Re: Keeping my son OUT of the most restrictive environment

[Guest guest]

I don't have the answer to the question you are asking, but want to

share that I focused only on biomed to recover my kids, and they

were all able to do regular school in a year. Since autism is a

medical problem, I wanted to see if only medical would work, and it

did. I am grateful for all the other programs and feel they are

helpful, but as humans if we spread ourselves thin by focusing on

all kinds of things, we may be taking time and money away from the

main thing that needs to be treated to get to recovery. There are

always exceptions to the rule, but for most, I believe that focusing

on the medical issues will bring on the language and then there will

be no need to worry about the extra services or at least a much less

need. So for my kids, I didn't focus on special needs schooling,

only on biomed, which is treating from a gentle medical angle.

There were times, I have had to battle with the school, but it was

minor issues. If I had not done biomed, and focused on special

schooling, behavior modification, etc.; I am sure they would all

still be in special needs classes.

Love and prayers,

Heidi N

Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in

PPCD in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6

PPCD children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay

to attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd

certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and

it's a great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will

age out of this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his

future, and what will happen if he does not start socializing/

speaking/effectively

communicating in the next two years. The district has a program

for high functioning autistic children who are not quite ready for

full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14 years

(I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it

then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the

specific language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic

population. But there's nothing available for autistic children

who do not fit into that program. I'm sure that the district

intends to push toward the LIFE Skills class, which was

originally intended for children with mental retardation so that

they could learn life skills. needs a program that will

focus on language and social skills, and being denied access to a

classroom with typically developing children with typical social

skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be perfectly

honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any child's

needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already

heard the "Well, where would you have us place him?" comment from

someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's

going to meet his needs right now. His options are fully

self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with

mental retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved

in this classroom that meets none of their needs, mainstreamed

without an aide (which clearly isn't an option), or mainstreamed

with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better model for

children with autism that would focus on social and language

skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the

district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic

population who is not "high functioning"? More importantly,

how do I keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he

is still not speaking/effectively communicating/socializing

in two years?

[Guest guest]

I'm not opposed to going the biomedical route, Heidi, but looking at all of the

doctors out there and all of their theories and then trying to figure out who's

been successful, and whether or not they take insurance, etc. becomes

overwhelming. We saw Dr. Rao, a DAN! doctor in Plano, Tx (we're outside of

Dallas) for testing a few months after initially regressed in 2009. His

office was so horrifyingly unorganized that after 6 months of visits, I was

done. Dr. Rao ran a number of tests including for metals, gluten/casein, etc.,

and found yeast and bacterial infections which he treated. When we retested with

him 6 months after the initial testing (when he regressed again), he found no

issues and suggested that we head back to the neurologist. We've had a 4 hour

EEG, an overnight EEG, an MRI and upper Endoscopy & Colonoscopy, and micro array

genetic testing done. Everything has come up " normal. " We're seeing more and

more regression, and he's worse off today than he was a year ago, forget about

two years ago. He's been casein free for nearly 2 years, and gluten free for

nearly 18 months. He's also soy free, artificial color free and low sugar. We're

in the middle of changing his speech program and his ABA program, as what we're

doing is clearly not working. We also just got coverage for speech, O/T, P/T,

and ABA, so eventually (after thousands in deductibles and oop expenses), that

will work in our favor.

I absolutely believe that my son will speak, and that he will live a good

quality of life. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed

in the morning. I also believe that the school district will never voluntarily

do what's in my son's best interest, which is why I'm trying to figure out what

to do in our worst case scenario, if we're still in this same awful spot in two

years. If I don't, and we are, they're going to toss my son in a class filled

with other kids who were tossed in that class because they didn't care enough to

create better programs for them. Can't have that.

Serena

>

> I don't have the answer to the question you are asking, but want to

> share that I focused only on biomed to recover my kids, and they were

> all able to do regular school in a year. Since autism is a medical

> problem, I wanted to see if only medical would work, and it did. I am

> grateful for all the other programs and feel they are helpful, but as

> humans if we spread ourselves thin by focusing on all kinds of things,

> we may be taking time and money away from the main thing that needs to

> be treated to get to recovery. There are always exceptions to the rule,

> but for most, I believe that focusing on the medical issues will bring

> on the language and then there will be no need to worry about the extra

> services or at least a much less need. So for my kids, I didn't focus

> on special needs schooling, only on biomed, which is treating from a

> gentle medical angle. There were times, I have had to battle with the

> school, but it was minor issues. If I had not done biomed, and focused

> on special schooling, behavior modification, etc.; I am sure they would

> all still be in special needs classes.

>

> Love and prayers,

>

> Heidi N

>

>

> Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD

> in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD

> children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay to

> attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd

> certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and it's a

> great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will age out of

> this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his future, and

> what will happen if he does not start socializing/

> speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The district

> has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite

> ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14

> years (I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it

> then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the specific

> language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic population. But

> there's nothing available for autistic children who do not fit into that

> program. I'm sure that the district intends to push toward the

> LIFE Skills class, which was originally intended for children with

> mental retardation so that they could learn life skills. needs a

> program that will focus on language and social skills, and being denied

> access to a classroom with typically developing children with typical

> social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be

> perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any

> child's needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already

> heard the " Well, where would you have us place him? " comment from

> someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's going

> to meet his needs right now. His options are fully self-contained,

> multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental retardation and

> undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom that meets

> none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't

> an option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a

> better model for children with autism that would focus on social and

> language skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage

> the district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic

> population who is not " high functioning " ? More importantly, how do I

> keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he is still not

> speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in two years?

>

[Guest guest]

Where did you go to start and learn biomedSent from my iPhone

I don't have the answer to the question you are asking, but want to

share that I focused only on biomed to recover my kids, and they

were all able to do regular school in a year. Since autism is a

medical problem, I wanted to see if only medical would work, and it

did. I am grateful for all the other programs and feel they are

helpful, but as humans if we spread ourselves thin by focusing on

all kinds of things, we may be taking time and money away from the

main thing that needs to be treated to get to recovery. There are

always exceptions to the rule, but for most, I believe that focusing

on the medical issues will bring on the language and then there will

be no need to worry about the extra services or at least a much less

need. So for my kids, I didn't focus on special needs schooling,

only on biomed, which is treating from a gentle medical angle.

