Re: Newly Diagnosed Son!!

[Guest guest]

Vicky,

Is sounds like your son has done okay for himself as far as school...you said he had no 504/IEP and did pretty well in school. 504/IEP don't follow him in college. You may want to speak to a counselor at the college and see what accommodations they do have to offer.

What do you need help with? What kind of symptoms does your son show? What made you check him out now....did something happen? Tell us more...where you need help or advice.

jan

P.S. WElcome

Janice Rushen

"I will try to be open to all avenues of wisdom and hope"

From: mark erickson <marandvick@...>Subject: ( ) Newly Diagnosed Son!! Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009, 12:27 AM

Hello!! My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago with Aspergers. In a way it was a great relief for us and my son. I am desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca) and social skill group for my son. Help!! Just anybody I can communicate with in person would be a big help. My concerns are about his coming school year. He is incoming senior. He has never really struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there were no IEP and special accomodations for him. Now that we are faced with this diagnosis, I was wondering if an IEP would still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback . anybody out there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really desperately seeking advise from anybody. Thank you and God Bless!!

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[Guest guest]

Hi Vickie

My son is 7 and I'm still working on the diagnosis, so I'm afraid I'm

not much help, but I wanted to say hi as I grew up in Chino. Will he be

going to Chino High, Don Lugo, or Ayala?

My advice would be to still go with the IEP so you can help set the

stage for college. There are resources for special education in College

as well, so you can only benefit by laying a foundation!!

Lori Lashley

(Don Lugo, '92)

On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 9:27 PM , mark erickson wrote:

> Hello!!  My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago  with

> Aspergers.  In a way it was a great relief for us and my son.  I am

> desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca)

> and social skill group for my son.  Help!! Just anybody I can

> communicate with in person would be a big help.  My concerns are about

> his coming school year.  He is incoming senior.  He has never really

> struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there

> were no IEP and special accomodations for him.  Now that we are faced

> with this diagnosis,  I was wondering if an IEP would still be

> important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to

> College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback .  anybody out

> there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really

> desperately seeking advise from anybody.  Thank you and God Bless!!

>  

> Vickie

[Guest guest]

I know how you feel when you say a 'great relief'.  Our 15yr. old son was just diagnosed in May.

As for his having an IEP.  I am not very experienced.  Our son needs one, mainly because he also has ADHD.  Our sons organizational needs are sorely lacking.  I just wanted mainly to greet you, and confirm

that sense of 'relief'.  We always knew that there was something amiss, and that our son was quierky...but I just thought, well, maybe he is eccentric.  Now with the diagnosis, everything has fallen into place. I don't feel like 'what am I not doing right, what am I doing differently than I did with his sister? "   I was questioning my being a capable parent.  Now it is as if a huge weight has lifted off our shoulders.  Sorry I probably haven't much help.  I just wanted to let you know you're not alone and this group has been wonderful for me.  I've been 'here' for just a couple of weeks, and have learned somethings, and am certain will learn even more.

On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 11:27 PM, mark erickson <marandvick@...> wrote:

 

Hello!!  My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago  with Aspergers.  In a way it was a great relief for us and my son.  I am desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca) and social skill group for my son.  Help!! Just anybody I can communicate with in person would be a big help.  My concerns are about his coming school year.  He is incoming senior.  He has never really struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there were no IEP and special accomodations for him.  Now that we are faced with this diagnosis,  I was wondering if an IEP would still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback .  anybody out there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really desperately seeking advise from anybody.  Thank you and God Bless!!

 

Vickiestart: 0000-00-00 end: 0000-00-00

[Guest guest]

>

> Now that we are faced with this diagnosis,� I was wondering if an IEP would

still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to

College??

Hi Vicky. My Asperger son is 14. Whether an IEP is important would depend on

what his needs are. What did the evaluator who diagnosed him say? Usually

evaluators provide a section in their final reports on school recommendations,

so you can check that out (ask the evaluator about it, if he/she did not include

such a thing in the report). Also, what has the school district said? If they

are going to fight you on it, it may take more than a year to get an IEP anyway.

504's--accommodations not involving special ed staff--are usually easier to get.

But if your school district is unwilling, even those can take awhile. A 504 is

worth trying to get though. 504 covers people of all ages, so it can follow your

child to college and to the work world. It is up to the college and employers to

decide what accommodations to provide though. Just being declared disabled under

504 doesn't automatically get you anything; it is just an official designation.

In public schools though, if a school decides to declare a child disabled under

504, that usually means they intend to provide accommodations.

IEPs only apply to kids below college age. But colleges may look at them when

deciding on 504 accommodations, so they aren't useless for college.

Another thing to consider is that your son does not need a 504 or IEP to get

accommodations. Most schools have what they call " informal " accommodations. It

varies greatly how these are handled. Our school district has a very formal

system very like 504 for informal accommodations. Our son had these informal

accommodations for a couple of years before he had a 504. And it is something

you can usually get fairly immediately. And as far as that goes, sometimes you

can arrange informal accommodations with individual teachers just between you

and them. It depends on the school administration how far they want to let

teachers go with this.

