Re: Asperger's - communication

December 11, 2011

I am requesting an IEE and have an appointment scheduled with our local expert

in January. I'm just reading over all this stuff...and I apologize if this is a

silly question...

Are the communication issues really obvious in kids with Asperger's or can they

be more subtle? Mine has a great vocabulary and sometimes talks non-stop. I do

get a lot of " I don't know " answers and his IQ came back as average.

Random info: He does like to rough-house with his younger brother (they are 5

and 3) so I assume some of this is " normal " plus my son is a " sensory seeker " so

he's into crashing, bumping, etc. anyway. He tends to do some of this in school

too - they say it might be sensory or it might be attention seeking.

One other thing: He was on 5 MG of Focalin for over a year. In the small class

setting, he was still doing this stuff just had more adult supervision. Was

still on this medication at the start of the school year and it escalated in the

larger classroom. We switched him to clonidine while he was still in the large

Kindy class and we saw positive changes at home but the school did not. He's in

a smaller class setting now too and it's better but not gone. Focalin helps with

focus and clonidine is supposed to help with behavior. Neither one helped him in

his larger Kindergarten class. 10 mg of Focalin caused tics: throat clearing and

eye blinking.

The LSSP keeps telling me that he's too vocal to be on the spectrum. This is

from his FBA though. " He's an extremely social individual who appears to enjoy

initiating interactions with his peers. However, such interactions are rarely

done in an appropriate manner. "

FBA says, " signs or cues from the student that help predict a behavior will

occur: physical agitation/restlessness, failure to respond to verbal directives,

failure to look in the speaker's eyes. "

They said that some days he seems more " organized " than others. Disorganization

" manifests as: extreme physical restlessness, difficulty expressing himself

verbally, failure to comply with directives and increased physical contact with

peers and staff. "

They wrote in the autism eval " socially, R has difficulty interacting

effectively with his peers. He is very responsive to social initiations of

others and tends to be very vocal in these interactions. He has been observed to

show a range of emotions during these interactions and can follow another

person's gaze during the conversation. During interactions he tends to have a

difficult time respecting the personal space of others and utilizing prosocial

communication. In order to facilitate improved peer relationships he generally

requires frequent prompting regarding expectations. "

Under observations: " R has demonstrated the ability to interact appropriately

with other students both verbally and physically when prompting and a review of

expectations is provided. He was observed to take turns during semi-structured

activities he interacted with others appropriately and discontinued tasks when

asked to do so. It is important to note that high levels of adult monitoring

[were] required to assist the child in demonstrating expectations. R was noted

to speak somewhat less frequently than his peers, but when he did initiate

conversations, he did appear effective in communicating needs and wants. "

Teacher Interview: " R's overall communications skills were described as adequate

however some mild concerns were noted regarding his tendency to ignore others

when they speak to him, avoid eye contact and not utilize facial expressions to

provide information related to his internal state. "

Help...lol

December 11, 2011

He was on 5 MG XR...

It's just frustrating to me because he's been in their care since February of

2010 after he was asked to " take a break " from his first preschool. Nothing has

really changed over the past two years except that he's seems to be doing just a

little better overall. He's had no behavioral support, social skills training or

OT services in the school until last month. I took him for ABA therapy and

social skills training two summers ago and he's been doing private OT for two

years too. So, I can see improvement in the SID/SPD stuff but that's about it.

He just can't " hack it " in a larger classroom setting and needs so much adult

supervision, even at home. Medication hasn't really changed anything either so

it just makes me think that something else has to be going on...We couldn't keep

him on the stimulants even if they were helping b/c my son wasn't gaining much

in weight or height.

I thought about asking for an IEE after the FBA too b/c they listed everything

as " attention seeking " but I know more of it has to be sensory related and

" avoidance " - It's funny to me how they ensure everything they list/write fits

the profile they want to use. My ARD is on Tuesday so the IEE request will be

hand delivered. I have an advocate that will be attending with me too. I just

want some unbiased information regarding my son.

Thanks for sharing and I'm sorry that you are having issues with the

school too :-/

>

> > **

> >

> > I am requesting an IEE and have an appointment scheduled with our local

> > expert in January. I'm just reading over all this stuff...and I apologize

> > if this is a silly question...

> >

> > Are the communication issues really obvious in kids with Asperger's or can

> > they be more subtle? Mine has a great vocabulary and sometimes talks

> > non-stop. I do get a lot of " I don't know " answers and his IQ came back as

> > average.

> >

> > Random info: He does like to rough-house with his younger brother (they

> > are 5 and 3) so I assume some of this is " normal " plus my son is a " sensory

> > seeker " so he's into crashing, bumping, etc. anyway. He tends to do some of

> > this in school too - they say it might be sensory or it might be attention

> > seeking.

> >

> > One other thing: He was on 5 MG of Focalin for over a year. In the small

> > class setting, he was still doing this stuff just had more adult

> > supervision. Was still on this medication at the start of the school year

> > and it escalated in the larger classroom. We switched him to clonidine

> > while he was still in the large Kindy class and we saw positive changes at

> > home but the school did not. He's in a smaller class setting now too and

> > it's better but not gone. Focalin helps with focus and clonidine is

> > supposed to help with behavior. Neither one helped him in his larger

> > Kindergarten class. 10 mg of Focalin caused tics: throat clearing and eye

> > blinking.