There were times, I have had to battle with the school, but it was

minor issues. If I had not done biomed, and focused on special

schooling, behavior modification, etc.; I am sure they would all

still be in special needs classes.

Love and prayers,

Heidi N

Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in

PPCD in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6

PPCD children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay

to attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd

certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and

it's a great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will

age out of this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his

future, and what will happen if he does not start socializing/

speaking/effectively

communicating in the next two years. The district has a program

for high functioning autistic children who are not quite ready for

full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14 years

(I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it

then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the

specific language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic

population. But there's nothing available for autistic children

who do not fit into that program. I'm sure that the district

intends to push toward the LIFE Skills class, which was

originally intended for children with mental retardation so that

they could learn life skills. needs a program that will

focus on language and social skills, and being denied access to a

classroom with typically developing children with typical social

skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be perfectly

honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any child's

needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already

heard the "Well, where would you have us place him?" comment from

someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's

going to meet his needs right now. His options are fully

self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with

mental retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved

in this classroom that meets none of their needs, mainstreamed

without an aide (which clearly isn't an option), or mainstreamed

with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better model for

children with autism that would focus on social and language

skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the

district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic

population who is not "high functioning"? More importantly,

how do I keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he

is still not speaking/effectively communicating/socializing

in two years?

[Guest guest]

Dr has a practice in Dallas. I did not like rao. takes insurance even Medicaid and has a different approach. My son speaks some but uses a letterboard at school. His recovery began with chelation at the care clinic but has made big progress with dr . My son has controllable stims and good motor skills. Although he prefers to be alone ( his words) his autism and ability on the letterboard learned at the HALO clinic gave us this essay starter yesterday. Quote from my still autistic semi verbal 16 year old "I'm like a star in the galaxy far and alone but really surrounded by millions like me". Speech is only speech thoughts can be expressed without verbal component. Don't wrap yourself around the ABA axel thinking that is the only way to communicate. We started at Halo when he was 11. Before then we did up to 35 hours a week of ABA and we thought he was on a kinder level.Sent from my iPhone

I'm not opposed to going the biomedical route, Heidi, but looking at all of the doctors out there and all of their theories and then trying to figure out who's been successful, and whether or not they take insurance, etc. becomes overwhelming. We saw Dr. Rao, a DAN! doctor in Plano, Tx (we're outside of Dallas) for testing a few months after initially regressed in 2009. His office was so horrifyingly unorganized that after 6 months of visits, I was done. Dr. Rao ran a number of tests including for metals, gluten/casein, etc., and found yeast and bacterial infections which he treated. When we retested with him 6 months after the initial testing (when he regressed again), he found no issues and suggested that we head back to the neurologist. We've had a 4 hour EEG, an overnight EEG, an MRI and upper Endoscopy & Colonoscopy, and micro array genetic testing done. Everything has come up "normal." We're seeing more and more regression, and he's worse off today than he was a year ago, forget about two years ago. He's been casein free for nearly 2 years, and gluten free for nearly 18 months. He's also soy free, artificial color free and low sugar. We're in the middle of changing his speech program and his ABA program, as what we're doing is clearly not working. We also just got coverage for speech, O/T, P/T, and ABA, so eventually (after thousands in deductibles and oop expenses), that will work in our favor.

I absolutely believe that my son will speak, and that he will live a good quality of life. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning. I also believe that the school district will never voluntarily do what's in my son's best interest, which is why I'm trying to figure out what to do in our worst case scenario, if we're still in this same awful spot in two years. If I don't, and we are, they're going to toss my son in a class filled with other kids who were tossed in that class because they didn't care enough to create better programs for them. Can't have that.

Serena

>

> I don't have the answer to the question you are asking, but want to

> share that I focused only on biomed to recover my kids, and they were

> all able to do regular school in a year. Since autism is a medical

> problem, I wanted to see if only medical would work, and it did. I am

> grateful for all the other programs and feel they are helpful, but as

> humans if we spread ourselves thin by focusing on all kinds of things,

> we may be taking time and money away from the main thing that needs to

> be treated to get to recovery. There are always exceptions to the rule,

> but for most, I believe that focusing on the medical issues will bring

> on the language and then there will be no need to worry about the extra

> services or at least a much less need. So for my kids, I didn't focus

> on special needs schooling, only on biomed, which is treating from a

> gentle medical angle. There were times, I have had to battle with the

> school, but it was minor issues. If I had not done biomed, and focused

> on special schooling, behavior modification, etc.; I am sure they would

> all still be in special needs classes.

>

> Love and prayers,

>

> Heidi N

>

>

> Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD

> in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD

> children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay to

> attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd

> certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and it's a

> great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will age out of

> this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his future, and

> what will happen if he does not start socializing/

> speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The district

> has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite

> ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14

> years (I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it

> then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the specific

> language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic population. But

> there's nothing available for autistic children who do not fit into that

> program. I'm sure that the district intends to push toward the

> LIFE Skills class, which was originally intended for children with

> mental retardation so that they could learn life skills. needs a

> program that will focus on language and social skills, and being denied

> access to a classroom with typically developing children with typical

> social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be

> perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any

> child's needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already

> heard the "Well, where would you have us place him?" comment from

> someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's going

> to meet his needs right now. His options are fully self-contained,

> multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental retardation and

> undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom that meets

> none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't

> an option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a

> better model for children with autism that would focus on social and

> language skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage

> the district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic

> population who is not "high functioning"? More importantly, how do I

> keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he is still not

> speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in two years?

>

[Guest guest]

We took my son to Rao as well. He seemed to have good intentions & was fairly straightforward that he couldn't guarantee his protocol would work for our son. We'd gone the ABA route, gluten-free for almost 4 yrs, extremely limited casein, Speech Therapy, O/T, Music Therapy, Equine Therapy, etc. In the previous 7 yrs. We tried MB12 shots, "Speak" tablets, & Folinic acid w him & 7 mnths later, nothing's improved. If anything, we're seeing more inappropriate vocalizations, stims, & negative behaviors than ever before...we really didn't want to go the "drug" route as we've heard a lot about side effects but not sure what to try next. The past month he's taking 2-2 1/2 hrs to fall asleep so we've started him on Melatonin which helps a bit but his energy level is literally & figuratively through the roof. Feeling a little desperate...

