Re: Which specialist do we consult with next?

[Guest guest]

HiKylie, one thought from me is that with the poor motor skills which affect his

writing (or not writing), he could benefit from occupational therapy (OT)? Has

the school evaluated him for this? If not, you could put a formal request in

writing to the school for an OT evaluation and state that he has poor motor

skills and thus doesn't like to write which affects his education as he doesn't

do some of the work...etc, etc. Might play into his physical education class

also, and anything else you can think of.

Also, I don't know if your insurance might cover it, but if so a doctor could

write a prescription for OT services outside school (private OT).

Can you see the neuropsych who did the testing you mentioned? I would think

he/she could handle all this or do they just evaluate?

A developmental pediatrician - well, haven't seen one, others can say if this is

the next best choice. (I'd think neuropsych is best)

For anxiety and the tics, you could see a psychiatrist. Is he on any meds

currently? If on something from regular doctor for tics, for example, he might

prescribe something for anxiety too but may rather have a psych do it. I know

the psych would prescribe for anxiety, dunno if tics are a problem where he

would need meds (if not on any now) but at least psych (hopefully) could take

into consideration the tics so any anxiety med wouldn't worsen them, whatever.

For motor skills, we did see a neurologist for , and he prescribed OT

(which our insurance did cover) but the reason we first went is that was

having more difficulty writing due to his sudden onset of OCD so we were ruling

out that anything " else " had happened to affect his writing so much. But he

already had poor motor skills (gross & fine) and the OT really helped him lots

overall.

Hope others can help advise you, we haven't seen any specialists really, other

than getting his Aspergers diagnosis and then before that the neuro when OCD

began.

>

> One year after my 13y.o. ds's dx of AS/NLD, he has not made a lot of progress

with academic subjects. The school has shunted him around from special ed to

general ed, with some accommodations and not a lot of consistency. Some teachers

are complying, some are not.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks

No, he is not on any meds, that is why I am considering it as the possible next

step. He is in Adaptive PE already. He has not had an OT assessment since he was

7. At the time, she found nothing that needed therapy!

Any deficits were " within expected range " .

The neuropsych was not covered by our insurance (5K!) and she only does

evaluations.

So, thanks, I will ask for another OT eval, see what the pediatrician recommends

for the anxiety and tics, and we'll see how he goes over summer.

Kylie

> HiKylie, one thought from me is that with the poor motor skills which affect

his writing (or not writing), he could benefit from occupational therapy (OT)?

Has the school evaluated him for this? If not, you could put a formal request

in writing to the school for an OT evaluation and state that he has poor motor

skills and thus doesn't like to write which affects his education as he doesn't

do some of the work...etc, etc. Might play into his physical education class

also, and anything else you can think of.

>

> Also, I don't know if your insurance might cover it, but if so a doctor could

write a prescription for OT services outside school (private OT).

>

> Can you see the neuropsych who did the testing you mentioned? I would think

he/she could handle all this or do they just evaluate?

>

> A developmental pediatrician - well, haven't seen one, others can say if this

is the next best choice. (I'd think neuropsych is best)

>

> For anxiety and the tics, you could see a psychiatrist. Is he on any meds

currently? If on something from regular doctor for tics, for example, he might

prescribe something for anxiety too but may rather have a psych do it. I know

the psych would prescribe for anxiety, dunno if tics are a problem where he

would need meds (if not on any now) but at least psych (hopefully) could take

into consideration the tics so any anxiety med wouldn't worsen them, whatever.

>

> For motor skills, we did see a neurologist for , and he prescribed OT

(which our insurance did cover) but the reason we first went is that was

having more difficulty writing due to his sudden onset of OCD so we were ruling

out that anything " else " had happened to affect his writing so much. But he

already had poor motor skills (gross & fine) and the OT really helped him lots

overall.

>

> Hope others can help advise you, we haven't seen any specialists really, other

than getting his Aspergers diagnosis and then before that the neuro when OCD

began.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> >

> > One year after my 13y.o. ds's dx of AS/NLD, he has not made a lot of

progress with academic subjects. The school has shunted him around from special

ed to general ed, with some accommodations and not a lot of consistency. Some

teachers are complying, some are not.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

>

> One year after my 13y.o. ds's dx of AS/NLD, he has not made a lot of progress

with academic subjects. The school has shunted him around from special ed to

general ed, with some accommodations and not a lot of consistency. Some teachers

are complying, some are not.

