Re: MIddle school placement

May 8, 2001

Joan,

I understand where of you speak! started school at age 3 in a

self-contained class. By the time he was 5, I was advocating for inclusion

for him. Although his " home " class was self-contained, he was pulled out to

participate in a Kindergarten class for a good part of the day by the time he

was 6. I had talked to the general ed Kindergarten teacher prior to the IEP

to see what her attitude was and I was happy to see that she was extremely

receptive. The kids in her class were terrific...I did an mini inservice for

them about before he started participating and they were absolutely

accepting! I was SO encouraged! (I have to add that came into

that class with a 1:1 aide which helped the teacher considerably) Within a

few months, it became painfully obvious that it was not going to work

long-term because the Principal of the school was NOT in favor of inclusion

and refused to provide any training or support for her teacher(s) toward that

endeavor. By the end of the first semester, I pulled out of the

general ed class because I thought it was detrimental to his learning

process. To say that I was angry, disillusioned, etc is an understatement.

I have learned over the years that, in a perfect world, all of our children

would be " fully included " in the general ed population and that everyone,

especially educators, would understand that our kids ARE part of the

" regular " population and have a right to participate in their home

communities. Unfortunately, this is NOT a perfect world and there are still

those [ignorant] educators and others who see our kids as " set apart " from

the mainstream forever and always. A school superintendent locally was even

overheard saying " what CAN these kids learn anyway? " I think more to the

point would be what can HE learn! Anyway, I climbed up on this soapbox to

agree with you that, practically speaking, it just isn't always the best

thing for the kid to be " fully included " in a class particularly when

educators don't have the support or the training that they need to be sure

that the kid will succeed. Sometimes coming to that realization and making

that decision can be the hardest thing of all!

Terry

May 8, 2001

Dear Judy,

Thanks for sharing your placement issues with all of us. I'm not at that

stage yet but know the middle school issue will be huge for me.I am a big

advocate of inclusion for my child but I do realize that there is a trade

off. I pray this placement will be a huge success for Andy.

Charlyne

May 8, 2001

Joan,

I think you are doing a wonderful job of finding the best education you

can for Andy. You analyzed the situation and gave the decision a lot of

informed thoughtful consideration. You know what he needs as his mother and I

certainly hope people could understand that and not judge you.

I have experienced a certain amount of that type of judging, mainly when

Brook was little and wasn't doing well. Some people actually thought it was

because I wasn't working hard enough with him. I hope things turn out well

for Andy and congratulations on Andy serving as the prototype for this

program. I'm glad you are feeling much better and hopeful about his

placement. Please let us know how it goes.

Marisa,

Mom to Miles 14, Brook 11, and Genevieve 3 yrs

May 8, 2001

At 01:46 PM 5/8/01 EDT, you wrote:

> I think you are doing a wonderful job of finding the best education you

>can for Andy. You analyzed the situation and gave the decision a lot of

>informed thoughtful consideration. You know what he needs as his mother

and I

>certainly hope people could understand that and not judge you.

Hi all:

I just want to thank everyone for the nice notes I'm getting regarding my

decisions. Thanks. It's been a long, long decision.

I guess I want to clarify something....most people who know me as an

individual--a real person--and know a little about Andy don't think twice

about decisions we make. They ask to questions to understand because they

know, as you all do, that I've been seeking the best options.

What always *always* gets me, is when I'm traveling. Assumptions are made

about a) what my child might be like, and what I would advocate for

based on the work I do and the public image they want for me. It's *that*

aspect I find difficult. I remember my first year exhibiting...the horror I

felt listening to some parents standing near my exhibit table discussing a

board member's child...they thought that this person should have a much

better behaved child and proceeded to make all sorts of judgements on very

little information. It was at that moment that I made the decision that

Andy will **never** come to a DS convention with me (unless it's for

ds/autism only!). I know *I* have a tough time developing a thick enough

skin to handle it...I will *not*subject my son to that sort of atmosphere.