Dr has a practice in Dallas. I did not like rao. takes insurance even Medicaid and has a different approach. My son speaks some but uses a letterboard at school. His recovery began with chelation at the care clinic but has made big progress with dr . My son has controllable stims and good motor skills. Although he prefers to be alone ( his words) his autism and ability on the letterboard learned at the HALO clinic gave us this essay starter yesterday. Quote from my still autistic semi verbal 16 year old "I'm like a star in the galaxy far and alone but really surrounded by millions like me". Speech is only speech thoughts can be expressed without verbal component. Don't wrap yourself around the ABA axel thinking that is the only way to communicate. We started at Halo when he was 11. Before then we did up to 35 hours a week of ABA and we thought he was on a kinder level.Sent from my iPhone

I'm not opposed to going the biomedical route, Heidi, but looking at all of the doctors out there and all of their theories and then trying to figure out who's been successful, and whether or not they take insurance, etc. becomes overwhelming. We saw Dr. Rao, a DAN! doctor in Plano, Tx (we're outside of Dallas) for testing a few months after initially regressed in 2009. His office was so horrifyingly unorganized that after 6 months of visits, I was done. Dr. Rao ran a number of tests including for metals, gluten/casein, etc., and found yeast and bacterial infections which he treated. When we retested with him 6 months after the initial testing (when he regressed again), he found no issues and suggested that we head back to the neurologist. We've had a 4 hour EEG, an overnight EEG, an MRI and upper Endoscopy & Colonoscopy, and micro array genetic testing done. Everything has come up "normal." We're seeing more and more regression, and he's worse off today than he was a year ago, forget about two years ago. He's been casein free for nearly 2 years, and gluten free for nearly 18 months. He's also soy free, artificial color free and low sugar. We're in the middle of changing his speech program and his ABA program, as what we're doing is clearly not working. We also just got coverage for speech, O/T, P/T, and ABA, so eventually (after thousands in deductibles and oop expenses), that will work in our favor.

I absolutely believe that my son will speak, and that he will live a good quality of life. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning. I also believe that the school district will never voluntarily do what's in my son's best interest, which is why I'm trying to figure out what to do in our worst case scenario, if we're still in this same awful spot in two years. If I don't, and we are, they're going to toss my son in a class filled with other kids who were tossed in that class because they didn't care enough to create better programs for them. Can't have that.

Serena

>

> I don't have the answer to the question you are asking, but want to

> share that I focused only on biomed to recover my kids, and they were

> all able to do regular school in a year. Since autism is a medical

> problem, I wanted to see if only medical would work, and it did. I am

> grateful for all the other programs and feel they are helpful, but as

> humans if we spread ourselves thin by focusing on all kinds of things,

> we may be taking time and money away from the main thing that needs to

> be treated to get to recovery. There are always exceptions to the rule,

> but for most, I believe that focusing on the medical issues will bring

> on the language and then there will be no need to worry about the extra

> services or at least a much less need. So for my kids, I didn't focus

> on special needs schooling, only on biomed, which is treating from a

> gentle medical angle. There were times, I have had to battle with the

> school, but it was minor issues. If I had not done biomed, and focused

> on special schooling, behavior modification, etc.; I am sure they would

> all still be in special needs classes.

>

> Love and prayers,

>

> Heidi N

>

>

> Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD

> in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD

> children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay to

> attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd

> certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and it's a

> great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will age out of

> this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his future, and

> what will happen if he does not start socializing/

> speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The district

> has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite

> ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14

> years (I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it

> then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the specific

> language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic population. But

> there's nothing available for autistic children who do not fit into that

> program. I'm sure that the district intends to push toward the

> LIFE Skills class, which was originally intended for children with

> mental retardation so that they could learn life skills. needs a

> program that will focus on language and social skills, and being denied

> access to a classroom with typically developing children with typical

> social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be

> perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any

> child's needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already

> heard the "Well, where would you have us place him?" comment from

> someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's going

> to meet his needs right now. His options are fully self-contained,

> multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental retardation and

> undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom that meets

> none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't

> an option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a

> better model for children with autism that would focus on social and

> language skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage

> the district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic

> population who is not "high functioning"? More importantly, how do I

> keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he is still not

> speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in two years?

>

[Guest guest]

Wow!  How lucky your child is to have you as a parent!  You are right to be thinking ahead and getting prepared to meet the challenges of the future.That being said, you will be at a disadvantage in advocating for  your child since you work for the district.  Often when you advocate, it is very sad to say, but you become an " enemy of the state. "   You will be seen as a trouble maker.  You may be forced to choose between your job and the defending your child, and though that is a hard choice, I have no doubt which you would choose, but you would be surprised to see some of the parents who likewise work for their districts who come to me for advocacy advice and then still choose not to rock the boat.  I feel for these children.

The law is clear that " take it or leave it choices " are NOT in keeping with the IDEA.  The law states that a child's program be individualized to meet the " unique needs " of the individual student, and that the program must produce progress in the identified areas of need, and if you can prove that none of their available programs can do this, then they MUST provide it from somewhere.  If they can't or won't, then they must have it provided elsewhere.  This is easier said than done.

Parents must often collect data over a period of years in order to prove the districts' programs do not work, and it is not an easy road or one for the faint of heart.  You have to grow a hard shell.Certainly, you and I can see the kind of program that is needed.  It makes the simplest sense to us.  Texas schools are still in the infancy stages of autism education, and they demonstrate time and time again an unwillingness to learn and an unwillingness to implement.

The unfortunate truth is: PREJUDICE. They hear the word " autism " and that is it; they write the child off -- no matter the words that come out of their mouths to the contrary.  The worst prejudice of all is assuming that becasue a child can't talk that it means they cannot learn.  It is absurd.  An Einstein's mind may well be dwelling inside your child, but if he can't talk.... they assume otherwise.

