My Introduction

[Guest guest]

I have been reading the posts for long enough and have decided to come out

of stalker mode and introduce myself. First off, it seems that by the posts

that I have read, I am an exception to the “CR RULE”. I am a 27 year-old

female from San Diego who is not analytical by any means .

I will give you a little background on my Pre-CR diet history:

I am 5’4” and my set point is 130-140. In December of 2003, I decided to get

the weight off for good and put myself on a restricted diet of 1200 calories

and walked 3 times a week for 20 minutes or so at a time. (I was operating

on “a calorie is a calorie” type thinking.) I was not anoretic, by any

means, but I look back and I could have done much better! The weight started

to fall off and I was feeling pretty good about myself. Then flu season came

and it went! Everyone in my family & office kept getting colds and cases of

the flu. The previous year at the same time I had gotten around 6 colds and

received the flu twice or more (not to mention all types of other food

related body problems!) I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t gotten sick once.

Neither could my family members or my friends who often would say “

is sick ALL the time”. (It may be of note to some that I was eating low cal,

but I now know that I was not eating well at all and I still reaped the

short term benefits of a higher immune system, though I did lose my period

for three months.)

So I couldn’t deny the connection and I started searching the internet for

calorie restriction and a higher immune system and that is when I first

learned about CRON. I immediately changed my diet and started eating

according to what I think is optimum nutrition for me (I think I still need

help on this, being that I am so poorly analytical). I still eat under 1200

calories. I still lose weight extremely slow and I got my period back.

Because of this, I believe that, in my case at least, amenorrhea is a result

of poor nutrition, not just fewer calories or a BMI of 18.

I am excited about the future of CRON and life extension; I just wish that

there were a magic formula for everyone to follow. The scientific aspect of

CRON is overwhelming to me at times. Please forgive me if I ask/say

anything that seems ridiculous. I am so new to this and my desire to do CRON

correctly for the rest of my life is strong.

I hope to get to know everyone very well,

Hellem

_________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Hi , I live about 10 min away from Lakewood. If you think this person would be interested in helping Dylan that would be great could you call? Thanks

Is your son in Kindergarden? We are getting ready for that this year. Gearing up to write another IEP. I don't know about you but we are having alittle trouble getting services from our school because Dylan is so High Functioning. ( as they say) . Any input how to get thru this transition is greatly apprecated. The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:

Welcome, ! I'm glad you found us! You are among friends! My son is 6 years old, but he wasn't diagnosed until age 3, so we probably got the diagnosis at the same time as your family. Those few weeks after the diagnosis were very rough for me, but reading your email reminds me of how far my son has come these last 3 years. I am very proud of all his hard work and he has taught me a thing or two!! . I look forward to getting to know you better and sharing our experiences!

Marotta

P.S. One of my son's SLPs moved to Lakewood. Do you live near there? I don't know if she is currently working with children with autism or not, but I think I could contact her and ask if you are interested.

----- Original Message -----

From: Biehl

Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:22 PM

Subject: [ ] My introduction

Hi My name is . I have a 5 year old (as of this May) son with PDD_NOS We live in Cuyahoga County by Hopkins Airport. When we found out our son was Autisic when he was 2 and we thought all our dreams for him were down the drain, (as I am sure many of us did) But with all we have accomplished so far I think his future looks very bright. I want to thank you for starting this group. We all need someone who gets what we are all going through. We are still dealing with potting training issues and if anyone has any suggestions I would be glad to hear what you have to say. Dylan talks (alot) but what he has to say doesn't always make sense to us. He doesn't always stay on topic and pronouns we are still working on those pronouns. We are looking for a speech theropist in our area. Well thanks again for the group look foward to meeting families like ours. __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I haven't written in awhile, but I'm intrested in the names of the tests and other information as well. My son just turned 4 and is highly functioning as well, I've been trying to get into a program or class that will help me work with him, he's very emotional and angry, and just refuses to cooperate (they even wrote 2 paragraphs about his stubborness in his evaluation/diagnosis). I have an IEP coming up and I know that he needs to continue with his schooling over the summer. He had a hard time after the holiday break getting back into things, I can only imagine how hard it's going to be after 11 weeks or so. I live in Lakewood, and the school board isn't willing to help with anything outside of their preschool program and I keep getting turned down everywhere. He's too old, too young, too high functioning, or the school board has to approve it first. Either way I can't seem to get the help I need. Anybody have any

ideas?

Thanks,

Therese

PS. I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I had my baby girl in Dec. and luckily my son is doing great with her. He's very gentle, no hitting, and very protective. Yeah!!!The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:

Dear , I'll see what I can do about the SLP! Yes, Bobby is in Kindergarten, and he loves it very much! He has grown so much this past year! He has a great teacher, one who has a lot of experience and structure in her classroom, but is flexible enough to respect each individual child's needs and learning style. Also, there are some students in his class that accept him as he is so he has a niche. I am hoping that those relationships will be supported and will grow in the next school year. The IEP just before kindergarten was tough! Bobby is high functioning too, but for the MFE, I asked in writing that the school use certain types of diagnostic tests that would tease out where his deficits lie (and his deficits are very significant) and I took my son to a center in Chicago which

specializes in hyperlexia (his official diagnosis) where an SLP performed a pragmatic language test. Also, he was overdue for a visit to a neurologist, so we made an appt. and I had her report during the IEP which again highlighted his deficits. During the first kindergarten IEP meeting, the team discussed his services, but because of time restraints, we were unable to come to an agreement. Before the second K IEP meeting, the director of special services did internet research on hyperlexia (what do you think about that? I was impressed), and much of our differences were ironed out before the meeting convened.If you are willing to discuss (either publicly or privately), what tests were done during the MFE? Do you have private evaluations to bring to the IEP meeting? What did these evaluations/tests show? Sometimes, if high functioning children are given only the standard language tests

