Am I doing enough?

[Guest guest]

Hello all.

My son was diagnosed with PDD NOS in December 2007 at the age of 13. If you are

asking why we did not get a diagnosis until then - well a quick overview. We

were in the NEISD of San . I had my son in PPCD for speech delay. In

3rd grade dx with ADHD, in 4th something still not quite right and had him

evaluated for Aspergers. Diagnostician determined that he was Aspie but the

school pychologist disagreed. Her words were - you need to be careful how these

labels are put on the kids because it is something that will follow them around

for the rest of their lives. Your son does not have enough indicators of

Aspergers, his IQ is far above average and his other tests indicate that he

actually has an anxiety disorder and ADHD. And like a fool - I listened to her

(one reason was that the diagnostician did some really strange things and I did

not feel she did a very good job). Anyway - we are no longer in San but

are now in a very small

school district. They school admin., teachers, counselors, etc. ARE GREAT.

But here is my question to you all...

is mainstreamed. He has one period every day of Content Mastery and one

period every other day of " office aid " (which means he goes for one on one

assistance with his work). He has 30 minutes per week of counseling with the

school counselor and meets twice a week with a PhD candidate from the nearby

university that works with him on social skills training. He also meets every

other week with a PhD from the same university for additional counseling and

monitoring.

has an IQ of 112. By outward appearance just seems a little

immature and a little quirky. His meltdowns have diminished greatly since we

got the dx and his meds were adjusted/changed. He still has significant

difficulty with his social interactions.

In the last ARD - the school said that he was not eligible for speech therapy or

OT, but that they were going to continue with the social skills training and

counseling.

So here is my dilema. What should I be pushing the school to do? I have read

about ABA and the other programs, but is my son too old to benefit from that?

Do I start down the road of due process and face the potential of having the

school refuse to accommodate at all? I do not believe the district has had an

autistic child yet, so they are learning too. I would like to educate the

district on what is entitled to have without getting their lawyers

involved.

Again, the school has been very kind and understanding to us and appears to be

receptive to suggestions on how to educate and equip him with the

necessary social skills.

Any help from you all is appreciated.

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