Do you need to consult with more people or need to use what you have more

effectively? What do the recommendations sections of your evaluations say

should be happening at school? Is it happening? I'm guessing not.

It sounds like the school has been doing a lot of experimenting. That's fine,

but there comes a time when you need to sit down with all the players and

discuss what worked, what didn't, and where to go next. It sounds like maybe

that is where you are at at school.

Something I discovered is that when teachers aren't complying that often means

administrators/professionals are doing too much of the planning, and it isn't

working for the teachers. Teachers often are not included enough as a matter of

course in making up IEP/504 plans.

I had to ask for ALL of my son's teachers to attend meetings. He is 14yo with

AS, in 8th grade, by the way. Otherwise, their modus operandi was to only

invite the lead teacher. This didn't work. The one teacher, surrounded by

school administrators and parents, either didn't talk much or was vetoed by one

or more of the administrators. Anyway, they were happy to include all the

teachers--but I had to ask.

So, when all the teachers came, I sat back (and luckily the administrators had

enough sense to do the same) and let the teachers talk a lot amongst themselves

and come up with solutions. So, it ended up that the school

administrators/professionals came up with the framework, and the teachers ironed

out the details. When we did that, the teachers followed the plan MUCH better.

And it wasn't just a matter of ego; I really think the teachers came up with a

better plan than the rest of us would have.

Try not to be discouraged. It takes awhile, often a year or two, to get

something successful working. And that's after you have the dx and the formal

accommodations and everybody is really trying. But, it DOES get better.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

>

> One year after my 13y.o. ds's dx of AS/NLD, he has not made a lot of progress

with academic subjects. The school has shunted him around from special ed to

general ed, with some accommodations and not a lot of consistency. Some teachers

are complying, some are not.

Do you need to consult with more people or need to use what you have more

effectively? What do the recommendations sections of your evaluations say

should be happening at school? Is it happening? I'm guessing not.

It sounds like the school has been doing a lot of experimenting. That's fine,

but there comes a time when you need to sit down with all the players and

discuss what worked, what didn't, and where to go next. It sounds like maybe

that is where you are at at school.

Something I discovered is that when teachers aren't complying that often means

administrators/professionals are doing too much of the planning, and it isn't

working for the teachers. Teachers often are not included enough as a matter of

course in making up IEP/504 plans.

I had to ask for ALL of my son's teachers to attend meetings. He is 14yo with

AS, in 8th grade, by the way. Otherwise, their modus operandi was to only

invite the lead teacher. This didn't work. The one teacher, surrounded by

school administrators and parents, either didn't talk much or was vetoed by one

or more of the administrators. Anyway, they were happy to include all the

teachers--but I had to ask.

So, when all the teachers came, I sat back (and luckily the administrators had

enough sense to do the same) and let the teachers talk a lot amongst themselves

and come up with solutions. So, it ended up that the school

administrators/professionals came up with the framework, and the teachers ironed

out the details. When we did that, the teachers followed the plan MUCH better.

And it wasn't just a matter of ego; I really think the teachers came up with a

better plan than the rest of us would have.

Try not to be discouraged. It takes awhile, often a year or two, to get

something successful working. And that's after you have the dx and the formal

accommodations and everybody is really trying. But, it DOES get better.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

Hi Kylie, as I understand it the Psycologist that does the Nueropsych testing

usually does not treat patients. To explore medicine options you will need to

see a MD which could include Pediatricians, General Practicioners or

Psychiatrists. If you are interested in therepy you could see a licenced

clinical social worker or a Psychologist.

Personally I would look for someone who specializes in children as they will

have the most experience with the issues that you are facing. Often you will

find that Childrens Hospitals have community medical centers for Psychiatry and

Behavioral Medicine. Two ways to try to find a doctor or therepist would be

through your insurance company or through the nearest Childrens Hospital.

Since it sounds like the anxiety is the most treatable issue you are facing now

you could also talk to his pediatrician about this. I don't think that there is

any medicine that will help with the executive dysfunction.

