Opinion

[Guest guest]

I agree with perceptions based on classification. My son was also classified ED until we got the Aspergers diagnosis. At that time I did request a change in his primary classification to Autism. His secondary is ED. It has not changed his services or his needs, but it has caused teachers & staff to be less likely to view his behaviors as defiance. With my older son when we moved to Louisiana from SC they evaluated him & changed his classification from Specific Learning Disability to Cognitive Disability - Mild. As long as be received the services that he needed I did not fight the label. However, when it was time for his reeval he was going onto middle school. The reeval coordinator wanted to say that there were no new concerns & leave the label. I disagreed because I knew that the expectations would be greatly diminished if teachers perceived him as having a cognitive disability vs. A learning disability. So I pushed for a full reeval which came back as Specific Learning Disability. Now that he is in high school I think it makes a big difference. Teachers have higher expectations & work harder with him to achieve them rather than just putting him in a vocational/functional skills program.So there are times when labels/classification drives services & program placement even when we know that the law says it should not be done that way!Sent from my iPhoneBlessings, DonnaOn Mar 2, 2009, at 11:04 AM, "Vickie Boehnlein" <baneline1@...> wrote:

Maybe its a State issue. In Wisconsin the catagory makes no

difference at all to services. I had checked into this because my

son is in spec ed for EBD and when he was dx'd as PDD-NOS, Mild

Aspergers, Anxiety I check with the head of the state department of

special ed if I should get him re-catoragized as Autism and she said

that there was no reason since the services are the same no matter

what. I guess here it is only about qualifing and then special

services are evaluated separately based on need.

Vickie

> >

> > I guess my only point in this long winded reply is that the

catagory

> > isn't important the quality of his education and the services is

the

> > part to focus on.

>

> The thing is, if they have the dx wrong and thus the category wrong,

> they may misinterpret his needs. For example, if a student is

> categorized as ED, his communication or sensory breakdowns may well

be

> interpreted as defiance. He may not ever get intervention for

> communication or sensory overload strategies. Also, at least in my

> state, being classified as autism opens up additional evaluations

that

> have to be done that are only done for autistic students since they

> only apply to autism. So, if a student is classified as ED, he will

> miss out on these extra evaluations. Yes, theoretically, he should

> have them if the need is there, but if nobody from the autism team

> ever sees him the need will never be realized.

>

> Ruth

>

[Guest guest]

He DID qualify for special ed services under the EBD catagory. It is

possible, if not probable that he would also qualify under Autism.

Although he is PDD-NOS and/or Mild Aspergers so I am not sure.

Here is my perspective on this whole thing:

1. I know what my sons dx is. I have had him nueropsycological

tested at our Childrens Hospital and he is treated by a

Psychiatrist. The school and the teachers cannot change that reality

even if they wanted to.

2. A dx from a doctor has no legal bearing on what services the

school must provide. They must qualify under state and federal law

according to the criteria determined by law.

3. Almost all of the issues that the school is dealing with have to

do with emotional and behavioral the reason for the issues is of

course because of the PDD-NOS, Anxiety, Aspergers and Executive

disfunction.

4. We are in a small school district. Every teacher knows who my

son is and is periferally at least aware of his status and issues. I

am fairly well known by all the administrators and have had a very

sucessful elementary school experience. My son will be in middle

school next year and we have already met with the special ed director

for the middle school and begun preparing for the transition.

5. I don't view the EBD classification as a " bad " catagory and

Autism as a " good " catagory. It is a disablity regardless. I guess

it doesn't matter what causes the childs need as long as the needs

are being met.

With all that being said each persons child is different. Each

school is different. Each district, state and country is different

so it may be that I am just hugely blessed at my circumstances (which

I am). I firmly believe that every parent should fight for their

kids to have the best educational experience possible. Do what ever

it takes. I guess I just don't like getting hung up on lables.

Vickie

> > >

> > > I guess my only point in this long winded reply is that the

> catagory

> > > isn't important the quality of his education and the services

is

> the

> > > part to focus on.

