RE: Son newly diagnosed!-school meeting may 11, 2006

May 3, 2006

, your son is indeed fortunate you followed your instincts and followed

through on the teacher's suggestion. My son wasn't given the AS dx until he was

a Sophomore. When he was 12, he got dx'd with bipolar disorder and before then

it was adhd.

They are so similar in most respects it is obvious to me how it can be

confused.

He should be retested for Gifted but his non-verbal scores are high. Many AS

kids do poorly in that area.

It is due to that, many get the AS dx.

As an advocate in the school system, it is a major need for him to have an

advocate there for his IEP conference. Does he have a Regional Center Service

Coordinator yet? In Missouri, there is an agency that deals ONLY with school

system and advocacy for children. It is called MPACT. In your state there may

be a similar one. In my case the IEP was balked on by the school because his

test scores were not far off from his achievement level, BUT he was taking

clssses that were a piece of cake as a Freshman and Sophomore. But it was at

that point, homework had become a necessity and my son had never done homework.

He never had to. His test scores carried him through in all classes since early

childhood.

Due to his diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, he was way overmedicated but hr

chose to take charge of that himself a year ago. He went off his medicien cold

turkey, proceeded to have a meltdown and had to be hospitalized.

The Pdoc there was East Indian and totally took the BP dx away and told me to

let him quit school. Let him take his GED and the psychologist there put me in

touch with a Behavior Therapist.

It is my opinion that he may indeed be bipolar but also AS. He got through

last summer by going to his regular pdoc and asking for something to help him

with his anger. (little boy knows himself) He started on Abilify and then in

January started on Strattera. He does not take an antidepressant and does not

take a stimulant medication for adhd. Instead the medications he is on now,

have made him so successful, he is well aware of his situation.

It is unfortunate that he is indeed a young man also and he has no impulse

control. With that, he is making me a grandmother. Little creep....his

girlfriend has worked with him for a long time and she herself has issues. Her

mother will nto discuss them with me. I have no idea if she will be able to

parent her child. She is soon to be 21, doesn't drive, and lives with her

parents.

The one thing I can say for you and your son is have the same expectations for

him as you would any other child.

Set strict boundaries and never alter from them. Give short term consequences

and let him learn from them. Teach him how to drive when appropriate and make

him get work. Make him finish some sort of education and give ultimatums. Stick

with them.

My son has grown so much since I started parenting him as though he had no

disability.

So have I.

Andib

auntsusanmae <auntsusanmae@...> wrote: Hello all,

My middle son has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. He just

turned 8 on the first. I have 2 other boys (10 & 6). I have my

first meeting with the school on May 11th. I am so totally clueless

on what it will be like, and what I should bring! My son was being

treated for ADHD, but he is stilling having major difficulty in

school. His teacher went on a limb, thank God, to suggest I look

for a different diagnosis. I know that she could lose her job

making that kind of suggestion, but I just want to let you know how

much she cares about my sons well being! I was just wandering if

anyone had pointers to share about books to read, notes to jot down,

questions I should ask, people I should invite to the meeting or

anything else?

I live in Virginia Beach, Virginia and my son is now in 2nd grade.

I understand this meeting is just to see if he qualifies for special

education. Would this be the time to bring up his gifted scores?

He scored in the top 99% for the test without communication skills,

68% for the verbal communication, and 89% for the non-verbal

communication. I thought he should maybe retested for the gifted

program under an IEP?

I was also wondering about any diet changes and organizational tips

anyone had. Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge

with others!!!

May 16, 2006

Subject: ( ) Son newly diagnosed!-school meeting may 11, 2006

Hello all,