(for example, CELF-Preschool), the team won't have a clear picture of the child's level of functioning and an administrator, who doesn't know the child and sees only the test results, won't want to allocate ever diminishing resources to a child who seems to have caught up with his peers. Maybe I could give you the names of some tests that could help the team evaluate your son's abilities better.Marotta>From: Biehl <angelabiehl@...>>Reply- > >Subject: Re: [ ] My introduction>Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 06:51:20 -0700 (PDT)>>Hi , I live about 10 min away from Lakewood. If you think this >person would be interested in helping Dylan that would be great could you >call? Thanks>Is your son in Kindergarden? We are getting ready for that this year. >Gearing up to write another IEP. I

don't know about you but we are having >alittle trouble getting services from our school because Dylan is so High >Functioning. ( as they say) . Any input how to get thru this transition is >greatly apprecated. >>The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:>Welcome, ! I'm glad you found us! You are among friends! My son is >6 years old, but he wasn't diagnosed until age 3, so we probably got the >diagnosis at the same time as your family. Those few weeks after the >diagnosis were very rough for me, but reading your email reminds me of how >far my son has come these last 3 years. I am very proud of all his hard >work and he has taught me a thing or two!! . I look forward to getting to >know you better and sharing our experiences!>> Marotta>>P.S. One of my son's SLPs moved to Lakewood. Do you

live near there? I >don't know if she is currently working with children with autism or not, >but I think I could contact her and ask if you are interested.>----- Original Message ----->From: Biehl> >Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:22 PM>Subject: [ ] My introduction>>>Hi My name is . I have a 5 year old (as of this May) son with PDD_NOS >We live in Cuyahoga County by Hopkins Airport. When we found out our son >was Autisic when he was 2 and we thought all our dreams for him were down >the drain, (as I am sure many of us did) But with all we have accomplished >so far I think his future looks very bright. I want to thank you for >starting this group. We all need someone who gets what we are all going >through. We are still dealing with potting training issues and if anyone >has any suggestions I would be glad to hear

what you have to say. Dylan >talks (alot) but what he has to say doesn't always make sense to us. He >doesn't always stay on topic and pronouns we are still working on those >pronouns. We are looking for a speech theropist in our area. Well thanks >again for the group look foward to meeting families like ours. >>>>>--------------------------------->

[Guest guest]

Hi Therese, I couldn't help but feel like you were talking about my son who will be 5 this month. You might want to try a school called Middleburg Early Ed Center. Its in Middleburg Hts and and they have a great summer school program. We are having the same problems with school .As of last week they had one more opening for the morning class. They offer speech and amazing teachers who primary deal with autisic children. The school is on Pearl Rd. at Bethal Luthern Church. I hope this helps. Good luck. therese taylor <firedjinnx@...> wrote:

Hi,

I haven't written in awhile, but I'm intrested in the names of the tests and other information as well. My son just turned 4 and is highly functioning as well, I've been trying to get into a program or class that will help me work with him, he's very emotional and angry, and just refuses to cooperate (they even wrote 2 paragraphs about his stubborness in his evaluation/diagnosis). I have an IEP coming up and I know that he needs to continue with his schooling over the summer. He had a hard time after the holiday break getting back into things, I can only imagine how hard it's going to be after 11 weeks or so. I live in Lakewood, and the school board isn't willing to help with anything outside of their preschool program and I keep getting turned down everywhere. He's too old, too young, too high functioning, or the school board has to approve it first. Either way I can't seem to get the help I need. Anybody have any

ideas?

Thanks,

Therese

PS. I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I had my baby girl in Dec. and luckily my son is doing great with her. He's very gentle, no hitting, and very protective. Yeah!!!The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:

Dear , I'll see what I can do about the SLP! Yes, Bobby is in Kindergarten, and he loves it very much! He has grown so much this past year! He has a great teacher, one who has a lot of experience and structure in her classroom, but is flexible enough to respect each individual child's needs and learning style. Also, there are some students in his class that accept him as he is so he has a niche. I am hoping that those relationships will be supported and will grow in the next school year. The IEP just before kindergarten was tough! Bobby is high functioning too, but for the MFE, I asked in writing that the school use certain types of diagnostic tests that would tease out where his deficits lie (and his deficits are very significant) and I took my son to a center in Chicago which

specializes in hyperlexia (his official diagnosis) where an SLP performed a pragmatic language test. Also, he was overdue for a visit to a neurologist, so we made an appt. and I had her report during the IEP which again highlighted his deficits. During the first kindergarten IEP meeting, the team discussed his services, but because of time restraints, we were unable to come to an agreement. Before the second K IEP meeting, the director of special services did internet research on hyperlexia (what do you think about that? I was impressed), and much of our differences were ironed out before the meeting convened.If you are willing to discuss (either publicly or privately), what tests were done during the MFE? Do you have private evaluations to bring to the IEP meeting? What did these evaluations/tests show? Sometimes, if high functioning children are given only the standard language tests

