Re: Re-evaluation question

[Guest guest]

That is completely understandable! Go with your " Mommy gut instinct " !! You are

the expert on your child!!

Does your child receive any related services?

Kristi

Anne wrote:

You have a good point. I just think it would be more accurate after the

summer, because all the interventions they are using in Pre-K are working

and his teacher says he has gotten to the point that on any given day you

could walk in and not tell he is different than any other kid, and I think

after a summer of being at home, he will show more of the behaviors that he

does here that I am concerned about. I think if they do an evaluation now,

they are going to come back with what a " normal " kid he is and dismiss him

from special services. And then next year when he's in kindergarten and

doesn't have a picture schedule, or prewarning of changes, or have the

teacher walk next to him when they leave the room, I just have a bad feeling

about what's going to happen.

Anne

-- Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

Only speech, and I think they are going to try to pull him out of it.

Anne

-- Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

How old is your son? He is diagnosed with autism, correct?

Kristi

Anne wrote:

Only speech, and I think they are going to try to pull him out of it.

Anne

-- Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

He'll be 6 in September, and he was diagnosed by a child psychologist as

having PDD-NOS, which the school district does not accept, because their

evaluation said that he didn't meet the requirements for an autism spectrum

disorder.

Anne

-- Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

And yet they are using picture schedules with him? Interesting that he doesn't

meet the criteria but they are using the same strategies with him that they

would use with a child with Autism.

Do you think he is communicating at a 6 year old level? Is he socializing at

a 6 year old level?

How long ago was he evaluated by the school for Autism? What school district

are you in if you don't mind me asking?

Kristi

Anne wrote:

He'll be 6 in September, and he was diagnosed by a child psychologist as

having PDD-NOS, which the school district does not accept, because their

evaluation said that he didn't meet the requirements for an autism spectrum

disorder.

Anne

-- Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING and believe me when I say, it is nothing I haven

t thought A MILLION times. The exact strategies that they are using are

repeating and explaining instructions to insure understanding " , " visual aids

and picture schedule for daily routine " , " prewarning for changes in routine "

" social stories for unusual changes " ...

And manage behavior by providing frequent eye contact.

The day we added those to the ARD, I came home and sat down and thought to

myself, Oh my God, what am I dealing with here? And then yesterday when I

talked to the guy AT the SPECIAL ED services, and he told me Asperger

Syndrome wasn't included in special education, I didn't know whether to

laugh or to cry. When I told my husband about it, the exact phrasing I used

was, " I am dealing with f-ing idiots. " Only, I didn't say f-ing, I said THE

word. And that word doesn't come out of my mouth very often. At least the

kids were in bed. I feel like I am beating a dead horse. I even told the

guy on the phone, " You know what? It is more frustrating for me to deal with

the system than it is for me to deal with my special needs son. "

Because we live in such a rural area, I'm not comfortable with naming the

district, but it's in region 12, near Waco.

I think his speech has come along beautifully. He's a very precocious little

talker now, and you are lucky if you can get a word in edgewise. His teacher

told me that he will come up to her desk and just start talking to her and

she knows he would stand there and talk all day if she let him. And he'll

always start with, " I have something to tell you, " and then he'll see

something in the room and start with that. I'm not so sure about his

socializing. Everything I see, I would say no, but his teacher, whom is just

about the only person that I DO trust, says that he is fitting in with the

other kids and doing what the others do. But that picking up and mocking

behaviors is something Asperger kids do, isn't it? In order to be like

everyone else, they just act like everyone else to fit in? He does have the

diagnosis of PDD-NOS, but I think Asperger fits him better. He was evaluated

(for autism) by the school district in January of 04, and diagnosed by the

psychologist in March of 05. I've been fighting them over this since

November of 03. But I am just the mother, and what do I know? Apparently,

according to the guy at the special ed office, it is perfectly normal for a

5 year old to walk up to a stranger and place his hands on her boobs and

start talking to her. And it's perfectly normal for a 5 year old to run off

from their parents while sitting down to dinner at a restaurant. And it's

perfectly normal for a 5 year old to not make eye contact with you. ~sarcasm

off~

Anne

-- Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

I dunno Anne; I would be careful about declining any speech services

if they are trying to scrape you off their shoes to begin with. I

wish you could come for the 2nd day of 's Law in FW.