Not everyone is like that, mind you. And yes, I suppose that I shold be

more prepared for judgement. But I'm simply not. I do what I do because I

like it, because I like doing good, and because I can. It's that simple. I

often wish I could get the same thing done without the attention--which is

what my buisness partner does! But...I *love* meeting families and the

kids and young adults. So, in the end, that outweighs the negatives.

anyway.....

Thanks guys. It's nice to have understanding and support. And great to

vent!

back to work.....

j

May 8, 2001

Joan...I used to be nick named the Inclusion Lady in our district...I fought

hard for it and was many times not very popular...it was also hard for me to

" compromise " fearing that I had failed or would look bad in the eyes of

others. Amy and Sara missed horribly being around kids like them...they

wanted down syndrome friends...how dare they when I tried to always have them

included with " normal role models " . We only have disabled kids in our home

so I thought it was all the more important for them to be with non-disabled

kids. We only have SH classes at a few schools so when they moved out of a

self contained class it used turned out that we ended up in a school where

they were the only kids with disabilities in the whole school. It occurred

to me one day that inclusion for them is a lot like a ten year old being sent

to college..yes there would be a lot of opportunities and challenges but the

stress to " keep up " would be unimaginable. From then on I try and be more

balanced...Life is not as black and white as we would like it...it is also

not error free...for either side.

Sounds like you have put a lot of work into finding the best class for your

son...living skills are extremely important...I have never understood why

they want to teach " either one or the other " . I know a lot of " normal kids "

who could use some living skills training.

Judy

May 8, 2001

Hi Joan,

I'm really glad you wrote about this. Since my

is the same age as your Andy I will be dealing with

middle school soon too, but not until the year after

next. was kept back a year. But I'm already

worried. I'm concerned about something completely

different however. The school that would be

attending is a huge middle school, about 1400 kids. My

older son, Chad, went there for half a year until he

couldn't handle it anymore and I pulled him out to

homeschool him. His problem was the bullying of the

other kids. Now, I don't think that Chad was even one

of their main targets. His only weakness was that he

was physically smaller than a lot of the other boys.

When I realized this and after he begged me for a long

time I decided to homeschool which turns out to really

be the thing for him for lots of other reasons too.

Anyway, what I'm concerned about is the same thing for

. has a lot more to make fun of and bully

than Chad did and he is definitely a lot smaller. I

can't bear to think that kids might be mean to him

like that. will do anything to make people

laugh and I can imagine all sorts of bad scenarios in

line with that. I'm thinking I'd rather have at

a school that is just for the disabled but I don't

know. Does anybody have any ideas or experience with

this? I'd love to read anything anybody has to write.

Thanks,

Mom to 12

--- Joan <jmedlen@...> wrote:

> Hi all:

>

> As most of you know, I've been laboring over

> decisions about Andy's

> placement next year. He's moving on to Middle

> School, and there have been

> some definite weaknesses in his inclusion that will

> have a poor outcome in

> the long haul for Andy.

>

> One of the things I read a while back in an ASA

> newsletter (the same issue

> with the comparison chart for " treatments " ) pointed

> out that inclusion,

> unless done very well, can lead to a lack of skills

> training that kids wiht

> autism need. I believe this--for any child. I have

> to remind myself that my

> priority in an inclusive placement was for Andy to

> learn spontaneous

> communicative intent and to be comfortable in a

> " normal situation. " He was

> languishing in the sterility of a life skills room

> and they were missing

> his subtle way of saying " no, thank you " and

> attributing it to his

> inability to make a choice.

>

> What I didn't expect was the loss of some basic

> skills like using a

> utensil. I didn't think to ask the staff in the life

> skills room to teach

> me how they taught him. I thought staff would know

> how to maintain a skill,

> which we did over the first summer, and how to

> support it at school. I was

> wrong on that one! So he eats with a spoon *rarely.*

> It's very

> frustrating. I thought they'd know how to encourage

> him to use a pen or

> crayon. Nope. I thought they'd know how to teach him

> to use scissors. Nope.

> amazing the things support staff outside of

> " lifeskills " don't know.

>

> I also thought by the end of three years the special

> education teacher

> would be able to make some icons in boardmaker for

> curricular adaptation

> instead of calling me to help her almost every time.

