Re: update, school, seizures and home.

[Guest guest]

Do you get to choose the counselor? You might find someone who specializes in autism and who can help your ds deal with the mess plus be on his side in explaining things to others.

Roxanna

Autism Happens

( ) update, school, seizures and home.

Hey everyone it has been a while since i emailed bare with me this may get long. First off my AS son had 3 more seizures and he has been dx with seizure disorder he is now taking Lamictal. He is doing much better as far as i can tell. I fear though because up until now he has not had seizures and now he is he used to take different meds to help settle some of the symptoms and i took him offf last summer because he was not gaining weight i was concerned. i dont know if that is part of the reason he is having seizures but i do know per ped, neurologist that there are some psch. meds that they are prescribing to our children that cause seizures. the one she mentioned to me was adderall and that is one of the meds i had my son on. so please be careful when medicating your children, i didnt realize how serious some of the side effects for those meds cause. okay now the good news i had a meeting at school, after i had requested the school to eval for learning

disbilities, ok, he does not have a learning disability and he does not qualify for speech and language but he had that from 3 up until he was7 or 8. so he has learned some already. however he does qualify for learning support due to Aspergers, they list it on the IEP as autism and now because of the seizures and the adhd dx he also has secondary other health impairment. he explained that because aspergers is form of autism they just list it as autism. i told him that was fine, it helps others to understand that apergers is on the spectrum and alot of people simply dont know that. now for the bad news. my son was accused of inappropiate touching to my partners son, and it has gotten reallty ugly, i wish i had time to tell you all the whole story as this stress is almost unbearale, however he spoke with the cys worker and that guy says i have to send him to counseling for inappropiate touching my son has denied such behavior for the whole 2 months that

this has been going on and he is regressing hard core, we dont know what to do, we are afraid of losing the children and it is just unbelievable. sherry

Wanna slim down for summer? Go to America Takes it Off to learn how.

[Guest guest]

i am not sure but i explained that he has autism and she said it would be one on one, i can sit in on first session so he feels more comfortable and that they use color and play to talk with him.From: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...> Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2009 7:55:52 AMSubject: Re: ( ) update, school, seizures and home.

Do you get to choose the counselor? You might find someone who specializes in autism and who can help your ds deal with the mess plus be on his side in explaining things to others.

Roxanna

Autism Happens

( ) update, school, seizures and home.

Hey everyone it has been a while since i emailed bare with me this may get long. First off my AS son had 3 more seizures and he has been dx with seizure disorder he is now taking Lamictal. He is doing much better as far as i can tell. I fear though because up until now he has not had seizures and now he is he used to take different meds to help settle some of the symptoms and i took him offf last summer because he was not gaining weight i was concerned. i dont know if that is part of the reason he is having seizures but i do know per ped, neurologist that there are some psch. meds that they are prescribing to our children that cause seizures. the one she mentioned to me was adderall and that is one of the meds i had my son on. so please be careful when medicating your children, i didnt realize how serious some of the side effects for those meds cause. okay now the good news i had a meeting at school, after i had requested the school to eval for

learning

disbilities, ok, he does not have a learning disability and he does not qualify for speech and language but he had that from 3 up until he was7 or 8. so he has learned some already. however he does qualify for learning support due to Aspergers, they list it on the IEP as autism and now because of the seizures and the adhd dx he also has secondary other health impairment. he explained that because aspergers is form of autism they just list it as autism. i told him that was fine, it helps others to understand that apergers is on the spectrum and alot of people simply dont know that. now for the bad news. my son was accused of inappropiate touching to my partners son, and it has gotten reallty ugly, i wish i had time to tell you all the whole story as this stress is almost unbearale, however he spoke with the cys worker and that guy says i have to send him to counseling for inappropiate touching my son has denied such behavior for the whole 2 months

that

this has been going on and he is regressing hard core, we dont know what to do, we are afraid of losing the children and it is just unbelievable. sherry

Wanna slim down for summer? Go to America Takes it Off to learn how.

[Guest guest]

Dear Sherry,

Don't let the accusation that your son is guilty of inappropriate touching go unchallenged. My son was wrongly accused of sexual harassment in high school by a girl he had known since first grade, who used to sit next to him in the hall at lunchtime. The school cafeteria was not large enough to accommodate all the students who needed to eat at one time, so students were allowed to sit on benches in the hallway, and he has a bad habit (which has nothing to do with sexual attraction) of leaning hard on people he sits next to. It's part of the desire for pressure that so many of our kids on the autism spectrum sometimes feel, and which has been described by Temple Grandin in her books. If you have read them, you remember that she even invented a "squeeze machine" that she could use to squeeze herself when she needed that feeling of pressure. Anyway, to get back to the subject, Owen was leaning hard on this girl, and she asked him to stop, but he continued to lean on her. She had been told by her mother that if anyone touched her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, she should tell a person with authority such as a teacher. So she went to the assistant principal and told him about Owen's leaning. Then the following day, she saw Owen walking down the hall in her direction (although he wasn't anywhere near her), and she panicked and ran to the assistant principal and told him again. The first I heard about it was a very angry-sounding phone message from this assistant principal threatening Owen with suspension from school if this ever happened again!