So there are a lot of possible options. There are a couple of things to

consider, if you think your son DOES need accommodations. Sometimes colleges are

reluctant to give accommodations to kids who never had them before. They may

reason that they must not really need them if they haven't had them before. Many

colleges use the high school IEPs/504s as guidelines as to what students need.

Another thing is that it is often hard for adults to claim disability (outside

of school) for a condition they never claimed disability for as a child, for the

same reasons as with the colleges. So, if it turns out your son is unable to

hold a job because of his Asperger, it may be harder for him to be declared

disabled and claim SSI benefits if he was never considered disabled as a child.

[Guest guest]

Hi Lori!! Thank you for your response and advise. My son did not go to any chino district schools. He's now senior year h.s. at I-Poly which is the high school of Cal Poly, Pomona. they are located in the same campus. it's still tuition free but very limited in accepting students as there are only 400 population from 9- 12th gr. My son was always strong academically but lacking in social skills, and that's why we opted for this school-it's smaller and chances of him making friends would be easier. But sad to say, since we were unaware of the AS diagnosis yet,

he has never made any close friendships- since 10th gr. teachers have noticed him withdrawing from peers. He eats lunch by himself still. also, this school has tons and tons of group projects- it's a very project oriented school so again we thought it would help him with social skills . No wonder he never got along with anybody in all the groups he worked with. He is just plain incapable of relating to people. But I think I will set up an IEP for him. Thanks again for your response. Take care and God Bless!!

Vickie> Hello!! My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago with > Aspergers. In a way it was a great relief for us and my son. I am > desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca) > and social skill group for my son. Help!! Just anybody I can > communicate with in person would be a big help. My concerns are about > his coming

school year. He is incoming senior. He has never really > struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there > were no IEP and special accomodations for him. Now that we are faced > with this diagnosis, I was wondering if an IEP would still be > important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to > College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback . anybody out > there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really > desperately seeking advise from anybody. Thank you and God Bless!!> > Vickie

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I can totally relate about faulty parenting- I tried to raise our boys in a Christian environment, reading to them the bible and just demonstrating to them Godly virtues to live by. But to our dismay, he can't even express emotions nor show empathy or sympathy to the needs of others- which we just attributed to teen selfishness, but with this diagnoses it made so much sense. We just have to continue raising them and loving them more so now in the Lord. Again, I sort of questioned why just now with this diagnosis, but I know that the Lord is never a day late nor a day early in revealing things to us. His timing is always perfect and we trust in Him solely for everything. Actually, my son is super organized and has a very set routine in his day. He has a place for

everything and he can tell if somebody tried to take something or rearranges his things. it's really funny. He uses a lot of stick ons as reminders and notes posted in his room as guides and always has a to do list. But he can also have poor memory and thus all the post it notes as reminders.

Do you attend any support groups in your area?? where r u?? I am on the lookout for social skills group for my son and support group for my husband and I. Thank u again for the welcome

I really appreciate your time. Take care and God Bless!! Vickie

Hello!! My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago with Aspergers. In a way it was a great relief for us and my son. I am desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca) and social skill group for my son. Help!! Just anybody I can communicate with in person would be a big help. My concerns are about his coming school year. He is incoming senior. He has never really struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there were no IEP and special accomodations for him. Now that we are faced with this diagnosis, I was wondering if an IEP would still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback . anybody out there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really desperately seeking advise from anybody. Thank you and God Bless!!

Vickiestart: 0000-00-00 end: 0000-00-00

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hello!! My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago with Aspergers. In a way it was a great relief for us and my son. I am desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca) and social skill group for my son. Help!! Just anybody I can communicate with in person would be a big help. My concerns are about his coming school year. He is incoming senior. He has never really struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there were no IEP and special accomodations for him. Now that we are faced with this diagnosis, I was wondering if an IEP would still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback . anybody out there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really desperately seeking advise from anybody. Thank you and God Bless!!

Vickiestart: 0000-00-00 end: 0000-00-00

[Guest guest]

Hi Jan, Thank you for the warm welcome. Yes, he has done fairly well all these years of schooling w/o IEP since we just found out about AS a month ago. But we feel he could've done better- like if does not understand something, he refused to ask the teacher out of fear so he would just write notes to them. By 10th gr. teachers have noticed his withdrawing from peers so we had him checked out by psychologist - so for 8 months, he was attacking it at a different angle, and to no avail so we switched drs. and this dr. just grilled my husband and I with his childhood dev't milestones and he came up with AS diagnoses. Wow- it was truly liberating to know there was an exact science that explained all these anti-social behavior, obsessiveness, lack of eye contact and monotonal voice, lacking sense of humor and takes things

literally, very lacking of facial affect, lacking empathy and incapable of expressing emotions, uses words that are beyond his peers, very immature - works at a 14 yr. old leverl emotionally and socially. He prefers hanging out with younger kids, lacking common sense, etc, etc, etc- it was just textbook symptoms. Now he is going to his senior yr in h.s. and are very blessed to have received this diagnosis, so now we know how to address it w/ teachers and family members. He is undergoing neurofeedback therapy and still too soon to tell you any info of its usefulness. do you know of this therapy or anyone who has utilized this sort of therapy???? any feedback on this???? What

are some common and helpful therapies out there for AS teens?? so these are just a few of my

concerns.