> She now has a 1/2 time

> EA in her room just to help her make things and do

> things for Andy and

> other kids (which I think is excessive and a waste

> of time, but she whined

> about having 27 kids on her caseload--but she

> doesn't have specialized

> instruction for each one?). She does have a big

> heart, though. And *all*

> the teachers have been pretty good about being

> accommodating and willing.

> The training just isn't there for inclusion to be

> effective/efficient.

>

> But, Andy has met the minimum desired goals--along

> with his regressions.

>

> So for next year, his home middle school (d1/2 mile

> down the street) won't

> work. All the kids there are " harvard bound. " ;P

> Seriously, I would be

> dealing with a greater problem than I have had at

> his grade school just

> because of attitude. The support would be equally

> weak, blah blah blah.

>

> Our Special Education Director has set up a

> classroom at a middle school

> across the river (but not that far away considering

> the size of the city)

> that is called an " Intensive Visual Strategies

> Clasroom. " FAncy name for

> " kids with autism class. " I've been talking withher

> about it since December

> when I chatted with Villa. He was the one

> who really helped me

> categorize the problems with Andy's inclusion--the

> lack of skills training

> (yes, this can be done in an inclusive environment,

> which is his stand, but

> folks have to want to learn how...). Anyway. I've

> been very hesitant about

> the room for a number of reasons. Primarily, I don't

> want Andy to loose the

> skills he has in the " real world. " He can be around

> groups of people, we

> can cope with it with some talking, etc. I need to

> slow down a little, but

> that's another story.

>

> But after spending some time with the person setting

> up the room and having

> her see Andy, I'm feeling much better. Basically,

> Andy will have a blended

> placement: he'll get the skills training with the

> Visual strategies group

> (who will also set up a number of his systems and

> provide his assistant),

> and he'll be a part of a block 6th grade classroom

> and maybe some

> art/Music stuff too. So, by the end of Middle

> school, the visual

> strategies classroom is just a touch stone for him

> to get pre-teaching and

> skills introduced that he will take out to his other

> classes.

>

> Andy is going to serve as the prototype for this in

> this program. We want

> to document all the supports and successes and

> challenges and determine how

> to get each child in that classroom out for at least

> a part of the day

> successfully. It doesn't work for them to only be

> able to function with 6

> people in the area. There are more people than that

> in Oregon.

>

> I am hopeful and excited about the prospects of

> making htis work. I am

> hopeful for Andy's continued skill acquisition, and

> excited that he can

> pave the way for other kids iwth autism. The program

> coordinator was so

> impressed with the example the kids in Andy's class.

> For instance, he

> needed to twirl, so he got up out of his chair to

> twirl, and not one child

> noticed, proving that even twirling is not hindering

> the education of other

> children if they truly accept it as a part of

> everyday life. She was amazed

> (not htat she didn't believe in it, but that it was

> so blatantly good that

> way).

>

> I think Andy will get all the accommodations he

> needs. The program director

> has the same values I do for how to handle

> situations. That " behavior "

> communicates something and we need to always always

> understand what that is.

>

> It's gogni to be hard to be around some folks this

> summer at teh

> conferences for me. Some folks have a very hard time

> understanding *any*

> self-contained placement and would see our move out

> of general ed inclusion

> as a failure to advocate. While I'm convident in my

> decisions, I don't

> really want to be evaluated and judged. I believe

> that each of us...whether

> our kids have autism or not, and even for our kdis

> with out disabilities,

> have to make our own decisions that we can live

> with. If done thoughtfully,

> and if given the freedom to have *real* input into

> education, we will

> choose for our kids every time. As a friend and

> fellow advocate of other

> families, I see my role as supporting families and

> reassuring them they are

> doing the best they can by their child rather than

> questioning decisions

> they are happy with. If they're unhappy with the

> decisions then it's time

> to help them seek a change.

>

> Anyway.

>

> This is the book of Andy's placement as of today. It

> could end horribly, or

> it could end wonderfully. That part is yet to be

> written. The process,

> anway, has not been too bad.