And yet, you don't really HAVE to have a diagnosis for services?!?!?

If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, ...

I wish I had a better thought for you.

> My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it

before

> the

> end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way

to keep

> them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

>

> Anne

>

>

[Guest guest]

First of all, the person that told you Aspergers doesn't fall under the special

ed criteria for Autism is ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!!! As you and I know, Asperger's

falls on the Autism Spectrum as does PDD-NOS and therefore his label would be AU

(autism).

My nephew has PDD-NOS only because he didn't meet all the criteria for Autism

but met some of them and his label on his IEP is AU. He is only 4 years old so

an IQ test at this point wouldn't be very accurate but he's already reading!! I

can tell you his label will be Asperger's when he is old enough to test. The

child is a genius! I'm not biased or anything!! hehehhe

I am also a special education teacher in the DFW area and teach children with

ASD. Asperger's DOES meet the criteria for AU! Also, the difference between an

child with Asperger's and a child with Autism is IQ. A child is labeled

Asperger's when they have an average to above average IQ. That is really the

only difference. Children with Asperger's will often exhibit the same

behavioral characteristics of a child with Autism. As you know, no children on

the ASD spectrum are going to behave or exhibit behaviors in exactly the same

way. However, there will be many similarities! Children with Asperger's can and

often do mimic their peers. I have a student that has Asperger's and he often

will repeatedly recite movie clips. Right now he is stuck on Spaceballs! He

will sing the song " Hello my baby, Hello my darling, Hello my Sweetie Pie " all

day long!!! He's a real character!

Have you considered contacting Advocacy Inc. in your area to help you with

this? Also, since they are going to re-evaluate him, request, in writing, that

they do another AU assessment.

The reason the school district did not accept your outside diagnosis is

because IDEA specifically states that an AU assessment must be conducted by a

multi-disciplinary team and that team must determine whether or not the child

qualifies as a child with AU. This is the only way they could legally service

your child with that specific label. The multi-disciplinary team consists of

the educational diagnostician, LSSP, and Speech. A school district can take

your outside diagnosis into consideration and possibly use it as part of the

evaluation but are required by law to conduct their own multi-disciplinary

assessment.

I hope this helps you!! I recommend you trying to contact an advocacy agency

or someone that knows sped law well to be with you at his next ARD.

REMEMBER: DON'T sign ANYTHING until you have thoroughly read and understand

what you are signing!! They are required by law to explain anything and

everything to you! Don't be afraid to ask questions and take copious notes.

Then take all that info back with you and double check it with the law!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING and believe me when I say, it is nothing I haven

t thought A MILLION times. The exact strategies that they are using are

repeating and explaining instructions to insure understanding " , " visual aids

and picture schedule for daily routine " , " prewarning for changes in routine "

" social stories for unusual changes " ...

And manage behavior by providing frequent eye contact.

The day we added those to the ARD, I came home and sat down and thought to

myself, Oh my God, what am I dealing with here? And then yesterday when I

talked to the guy AT the SPECIAL ED services, and he told me Asperger

Syndrome wasn't included in special education, I didn't know whether to

laugh or to cry. When I told my husband about it, the exact phrasing I used

was, " I am dealing with f-ing idiots. " Only, I didn't say f-ing, I said THE

word. And that word doesn't come out of my mouth very often. At least the

kids were in bed. I feel like I am beating a dead horse. I even told the

guy on the phone, " You know what? It is more frustrating for me to deal with

the system than it is for me to deal with my special needs son. "

Because we live in such a rural area, I'm not comfortable with naming the

district, but it's in region 12, near Waco.