Now for solutions.  We, too, saw Dr. Rao for many years and I do respect him, but I was never afraid to disagree with him and I have disagreed on many points.  We have done just about every intervention over the years and what works for one may not work for another, but lots of things are worth a try.

The things for my son that worked from the beginning (advised by Dr. Holmes and Dr. Cave) are DIET: the gf/cf/sf diet helped my son regain functional speech.  Metabolic supports: vitamins, minerals, amino acids.  Melatonin for sleep.  Probiotics, yeast management, Essential fatty acids AND ADRENAL SUPPORT.

We went the route of IV chelation and we would never do that again.  I know now that it exhausted my son's adrenals, and what I thought were severe delayed athmatic reactions was a sign of adrenal exhaustion/fatigue.

We began the AC Protocol last January and it has been the best thing.  Our son who had been chronically ill since regression is much better.  His immune system is functioning better, and we are seeing slow, steady improvement across the board.  He is now high functioning where he was once non-verbal and borderline severe.  He has regained all forms of speech (receptive, expressive, and reciprocal) though his language is about five years delayed.  It is a miracle as I never thought I'd ever get to hear my child say, " I love you, Mommy "   (and oh, you should have seen my tears the first time he said that).

So now my son is still gf/cf/sf and we are alwasy trying to improve on diet.We threw away are the coated pans, limit food from cans, cook meals from scratch, minimize processed foods, steer clear of nitrates/nitrites and all those fillers.  Stay away from dyes as much as possible and get rid of the sugar(but even we are not perfect all the time).  You really are what you eat.

A company called " Everything Spectrum " has come out with supplement combinations that fit our kids and support AC chelation.  They are Essential 4 and Essential Multi.  We chose to keep giving Acetyl L Carnitine (it can help with speech and I believe it has helped my son).  We also give a good EFA that contains Omega 3, 6, and nines.  We give Pau d' Arco, Candex, and biotin to help control  yeast, and we give probiotics to help control bad bacteria and replenish the gut with good flora.  And we do the AC Protocol using ALA (alpha lipoic acid), but you must use this according to the protocol or it could make your child worse, so don't use it unless you decide to study the protocol.  It is a low dose, frequent, long-term method of chelating safely.  It can take one to three years.  Your child is young, and the younger you start the better.

That is something you can do that may (or may not) bring speech back, but I do think it is worth a try.On the educational side, the slaw conference is coming to Plano on October 24, I believe, and attending it would be one of the BEST things you could ever do to begin to understand what your child's rights are under the law and how to advocate effectively to insure an appropriate education for your child.  You can contact Nagla on this list to get a spot.

You do need to start preparing now.  Your plan for your child is not their plan, and their plan most likely is putting him away in a self-contained (over-glorified babysitting program) which will not prepare him nor educate him.

The other thing you may want to consider is becoming knowledgeable about the RPM method of teaching these children.  I was skeptical at first( and sorely misunderstood for that), but totally blessed when an RPM tutor moved to the Dallas area (Thank you Trina for sending our way!).  My son has been seeing her twice a week for a year now.  He has gained three years academic progress since last September.  Personally I think all shadows and aides for these districts ought to be sent there (HALO) and get trained.....Maybe someday.

You can buy the book and read about it and implement these strategies with your son.  Start NOW teaching your child to read.  I started by pointing out all the business signs as we went here and there, and my son learned to read those rather young.  Label everything in your house so he can begin to associate the word with the thing.  We have LOVED using " Reading Milestones " as a comprehensive reading/language/comprehension program for our son.  It is VERY visual and has made all the difference for him.

You are right that your son needs a social skills/language based program and you are going to have to plead your case to your district when the time comes.  Go to the seminar (the books will then be given to you) and then study and do EXACTLY what " From Emotions to Advocacy " tells you to do, and then you may have a shot at securing an appropriate program for your child.

Start your paper trail NOW.If you need more help, just ask.

[Guest guest]

I'm curious about the reading milestones program you mentioned. My son reads

alright, but lacks in confidence (reads out loud very softly and slowly) but

mostly needs help with comprehension. Did this program help your child with

comprehension? Thanks,

[Guest guest]

When I started the journey, about 5 years ago, there were not many

places on autism recovery, but even so, I found lots of people with

recovery stories. Today, what I have learned is that most can be

recovered enough to be indistinguishable (most remain on immune

balancers). I don't have the answers for the others, except that they

could likely be helped with a lot of time, money, testing, expertise,

etc. that can be very difficult to achieve. Just going gluten-free or

swallowing pills every day is quite difficult, and I wondered how I

could manage.

What I learned is that autism is immune dysfunction from pathogens and

toxins. Most get their symptoms from actual daily contact with toxins

(since there in the air), and they can not detox well at all. The other

symptoms are caused by the inflammation in the neck which is caused by

the toxins and pathogens. This neck inflammation is referred to as

CCSVI, which labors the ability to detox. The pathogens are actually

Strep, Lyme, Bartonella, Brucella, and Mycoplasma. Retroviruses, like

XMRV, are likely the reason that the bacteria are overtaking, but also

mercury causes the bacteria to overtake. So, one could have XMRV and

Lyme, or mercury and Lyme, or a combination of something else. There is

an unidentified protozoa involved as well which is believed to get a big

part of the blame as to why antimicrobials are only working a little

towards treating the infections. Anyhow, all this disrupts digestion as

well. When the digestion goes, everything goes.

Thus, the important thing is to treat your child in a manner that

reduces swelling (usually lots of gentle things are used together),

kills pathogens slowly (since stimulating the immune system too strongly

causes a worsening), give something to handle daily toxins, since they

can't (liver support, things to mop up toxins, etc.), and of course,

multivitamins that are able to be absorbed easily. Digestive aids are

also given since their digestion is very lacking. So, it's about

covering those areas. I would definitely choose a doc based upon

word-of-mouth, and don't pay what you don't got. In other words, seek

out the cheaper options. Some report great results with homeopathy,

which is a cheaper path. We are very fortunate in Texas that Dr.

takes insurance. He also gets lots of great reviews on the

forums. A lot of what we do is actually food. You would be surprised

how many foods come in capsules as if they are herbs that are doing

wonders. There are many biomed forums. I was a member of 20 at times.