I thought it was ironic that this girl was accusing Owen, since she used to pursue him all over the playground when they were in first grade, and even sit down behind him and wrap her legs around him when they were on a field trip to an art museum and all the kids were supposed to sit on the floor and listen to a docent describe a painting!

Fortunately, I knew this girl's mother quite well, since we had worked together on a project to teach NT kids in elementary school what it was like to have a disability. So I called her up and told her that Owen was in trouble because of her daughter's accusation, and she understood and said she would call the assistant principal and tell him that she didn't think Owen was harassing her daughter. In the meantime I called one of the school counselors, and on the advice of another person in this Asperger's Support list (I am so grateful to that person!), said I had heard that students with disabilities could not be disciplined for behavior that was a manifestation of their disability. She said that it was true -- in fact it's part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She also said she had known the girl for a long time (she was actually a very sweet girl with mild cerebral palsy and a slight learning disability) and knew that she had an occasional tendency to be hysterical. So the counselor set up a meeting with the assistant principal, an autism specialist from school superintendant's office, a physical therapist who had known Owen since babyhood, and a couple of other people, and we all sat down to discuss the incident. The assistant principal saw that he was outnumbered by people who knew what was really going on, and was almost silent during the meeting. I said I knew that Owen's behavior was unacceptable, even though it was not sexual harassment, and promised to talk to him. But I said that this proved he needed something I had been requesting for years -- more social skills training, twice a week if possible. They actually agreed! As it turned out, the "twice a week" turned out to be two back-to-back half-hour sessions with a speech therapist who ran a conversation group, but still, that was better than nothing. I advised Owen to avoid this girl as much as possible, even though she wasn't a bad person, and there were no more problems. The assistant principal became one of Owen's biggest defenders, and always asked me how he was doing, even when we accidentally met after Owen had graduated.

Anyway, this long story is mainly to encourage you to challenge whoever accused your son. The I.D.E.A. is on your side! Try to find an ally (such as an autism specialist, or a teacher or therapist who has known your son for a long time) and ask for a meeting (I think it might be called a "manifestation determination") so that you can speak on his behalf. It would be absolutely wrong to allow him to be punished for something he has not done!

Good luck!

Jill

[Guest guest]

thanks alotFrom: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...> Sent: Friday, June 5, 2009 10:11:22 PMSubject: Re: ( ) update, school, seizures and home.

Good luck, I hope it does help him.

Roxanna

Autism Happens

( ) update, school, seizures and home.

Hey everyone it has been a while since i emailed bare with me this may get long. First off my AS son had 3 more seizures and he has been dx with seizure disorder he is now taking Lamictal. He is doing much better as far as i can tell. I fear though because up until now he has not had seizures and now he is he used to take different meds to help settle some of the symptoms and i took him offf last summer because he was not gaining weight i was concerned. i dont know if that is part of the reason he is having seizures but i do know per ped, neurologist that there are some psch. meds that they are prescribing to our children that cause seizures. the one she mentioned to me was adderall and that is one of the meds i had my son on. so please be careful when medicating your children, i didnt realize how serious some of the side effects for those meds cause. okay now the good news i had a meeting at school, after i had requested the school to eval for

learning

disbilities, ok, he does not have a learning disability and he does not qualify for speech and language but he had that from 3 up until he was7 or 8. so he has learned some already. however he does qualify for learning support due to Aspergers, they list it on the IEP as autism and now because of the seizures and the adhd dx he also has secondary other health impairment. he explained that because aspergers is form of autism they just list it as autism. i told him that was fine, it helps others to understand that apergers is on the spectrum and alot of people simply dont know that. now for the bad news. my son was accused of inappropiate touching to my partners son, and it has gotten reallty ugly, i wish i had time to tell you all the whole story as this stress is almost unbearale, however he spoke with the cys worker and that guy says i have to send him to counseling for inappropiate touching my son has denied such behavior for the whole 2 months

that

this has been going on and he is regressing hard core, we dont know what to do, we are afraid of losing the children and it is just unbelievable. sherry

Wanna slim down for summer? Go to America Takes it Off to learn how.

Wanna slim down for summer? Go to America Takes it Off to learn how.