I think his speech has come along beautifully. He's a very precocious little

talker now, and you are lucky if you can get a word in edgewise. His teacher

told me that he will come up to her desk and just start talking to her and

she knows he would stand there and talk all day if she let him. And he'll

always start with, " I have something to tell you, " and then he'll see

something in the room and start with that. I'm not so sure about his

socializing. Everything I see, I would say no, but his teacher, whom is just

about the only person that I DO trust, says that he is fitting in with the

other kids and doing what the others do. But that picking up and mocking

behaviors is something Asperger kids do, isn't it? In order to be like

everyone else, they just act like everyone else to fit in? He does have the

diagnosis of PDD-NOS, but I think Asperger fits him better. He was evaluated

(for autism) by the school district in January of 04, and diagnosed by the

psychologist in March of 05. I've been fighting them over this since

November of 03. But I am just the mother, and what do I know? Apparently,

according to the guy at the special ed office, it is perfectly normal for a

5 year old to walk up to a stranger and place his hands on her boobs and

start talking to her. And it's perfectly normal for a 5 year old to run off

from their parents while sitting down to dinner at a restaurant. And it's

perfectly normal for a 5 year old to not make eye contact with you. ~sarcasm

off~

Anne

-- Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

I feel your pain and frustration - we've been in your same shoes. We live in

Katy and I've had to hire an advocate, do you have access to one where you live?

It helped having someone who knew how to use the lingo and be on my side. lisa

Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

Hmmmmm, well it seems that school define Asperger's differently than the DSM

IV. By definition, a child has autism, regardless of the IQ that he

eventually develops, when the condition manifest before the age of 3 AND

there is a speech delay impairment in communicative ability, impairment in

social relatednes (interactions), excessive rigidity in routine (which is

usually accompanied by unusual use of objects). Asperger's has NO speech

delay--in fact these children talk and have always talked excessively.

Words are their lifeline. There have been studies looking at kids with

" high functioning " autism and Asperger's and can't really find too much

difference between the two. To really tell the difference may be splitting

hairs.

According to IDEA, if a child has a disability that adversely affects

academic performance, then the child qualifies under IDEA and needs an IEP.

So the question needs to be, does the child have a disability? Well, the

school psychologist seemed to think that he had a disability. Does this

disability impair his ability to learn and his academic performance? Then

he needs re-evals and IEPs.

Also, there is going to be a slaw boot camp in Austin in August. I

HIGHLY recommend that you go if you've had to fight them this hard for three

years. It sounds like things might be getting to a crisis and you need to

nip it before it gets that far.

S.

Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne

[Guest guest]

Yes, school districts define things differently than the DSM IV. Reason being

is that school districts cannot " diagnose " and therefore have their own defining

criteria! The DSM IV is the medical model and schools don't follow the medical

model.

You are correct about Asperger's kiddos not having difficulty with talking.

They are often VERY verbal, however, not all of them are verbal. However, being

verbal and being able to communicate are two very different things. This is

where the communication difficulties come in and this is who it falls under ASD.

Kristi

Singleton wrote:

Hmmmmm, well it seems that school define Asperger's differently than the DSM

IV. By definition, a child has autism, regardless of the IQ that he

eventually develops, when the condition manifest before the age of 3 AND

there is a speech delay impairment in communicative ability, impairment in

social relatednes (interactions), excessive rigidity in routine (which is

usually accompanied by unusual use of objects). Asperger's has NO speech

delay--in fact these children talk and have always talked excessively.

Words are their lifeline. There have been studies looking at kids with

" high functioning " autism and Asperger's and can't really find too much

difference between the two. To really tell the difference may be splitting

hairs.

According to IDEA, if a child has a disability that adversely affects

academic performance, then the child qualifies under IDEA and needs an IEP.

So the question needs to be, does the child have a disability? Well, the

school psychologist seemed to think that he had a disability. Does this

disability impair his ability to learn and his academic performance? Then

he needs re-evals and IEPs.

Also, there is going to be a slaw boot camp in Austin in August. I

HIGHLY recommend that you go if you've had to fight them this hard for three

years. It sounds like things might be getting to a crisis and you need to

nip it before it gets that far.

S.

Re: Re-evaluation question

You have to sign consent for them to re-evaluate him. Don't sign the

paperwork if you don't want him assessed prior to August. However, if you

wait until August to sign the paperwork, they will be in a time crunch to

re-evaluate your son. They are not going to want to be out of compliance

timeline wise. Also, if you wait, then he will have a rushed re-evaluation

(so they can meet the timeline of an August re-eval) and then you won't have

a good picture of where he is functioning. Just a few things to think

about!

Kristi

Anne wrote:

My son is up for re-evaluation in August, but they want to do it before

the

end of the school year this year. I don't agree. Is there any way to keep

them from doing the re-evaluation before August?

Anne