There are reasons the tests are highly unreliable, unfortunately. The

better docs know this and pay attention to perform the tests correctly,

or use only certain labs. You would be surprised how unreliable testing

is. Just Google, and you will be shocked. So, each child has

variances, but being 45, I know that we DID NOT have these problems in

my childhood. So, there is something new going on. What I have

described is the general sense of what is going on, but there are always

exceptions to the rule. Some children have missing receptors from

auto-immune issues that is not allowing nutrients from the blood to

cross into the brain, so this gives misleading testing results. The

good docs know this. It is a lot of work, and I was able to stay at

home to learn it. So, here I am sharing since many shared with me.

Love and prayers,

Heidi N

[Guest guest]

Here's what happened in our district (Round Rock ISD)...

When we moved here in 2008, they had something called " Structured Learning

Classrooms " for autistic kids. They had two of these types of classrooms at

three different elementary schools in our district - one for kids in Kinder

through second grade, and another for kids in third through fifth grade. It was

a mixture of all levels of functioning autistic kids, and the kids would spend

time in general ed (with aides from these classrooms) as much as their level of

functioning allowed. These classrooms were part of the reason we chose RRISD.

Then, beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, they completely changed the STM

classrooms. First of all, they changed the name to " Structured Learning

Classroom. " Next, they booted out all kids after second grade - no more

all-autism classroom for kids third grade and older - they either had to be high

enough functioning to attend general ed, or go to a life skills classroom (which

they also changed the name of to " Functional Academic Classroom " ). Finally, for

new kids coming in out of PPCD, the SLC classrooms would now only accept the

highest functioning ASD kids - those who weren't potty trained, non-verbal, more

severe behaviors and unable to follow many directions were sent straight into

FAC from PPCD.

My son was one of those booted out of STM / SLC after second grade, and because

he is more severely autistic, he was placed in an FAC classroom. And you know

what? It has been the best thing for him. Because so many ASD kids are ending

up in FAC classrooms, those classrooms have basically become autism classrooms

by default. My son's aides take him into general ed more than the aides ever

did in the all-autism (STM) classroom.

So, my point is, maybe life skills doesn't have to be so restrictive, with the

right program and staff? I know there was one very high functioning boy in my

son's class last year who essentially spent the entire day in general ed with an

aide - he was just assigned to the FAC classroom in name only. I would try to

find out more of how the life skills classroom is run, and what possibilities

there are for your son to get into general ed once assigned there. I had the

exact same fear you did about my son going to life skills, but like I said, it

has turned out to be a huge blessing.

-

>

> Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD in

Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD children and 12

typically developing teachers' children who pay to attend the program. One PPCD

teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd certification, and two aides. The teachers

are all fantastic, and it's a great program. However, as my son is non-verbal,

and he will age out of this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his

future, and what will happen if he does not start

socializing/speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The

district has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite

ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14 years (I

started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it then). Clearly, they

saw the need to have a program to meet the specific language/social needs of the

higher functioning autistic population. But there's nothing available for

autistic children who do not fit into that program. I'm sure that the district

intends to push toward the LIFE Skills class, which was originally

intended for children with mental retardation so that they could learn life

skills. needs a program that will focus on language and social skills,

and being denied access to a classroom with typically developing children with

typical social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be

perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any child's

needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already heard the " Well,

where would you have us place him? " comment from someone on his campus. Problem

is that there's no program that's going to meet his needs right now. His options

are fully self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental

retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom that

meets none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't an

option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better

model for children with autism that would focus on social and language skills.

If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the district to create

something to meet the needs of our autistic population who is not " high

functioning " ? More importantly, how do I keep my son out of the most restrictive

environment if he is still not speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in

two years?

>

[Guest guest]

Oops, I meant the all-autism classrooms HAD been called " Structured TEACCH

Classrooms " and NOW are called " Structured Learning Classrooms. "

> >

> > Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD in

Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD children and 12

typically developing teachers' children who pay to attend the program. One PPCD

teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd certification, and two aides. The teachers

are all fantastic, and it's a great program. However, as my son is non-verbal,

and he will age out of this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his

future, and what will happen if he does not start

socializing/speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The

district has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite

ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14 years (I

started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it then). Clearly, they

saw the need to have a program to meet the specific language/social needs of the

higher functioning autistic population. But there's nothing available for

autistic children who do not fit into that program. I'm sure that the district

intends to push toward the LIFE Skills class, which was originally

intended for children with mental retardation so that they could learn life

skills. needs a program that will focus on language and social skills,

and being denied access to a classroom with typically developing children with

typical social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be

perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any child's

needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already heard the " Well,

where would you have us place him? " comment from someone on his campus. Problem

is that there's no program that's going to meet his needs right now. His options

are fully self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental

retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom that

meets none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't an

option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better

model for children with autism that would focus on social and language skills.

If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the district to create

something to meet the needs of our autistic population who is not " high

functioning " ? More importantly, how do I keep my son out of the most restrictive

environment if he is still not speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in

two years?

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I had my son tested before we began home schooling and he was at the first percentile (on the Bell Curve) for reading comprehension.  This can be interpreted to me that he comprehended at below a kindergarten level.  We began using " Reading MIlestones " in home school.  This was but a year ago, and now he is comprehending at a third grade level.

It was even worse for Math.  He tested at a 0.02 percentile a year ago in math -- way below kindergarten level for math skills.  Touch Math is expensive, but we bought some of the units and then we used various workbooks and used an RPM method of teaching him, and his math is now at third grade level also.  He still struggles a bit with focus and staying on task.  He can be easily distracted, especially by noise.  Rpm has helped him to stay focused and on task.  He is much more independent in his studies (in reading and writing) than he was a year ago.

His paragraphs rarely made sense a year ago, but now he is working on a five paragraph essay on how to cook a Mexican meal.  He will read it out load for the home school coop group this Wednesday.I really have loved the RM program. As students progress, it becomes more comprehensive, incorporating spelling, word meaning, language arts, and composition.  It is a very visually based program.  Students start by matching a picture to a word.  Then it progresses up to matching sentences to a picture.  It incorporates teaching about characterization, setting, and sequence of events.

