Re: What would public school do for an AS kid?

[Guest guest]

If your child has a DX of AS syndrome and you get them classifed under IEP, they

will be evalauted for special services. If you disagree with their evaluation

you can reguest an independent

evaluation.

If you child has social deficits only then you would expect from the school

social skill programs. You would expect that they would faciliate unstructured

times so your child is not isolated. If there are physical issues you'd expect

OT and PT and modified PE. If your child has a Non Verbal Learning Disorder and

many AS kids do have this there will progressively need many interventions under

an IEP. For example as they get to 5th grade written expression becomes more an

issue. It depends on the childs cognitive deficits the level of school issues

they will have.

Some school are very proactive I hope your is. If not expect a struggle to get

each accomodation needed even under IEP.

Pam

[Guest guest]

Despite the fact that we are all supposed to be following the national laws,

this depends on your school district and varies greatly. What you need to do is

join local groups and find out from them what you can expect from your specific

school district. Unless you are lucky and there are people from your school

district on this list!

Ruth

[Guest guest]

You sound like you are doing a great job already of advocating for your son. I

think I was in shock for awhile after getting the diagnosis and was reluctant to

say anything to anyone at first.

I agree with the advice to reach out to other parents in your area who have

children with Aspergers to see what's available locally - both in and outside of

the schools. Anyway, it's really nice to know other parents you can talk to

about your child who will understand exactly what you mean. And later as your

child gets older, you may be able to cobble together a social group for him

through your local support groups.

But I would also add not wait and see what the school district will do or not

do. AS is a spectrum disorder and many AS kids have other conditions thrown in

the mix and so what your AS son needs to level the playing field at school could

be very different from what my AS child needs to succeed in the classroom.

I recommend that you take a proactive approach with the schools and ask for help

and if the help isn't enough or if the school isn't doing what they said they

will do, keep speaking up and taking notes to document anything that happens

good or bad. It's tough to keep this up year after year, but as a parent you

really are the only one who will really be on your child's side.

It sounds like your school is trying to do the right thing by your son, but this

could all change with a new teacher and especially when your child gets older

and starts middle school. In my case, I eventually got a parent advocate to come

to IEP meetings and then hired a lawyer to help me get him placed in a private

school for AS kids.