my 9 y/o AS DD as well since this way they can kill 2 birds with one stone and not have to invade our home more than once. The school nurse thought it was a wonderful idea and applauded me for requesting assessments now instead of later. Our main concerns are for the transition to middle school after next school year. I told her teacher I'd ordered assessments and he was very happy that I'd done that and even told me some suggestions he has for an IEP for her, and we discussed him possibly remaining her teacher next year(she's in a 4th/5th combo class) as well.
Today, we got a letter in the mail telling us that since the school office staff has not been made aware of any problems with our daughter this past year, they will not begin assessments. Instead, they are "offering...a meeting date to discuss our concerns." HOW BIG OF THEM! AUGH!
The reason why they have not been made aware of any problems is because she has a wonderful teacher this year whom I have a very close relationship with. We have handled all the problems between ourselves, my daughter, and the elective teachers ourselves without involving other staff. He has been a wonderful support and I hope that my daughter can have him again next year. So, because I'm a good mom and have handled the problems myself with the support of her teacher, the school is not going to do assessments. WTF? They have her diagnosis in her file on paperwork from the psych at the UC Davis MIND Institute. They have a diagnosis of Autism in their files, but are not ordering assessments? This is absolutely ridiculous! |
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ster
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 24, 2005
Posts: 2237
Location: new england
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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is it possible that this is just a paperwork mix-up?
try to remain calm. have her current teacher get copies of current data on your daughter to the administration. ( this could include emails and any interventions you've tried |
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Jennyfoo
Velociraptor
Joined: Oct 06, 2006
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Nope. The school psych is a b*#^%. Plain and simple. This could be their way of delaying assessments until next school year which is fine, but if that's what they're doing, I want to be informed about it, not be talked down to and offered a meeting to discuss my daughter's issues. |
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BugsMom
Sea Gull
Joined: Apr 20, 2007
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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| I hope your daughter will be able to get her assessment done soon! We went through the psychoeducational evaluation last year and it was such a stressful process. |
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ster
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 24, 2005
Posts: 2237
Location: new england
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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| oh my....sorry to hear you're dealing with morons...........nothing worse than listening to some condescending b#@$ tell you your kid doesn't have problems |
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Jennyfoo
Velociraptor
Joined: Oct 06, 2006
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:34 am Post subject: |
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Not so bad as I thought, but I still can't stand the condescending beyotch that is the school psych. We did talk about 9 y/o DD this afternoon when she was over doing her visits to see 5 y/o DS. She now knows about the behavioral problems, meltdowns, withdrawl that we we have to deal with when DD has had a hard time in school, etc. She knows about the social problems and she also has been clued in about her father and I both being Aspies as well. I shared with her my experiences in transitioning into another school and how I freaked out and had psychosomatic illnesses and how DD has psychosomatic headaches and stomach aches when she's stressed or anxious. We also told her about the incident at school earlier this year when DD fell and sprained her wrist and tore a ligament at morning recess(around 10:00) and sufferend in silence all day until she got home and told me of her accident. She was too nervous to go to the nurse. We had filed an incident report at the school back when it happened and it turns out that the psych had heard of the incident, but she did not know is was DD.
She basically said that she doesn't think assessments are warranted because DD does wonderfully in school and has no academic issues. She can order some other plan(i forget what it's called) instead which will work much like an IEP and we can make accomodations in it without involving special ed svcs. She does not question the diagnosis and therefore doesn't think a full psycho-educational assessment is warranted. I understand, but I still want and IEP- I want it in the faces of those Middle School teachers so that there's no mistaking that my daughter has issues and she doesn't fall through the cracks. Even her teacher has said that he's push for an actual IEP for her.