I don't know how old your child is or what level your child is at, but when we bought the first kit, they sent ten test booklets that can tell you whether to start with level 1, 2, or three.  I have nine test booklets left.  If you would like one you may e-mail me off list.  I also have several of the reading books for level three  and several of the workbooks (but not all) for level three that I would re-sell.  At first I had him put his answers on another paper, but by the time we got to level four, I decided to just consume the work book pages.  I also have the teacher's manual for level three, as well.  After that we just started buying the books and workbooks and not the entire kit in order to save some money.  I was a teacher for fifteen years, so I really didn't feel the need for the manuals.

I do recommend this program.  It has helped my son tremendously and his confidence level has improved dramatically.

[Guest guest]

Like you, I was a teacher before staying home with , Haven.

Unfortunately, we're dealing with dirt paths at this point, and have lots of

building to do before we'll be at the point where reading will be our priority.

is non-verbal, and has had issues with serial regression, so everything

we gained last year was lost in the fall. When he regressed initially, he lost

all of his consonant sounds (aside from m, which he used to hum), and all vowels

aside from " ah " . We got most of those consonant sounds back, along with a

spontaneous word " ball " and two step directions and a few other important

milestones. Now we're back to m, and mostly oh. He says mama, mo (more), Elmo,

and arm, but only when prompted. He was using his PECS book (homemade with

photos of his favorite foods and activities) spontaneously last year, but now

has no interest at all. It's a mess. We're hopeful that as we start this new

program at TSA, and start with a new speech path who specializes in apraxia,

maybe we can get some progress going again and hang on to it this time.

I'm also going to look into finding a biomed doctor to work with. I've been

putting it off for a while now, but I suppose it's time. I was hoping that the

Speak that I finally worked up the nerve to try last month would be promising,

but it just made him completely squirrelly, so I guess it's time to find a new

expert.

Serena

>

> I had my son tested before we began home schooling and he was at the first

> percentile (on the Bell Curve) for reading comprehension. This can be

> interpreted to me that he comprehended at below a kindergarten level. We

> began using " Reading MIlestones " in home school. This was but a year ago,

> and now he is comprehending at a third grade level.

>

> It was even worse for Math. He tested at a 0.02 percentile a year ago in

> math -- way below kindergarten level for math skills. Touch Math is

> expensive, but we bought some of the units and then we used various

> workbooks and used an RPM method of teaching him, and his math is now at

> third grade level also. He still struggles a bit with focus and staying on

> task. He can be easily distracted, especially by noise. Rpm has helped him

> to stay focused and on task. He is much more independent in his studies (in

> reading and writing) than he was a year ago.

>

> His paragraphs rarely made sense a year ago, but now he is working on a five

> paragraph essay on how to cook a Mexican meal. He will read it out load for

> the home school coop group this Wednesday.

>

> I really have loved the RM program. As students progress, it becomes more

> comprehensive, incorporating spelling, word meaning, language arts, and

> composition. It is a very visually based program. Students start by

> matching a picture to a word. Then it progresses up to matching sentences

> to a picture. It incorporates teaching about characterization, setting, and

> sequence of events.

>

> I don't know how old your child is or what level your child is at, but when

> we bought the first kit, they sent ten test booklets that can tell you

> whether to start with level 1, 2, or three. I have nine test booklets

> left. If you would like one you may e-mail me off list. I also have

> several of the reading books for level three and several of the workbooks

> (but not all) for level three that I would re-sell. At first I had him put

> his answers on another paper, but by the time we got to level four, I

> decided to just consume the work book pages. I also have the teacher's

> manual for level three, as well. After that we just started buying the

> books and workbooks and not the entire kit in order to save some money. I

> was a teacher for fifteen years, so I really didn't feel the need for the

> manuals.

>

> I do recommend this program. It has helped my son tremendously and his

> confidence level has improved dramatically.

>

[Guest guest]

Dear parent,

Be careful what you wish for...........

Those " typically developing children with typical social skills" are often the bullies that haunt your child's life forever. The older they get, the more they bully. I know what I'm talking about and spent the last 10 years of my son's "education" trying to keep him from harm at the hands of the so called "normal" kids. He was hit, spit on, called names, pushed down stairs, had his desk flipped to the ground when he was in it, stabbed in the back with pencils, ............I could go on and on.........sometimes I was at the school everyday trying to calm the chaos in his life. It has scarred him for life. If you can afford it, put your child in a private school system where you pay the bills which makes the school accountable to you.

Blessings to you and your child.

Subject: Keeping my son OUT of the most restrictive environmentTo: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Date: Friday, September 23, 2011, 6:06 PM

Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay to attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and it's a great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will age out of this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his future, and what will happen if he does not start socializing/speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The district has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14 years (I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the specific language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic population. But

there's nothing available for autistic children who do not fit into that program. I'm sure that the district intends to push toward the LIFE Skills class, which was originally intended for children with mental retardation so that they could learn life skills. needs a program that will focus on language and social skills, and being denied access to a classroom with typically developing children with typical social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any child's needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already heard the "Well, where would you have us place him?" comment from someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's going to meet his needs right now. His options are fully self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom

that meets none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't an option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better model for children with autism that would focus on social and language skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic population who is not "high functioning"? More importantly, how do I keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he is still not speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in two years?

[Guest guest]

I agree.

Regan R Fitzgerald, MEd, BCBA

President

9727420807

www.bestaba.com

> > Dear parent,> Be careful what you wish for...........

>  > Those  "  typically developing children with typical social skills " are often the bullies that haunt your child's life forever. The older they get, the more they bully.  I know what I'm talking about and spent the last 10 years of my son's " education " trying to keep him from harm at the hands of the so called " normal " kids.  He was hit, spit on, called names, pushed down stairs, had his desk flipped to the ground when he was in it, stabbed in the back with pencils, ............I could go on and on.........sometimes I was at the school everyday trying to calm the chaos in his life.  It has scarred him for life.  If you can afford it, put your child in a private school system where you pay the bills which makes the school accountable to you.