(for example, CELF-Preschool), the team won't have a clear picture of the child's level of functioning and an administrator, who doesn't know the child and sees only the test results, won't want to allocate ever diminishing resources to a child who seems to have caught up with his peers. Maybe I could give you the names of some tests that could help the team evaluate your son's abilities better.Marotta>From: Biehl <angelabiehl@...>>Reply- > >Subject: Re: [ ] My introduction>Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 06:51:20 -0700 (PDT)>>Hi , I live about 10 min away from Lakewood. If you think this >person would be interested in helping Dylan that would be great could you >call? Thanks>Is your son in Kindergarden? We are getting ready for that this year. >Gearing up to write another IEP. I

don't know about you but we are having >alittle trouble getting services from our school because Dylan is so High >Functioning. ( as they say) . Any input how to get thru this transition is >greatly apprecated. >>The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:>Welcome, ! I'm glad you found us! You are among friends! My son is >6 years old, but he wasn't diagnosed until age 3, so we probably got the >diagnosis at the same time as your family. Those few weeks after the >diagnosis were very rough for me, but reading your email reminds me of how >far my son has come these last 3 years. I am very proud of all his hard >work and he has taught me a thing or two!! . I look forward to getting to >know you better and sharing our experiences!>> Marotta>>P.S. One of my son's SLPs moved to Lakewood. Do you

live near there? I >don't know if she is currently working with children with autism or not, >but I think I could contact her and ask if you are interested.>----- Original Message ----->From: Biehl> >Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:22 PM>Subject: [ ] My introduction>>>Hi My name is . I have a 5 year old (as of this May) son with PDD_NOS >We live in Cuyahoga County by Hopkins Airport. When we found out our son >was Autisic when he was 2 and we thought all our dreams for him were down >the drain, (as I am sure many of us did) But with all we have accomplished >so far I think his future looks very bright. I want to thank you for >starting this group. We all need someone who gets what we are all going >through. We are still dealing with potting training issues and if anyone >has any suggestions I would be glad to hear

what you have to say. Dylan >talks (alot) but what he has to say doesn't always make sense to us. He >doesn't always stay on topic and pronouns we are still working on those >pronouns. We are looking for a speech theropist in our area. Well thanks >again for the group look foward to meeting families like ours. >>>>>--------------------------------->

[Guest guest]

Hi Terese! I have a young daughter as well, who was born 4 1/2 years after

Bobby, and a second son almost 2 years younger than Bob. It took Bobby a

while to warm up to her, but when he did start coming close and talking to

her, he was being affectionate. Now she's 2 years old and quite a handful!!

The boys sometimes play with her, but many times, they shut a bedroom door

so they can be alone together!

Last night, I had to go to a meeting, so I wasn't able to look up the tests

from the last MFE, but when I get home tonight, I'll respond back to you and

.

Marotta

>From: therese taylor <firedjinnx@...>

>Reply-

>

>Subject: Re: [ ] My introduction

>Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 10:07:12 -0700 (PDT)

>

>Hi,

> I haven't written in awhile, but I'm intrested in the names of the

>tests and other information as well. My son just turned 4 and is highly

>functioning as well, I've been trying to get into a program or class that

>will help me work with him, he's very emotional and angry, and just refuses

>to cooperate (they even wrote 2 paragraphs about his stubborness in his

>evaluation/diagnosis). I have an IEP coming up and I know that he needs to

>continue with his schooling over the summer. He had a hard time after the

>holiday break getting back into things, I can only imagine how hard it's

>going to be after 11 weeks or so. I live in Lakewood, and the school board

>isn't willing to help with anything outside of their preschool program and

>I keep getting turned down everywhere. He's too old, too young, too high

>functioning, or the school board has to approve it first. Either way I

>can't seem to get the help I need. Anybody have any ideas?

>

>Thanks,

>Therese

>

>PS. I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I had my baby girl in Dec. and

>luckily my son is doing great with her. He's very gentle, no hitting, and

>very protective. Yeah!!!

>

>The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:

>Dear , I'll see what I can do about the SLP! Yes, Bobby is in

>Kindergarten, and he loves it very much! He has grown so much this past

>year! He has a great teacher, one who has a lot of experience and

>structure

>in her classroom, but is flexible enough to respect each individual child's

>needs and learning style. Also, there are some students in his class that

>accept him as he is so he has a niche. I am hoping that those

>relationships

>will be supported and will grow in the next school year. The IEP just

>before kindergarten was tough! Bobby is high functioning too, but for the

>MFE, I asked in writing that the school use certain types of diagnostic

>tests that would tease out where his deficits lie (and his deficits are

>very

>significant) and I took my son to a center in Chicago which specializes in

>hyperlexia (his official diagnosis) where an SLP performed a pragmatic

>language test. Also, he was overdue for a visit to a neurologist, so we

>made an appt. and I had her report during the IEP which again highlighted

>his deficits. During the first kindergarten IEP meeting, the team

>discussed

>his services, but because of time restraints, we were unable to come to an

>agreement. Before the second K IEP meeting, the director of special

>services did internet research on hyperlexia (what do you think about that?

>I was impressed), and much of our differences were ironed out before the

>meeting convened.

>

>If you are willing to discuss (either publicly or privately), what tests

>were done during the MFE? Do you have private evaluations to bring to the

>IEP meeting? What did these evaluations/tests show? Sometimes, if high

>functioning children are given only the standard language tests (for

>example, CELF-Preschool), the team won't have a clear picture of the

>child's

>level of functioning and an administrator, who doesn't know the child and

>sees only the test results, won't want to allocate ever diminishing

>resources to a child who seems to have caught up with his peers. Maybe I

>could give you the names of some tests that could help the team evaluate

>your son's abilities better.

>

>Marotta

>

> >From: Biehl <angelabiehl@...>

> >Reply-

> >

> >Subject: Re: [ ] My introduction

> >Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 06:51:20 -0700 (PDT)

> >

> >Hi , I live about 10 min away from Lakewood. If you think this

> >person would be interested in helping Dylan that would be great could you

> >call? Thanks

> >Is your son in Kindergarden? We are getting ready for that this year.

