RE: AS and school (longish)

[Guest guest]

Great news, Ruth!

RoxannaYou're UniqueJust like everyone else...

Re: ( ) AS and school (longish)

>> Ruth ,> What is the "squeaky wheel" thing you are referring to?I'm not totally sure what you mean out of context, but I don't everlet the school alone. I let school administrators know when teachersare not following my son's 504 plan, I answer any teacher's questionsin full copied to a school administrator, point out things that aren'tworking, etc. There have been some times when I go for weekscontacting several teachers and administrators pretty much everysingle day. In two years, I have gone from no accommodations at all,to informal accommodations, through a failed IEP eval, to a 504, nowto another IEP eval--this time their idea--to be done with the Autismteam. When they would not evaluate, I did it--neuropsych,occupational therapy and speech--and brought it back to them. Sinceit is now their idea, I think he will finally get services--at age 14!We will see.Many school districts will try to get away with solving problems atthe lowest level possible, so you just have to keep pushing untilthere are no more excuses left.Ironically, totally coincidentally, the children's hospital alsocontacted me and okayed us for an autism study that will get my sonthe ADOS and ADI-R for free--the one thing where they didn't take ourinsurance so we couldn't do. When it rains, it pours LOL!Ruth

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[Guest guest]

Hopefully, for four hours, they plan to do more than one test!

RoxannaYou're UniqueJust like everyone else...

Re: ( ) AS and school (longish) Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 2:17 PM

>> Could someone tell me what ADOS and ADI-R stand for?http://www.umich. edu/~umacc/ diagnostic_ instruments/ description. htmThe Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised ( ADI-R: Lord, Rutter & LeCouteur, 1994) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS:WPS Edition; Lord, Rutter, DiLavore & Risi, 1999) are complementarydiagnostic instruments originally created for research, but nowadapted for clinical purposes.They are intended to be used by experienced clinicians; training intheir use is highly recommended. For these reasons, and because oftheir length, they are most appropriate as part of a comprehensiveevaluation within specialty clinics. A strength of both instruments isthat they operationalize current DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria andquantify separately the three domains that define autism spectrumdisorders: social reciprocity, communication and restricted,repetitive behaviors and interests. This can be very helpful inincreasing parents' understanding of their children's disabilities andsetting goals.The clinical version of the ADI-R takes about 90 minutes to administerand yields current scores and history. The ADOS is a standardizedobservation of social behavior in naturalistic and communicativecontexts, with different modules and tasks for children of differentages and language levels. It yields scores that fall within a rangefrom autism to autism spectrum disorder, and so may be particularlyhelpful with difficult to diagnose cases. It takes about 30-45 minutesto administer. Inter-rater and test-retest reliability as well asinternal validity have been demonstrated for both instruments andthey, and their previous versions, have been widely used in researchand in academic centers for about 15 years.

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[Guest guest]

>

> Great news, Ruth!

Yes, and I am absolutely THRILLED that we will have the " gold

standard " evaluation from the hospital at close to the same time, so

it will give them even less wriggle room. Especially since the

hospital appears to be in a hurry since they've had a hard time

finding qualified participants, so I think their results will be ready

before the school's. I know Autism teams typically move very slowly,

ours included.

The killer is--from my conversation with the school diagnostician--I

really don't think the assist principal who is my son's 504 team

leader understood my son should have referred to the Autism team the

minute they even suspected autism and he was having problems in class.

What finally happened after my continual nagging, um, oops, I mean

advocating, was that he called in a school psychologist to look

over all the children's hospital/therapy center/school evaluations and

school issues and ask her advice as to whether it was appropriate to

refer him to the Autism Team. Her answer-- " oh, definitely " !

Ruth

[Guest guest]

lol, at least someone there has a brain! <GG>

RoxannaYou're UniqueJust like everyone else...

Re: ( ) AS and school (longish)

>> Great news, Ruth!Yes, and I am absolutely THRILLED that we will have the "goldstandard" evaluation from the hospital at close to the same time, soit will give them even less wriggle room. Especially since thehospital appears to be in a hurry since they've had a hard timefinding qualified participants, so I think their results will be readybefore the school's. I know Autism teams typically move very slowly,ours included.The killer is--from my conversation with the school diagnostician--Ireally don't think the assist principal who is my son's 504 teamleader understood my son should have referred to the Autism team theminute they even suspected autism and he was having problems in class.What finally happened after my continual nagging, um, oops, I meanadvocating, was that he called in a school psychologist to lookover all the children's hospital/therapy center/school evaluations andschool issues and ask her advice as to whether it was appropriate torefer him to the Autism Team. Her answer-- "oh, definitely"!Ruth

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