> >

> > The thing is, if they have the dx wrong and thus the category

wrong,

> > they may misinterpret his needs. For example, if a student is

> > categorized as ED, his communication or sensory breakdowns may

well

> be

> > interpreted as defiance. He may not ever get intervention for

> > communication or sensory overload strategies. Also, at least in

my

> > state, being classified as autism opens up additional

evaluations

> that

> > have to be done that are only done for autistic students since

they

> > only apply to autism. So, if a student is classified as ED, he

will

> > miss out on these extra evaluations. Yes, theoretically, he

should

> > have them if the need is there, but if nobody from the autism

team

> > ever sees him the need will never be realized.

> >

> > Ruth

> >

>

>

>

>

>

> **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in

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>

[Guest guest]

>

> Maybe its a State issue.

There definitely are state differences. Here in Texas we have an

" Autism Supplement " , which includes 7 extra areas of consideration,

that is only given to students classified as autistic. So, if a

student is autistic but not classified as such, they definitely miss

out. Also, students classified as ED or BD have exclusions from

certain considerations.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

There is a similar situation here in Ohio. They provide something called the "autism scholarship" in this state and if your classification is something else, you will not be eligible.

RoxannaYou're UniqueJust like everyone else...

Re: ( ) Opinion

>> Maybe its a State issue. There definitely are state differences. Here in Texas we have an"Autism Supplement", which includes 7 extra areas of consideration,that is only given to students classified as autistic. So, if astudent is autistic but not classified as such, they definitely missout. Also, students classified as ED or BD have exclusions fromcertain considerations.Ruth

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[Guest guest]

On Oct 28, 10:54am, " jimandjeanine " wrote:

} >

} Most of the parents I know have said that they started seeing issues

} very early on. To clarify, I have one son in kindergarten who

I saw things very early, but I was the only one and was frequently

accused of being paranoid or " trendy. " (!) I would love to know at

what point someone else would have started seeing issues, if I hadn't.

I remember that Bam was always on target on the developmental guidelines

we saw at the pediatrician, and the first time he wasn't (the issue

was reciprocal play, like rolling a ball back and forth), nothing

ever came of it. The next time we took him in, he had moved up

into a different set of questions and that question wasn't even there

anymore! So I suspect he would have completely fallen through the cracks

in that area.

Willa

[Guest guest]

That's a lot like my son. He was way ahead in terms of physical milestones. He could lift his head at birth. Seriously. And he could turn it to the side shortly thereafter. He was so strong, right from the beginning. And determined too. Then came other milestones like sitting up by himself (4 mos.), cruising around furniture (5.5 mos.), crawling (7 mos.), first step (7.5 mos!), and walking (one week before he turned 9 mos. old). His physical progression was just amazing. So when other things started to be lacking (like talking), they chalked it up to him being more focused in physical areas and the other areas would happen in time. He wasn't grossly off the developmental charts for speaking, but it was delayed. I also knew shortly after his 1st birthday that something was wrong. He would have these meltdowns for reasons that were beyond me and I knew in

my heart something was up. It was hard to accept though, especially because we kept reading/hearing/thinking about how "advanced" he was as a baby.

I'd tell any parent out there if you have any suspicions there might possibly be a problem, get help now. If your child ends up not needing it, it didn't hurt anything (besides maybe your pocketbook but it will be well worth it if it turns out something is wrong.)

"Over-optimism is waiting for you ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

From: Willa Hunt <willaful@...> Sent: Saturday, March 7, 2009 4:21:31 PMSubject: Re: ( ) Opinion

On Oct 28, 10:54am, "jimandjeanine" wrote:} >} Most of the parents I know have said that they started seeing issues} very early on. To clarify, I have one son in kindergarten whoI saw things very early, but I was the only one and was frequentlyaccused of being paranoid or "trendy." (!) I would love to know atwhat point someone else would have started seeing issues, if I hadn't.I remember that Bam was always on target on the developmental guidelineswe saw at the pediatrician, and the first time he wasn't (the issuewas reciprocal play, like rolling a ball back and forth), nothingever came of it. The next time we took him in, he had moved upinto a different set of questions and that question wasn't even thereanymore! So I suspect he would have completely fallen through the cracksin that area.Willa