> >Gearing up to write another IEP. I don't know about you but we are having

> >alittle trouble getting services from our school because Dylan is so High

> >Functioning. ( as they say) . Any input how to get thru this transition

>is

> >greatly apprecated.

> >

> >The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:

> >Welcome, ! I'm glad you found us! You are among friends! My son

>is

> >6 years old, but he wasn't diagnosed until age 3, so we probably got the

> >diagnosis at the same time as your family. Those few weeks after the

> >diagnosis were very rough for me, but reading your email reminds me of

>how

> >far my son has come these last 3 years. I am very proud of all his hard

> >work and he has taught me a thing or two!! . I look forward to getting

>to

> >know you better and sharing our experiences!

> >

> > Marotta

> >

> >P.S. One of my son's SLPs moved to Lakewood. Do you live near there? I

> >don't know if she is currently working with children with autism or not,

> >but I think I could contact her and ask if you are interested.

> >----- Original Message -----

> >From: Biehl

> >

> >Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:22 PM

> >Subject: [ ] My introduction

> >

> >

> >Hi My name is . I have a 5 year old (as of this May) son with

>PDD_NOS

> >We live in Cuyahoga County by Hopkins Airport. When we found out our son

> >was Autisic when he was 2 and we thought all our dreams for him were down

> >the drain, (as I am sure many of us did) But with all we have

>accomplished

> >so far I think his future looks very bright. I want to thank you for

> >starting this group. We all need someone who gets what we are all going

> >through. We are still dealing with potting training issues and if anyone

> >has any suggestions I would be glad to hear what you have to say. Dylan

> >talks (alot) but what he has to say doesn't always make sense to us. He

> >doesn't always stay on topic and pronouns we are still working on those

> >pronouns. We are looking for a speech theropist in our area. Well thanks

> >again for the group look foward to meeting families like ours.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >---------------------------------

> >

[Guest guest]

It sounds like your son should be eligible for Extended School Year

services. This would be paid for by the school district and they

would be responsible for sending him to a program that would

continue the speech, occupational therapy, etc. I was able to get

ESY for my son last year, the summer after preschool and he will be

getting it this year, the summer after first grade. Yes, you have

to fight for it, but it can be done. And whether or not the

district cries about money is not at issue in determining it.

Email me off list if you need more info on ESY.

--- In , therese taylor <firedjinnx@y...>

wrote:

> Hi,

> I haven't written in awhile, but I'm intrested in the names of

the tests and other information as well. My son just turned 4 and is

highly functioning as well, I've been trying to get into a program

or class that will help me work with him, he's very emotional and

angry, and just refuses to cooperate (they even wrote 2 paragraphs

about his stubborness in his evaluation/diagnosis). I have an IEP

coming up and I know that he needs to continue with his schooling

over the summer. He had a hard time after the holiday break getting

back into things, I can only imagine how hard it's going to be after

11 weeks or so. I live in Lakewood, and the school board isn't

willing to help with anything outside of their preschool program and

I keep getting turned down everywhere. He's too old, too young, too

high functioning, or the school board has to approve it first.

Either way I can't seem to get the help I need. Anybody have any

ideas?

>

> Thanks,

> Therese

>

> PS. I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I had my baby girl in

Dec. and luckily my son is doing great with her. He's very gentle,

no hitting, and very protective. Yeah!!!