>  > Blessings to you and your child.  >  >  > > >

> > Subject: Keeping my son OUT of the most restrictive environment> To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

> Date: Friday, September 23, 2011, 6:06 PM> > >   > > > > Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay to attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and it's a great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will age out of this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his future, and what will happen if he does not start socializing/speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The district has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14 years (I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the specific language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic population. But there's

> nothing available for autistic children who do not fit into that program. I'm sure that the district intends to push toward the LIFE Skills class, which was originally intended for children with mental retardation so that they could learn life skills. needs a program that will focus on language and social skills, and being denied access to a classroom with typically developing children with typical social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any child's needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already heard the " Well, where would you have us place him? " comment from someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's going to meet his needs right now. His options are fully self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom that meets

> none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't an option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better model for children with autism that would focus on social and language skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic population who is not " high functioning " ? More importantly, how do I keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he is still not speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in two years?

> > > > > >

[Guest guest]

On the flip side my child attended public schools for 10 years without being bullied and is fully included now. My mostly non verbal son is asked several times a year if he is being bullied and he has always stated " The kids aren't  bullying me, they just ignore me " . 

 

Dear parent,

Be careful what you wish for...........

 

Those  "  typically developing children with typical social skills " are often the bullies that haunt your child's life forever. The older they get, the more they bully.  I know what I'm talking about and spent the last 10 years of my son's " education " trying to keep him from harm at the hands of the so called " normal " kids.  He was hit, spit on, called names, pushed down stairs, had his desk flipped to the ground when he was in it, stabbed in the back with pencils, ............I could go on and on.........sometimes I was at the school everyday trying to calm the chaos in his life.  It has scarred him for life.  If you can afford it, put your child in a private school system where you pay the bills which makes the school accountable to you.

 

Blessings to you and your child.  

 

 

Subject: Keeping my son OUT of the most restrictive environment

To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Date: Friday, September 23, 2011, 6:06 PM

 

Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay to attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and it's a great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will age out of this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his future, and what will happen if he does not start socializing/speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The district has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14 years (I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the specific language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic population. But

there's nothing available for autistic children who do not fit into that program. I'm sure that the district intends to push toward the LIFE Skills class, which was originally intended for children with mental retardation so that they could learn life skills. needs a program that will focus on language and social skills, and being denied access to a classroom with typically developing children with typical social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any child's needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already heard the " Well, where would you have us place him? " comment from someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's going to meet his needs right now. His options are fully self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom

that meets none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't an option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better model for children with autism that would focus on social and language skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic population who is not " high functioning " ? More importantly, how do I keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he is still not speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in two years?

[Guest guest]

Hi Chris...........I understand what you are saying............however.......you as a parent will never know what your child goes through on a typical school day no matter how hard you try to stay on top of it.........and your child will not tell you everything and may not understand what is indeed bullying and harrasment. My son is high functioning and I'm still finding out things that happen......and he is 21 now.

All I'm saying is that all is not what it seems in many cases.

Blessings,

Amy

Subject: Keeping my son OUT of the most restrictive environmentTo: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Date: Friday, September 23, 2011, 6:06 PM

Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD in Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD children and 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay to attend the program. One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd certification, and two aides. The teachers are all fantastic, and it's a great program. However, as my son is non-verbal, and he will age out of this classroom in two years, I must be thinking about his future, and what will happen if he does not start socializing/speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The district has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not quite ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14 years (I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it then). Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the specific language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic population. But

there's nothing available for autistic children who do not fit into that program. I'm sure that the district intends to push toward the LIFE Skills class, which was originally intended for children with mental retardation so that they could learn life skills. needs a program that will focus on language and social skills, and being denied access to a classroom with typically developing children with typical social skills is going to be detrimental to his progress. To be perfectly honest, I don't think that the life skills class meets any child's needs, but right now, I need to focus on MY child. I've already heard the "Well, where would you have us place him?" comment from someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program that's going to meet his needs right now. His options are fully self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom

that meets none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't an option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better model for children with autism that would focus on social and language skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the district to create something to meet the needs of our autistic population who is not "high functioning"? More importantly, how do I keep my son out of the most restrictive environment if he is still not speaking/effectively communicating/socializing in two years?

[Guest guest]

Well, private school won't be an option for us. We're living now on one

teacher's salary with a family of five. Even when I go back to work in 3 years,

it'll take years to dig ourselves out of the debt we're building up now. If we

can hang on to the ABA coverage that we just got this month, I may have to put

him in a full time ABA program during the day while I'm at work, and then

homeschool him at night. It's not right. The school district has an obligation

to provide an appropriate environment for my son, and they have no intention of

doing so.

As an aside. I emailed the director of GISD's special education department,

asking to meet with her or another coordinator, and was completely dismissed.

Serena

> >

> >

> >

> > Subject: Keeping my son OUT of the most

> restrictive environment

> > To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

> > Date: Friday, September 23, 2011, 6:06 PM

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Hi there. My son is 3 years old (will be 4 next month), and is in PPCD in

> Garland ISD. He's in a great inclusion classroom, with 6 PPCD children and

> 12 typically developing teachers' children who pay to attend the program.

> One PPCD teacher, a GE teacher with a SpecEd certification, and two aides.

> The teachers are all fantastic, and it's a great program. However, as my son

> is non-verbal, and he will age out of this classroom in two years, I must be

> thinking about his future, and what will happen if he does not start

> socializing/speaking/effectively communicating in the next two years. The

> district has a program for high functioning autistic children who are not

> quite ready for full inclusion, and they've had this program for at least 14

> years (I started teaching with the district in 1997, and they had it then).

> Clearly, they saw the need to have a program to meet the specific

> language/social needs of the higher functioning autistic population. But

> there's

> > nothing available for autistic children who do not fit into that program.

> I'm sure that the district intends to push toward the LIFE Skills

> class, which was originally intended for children with mental retardation so

> that they could learn life skills. needs a program that will focus

> on language and social skills, and being denied access to a classroom with

> typically developing children with typical social skills is going to be

> detrimental to his progress. To be perfectly honest, I don't think that the

> life skills class meets any child's needs, but right now, I need to focus on

> MY child. I've already heard the " Well, where would you have us place him? "

> comment from someone on his campus. Problem is that there's no program

> that's going to meet his needs right now. His options are fully

> self-contained, multi-age, classroom filled with children with mental

> retardation and undoubtedly autism who've all been shoved in this classroom

> that meets

> > none of their needs, mainstreamed without an aide (which clearly isn't an

> option), or mainstreamed with a shadow. Clearly, there's got to be a better

> model for children with autism that would focus on social and language

> skills. If it doesn't exist in my district, how to I encourage the district

> to create something to meet the needs of our autistic population who is not

> " high functioning " ? More importantly, how do I keep my son out of the most

> restrictive environment if he is still not speaking/effectively

> communicating/socializing in two years?