I have question for anyone with older AS kiddos- Middle school or HS aged: How much would it stigmatize my daughter if she rode the short bus? Would the social penalty of riding the short bus to school and the judgmental attitudes of mean older girls be worth keeping her afternoon sensory overload issues at bay. She rode the bus last year(before our neighborhood school was finished) and she had meltdowns nearly every afternoon because of all the stress, anxiety, and sensory problems caused by riding the school bus. I guess we could once again try the regular bus and see how she handles it, and if there's a problem, have her ride the short bus. I've talked to her about it and she said she'd rather ride the little bus and not have to be in the noisy, crazy big bus. But she doesn't know how mean and nasty teenage kids can be. She's so innocent still. |
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jat
Raven
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 123
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:26 am Post subject: |
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If you live in the United States, the psychologist is probably suggesting a 504 plan instead of an IEP. Some parents prefer them, others don't. I think an IEP is preferable, if you can get the school to give you one. They are going to say she doesn't need one because she's doing well academically, so she doesn't have "special learning needs," she just has "disabilities" requiring accommodations to provide her with access to the curriculum. That's simply not true. Any child who can't handle the sensory stimulation is going to need some change in how some portions of her day are structured - she should be getting OT support to help deal with the sensory overload, for instance, and that can't be done through a 504 plan; it requires an IEP. They will say they see no signs of it at school so it's not their problem. You need to push this issue, because if they start seeing signs of it at school, those mean girls are going to be much meaner than you ever imagined! Point out that a bit of prevention is much more cost-effective than remediation, particularly in this instance. Neither you, nor they, want them to have to pay for her to go to a specialized school because they wouldn't provide OT support for sensory needs! The implications can be devastating if she doesn't get the support she needs BEFORE she's so overwhelmed that she has repeated meltdowns and becomes a target. Put it in writing, so they can't claim they didn't know.
As to the bus, the girls will be mean either way - it's a pick your poison kind of thing. Middle school is a tough time for everyone - NT as well as ASD. It's probably one of the reasons that it's as hard as it is on our kids. Since they'll be mean either way, she might as well be more comfortable - at least that's my opinion. It's not like she's likely to blend in on the big bus, is it? So help her with some good responses to comments from other kids, before they start. If she's prepared, they might not continue. Let her blame you - my mom called the school district and told them she wanted door-to-door service; isn't that lame? But at least I don't have to stand out in the cold and rain like you guys! Coach her on changing to a different subject. And she might be okay.
Good luck! |
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Jennyfoo
Velociraptor
Joined: Oct 06, 2006
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Ya, that's it, a 504 plan. I still want an IEP and her teacher and father both think that would be better as well. We're going to push for an OT eval too. I completely understand what you mean about being more comfortable with the short bus issue and I am pretty sure we'll arrange it for her because we have safety concerns as well. With the new elementary school built so close to our home, there's a lot of traffic and DD is not very good at paying attention and her head is in the clouds so much. Last year, I watched her nearly hit by a car twice as she walked to the but stop(within view of my front window). It was so scary. |
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jaydog
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Age: 28
Posts: 530
Location: california
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| Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:55 pm Post subject: hello |
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Jennyfoo, hello i'm an adult with aspergers along with ptsd, anxiety and a list of like 20 conditions (2 graduated from high school in 2000. Graduated from high school with a 3.8 GPA and honor roll student all though school  had great friends until highschool , But what you need to know is that its different for everyone, i'm gone though many traumatic events that got me to where I am today, No I don't want sympathy but I'm just posting here so parents really can get inside the head of an Adult on the spectrum who has had a pretty good childhood, but remember the Label: Autism/PDD NOS or whatever you want to call it is not the main problem for your child, I'm sure alot of adults on this forum also agree, it's the co-morpid conditions that is gonna make it hard for you and your child.
Alot of the media and parents who have autistic children cringe or think of the Autism label as a disease or the worst you can have, such as all the autism media bullshit that is happening, but I would have to say diabetes or cancer is must worse then autism.
Alot of the so called media bullshit on autism charity walks, fundraisers and all the attention autism is getting is pure bullshit, readers seem to be brainwashed based on what the media exposes, which i want to tell you, most of what is exposed is not true and it's not based on scientific research. The research points to a variety of causes which are labeled into the learning disability, ADHD, PTSD, Genetic,neurological areas of research. Everyone is different when it comes down to this label and alot of people can outgrow the Label pretty easily (I know some parents who would disagree on this) but living with the problems most of my life, I find it not the label, as the problem but the lack of community understanding our backgrounds. of course I would like to treat PTSD and it's symptoms but I know that never will happen, cause you can't cure our country's system that is broken and let many people down, such as our country's veteran military who are homeless, All the Homeless, all those who are being abused in one way or another and the traumatic events that have screwed me beyond repair.
The media has no clue on what Autism really is, they think it's cause of vaccines, brain damage and other related stuff, when it's the ignorance and the abandonment of our citizens that have caused the rise in Autism and it's related stuff.
Why is there no media on the wealth or good stuff about Autism? Lets be positive and focus on what our country would be without Albert Einstein and others. We wouldn't be even close to where we are now. Oh by the way did I tell you I made like $10,000 in self employment, thanks to my narrow interests p=. anyway welcome to wrongplanet, and even if I sound scary or pissed off, it's not cause of anyone here, it's cause of how the educational/work industry treated me in the past.  |
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