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Terese and - I'm a little frustrated right now. I couldn't find my son's latest MFE report. I have too many 3-ring binders lying around the house. However, I did find my letter to the school requesting the different types of tests before the MFE. I requested a test that would evaluate his auditory processing abilities based on the fact that he sometimes would answer questions immediately, sometimes after an inappropriately long pause, and other times, he wouldn't answer at all. I didn't know if this was due to an auditory processing problem, and attention/focus issue, a semantic pragmatic deficit, or some other issue. So I asked the school to test for auditory processing problems. Here is a list of tests that could be used: Language Sample with Narrative Task, mood Test of Auditory Conceptualization (LAC), Test of Auditory Processing Skills (TAPS), Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP), Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination. I asked the school to perform at least one auditory discrimination test. They choose the TAPS. I can't say that I liked that test because one of the subtests was kind of weird {What would you do if someone told you to put this glass on the table? Answer: put the glass on the table} But a couple of the subtests pointed out some of Bobby's difficulties and he scored low. The fact that he scored low was actually a relief to me because it the IEP team had some direction to go when drafting his annual goals. I knew he would score high on the CELF-Preschool and the PLS-3 and I was afraid that the school would then say he was ineligible for ST. As for pragmatic language, here is a link to an article that discusses a couple of pragmatic tests:http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/resource/speech_program/spl_pragmatics_eligibility.htmIn it they describe the TOPL (Test of Pragmatic Language - the test give to my son last summer when we were in Chicago) and the TOPS-R (Test of Problem Solving-R). However, TOPL is age-normed beginning at age 6; my son was only 5, but the SLP reported the results to the school anyway. At first she wasn't going to, but my son scored so low she must have thought that the school needed to know this. I don't know what ages the TOPS-R is appropriate for. http://www.socialthinking.com/idb/documents/Assessment%20Issues%20For%20Social%20Pragmatics%202002.doc also discusses pragmatic language function in HFA and goes in depth on how that child should be evaluated. I also asked the school to test his non-verbal IQ. It turned out that this test gave some insight that the school wouldn't have known otherwise. The school performed the Wechsler (I think - remember, I have yet to put my finger on the MFE!!), which has performance IQ and verbal IQ subtests. My son scored lower on the performance than the verbal, which shocked the school psychologist, but it made sense once you take into account his fine motor skill deficits. Since I requested a nonverbal IQ instrument, she also gave my son the TONI (Test of Nonverbal Intelligence). He scored highest on this because it did not have a fine motor or a verbal component. The school was then able to get a clearer picture of his functioning. Here are a few other non-verbal IQ instruments: Leiter International Performance Scale (LIPS), Matrix Analogies Test -- Expanded Form (MAT-EF), Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI), and the Leiter/2 . If/when you want the school to perform any evaluation, be sure to put it in writing! Marotta--- Original Message ----- From: therese taylor Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 1:07 PMSubject: Re: [ ] My introductionHi, I haven't written in awhile, but I'm intrested in the names of the tests and other information as well. My son just turned 4 and is highly functioning as well, I've been trying to get into a program or class that will help me work with him, he's very emotional and angry, and just refuses to cooperate (they even wrote 2 paragraphs about his stubborness in his evaluation/diagnosis). I have an IEP coming up and I know that he needs to continue with his schooling over the summer. He had a hard time after the holiday break getting back into things, I can only imagine how hard it's going to be after 11 weeks or so. I live in Lakewood, and the school board isn't willing to help with anything outside of their preschool program and I keep getting turned down everywhere. He's too old, too young, too high functioning, or the school board has to approve it first. Either way I can't seem to get the help I need. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks,Therese PS. I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I had my baby girl in Dec. and luckily my son is doing great with her. He's very gentle, no hitting, and very protective. Yeah!!!The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:Dear , I'll see what I can do about the SLP! Yes, Bobby is in Kindergarten, and he loves it very much! He has grown so much this past year! He has a great teacher, one who has a lot of experience and structure in her classroom, but is flexible enough to respect each individual child's needs and learning style. Also, there are some students in his class that accept him as he is so he has a niche. I am hoping that those relationships will be supported and will grow in the next school year. The IEP just before kindergarten was tough! Bobby is high functioning too, but for the MFE, I asked in writing that the school use certain types of diagnostic tests that would tease out where his deficits lie (and his deficits are very significant) and I took my son to a center in Chicago which specializes in hyperlexia (his official diagnosis) where an SLP performed a pragmatic language test. Also, he was overdue for a visit to a neurologist, so we made an appt. and I had her report during the IEP which again highlighted his deficits. During the first kindergarten IEP meeting, the team discussed his services, but because of time restraints, we were unable to come to an agreement. Before the second K IEP meeting, the director of special services did internet research on hyperlexia (what do you think about that? I was impressed), and much of our differences were ironed out before the meeting convened.If you are willing to discuss (either publicly or privately), what tests were done during the MFE? Do you have private evaluations to bring to the IEP meeting? What did these evaluations/tests show? Sometimes, if high functioning children are given only the standard language tests (for example, CELF-Preschool), the team won't have a clear picture of the child's level of functioning and an administrator, who doesn't know the child and sees only the test results, won't want to allocate ever diminishing resources to a child who seems to have caught up with his peers. Maybe I could give you the names of some tests that could help the team evaluate your son's abilities better.Marotta>From: Biehl <angelabiehl@...>>Reply- > >Subject: Re: [ ] My introduction>Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 06:51:20 -0700 (PDT)>>Hi , I live about 10 min away from Lakewood. If you think this >person would be interested in helping Dylan that would be great could you >call? Thanks>Is your son in Kindergarden? We are getting ready for that this year. >Gearing up to write another IEP. I don't know about you but we are having >alittle trouble getting services from our school because Dylan is so High >Functioning. ( as they say) . Any input how to get thru this transition is >greatly apprecated. >>The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:>Welcome, ! I'm glad you found us! You are among friends! My son is >6 years old, but he wasn't diagnosed until age 3, so we probably got the >diagnosis at the same time as your family. Those few weeks after the >diagnosis were very rough for me, but reading your email reminds me of how >far my son has come these last 3 years. I am very proud of all his hard >work and he has taught me a thing or two!! . I look forward to getting to >know you better and sharing our experiences!>> Marotta>>P.S. One of my son's SLPs moved to Lakewood. Do you live near there? I >don't know if she is currently working with children with autism or not, >but I think I could contact her and ask if you are interested.>----- Original Message ----->From: Biehl> >Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:22 PM>Subject: [ ] My introduction>>>Hi My name is . I have a 5 year old (as of this May) son with PDD_NOS >We live in Cuyahoga County by Hopkins Airport. When we found out our son >was Autisic when he was 2 and we thought all our dreams for him were down >the drain, (as I am sure many of us did) But with all we have accomplished >so far I think his future looks very bright. I want to thank you for >starting this group. We all need someone who gets what we are all going >through. We are still dealing with potting training issues and if anyone >has any suggestions I would be glad to hear what you have to say. Dylan >talks (alot) but what he has to say doesn't always make sense to us. He >doesn't always stay on topic and pronouns we are still working on those >pronouns. We are looking for a speech theropist in our area. Well thanks >again for the group look foward to meeting families like ours. >>>>>--------------------------------->

[Guest guest]

Thank you , for all the info. I am running around in circles trying to get his IEP meeting scheduled before the end of the year. I wrote a request 2 months ago and when I write reminder question of when I don't get a response. Wondering if I am going to hire an addvicate or not. I have called the vice Princpal and still no call back yet. Any idea?

