High-functioning Autistic Son Schooling Concern

I think he needs to be in a regular classroom but with the aid of a full time Para. I think the problem was he did not have consistency. You have the right to have him in regular classes and if he needs a full time aid they are responsible for providing him with one. You should have an IEP...I would not go to homeschooling quite yet, because I think you need the support the school can provide. I think sadly you just have not found a teacher/para combo that has clicked...not everyone has the empathy they should have for this situation.
Have you talked to teachers one on one?
Find a different school district. Good luck, I am sorry it has been such an uphill battle!

My son has Aspergers/ADHD and has always been in public school in regular classrooms but pulled out for speech and writing help. He had an untrained aide in kindergarten, but in first and 2nd grade he had an amazing aide(this year she became a teacher at another school). Now in 4th grade, he doesn't need the aide but still gets extra help during certain times of day, especially transitions.
He rides the bus every day to be in a good routine and does not go to the lunchroom with everyone else in the morning. Instead, he checks in with the speech teacher. He can go over his schedule for the day in a calm environment and misses part of the chaos of the other kids getting to the classroom. The same thing at the end of the day, he leaves a few minutes early to get to the bus and avoids the crowds.
In the classroom this year and last year in 3rd grade, he has a choice of where to sit. He can sit at a table with a small group, in a separate desk at the front of the room(even when the other kids are in a circle on the floor), or at a separate desk at the back of the room, depending on what he needs right then. He had a picture schedule and reward chart, and also helped with errands like delivering copy paper when he needed a sensory break.

One of his biggest frustrations is with writing. He has great ideas and good reading comprehension, but totally melts down when trying to get his ideas on paper. I joined a yahoo support group for dysgraphia to learn how to deal with this. Some suggestions they have are to allow verbal answers, have a scribe write for the child, reduce the number of questions on worksheets, try technology such as typing or speech recognition software, and work with the school to get accommodations put in writing.

I used to be the person you needed in the classroom for your son! I was an aide for our school distrtict w/kids who had special needs but were fully included in reg. ed all day. I supported the child as well as the whole class & it was a great experience for all. You don't mention an IEP so not sure if you have one but you NEED to get one started NOW so that your son can get the services he deserves & the district has to offer. I feel very strongly you should not home school him. He really needs the day-to-day structure & consistency of the class as well as the social aspect it offers. Plus he says that he wants to be in a regular class. The district by law must provide you w/the classroom setting you want for you child & even if you find a school out of your district, your local one must cover any & all expenses incurred to get him there & school him. You've already got the diagnosis part & if you do not have an IEP, you may need toget him re-assessed thru the district. This can be a lengthy process so, please get moving w/it. I spent so many years on the staff side of an IEP but am now also on the parent end myself. Our younger son has an IEP for speech (that's been going on since he was 2 & he's now 6) & now he also has some learning differences & goals for those added to his IEP. Even tho I have a lot of experience w/the IEP proceess, staff involved, etc, it's still scary & daunting to me to be on the parent side now. You are & always will be your sons strongest advocate. You will have to be his voice if he cannot & I offer you all the best of luck!

I have no idea what an ED class is but I am assuming it is not the common use for the abbreviation ED.

Are you saying they moved him into a special school setting?

I am not sure which grade they moved Andy into special school but it did wonders for him. He would lose his temper which in a normal school setting was disastrous. The teachers and aids really didn't know how to properly deal with it, the kids were scared of him. He was miserable but kept wanting to stick with it because he just wants to be normal.

Once he got used to the change he was really happy at his new school. He was in a place where they actually knew how to deal with his behavior. Yes he learned academics but primarily he worked on his behavior issues because that was his ticket back to his old school.

He went back to his home school just in time for middle school which scared the heck out of me. Would you believe he is now a straight A student, honor roll and all that jazz. He doesn't hang out with his classmates but he gets along with them and he hasn't lost his temper since he got back there.

Oh in his class in special school there as one other child with Autism spectrum but lord a lot worse than Andy, otherwise completely different needs. Ya know, the staff knows how to work around that. I don't regret at all sending Andy there for a few years.