>

> j

>

__________________________________________________

May 8, 2001

In a message dated 5/8/01 11:57:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

jmedlen@... writes:

<<

This is the book of Andy's placement as of today. It could end horribly, or

it could end wonderfully. That part is yet to be written. The process,

anway, has not been too bad.

j >>

(((((HUGS))))) Joan. You surly are a true advocate for your child. It must

be a killer to want inclusion so badly for your child, to defend it, fight

for it and to try to make it work. And then to have to accept a contained

classroom as the best placement for him. But, that is what we are all about.

Finding the best placement for our own child, no matter what it be. I think

we all know there is no *ideal* setting to be found, so we all choose the

lesser of all the evils. It's certainly not your fault that there are so

many uneducated educators! May we all work as hard, care as much and be as

proficient as you in finding the right placement for our children this fall.

Gail

May 9, 2001

im sorry i dont know for sure how to handle that, our

school is different, BIG but a little different. The

elementary is k-2, and then another building of upper

elementary is 3-6, and then a separate junior high

building 7-8, and then a separate highschool building

too, 9-12, not this fall but next fall they are moving

the pre-k over to lower elementary so it will be

prek-1 and the upper elementary 2-5 or 6th i think

will find out next year i guess. It wont really affect

us anyways, because nathan is allready at upper

elelmentary and nicholas will be next year anyways,And

we are just starting the classic or closed classroom

for the first time hopefully this fall after freat

demand from the parents of disabled children, but only

for the upper elementary, where our kids are really

falling behind, im sure they are keeping elementary

completely integrated and as for high school many of

the kids are separated here anyways, nathan will

probably spend lots of his time in a resource type of

class, besides a few elelctives, as the regular kids

choose their classes to thier liking often separating

themselves too. shawna.

--- Vaughan <mmgraybill@...> wrote:

> Hi Joan,

> I'm really glad you wrote about this. Since my

>

> is the same age as your Andy I will be dealing with

> middle school soon too, but not until the year after

> next. was kept back a year. But I'm already

> worried. I'm concerned about something completely

> different however. The school that would be

> attending is a huge middle school, about 1400 kids.

> My

> older son, Chad, went there for half a year until he

> couldn't handle it anymore and I pulled him out to

> homeschool him. His problem was the bullying of the

> other kids. Now, I don't think that Chad was even

> one

> of their main targets. His only weakness was that he

> was physically smaller than a lot of the other boys.

> When I realized this and after he begged me for a

> long

> time I decided to homeschool which turns out to

> really

> be the thing for him for lots of other reasons too.

> Anyway, what I'm concerned about is the same thing

> for

> . has a lot more to make fun of and

> bully

> than Chad did and he is definitely a lot smaller. I

> can't bear to think that kids might be mean to him

> like that. will do anything to make people

> laugh and I can imagine all sorts of bad scenarios

> in

> line with that. I'm thinking I'd rather have

> at

> a school that is just for the disabled but I don't

> know. Does anybody have any ideas or experience with

> this? I'd love to read anything anybody has to

> write.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Mom to 12

>

> --- Joan <jmedlen@...> wrote:

> > Hi all:

> >

> > As most of you know, I've been laboring over

> > decisions about Andy's

> > placement next year. He's moving on to Middle

> > School, and there have been

> > some definite weaknesses in his inclusion that

> will

> > have a poor outcome in

> > the long haul for Andy.

> >

> > One of the things I read a while back in an ASA

> > newsletter (the same issue

> > with the comparison chart for " treatments " )

> pointed

> > out that inclusion,

> > unless done very well, can lead to a lack of

> skills

> > training that kids wiht

> > autism need. I believe this--for any child. I have

> > to remind myself that my

> > priority in an inclusive placement was for Andy to

> > learn spontaneous

> > communicative intent and to be comfortable in a

> > " normal situation. " He was

> > languishing in the sterility of a life skills room

> > and they were missing

> > his subtle way of saying " no, thank you " and

> > attributing it to his

> > inability to make a choice.