The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:

Hi Terese and - I'm a little frustrated right now. I couldn't find my son's latest MFE report. I have too many 3-ring binders lying around the house. However, I did find my letter to the school requesting the different types of tests before the MFE. I requested a test that would evaluate his auditory processing abilities based on the fact that he sometimes would answer questions immediately, sometimes after an inappropriately long pause, and other times, he wouldn't answer at all. I didn't know if this was due to an auditory processing problem, and attention/focus issue, a semantic pragmatic deficit, or some other issue. So I asked the school to test for auditory processing problems. Here is a list of tests that could be used: Language Sample with Narrative Task, mood Test of Auditory Conceptualization (LAC), Test of Auditory Processing Skills (TAPS), Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP), Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination. I asked the school to perform at least one auditory discrimination test. They choose the TAPS. I can't say that I liked that test because one of the subtests was kind of weird {What would you do if someone told you to put this glass on the table? Answer: put the glass on the table} But a couple of the subtests pointed out some of Bobby's difficulties and he scored low. The fact that he scored low was actually a relief to me because it the IEP team had some direction to go when drafting his

annual goals. I knew he would score high on the CELF-Preschool and the PLS-3 and I was afraid that the school would then say he was ineligible for ST.

As for pragmatic language, here is a link to an article that discusses a couple of pragmatic tests:

http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/resource/speech_program/spl_pragmatics_eligibility.htmIn it they describe the TOPL (Test of Pragmatic Language - the test give to my son last summer when we were in Chicago) and the TOPS-R (Test of Problem Solving-R). However, TOPL is age-normed beginning at age 6; my son was only 5, but the SLP reported the results to the school anyway. At first she wasn't going to, but my son scored so low she must have thought that the school needed to know this. I

don't know what ages the TOPS-R is appropriate for.

http://www.socialthinking.com/idb/documents/Assessment%20Issues%20For%20Social%20Pragmatics%202002.doc also discusses pragmatic language function in HFA and goes in depth on how that child should be evaluated.

I also asked the school to test his non-verbal IQ. It turned out that this test gave some insight that the school wouldn't have known otherwise. The school performed the Wechsler (I think - remember, I have yet to put my finger on the MFE!!), which has performance IQ and verbal IQ subtests. My son scored lower on the performance than the verbal, which shocked the school psychologist, but it made sense once you take into account his fine motor skill deficits. Since I requested a nonverbal IQ instrument, she also gave my son the TONI (Test of Nonverbal Intelligence). He scored highest on this because it did not have a fine motor or a verbal component. The school was then able to get a clearer

picture of his functioning. Here are a few other non-verbal IQ instruments: Leiter International Performance Scale (LIPS), Matrix Analogies Test -- Expanded Form (MAT-EF), Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI), and the Leiter/2 .

If/when you want the school to perform any evaluation, be sure to put it in writing!

Marotta

--- Original Message -----

From: therese taylor

Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 1:07 PM

Subject: Re: [ ] My introduction

Hi,

I haven't written in awhile, but I'm intrested in the names of the tests and other information as well. My son just turned 4 and is highly functioning as well, I've been trying to get into a program or class that will help me work with him, he's very emotional and angry, and just refuses to cooperate (they even wrote 2 paragraphs about his stubborness in his evaluation/diagnosis). I have an IEP coming up and I know that he needs to continue with his schooling over the summer. He had a hard time after the holiday break getting back into things, I can only imagine how hard it's going to be after 11 weeks or so. I live in Lakewood, and the school board isn't willing to help with anything outside of their preschool program and I keep getting turned down everywhere. He's too old, too young, too high functioning, or the school board has to approve it first. Either way I can't seem to get the help I need. Anybody have any

ideas?

Thanks,

Therese

PS. I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I had my baby girl in Dec. and luckily my son is doing great with her. He's very gentle, no hitting, and very protective. Yeah!!!The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:

Dear , I'll see what I can do about the SLP! Yes, Bobby is in Kindergarten, and he loves it very much! He has grown so much this past year! He has a great teacher, one who has a lot of experience and structure in her classroom, but is flexible enough to respect each individual child's needs and learning style. Also, there are some students in his class that accept him as he is so he has a niche. I am hoping that those relationships will be supported and will grow in the next school year. The IEP just before kindergarten was tough! Bobby is high functioning too, but for the MFE, I asked in writing that the school use certain types of diagnostic tests that would tease out where his deficits lie (and his deficits are very significant) and I took my son to a center in Chicago which

specializes in hyperlexia (his official diagnosis) where an SLP performed a pragmatic language test. Also, he was overdue for a visit to a neurologist, so we made an appt. and I had her report during the IEP which again highlighted his deficits. During the first kindergarten IEP meeting, the team discussed his services, but because of time restraints, we were unable to come to an agreement. Before the second K IEP meeting, the director of special services did internet research on hyperlexia (what do you think about that? I was impressed), and much of our differences were ironed out before the meeting convened.If you are willing to discuss (either publicly or privately), what tests were done during the MFE? Do you have private evaluations to bring to the IEP meeting? What did these evaluations/tests show? Sometimes, if high functioning children are given only the standard language tests

(for example, CELF-Preschool), the team won't have a clear picture of the child's level of functioning and an administrator, who doesn't know the child and sees only the test results, won't want to allocate ever diminishing resources to a child who seems to have caught up with his peers. Maybe I could give you the names of some tests that could help the team evaluate your son's abilities better.Marotta>From: Biehl <angelabiehl@...>>Reply- > >Subject: Re: [ ] My introduction>Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 06:51:20 -0700 (PDT)>>Hi , I live about 10 min away from Lakewood. If you think this >person would be interested in helping Dylan that would be great could you >call? Thanks>Is your son in Kindergarden? We are getting ready for that this year. >Gearing up to write another IEP. I