> >

> > The LSSP keeps telling me that he's too vocal to be on the spectrum. This

> > is from his FBA though. " He's an extremely social individual who appears to

> > enjoy initiating interactions with his peers. However, such interactions

> > are rarely done in an appropriate manner. "

> >

> > FBA says, " signs or cues from the student that help predict a behavior

> > will occur: physical agitation/restlessness, failure to respond to verbal

> > directives, failure to look in the speaker's eyes. "

> >

> > They said that some days he seems more " organized " than others.

> > Disorganization " manifests as: extreme physical restlessness, difficulty

> > expressing himself verbally, failure to comply with directives and

> > increased physical contact with peers and staff. "

> >

> > They wrote in the autism eval " socially, R has difficulty interacting

> > effectively with his peers. He is very responsive to social initiations of

> > others and tends to be very vocal in these interactions. He has been

> > observed to show a range of emotions during these interactions and can

> > follow another person's gaze during the conversation. During interactions

> > he tends to have a difficult time respecting the personal space of others

> > and utilizing prosocial communication. In order to facilitate improved peer

> > relationships he generally requires frequent prompting regarding

> > expectations. "

> >

> > Under observations: " R has demonstrated the ability to interact

> > appropriately with other students both verbally and physically when

> > prompting and a review of expectations is provided. He was observed to take

> > turns during semi-structured activities he interacted with others

> > appropriately and discontinued tasks when asked to do so. It is important

> > to note that high levels of adult monitoring [were] required to assist the

> > child in demonstrating expectations. R was noted to speak somewhat less

> > frequently than his peers, but when he did initiate conversations, he did

> > appear effective in communicating needs and wants. "

> >

> > Teacher Interview: " R's overall communications skills were described as

> > adequate however some mild concerns were noted regarding his tendency to

> > ignore others when they speak to him, avoid eye contact and not utilize

> > facial expressions to provide information related to his internal state. "

> >

> > Help...lol

> >

>

December 11, 2011

Oh, , I'm so sorry to hear about the difficulties you and your son

experienced. Thank you for validating my concerns and for sharing your story.

From what I just read below, it sounds like you did what you could with the

information you had a the time. That's all any of us can do...How are you both

doing now? Thinking of you...and thanks again for your support. :-)

> >

> > > **

> > >

> > > I am requesting an IEE and have an appointment scheduled with our local

> > > expert in January. I'm just reading over all this stuff...and I apologize

> > > if this is a silly question...

> > >

> > > Are the communication issues really obvious in kids with Asperger's or can

> > > they be more subtle? Mine has a great vocabulary and sometimes talks

> > > non-stop. I do get a lot of " I don't know " answers and his IQ came back as

> > > average.

> > >

> > > Random info: He does like to rough-house with his younger brother (they

> > > are 5 and 3) so I assume some of this is " normal " plus my son is a

" sensory

> > > seeker " so he's into crashing, bumping, etc. anyway. He tends to do some

of

> > > this in school too - they say it might be sensory or it might be attention

> > > seeking.

> > >

> > > One other thing: He was on 5 MG of Focalin for over a year. In the small

> > > class setting, he was still doing this stuff just had more adult

> > > supervision. Was still on this medication at the start of the school year

> > > and it escalated in the larger classroom. We switched him to clonidine

> > > while he was still in the large Kindy class and we saw positive changes at

> > > home but the school did not. He's in a smaller class setting now too and

> > > it's better but not gone. Focalin helps with focus and clonidine is

> > > supposed to help with behavior. Neither one helped him in his larger

> > > Kindergarten class. 10 mg of Focalin caused tics: throat clearing and eye

> > > blinking.

> > >

> > > The LSSP keeps telling me that he's too vocal to be on the spectrum. This

> > > is from his FBA though. " He's an extremely social individual who appears

to

> > > enjoy initiating interactions with his peers. However, such interactions

> > > are rarely done in an appropriate manner. "

> > >

> > > FBA says, " signs or cues from the student that help predict a behavior

> > > will occur: physical agitation/restlessness, failure to respond to verbal

> > > directives, failure to look in the speaker's eyes. "

> > >

> > > They said that some days he seems more " organized " than others.

> > > Disorganization " manifests as: extreme physical restlessness, difficulty

> > > expressing himself verbally, failure to comply with directives and

> > > increased physical contact with peers and staff. "

> > >

> > > They wrote in the autism eval " socially, R has difficulty interacting

> > > effectively with his peers. He is very responsive to social initiations of

> > > others and tends to be very vocal in these interactions. He has been

> > > observed to show a range of emotions during these interactions and can

> > > follow another person's gaze during the conversation. During interactions

> > > he tends to have a difficult time respecting the personal space of others

> > > and utilizing prosocial communication. In order to facilitate improved

peer

> > > relationships he generally requires frequent prompting regarding

> > > expectations. "

> > >

> > > Under observations: " R has demonstrated the ability to interact

> > > appropriately with other students both verbally and physically when

> > > prompting and a review of expectations is provided. He was observed to

take

> > > turns during semi-structured activities he interacted with others

> > > appropriately and discontinued tasks when asked to do so. It is important

> > > to note that high levels of adult monitoring [were] required to assist the

> > > child in demonstrating expectations. R was noted to speak somewhat less

> > > frequently than his peers, but when he did initiate conversations, he did

> > > appear effective in communicating needs and wants. "

> > >

> > > Teacher Interview: " R's overall communications skills were described as

> > > adequate however some mild concerns were noted regarding his tendency to

> > > ignore others when they speak to him, avoid eye contact and not utilize

> > > facial expressions to provide information related to his internal state. "

> > >

> > > Help...lol

> > >

> >

>

December 11, 2011

Hi , are you doing any kind of social skills training or anything else by

outside providers while you home school? How does all of that work? Thanks for

any info - :-)