> >

> > What I didn't expect was the loss of some basic

> > skills like using a

> > utensil. I didn't think to ask the staff in the

> life

> > skills room to teach

> > me how they taught him. I thought staff would know

> > how to maintain a skill,

> > which we did over the first summer, and how to

> > support it at school. I was

> > wrong on that one! So he eats with a spoon

> *rarely.*

> > It's very

> > frustrating. I thought they'd know how to

> encourage

> > him to use a pen or

> > crayon. Nope. I thought they'd know how to teach

> him

> > to use scissors. Nope.

> > amazing the things support staff outside of

> > " lifeskills " don't know.

> >

> > I also thought by the end of three years the

> special

> > education teacher

> > would be able to make some icons in boardmaker for

> > curricular adaptation

> > instead of calling me to help her almost every

> time.

> > She now has a 1/2 time

> > EA in her room just to help her make things and do

> > things for Andy and

> > other kids (which I think is excessive and a waste

> > of time, but she whined

> > about having 27 kids on her caseload--but she

> > doesn't have specialized

> > instruction for each one?). She does have a big

> > heart, though. And *all*

> > the teachers have been pretty good about being

> > accommodating and willing.

> > The training just isn't there for inclusion to be

> > effective/efficient.

> >

> > But, Andy has met the minimum desired goals--along

> > with his regressions.

> >

> > So for next year, his home middle school (d1/2

> mile

> > down the street) won't

> > work. All the kids there are " harvard bound. " ;P

> > Seriously, I would be

> > dealing with a greater problem than I have had at

> > his grade school just

> > because of attitude. The support would be equally

> > weak, blah blah blah.

> >

> > Our Special Education Director has set up a

> > classroom at a middle school

> > across the river (but not that far away

> considering

> > the size of the city)

> > that is called an " Intensive Visual Strategies

> > Clasroom. " FAncy name for

> > " kids with autism class. " I've been talking

> withher

> > about it since December

> > when I chatted with Villa. He was the one

> > who really helped me

> > categorize the problems with Andy's inclusion--the

> > lack of skills training

> > (yes, this can be done in an inclusive

> environment,

> > which is his stand, but

> > folks have to want to learn how...). Anyway. I've

> > been very hesitant about

> > the room for a number of reasons. Primarily, I

> don't

> > want Andy to loose the

> > skills he has in the " real world. " He can be

> around

> > groups of people, we

> > can cope with it with some talking, etc. I need to

> > slow down a little, but

> > that's another story.

> >

> > But after spending some time with the person

> setting

> > up the room and having

> > her see Andy, I'm feeling much better. Basically,

> > Andy will have a blended

> > placement: he'll get the skills training with the

> > Visual strategies group

> > (who will also set up a number of his systems and

> > provide his assistant),

> > and he'll be a part of a block 6th grade classroom

>

> > and maybe some

> > art/Music stuff too. So, by the end of Middle

> > school, the visual

> > strategies classroom is just a touch stone for him

> > to get pre-teaching and

> > skills introduced that he will take out to his

> other

> > classes.

> >

> > Andy is going to serve as the prototype for this

> in

> > this program. We want

> > to document all the supports and successes and

> > challenges and determine how

> > to get each child in that classroom out for at

> least

> > a part of the day

> > successfully. It doesn't work for them to only be

> > able to function with 6

> > people in the area. There are more people than

> that

> > in Oregon.

> >

> > I am hopeful and excited about the prospects of

> > making htis work. I am

> > hopeful for Andy's continued skill acquisition,

> and

> > excited that he can

> > pave the way for other kids iwth autism. The

> program

> > coordinator was so

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________________________

May 9, 2001

People planning far ahead for middleschool certainly have the right idea.

My thought: if inclusion is t he answer for your child, look for he

smallest middle school you can find. Even if that is not the neighborhood

school. Of course I would pick that option (and did) for my typical kids. I

think large schools are anti-education as the managing of the city makes

learning secondary.

Sara

_________________________________________________________________

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

May 10, 2001

.. I

> think large schools are anti-education as the managing of the city

> makes

> learning secondary.