With the information you have given my personal choice (were this my child)

would be to talk to the pediatrician about medicine for the anxiety. Since tics

are worse with stress reducing his anxiety may help with the tics also. Without

knowing why he hates writing so much there is no way to know what effect the

meds would have on that but it is certainly possible that he gets so frustrated

with his writing that it is easier to just give up than to try. Again lowering

his anxiety could help in this area also. If not then you could definitely look

into an OT evaluation.

Hope this helps.

Vickie

>

> One year after my 13y.o. ds's dx of AS/NLD, he has not made a lot of progress

with academic subjects. The school has shunted him around from special ed to

general ed, with some accommodations and not a lot of consistency. Some teachers

are complying, some are not.

>

> He is ok socially and that is why I never even considered AS a possibility.

The neuropsych testing did reveal a deficti in Theory of Mind and exec. function

deficits, among other things. He has poor motor skills, doesn't like to write

and at the moment, simply refuses to write anything much.

> Although he is very interested in History, he has an F, same for science and

math(less interested in Math).

>

> He does suffer anxiety and tics and has trouble maintaining attention,

although the neuropsych ruled out ADHD. He is cooperative at home and usually

cheerful, although he refuses to do homework and is often " defiant " at school.

He is not explosive, mean or moody.

>

> My question is: who do I consult next? I did not want to " medicalize " his

academic difficulties and hoped that with support and accommodations, he would

make progress this year.

>

> I have come to the conclusion that we need to see someone to give him either

psychological help, or meds or whatever else will make his life a little easier.

>

> I know that a lot of you have dealt with many professionals, so whom would you

say has been the most helpful/constructive? Psychiatrist, neurologist,

developmental pediatrician, witch doctor?>g<

>

> He is seeing a SLP once a week at school, for pragmatic language and a

stutter. I am seeing his pediatrician tomorrow and would like some advice as to

which direction I should take.

>

> Kylie in CA.

>

[Guest guest]

You need to have an IEP meeting to discuss his lack of advancement. They are obligated to provide him with the supports he needs in order to make sufficient progress. Find out why he is not making progress. If they are not following the IEP, that is a big problem. You need to talk to the head of the sped department and let that person know that you expect the IEP to be followed. Write a follow up letter documenting this problem. If he needs more or different supports, get those in place.

Roxanna

Autism Happens

( ) Which specialist do we consult with next?

One year after my 13y.o. ds's dx of AS/NLD, he has not made a lot of progress with academic subjects. The school has shunted him around from special ed to general ed, with some accommodations and not a lot of consistency. Some teachers are complying, some are not.

He is ok socially and that is why I never even considered AS a possibility. The neuropsych testing did reveal a deficti in Theory of Mind and exec. function deficits, among other things. He has poor motor skills, doesn't like to write and at the moment, simply refuses to write anything much.

Although he is very interested in History, he has an F, same for science and math(less interested in Math).

He does suffer anxiety and tics and has trouble maintaining attention, although the neuropsych ruled out ADHD. He is cooperative at home and usually cheerful, although he refuses to do homework and is often "defiant" at school. He is not explosive, mean or moody.

My question is: who do I consult next? I did not want to "medicalize" his academic difficulties and hoped that with support and accommodations, he would make progress this year.

I have come to the conclusion that we need to see someone to give him either psychological help, or meds or whatever else will make his life a little easier.

I know that a lot of you have dealt with many professionals, so whom would you say has been the most helpful/constructive? Psychiatrist, neurologist, developmental pediatrician, witch doctor?>g<

He is seeing a SLP once a week at school, for pragmatic language and a stutter. I am seeing his pediatrician tomorrow and would like some advice as to which direction I should take.

Kylie in CA.

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[Guest guest]

Thanks for all the great advice.

I saw the ped this morning. We are going to try some Concerta to help with his

focus at school. Of course, I will be on the look out for any worsening of the

anxiety and tics. If that is not successful, we will move down the list of

possible meds.

I also have a referral to an OT and a social skills group. He really is a great

ped and has not pushed for me to put him on meds, but let us come to that

decision ourselves.

Our IEP is early June, so I am hopeful that ds will have a much better year in

grade 8.

BTW. My dd is off to college in the fall, I am not sure if that will reduce or

increase my stress levels!!

Kylie in CA