don't know about you but we are having >alittle trouble getting services from our school because Dylan is so High >Functioning. ( as they say) . Any input how to get thru this transition is >greatly apprecated. >>The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:>Welcome, ! I'm glad you found us! You are among friends! My son is >6 years old, but he wasn't diagnosed until age 3, so we probably got the >diagnosis at the same time as your family. Those few weeks after the >diagnosis were very rough for me, but reading your email reminds me of how >far my son has come these last 3 years. I am very proud of all his hard >work and he has taught me a thing or two!! . I look forward to getting to >know you better and sharing our experiences!>> Marotta>>P.S. One of my son's SLPs moved to Lakewood. Do you

live near there? I >don't know if she is currently working with children with autism or not, >but I think I could contact her and ask if you are interested.>----- Original Message ----->From: Biehl> >Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:22 PM>Subject: [ ] My introduction>>>Hi My name is . I have a 5 year old (as of this May) son with PDD_NOS >We live in Cuyahoga County by Hopkins Airport. When we found out our son >was Autisic when he was 2 and we thought all our dreams for him were down >the drain, (as I am sure many of us did) But with all we have accomplished >so far I think his future looks very bright. I want to thank you for >starting this group. We all need someone who gets what we are all going >through. We are still dealing with potting training issues and if anyone >has any suggestions I would be glad to hear

what you have to say. Dylan >talks (alot) but what he has to say doesn't always make sense to us. He >doesn't always stay on topic and pronouns we are still working on those >pronouns. We are looking for a speech theropist in our area. Well thanks >again for the group look foward to meeting families like ours. >>>>>--------------------------------->

[Guest guest]