>

> Sara

Sara,

How right you are. The elementary school that Matt is in right now has

1000 kids K-5. On all the paperwork that they send home about planning

for next year, class makeup, etc... it is stressed that the needs of the

group-the class and the school in general, must be considered before any

individual " preferences " can be considered. They say the try to balance

each class and each teacher with equal numbers of: male/female, top

learners/ strugglers, leaders/followers, children with disabilities

(spread so that no one teacher gets " too many " ) and children who dont'

get along are separated. THEN, if they can honor a request, they will

try. Also, throw into this mix, the fact that they are a year round

school, and they must decide tracks for each child, which can and do

change from year to year.

When Matt was in smaller schools, the emphasis was on education and the

individual child, not managing the masses!

________________________________________________________________

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May 10, 2001

Joan,

I'm 3 days behind in posts, but I wanted to thank you for sharing your

" book " on Andy's placement. So much of what you said hit home to me as we

are in the process of trying to decide where should go for High

School. I have a professional advocate helping us work through the process

and a psychologist who has agreed to " fast - track " the autism testing so

that we can have a dx or at least a detailed report about the autistic

tendencies to share with the school. It's a stressful process and very

emotional but so much easier having this group of people to share with.

made her Confirmation last Sunday. We were so proud of her.

The Bishop was very kind. Some children have to fight to be included in the

Sacraments. There are priests & Bishops who believe the children should

" understand " what is going on before they can receive a Sacrament.

Fortunately, we didn't have that battle to fight.

Thanks for everything you are doing for all of us, Joan. I certainly

hope you don't get any " flack " from the inclusionists for your decision for

Andy. If they think it's due to lack of advocating, they don't know you

very well. You are one of the best examples of a true advocate that I have

known - and not just for your own son, but for ALL children! Thanks again.

May 12, 2005

what is an ABA and IEP? We are new to this and just in the learning phase. We are considering adopting two boys, one a 6 year old diagnosed with Aspergers. We would appreciate any information you can give us. Perhaps you know of books we should be reading as well. Thanks for all your help now and in the future.

May 12, 2005

Have you had an IEP?

Middle School Placement

Does anyone know what a middle school placement should look like or know of any books I can read regarding eudcation.

My son is high functioning and I can see great potential in him if he gets what he needs.

I do some things privately (social skills, speech and occupational therapy) because the school district has no trained staff nor therapists. He gets the bare minimum--sounds like a class action suit??

I'm also going to start a home program for him after school. He is 10 already!! and has not had ABA as you know it.

Chelly

May 13, 2005

IEP is an Individualized Education Plan, It's Special Ed coding. Really, essential to any of these kids in public school. To learn more www.wrightslaw.com

Re: Middle School Placement

what is an ABA and IEP? We are new to this and just in the learning phase. We are considering adopting two boys, one a 6 year old diagnosed with Aspergers. We would appreciate any information you can give us. Perhaps you know of books we should be reading as well. Thanks for all your help now and in the future.

May 13, 2005

Hi, ,

I am new at this, too. My first book on it has been super helpful: Facing Autism by Lynn Hamilton. It is recommended by Bernard Rimland who is the founder and director of the Autism Research Institute. It is in paperback for $14.99. Dr. Rimland calls it a must-read guidebook, written in a clear and engaging style.

I was at the bookstore trying to decide which book to buy. This one had a sensory issues section that caught my attention, because it is very relevant to aspergers. I think the autism areas of the book are helpful as well.

It explains ABA and IEP and many other things. It gives practical help on foods that can help and/or work against a child on the autism spectrum. It is very user friendly and gives encouragement along the way. She gives lots of websites and other resources. She also explains how certain vitamin and mineral supplements help and in what ways. It tells you what is out there and gives an over-all understanding including theories of causes.

ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) has changed over the years. It used to not be a gentle process, but it is now. "ABA covers more than behavior. . .targets development in many areas of skill such as decreasing tantrums, social, self-help, and academic." pg. 83 The author's son learned how to speak and interact using ABA.