ED classroom is NOT an appropriate placement for an 8 year old with ASD. The issues and challenges are VERY different.
I'm not familiar with the schools in your area or the possible options for private or other support. Is he getting any additional supports (ABA, RDI, Speech OT) outside of school hours?
You certainly want to help him learn to behave appropriately in whatever environment he is in. Moving him in to more and more restrictive settings is not necessarily doing that. If you can connect with an outside behaviorist in your area who could get a different set of eyes on the issue.
There are some parent support groups in the SAcramento area like FEAT, that might be more aware of the specific resources.

Yeah... those were a lot of the same problems we have... although my son's ADHD (2e). His abilities are ALL over the map. We span 8 grade levels in work. There's just no way a public school (in our area) can accommodate him. The only thing he was getting out of public school was kid-time. Well, it's pretty easy to work out kid-time via "afterschool" activities.

So we DID switch to homeschooling (it was that or a private gifted school, which is soooooo used to sensory issues, asynchronistic development, a huge range in abilities... but with a 15k per year pricetag we figured we'd try HS'ing first. That was 4 years ago).

Homeschooling is pretty "backwards" in a lot of ways.
- You have to work for time away instead of family time. Most parents get all excited about the school year starting because they get some time off. Homeschooling, you get 'time off' during school breaks. CAMPS.
- HS'ing you have your kids / family time during the day... and classes/friend time time in the afternoon & evenings.
- HS'ing comes with so much TIME attached to it (most people can get through school subjects in 4 hours or less a day, and often only 2 hours a day) to stay at or above grade level that you have to work at adding MORE instead of subtracting (aka we're usually in 7 sports a year, and have 4-5 hours of computer time, and is in drama and chess club, etc. and it's RELAXING. ((Meanwhile even ONE activity can be 'too much' when one is awayschooling because there just isn't enough time)).
- HS'ing you aren't held back to your worst subject, but can work at as many different levels as you need. EX: My son started algebra at age 7, but was doing 1st grade/preschool writing and 6th grade reading.

Would my son rather be in awayschool? Often. But he's FAR happier hs'ing.

I am seeing signs of attention deficit in my daughter (9 years old). Our GP suggested I read the book "Disconnected Kids", by Dr. Robert Melillo, which describes the brain condition behind autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, etc. The issue is a brain imbalance...imbalance between the strengths of functionality of left brain and right brain. The book provides check lists and evaluations for determining if a child has a right or left brain weakness; then provides exercises you can do at home to strengthen the weak side. No drugs. I'm hoping to do the evaluations with my daughter this weekend (she's going to evaluate me too ;>). Then we'll see what exercises we need to do. The Dr. says the exercises need to be done at least 3 times a week for about 3 months to bring the brain back into balance -- that's going to mean a commitment of time and schedule wrangling...but I think it's worth a try. He provides several case studies of severely autistic and ADHD kids being mainstreamed back into school; and cites quite a lot of his and other doctors' research and experience.

The book is an incredibly easy read and very interesting!!! I put a brown cover on it because I don't want my daughter to label herself (or think I've labelled her) as ADHD or anything else (I suspect we all have a bit of a brain imbalance but have learned to cope with it). We call it the "Brain Book" and I've been sharing lots of interesting facts with her as I do my first read-through. Sometimes she'll say, "Any more interesting stuff about brains mom?" So...I am still reading....haven't done the evaluations or exercises yet...but wanted to share the resource. An alternative to medication that only costs me time and effort is worth the investigation.

If it were me I would try homeschooling and see how it goes. If you realize later that the services from school are worth it - then he can go back.

I love this web site: http://www.ldonline.org .

Here is an interesting article from that same site: http://www.ldonline.org/article/Homeschooling_LD/ADD_Chil...

Hi K.,

I am sorry to hear the frustration you are going through. It is hard when you see what your child is going through and you feel you can't make it better. Hang in there. I work with individuals with challenges and show those who are interested how to create a healhier environment in the homes to improve your health. You may email if you are interested in learning more.

Have a great weekend.

N. Marie
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