- First off, an review IEP meeting should convene yearly, so if last year's IEP meeting was on May 10th, this year's IEP meeting should convene on the 10th of May or earlier. When was last year's IEP meeting? If it was in May, I would think you should have already received an invitation. If last year's IEP meeting was in the summer or fall, then the school would have you on their schedule later in the year. HOWEVER, Federal states that the IEP be reviewed at least once a year. There is nothing that says it can't be held more frequently. In fact, Federal law states the parent or school personnel (eg teacher) can request an earlier IEP meeting at any time, esp. if the parent feels the child is not progressing adequately or if the teacher feels the goals are not appropriate. If the school refuses to schedule a meeting, then they MUST provide the parent with written notice of that refusal, and explain why the agency has determined that the meeting is not necessary to ensure the provision of a FAPE to the student. Which then leads us to the question of your particular local school. Whether you are trying to schedule the annual review of the IEP or an "extra" meeting, the school's silence to your repeated written requests and phone calls is quite baffling. One would think that the school district has lawyers that would keep the administration updated on how to conform to the procedural safeguards. The courts give great leeway to parents whose children's rights violated (but only if that violation causes a loss of education). Here's what you might want to do: First, buy a bound notebook if you haven't already. Write yet another letter to the school stating that you wrote an original request for an IEP meeting on such-and-such a date, that you wrote a reminder on such-and-such a date, and that you called and left messages for whomever on such-and-such dates. Write that you are concerned that the school has yet to respond to your request for an IEP meeting. Does this mean they are refusing your request? Write that you are confused because you have not received your prior written notice. When did they send it to you? When can you expect it? Then personally take the letter to the school and hand it to the administrator if possible or the secretary. Write in your notebook the details of whom you gave it too, including what the person was wearing or any other special info. (A lawyer, Pete , got one school to settle because he wrote down that the secretary had a vase of a particular type of flower and she told him that she got them for secretary's day. The school had previously tried to deny that they ever received the letter.) This letter you write should get the school to respond in some way, shape or form. When you write a letter requesting an IEP or an evaluation, the school has a certain amount of time to respond to you, either accepting or rejecting your request for action on their part. Off hand, I do not know how much time they have, but 2 months seems quite excessive. Maybe you could get more info on that at www.wrightslaw.com. I highly recommend that site for legal info on special education issues!! Marotta----- Original Message ----- From: Biehl Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2005 9:49 PMSubject: Re: [ ] My introductionThank you , for all the info I am running around in circles trying to get his IEP meeting scheduled before the end of the year. I wrote a request 2 months ago and when I write reminder question of when I don't get a response. Wondering if I am going to hire an addvicate or not. I have called the vice Princpal and still no call back yet. Any idea?The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:Hi Terese and - I'm a little frustrated right now. I couldn't find my son's latest MFE report. I have too many 3-ring binders lying around the house. However, I did find my letter to the school requesting the different types of tests before the MFE. I requested a test that would evaluate his auditory processing abilities based on the fact that he sometimes would answer questions immediately, sometimes after an inappropriately long pause, and other times, he wouldn't answer at all. I didn't know if this was due to an auditory processing problem, and attention/focus issue, a semantic pragmatic deficit, or some other issue. So I asked the school to test for auditory processing problems. Here is a list of tests that could be used: Language Sample with Narrative Task, mood Test of Auditory Conceptualization (LAC), Test of Auditory Processing Skills (TAPS), Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP), Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination. I asked the school to perform at least one auditory discrimination test. They choose the TAPS. I can't say that I liked that test because one of the subtests was kind of weird {What would you do if someone told you to put this glass on the table? Answer: put the glass on the table} But a couple of the subtests pointed out some of Bobby's difficulties and he scored low. The fact that he scored low was actually a relief to me because it the IEP team had some direction to go when drafting his annual goals. I knew he would score high on the CELF-Preschool and the PLS-3 and I was afraid that the school would then say he was ineligible for ST. As for pragmatic language, here is a link to an article that discusses a couple of pragmatic tests:http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/resource/speech_program/spl_pragmatics_eligibility.htmIn it they describe the TOPL (Test of Pragmatic Language - the test give to my son last summer when we were in Chicago) and the TOPS-R (Test of Problem Solving-R). However, TOPL is age-normed beginning at age 6; my son was only 5, but the SLP reported the results to the school anyway. At first she wasn't going to, but my son scored so low she must have thought that the school needed to know this. I don't know what ages the TOPS-R is appropriate for. http://www.socialthinking.com/idb/documents/Assessment%20Issues%20For%20Social%20Pragmatics%202002.doc also discusses pragmatic language function in HFA and goes in depth on how that child should be evaluated. I also asked the school to test his non-verbal IQ. It turned out that this test gave some insight that the school wouldn't have known otherwise. The school performed the Wechsler (I think - remember, I have yet to put my finger on the MFE!!), which has performance IQ and verbal IQ subtests. My son scored lower on the performance than the verbal, which shocked the school psychologist, but it made sense once you take into account his fine motor skill deficits. Since I requested a nonverbal IQ instrument, she also gave my son the TONI (Test of Nonverbal Intelligence). He scored highest on this because it did not have a fine motor or a verbal component. The school was then able to get a clearer picture of his functioning. Here are a few other non-verbal IQ instruments: Leiter International Performance Scale (LIPS), Matrix Analogies Test -- Expanded Form (MAT-EF), Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI), and the Leiter/2 . If/when you want the school to perform any evaluation, be sure to put it in writing! Marotta--- Original Message ----- From: therese taylor Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 1:07 PMSubject: Re: [ ] My introductionHi, I haven't written in awhile, but I'm intrested in the names of the tests and other information as well. My son just turned 4 and is highly functioning as well, I've been trying to get into a program or class that will help me work with him, he's very emotional and angry, and just refuses to cooperate (they even wrote 2 paragraphs about his stubborness in his evaluation/diagnosis). I have an IEP coming up and I know that he needs to continue with his schooling over the summer. He had a hard time after the holiday break getting back into things, I can only imagine how hard it's going to be after 11 weeks or so. I live in Lakewood, and the school board isn't willing to help with anything outside of their preschool program and I keep getting turned down everywhere. He's too old, too young, too high functioning, or the school board has to approve it first. Either way I can't seem to get the help I need. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks,Therese PS. I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I had my baby girl in Dec. and luckily my son is doing great with her. He's very gentle, no hitting, and very protective. Yeah!!!The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:Dear , I'll see what I can do about the SLP! Yes, Bobby is in Kindergarten, and he loves it very much! He has grown so much this past year! He has a great teacher, one who has a lot of experience and structure in her classroom, but is flexible enough to respect each individual child's needs and learning style. Also, there are some students in his class that accept him as he is so he has a niche. I am hoping that those relationships will be supported and will grow in the next school year. The IEP just before kindergarten was tough! Bobby is high functioning too, but for the MFE, I asked in writing that the school use certain types of diagnostic tests that would tease out where his deficits lie (and his deficits are very significant) and I took my son to a center in Chicago which specializes in hyperlexia (his official diagnosis) where an SLP performed a pragmatic language test. Also, he was overdue for a visit to a neurologist, so we made an appt. and I had her report during the IEP which again highlighted his deficits. During the first kindergarten IEP meeting, the team discussed his services, but because of time restraints, we were unable to come to an agreement. Before the second K IEP meeting, the director of special services did internet research on hyperlexia (what do you think about that? I was impressed), and much of our differences were ironed out before the meeting convened.If you are willing to discuss (either publicly or privately), what tests were done during the MFE? Do you have private evaluations to bring to the IEP meeting? What did these evaluations/tests show? Sometimes, if high functioning children are given only the standard language tests (for example, CELF-Preschool), the team won't have a clear picture of the child's level of functioning and an administrator, who doesn't know the child and sees only the test results, won't want to allocate ever diminishing resources to a child who seems to have caught up with his peers. Maybe I could give you the names of some tests that could help the team evaluate your son's abilities better.Marotta>From: Biehl <angelabiehl@...>>Reply- > >Subject: Re: [ ] My introduction>Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 06:51:20 -0700 (PDT)>>Hi , I live about 10 min away from Lakewood. If you think this >person would be interested in helping Dylan that would be great could you >call? Thanks>Is your son in Kindergarden? We are getting ready for that this year >Gearing up to write another IEP. I don't know about you but we are having >alittle trouble getting services from our school because Dylan is so High >Functioning. ( as they say) . Any input how to get thru this transition is >greatly apprecated. >>The Marotta Family <marottafamily@...> wrote:>Welcome, ! I'm glad you found us! You are among friends! My son is >6 years old, but he wasn't diagnosed until age 3, so we probably got the >diagnosis at the same time as your family. Those few weeks after the >diagnosis were very rough for me, but reading your email reminds me of how >far my son has come these last 3 years. I am very proud of all his hard >work and he has taught me a thing or two!! . I look forward to getting to >know you better and sharing our experiences!>> Marotta>>P.S. One of my son's SLPs moved to Lakewood. Do you live near there? I >don't know if she is currently working with children with autism or not, >but I think I could contact her and ask if you are interested.>----- Original Message ----->From: Biehl> >Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:22 PM>Subject: [ ] My introduction>>>Hi My name is . I have a 5 year old (as of this May) son with PDD_NOS >We live in Cuyahoga County by Hopkins Airport. When we found out our son >was Autisic when he was 2 and we thought all our dreams for him were down >the drain, (as I am sure many of us did) But with all we have accomplished >so far I think his future looks very bright. I want to thank you for >starting this group. We all need someone who gets what we are all going >through. We are still dealing with potting training issues and if anyone >has any suggestions I would be glad to hear what you have to say. Dylan >talks (alot) but what he has to say doesn't always make sense to us. He >doesn't always stay on topic and pronouns we are still working on those >pronouns. We are looking for a speech theropist in our area. Well thanks >again for the group look foward to meeting families like ours.