This has been a good handbook for me even though it is not written as a handbook. I highlighted key parts that I will need to refer to again and again as we progress through this.

Good luck!

Gayle

Re: Middle School Placement

what is an ABA and IEP? We are new to this and just in the learning phase. We are considering adopting two boys, one a 6 year old diagnosed with Aspergers. We would appreciate any information you can give us. Perhaps you know of books we should be reading as well. Thanks for all your help now and in the future.

May 13, 2005

Regarding IEP meeting. My son will be going to the 6th grade this year and I'd like to see what's available now. I may have to get a lawyer for private placement if public placements are inadequate like the ones are now in elementary school. No one has expertise in autism and I take him privately for therapies (speech/O/T/social skills)

A. Hawkins"Our kids do come with instructions, we just have to learn how to read them properly"- M. Batts

May 13, 2005

,

My son is going into 6th this year too and what they are doing is bringing in the IEP staff from the Middle School for his next IEP meeting. My son has Private OT, school and private social skills training and no longer requires much speech. I have already been told that my son will have an aid next year.

Re: Middle School Placement

Regarding IEP meeting. My son will be going to the 6th grade this year and I'd like to see what's available now. I may have to get a lawyer for private placement if public placements are inadequate like the ones are now in elementary school. No one has expertise in autism and I take him privately for therapies (speech/O/T/social skills)

A. Hawkins"Our kids do come with instructions, we just have to learn how to read them properly"- M. Batts

May 17, 2005

My son does have an IEP and he is high functioning. It's obvious he has autism. He has a lot of sensory issues and I am in the process of getting someone who does home programs to help me with strategies to distinguish, minimize or replace the behaviors. Anyone had luck with this?

My question about middle school placement is wondering what you look for in a middle school program. They are getting older and needs are changing and you need to start looking at what type of career they will have. Social skills are now more important than ever.

The more I think about what he needs, I'm answering some of my own questions.

Does anyone have social skills groups in their school? Maybe I need to ask for one and also to get him included in aftercare program at the school since they already know him there and are accepting of his differences. They gave his teacher some excuse why the aftercare program would not be a good fit for him but I'm going to the principal because she said come to her with your concerns first. The last time I had a problem I emailed the superintendent.

Don't remember if I mentioned he is in a self-contained autism classroom of 3 students in a small elementary school in the community.

A. Hawkins"Our kids do come with instructions, we just have to learn how to read them properly"- M. Batts

May 17, 2005

From: autismindc1@...

Date: Tue May 17 05:47:28 CDT 2005

Autism and Aspergers Treatment

Subject: Re: Middle School Placement

My son does have an IEP and he is high functioning.? It's obvious he has

autism.? He has a lot of sensory issues and I am in the process of getting

someone who does home programs to help me with strategies to distinguish,

minimize or replace?the behaviors. Anyone had luck with this??My question about

middle school placement is wondering what you look for in a middle school

program.? They are getting older and needs are changing and you need to start

looking at what type of career they will have.? Social skills are now more

important than ever.?The more I think about what he needs, I'm answering some of

my own questions.?Does anyone have social skills groups in their school?? Maybe

I need to ask for one and also to get him included in aftercare program at the

school since they already know him there and are accepting of his differences.?

They gave his teacher some excuse why the aftercare program would not be a good

fit for him but I'm going to the principal because she said come to her with

your concerns first. The last time I had a problem?I emailed the

superintendent.?Don't remember if I mentioned he is in a self-contained autism

classroom?of 3 students in?a small elementary school in the community.?

A. Hawkins

" Our kids do come with instructions, <BR>we just have to learn how to read them

properly "

- M. Batts

May 17, 2005

When my son started Middle School, our team started focusing on

giving my son more independence. He is in 7th now. He was not

successful in mainstream Middle School. There was no appropriate

publilc school option for him, so he goes to non-public school at

district expense. It is the best thing that ever happenned.

At his current placement, the teachers have the appropriate training

and support. His IEP is intergrated - meaning what he learns in

individual or group session is incorporated in the classroom. He has

made TREMENDOUS growth in this placement.

