Re: Fwd: Psychological Evaluations

[Guest guest]

First I would look for an advocate and a doctor that will help you fight for your son. To be honest - fifth grade is a BIG jump for any kid; at least in our school district it is. The homework gets more involved, the reading passages get longer and harder, they expect more from their writing, etc. I know even my boys that aren't autistic, we had little issues with trying to get them to put in the extra work. Add that to a child with autism - it becomes a nightmare. I know both of my girls, we have their IEP's where the work is adjusted. My oldest daughter is in a Life Skills Classroom - they still teach the academics to her, but they only push to a level that they know she can understand. Even though the work was easier, as she

neared puberty her wanting to do "work" lessened (just like any other normal teen) and her behaviors went from her walking out of class to throwing herself to the floor screaming and crying to even hitting the staff. My other daughter is also delayed, but again we have in her IEP where we adjust her curriculum to fit her (lower math grade, dyslexia reading program, longer time to complete work, tests in a library or quiet room, etc.) To help my youngest daughter because she was mainstreamed also, we brought her home and cyber school her. Even now when she takes the PSSA's we have where she does it by herself so she can read it out loud to herself and no one is there to stress her (she has high anxiety which is common with autistic kids). Even being at home as the work gets harder, we still see her trying to avoid the work she doesn't want to do - bathroom, drinks, etc. The school needs to learn to work with this - sometimes

our kiddos don't get the full understanding of cause and effect so we have to help in this area . . . but make it positive. I also cyberschool our youngest who is not autistic and he still does not want to work either:) But I give rewards for when their work is completed - Destiny's is just more frequent. We also added sensory breaks for her - plus she can do her work in a swing in our house. I know some of that can't be done at school (swing part), but maybe they could come up with some other ideas to make your son feel secure and calm while he works.To me your son's behavior is typical of most kids - they all procrastinate and don't want to work:) There are a few exceptions - my oldest is very driven and motivated. It just made it a little more difficult when my other kids came along and I realized it was his personality and not me being this great motivational

mom! haha:) I would stick to your guns and look for a doctor that knows autism and be willing to work with you; you will probably need an advocate to help with the IEP; most schools don't like to make it individualized - too much work on their part. We had to fight for Destiny's - but we moved her to cyberschool because the teacher would draw attention to the fact that she had to leave . . . thus embarrassing her:( I wish you luck.Rhonda From: Debra Donatto

<debra.donatto@...> autism Sent: Monday, January 9, 2012 9:43 AM Subject: Fwd: Psychological Evaluations

Hi everyone.

My son's school just called and told me that they are "recommending"

that I have a psychological evaluation done on him. They feel that he

is presenting behaviors that they "have never seen from all the other

autistic children they have worked with." (We live in North Country NY

and the educators are less than progressive).

They said that they are very concerned about these behaviors as they

are interfering with his ability to learn. The school psychologist

told me that they feel he may have a mood disorder or oppositional

defiance disorder (Oh no! ...the fallback to "we don't want to deal

with this behavior). I asked how knowing if he had dual diagnosis

would effect his educational plan, since the haven't even changed his

behavioral plan, or done a FBA. She really couldn't answer me

clearly.

He is in 5th grade and academically, it had been a challenging year

for him and very stressful. All the behaviors they are dealing with

stem from his anxiety and the fact that he is overwhelmed. He came

into 5th grade not testing at grade level (but they passed him

anyways). To me he is just trying to escape and doesn't like to do the

unrefereed activities. Also, why has he been able to make it to 5th

grade before anyone mentioned this? He

has been mainstreamed since 2nd grade. Also, my school district was

put on the carpet by NYS for not educating ESE children to NYS

standards.

Now, I have never put him on any pharmaceuticals, nor do I want him on

them (since I have heard hundreds of horror stories). MY fear is that

anyone at a psychiatric center who evaluates him will not be

experienced working with autistic children and the behavioral issues

that are part of that diagnosis, and they seem to want to prescribe

immediately...everyone - regardless (like banks giving lollipops to

children). Everything I have read on ODD says that these kids are

spiteful and deliberately defiant. The difference is that he is not

acting out of defiance and he has never done anything malicious or

spiteful. He has a history of looking for escape when he is

overwhelmed.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Debra