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Serena,It is agaqinst the  law to " dismiss " a parent and not hear their concerns.  You should request the meeting in writing through the mail.  Type " Second Request " at the top and be sure to date it.

A parent may call an " ARD " meeting at any time and the parent can state that the whole committee not need be there.  By dismissing your request they have denied you, the parent " meaningful participation in the ARD process, "   and this violates the IDEA.

Haven

[Guest guest]

Ya, I didn't figure it was legal.

I asked her to meet with me or offer another coordinator or team of coordinators

who would meet with me about the lack of existing programs for autistic children

in the district, and my child in particular. I explained my concerns about there

not being an appropriate environment for my son in two years after PPCD is over.

She said that programs are determined by ARD committee. She didn't acknowledge

whatsoever that I'd asked her to meet with me, and ended her reply with " I hope

that your son has a successful year at school. "

My response was simple: " So then you will not meet with me to discuss looking at

appropriate programs for autistic children? "

If she says that she won't, I'll just print out the email and save it for later.

I'm sure it'll come in handy at some point. I'm sure that she won't deny me a

meeting, though. Why would she?

Serena

>

> Serena,

>

> It is agaqinst the law to " dismiss " a parent and not hear their concerns.

> You should request the meeting in writing through the mail. Type " Second

> Request " at the top and be sure to date it.

>

> A parent may call an " ARD " meeting at any time and the parent can state that

> the whole committee not need be there. By dismissing your request they have

> denied you, the parent " meaningful participation in the ARD process, " and

> this violates the IDEA.

>

> Haven

>

[Guest guest]

Serena,You also have the right to address the school board and discuss your ocncerns and thoughts.  You are entitled to 30 minutes uninterrupted time (they can't speak while you are speaking).  You can petition to be heard at any school board meeting.  Do so in writing.

Haven

[Guest guest]

You must have IEP goals that support the program you are looking at adding. You must first get the ARD committee to agree to your IEP goals, if they think those goals can be met in their idea of the appropriate environment your stuck. You put your child in that environment and track the data. Ask to meet every two weeks. Ask to see the work, then see if he'll do it for an outside tutor once they say it's mastered. 

She was correct that the ARD committee makes that decision and you are PART of that committee. But you don't have a leg to stand on if you let emotion get in the way. She doesn't have to acknowledge meeting with you. Heck even if she meets with you and agrees to put you in a program if it's not during a ARD meeting and you don't have it in writing you can kiss it goodbye. 

They will try very hard to put you in programs they already have in place. You will then have to prove they are not appropriate. Not better not best, not most, and not " I'm concerned " . Hire a good advocate and take them with you to the ARD meeting you set up. At this ARD be sure to point to existing model programs at other public schools and do what you can at home to show progress with your child using other teaching methodologies. At 7 years I recommended RPM before that a good ABA program with lots of data tracking and hours per week done after school may be useful. There was one semester we stopped doing our ABA program at home so he would regress so we could prove that it was what we were doing at home and not the abysmal program they did at school that was really making him successful. 

We have had to move to better school districts, and we have done private school (there was only one in Austin at the time) so it's been a long haul. But having the RIGHT program even if it did take till he was in 6th grade was worth it. 

Trina  

 

Ya, I didn't figure it was legal.

I asked her to meet with me or offer another coordinator or team of coordinators who would meet with me about the lack of existing programs for autistic children in the district, and my child in particular. I explained my concerns about there not being an appropriate environment for my son in two years after PPCD is over.

She said that programs are determined by ARD committee. She didn't acknowledge whatsoever that I'd asked her to meet with me, and ended her reply with " I hope that your son has a successful year at school. "

My response was simple: " So then you will not meet with me to discuss looking at appropriate programs for autistic children? "

If she says that she won't, I'll just print out the email and save it for later. I'm sure it'll come in handy at some point. I'm sure that she won't deny me a meeting, though. Why would she?

Serena

>

> Serena,

>

> It is agaqinst the law to " dismiss " a parent and not hear their concerns.

> You should request the meeting in writing through the mail. Type " Second

> Request " at the top and be sure to date it.

>

> A parent may call an " ARD " meeting at any time and the parent can state that

> the whole committee not need be there. By dismissing your request they have

> denied you, the parent " meaningful participation in the ARD process, " and

> this violates the IDEA.

>

> Haven

>

[Guest guest]

I know that you're right, Trina. The problem is that I can't make IEP goals for

two years from now, as I've got no idea what level 's going to be at in

two years.

What I DO know is that there is no appropriate program in place for autistic

children who are not high functioning. At this point, is non verbal and

severe. Crossing my fingers and hoping that he'll go from that to high

functioning in two years so that it won't matter that there's not an appropriate

program in the district can't be my only option.

I was really hoping that this director would at least humor me with a meeting so

that I could get a feel for what kind of fight I was going to have on my hands.

Actually, I was hoping that by some miracle, they were already working on

something.....since it's what they SHOULD be doing. Didn't expect to get a " have

a good year " blow off, that's for sure. There's got to be a way to approach this

to strongly encourage the district to create a program during the next two years

so that there's something in place by the time is no longer in PPCD.

There's just no way that I'm going to allow them to shove my kid into a life

skills class when that is not an appropriate model for him.

Serena

> > >

> > > Serena,

> > >

> > > It is agaqinst the law to " dismiss " a parent and not hear their concerns.

> > > You should request the meeting in writing through the mail. Type " Second

> > > Request " at the top and be sure to date it.

> > >

> > > A parent may call an " ARD " meeting at any time and the parent can state

> > that

> > > the whole committee not need be there. By dismissing your request they

> > have

> > > denied you, the parent " meaningful participation in the ARD process, " and

> > > this violates the IDEA.

> > >

> > > Haven

> > >

> >

> >

> >

>