In elementary school, my son was in regular education classes with

modifications from a 504 plan - didn't qualify for an IEP. Did not

have an aide - needed one, but couldn't get one when he was on a 504

plan. At the end of 5th (in April), he qualified for an IEP.

In middle school, they tried to give him aide. It didn't work. It

just made him more of target for bullying and teasing. My son didn't

understand why he needed an aide, when he never had one before. He

was still have elopement and meltdowns/rages with the aide. I had IEP

goals that were written so that he would not need as much prompting

and had hard time justifying how the aide would help accomplish this

goal.

It was clear to me by end of September that he was not in the

appropriate placement. I accepted the aide, but just gave the SD

enough rope to hang them selves, so placement would need to reviewed

again. It took me until January to find the approapriate placmement

and convince the SD that it was appropriate, too.

Educational goals and placement have to be based on the individual to

be successful.

> My son does have an IEP and he is high functioning. It's obvious

he has

> autism. He has a lot of sensory issues and I am in the process of

getting someone

> who does home programs to help me with strategies to distinguish,

minimize or

> replace the behaviors. Anyone had luck with this?

>

> My question about middle school placement is wondering what you

look for in a

> middle school program. They are getting older and needs are

changing and you

> need to start looking at what type of career they will have.

Social skills

> are now more important than ever.

>

> The more I think about what he needs, I'm answering some of my own

questions.

>

> Does anyone have social skills groups in their school? Maybe I

need to ask

> for one and also to get him included in aftercare program at the

school since

> they already know him there and are accepting of his differences.

They gave

> his teacher some excuse why the aftercare program would not be a

good fit for

> him but I'm going to the principal because she said come to her

with your

> concerns first. The last time I had a problem I emailed the

superintendent.

>

> Don't remember if I mentioned he is in a self-contained autism

classroom of 3

> students in a small elementary school in the community.

>

> A. Hawkins

> " Our kids do come with instructions,

> we just have to learn how to read them properly "

> - M. Batts

May 18, 2005

My son is in a social skills group that I take him to privately thru my insurance w/psychologist as facilitator. The other 2 children are totally verbal. My son is verbal but language is constantly emerging. I also take him for speech and O/T outside the school because I'm not sure the "therapists" at school have appropriate experience or knowledge about autism and working with my son.

At his IEP meeting in June I will ask for placement in the afterschool program so he gets interaction with typically developing peers. They gave teacher some lame excuse why he could not participate. Any ideas on how to word "socialization opportunities" in his IEP?

Chelly

May 18, 2005

Call it just that. " A socializing oppurtunity". Dont let them tell you no........ they love it when people give in easily.autismindc1@... wrote:

My son is in a social skills group that I take him to privately thru my insurance w/psychologist as facilitator. The other 2 children are totally verbal. My son is verbal but language is constantly emerging. I also take him for speech and O/T outside the school because I'm not sure the "therapists" at school have appropriate experience or knowledge about autism and working with my son.

At his IEP meeting in June I will ask for placement in the afterschool program so he gets interaction with typically developing peers. They gave teacher some lame excuse why he could not participate. Any ideas on how to word "socialization opportunities" in his IEP?

Chelly

Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour

May 18, 2005

From: M Strahlendorf <pgnsht@...>

Date: Wed May 18 09:03:46 CDT 2005

Autism and Aspergers Treatment

Subject: Re: Re: Middle School Placement

Call it just that. " A socializing oppurtunity " . Dont let them tell you

no........ they love it when people give in easily.

autismindc1@... wrote:My son is in a social skills group that I take him to

privately thru my insurance w/psychologist as facilitator.??The other 2?children

are totally verbal.? My son is verbal but language is constantly emerging. I

also take him for speech and O/T outside the school because I'm not sure the

" therapists " at school have appropriate experience or knowledge about autism and

working with my son.?At his IEP meeting in June I will ask for placement in the

afterschool program so he gets interaction with typically developing peers.?

They gave teacher some lame excuse why he could not participate.? Any ideas on

how to word " socialization opportunities " in his IEP??Chelly?

Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour

May 18, 2005