Again thank you for the warm welcome , we really appreciate it. Take care and God Bless!!

Vickie

From: mark erickson <marandvick (DOT) com>Subject: ( ) Newly Diagnosed Son!! Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009, 12:27 AM

Hello!! My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago with Aspergers. In a way it was a great relief for us and my son. I am desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca) and social skill group for my son. Help!! Just anybody I can communicate with in person would be a big help. My concerns are about his coming school year. He is incoming senior. He has never really struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there were no IEP and special accomodations for him. Now that we are faced with this diagnosis, I was wondering if an IEP would still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback . anybody out there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really desperately seeking advise from anybody. Thank you and God Bless!!

Vickiestart: 0000-00-00 end: 0000-00-00 start: 0000-00-00 end: 0000-00-00

[Guest guest]

We live in Minneapolis.  I haven't had a lot of time to look for

face to face support groups.  In the mean time we have our congregation which is

a very large family atmosphere.  They are very loving and patient.

As for social skills, if they put him in the Aspergers program at his new school, (which

his social worker at school feels he will be able to be in the program without much

of a problem) This program has social skills built into it. They just have to do their own evaluation first.

Cognatively he does very well in math, science & history.  Reading comprehension 

has always been  a problem, and this is probably due to the ADHD. 

The social skills will be a big deal for him this year...and I just hope

that with their eval they will see the obvious.

 

 

n Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 7:23 PM, mark erickson <marandvick@...> wrote:

 

Thank you for your kind and encouraging words.  I can totally relate about faulty parenting- I tried to raise our boys in a Christian environment, reading to them the bible and just demonstrating to them Godly virtues to live by.  But to our dismay, he can't even express emotions nor show empathy or sympathy to the needs of others- which we just attributed to teen selfishness, but with this diagnoses it made so much sense.  We just have to continue raising them and loving them more so now in the Lord.  Again, I sort of questioned why just now with this diagnosis, but I know that the Lord is never a day late nor a day early in revealing things to us.  His timing is always perfect and we trust in Him solely for everything.  Actually, my son is super organized and has a very set routine in his day.  He has a place for everything and he can tell if somebody tried to take something or rearranges his things. it's really funny.  He uses a lot of stick ons as reminders and notes posted in his room as guides and always has a to do list.  But he can also have poor memory and thus all the post it notes as reminders. 

  Do you attend any support groups in your area?? where r u?? I am on the lookout for social skills group for my son and support group for my husband and I.  Thank u again for the welcome

I really appreciate your time.  Take care and God Bless!!  Vickie

 

Hello!!  My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago  with Aspergers.  In a way it was a great relief for us and my son.  I am desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca) and social skill group for my son.  Help!! Just anybody I can communicate with in person would be a big help.  My concerns are about his coming school year.  He is incoming senior.  He has never really struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there were no IEP and special accomodations for him.  Now that we are faced with this diagnosis,  I was wondering if an IEP would still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback .  anybody out there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really desperately seeking advise from anybody.  Thank you and God Bless!!

 

Vickiestart: 0000-00-00 end: 0000-00-00

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Well...you can now move forward now....read as much as you can and get the support you need....I agree...it is a big weight taken off your shoulders....best wishes and welcome

jan

Janice Rushen

"I will try to be open to all avenues of wisdom and hope"

Hello!! My 17 yr. old son just got diagnosed about 1 month ago with Aspergers. In a way it was a great relief for us and my son. I am desperately looking for support groups locally ( I live in Chino, Ca) and social skill group for my son. Help!! Just anybody I can communicate with in person would be a big help. My concerns are about his coming school year. He is incoming senior. He has never really struggled academically, he got fairly decent grades considering there were no IEP and special accomodations for him. Now that we are faced with this diagnosis, I was wondering if an IEP would still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to College?? He is currently underrgoing neurofeedback . anybody out there that has done this and the results for them??? Help! I am really desperately seeking advise from anybody. Thank you and God Bless!!

Vickiestart: 0000-00-00 end: 0000-00-00

[Guest guest]

Wow!! thank you so much for your input, it's a bit overwhelming initially but makes so much sense. His evaluator basically is his Private Psychologist which is handled by my mental healthcare insurance. We have notified his h.s. counselor about his diagnosis, but she really did not elaborate on steps we need to take at this point. This diagnosis was just handed to us about 1 1/2 ago and have not even notified the school district or anybody else except his h.s. counselor. So your info is sooo much helpful and informative. I am really concerned about his college and work possibilities. He is an incoming senior. So do you think that having both IEP and 504 presents a much stronger case than just 504??? But definitely I will consider having either one done during his last yr, in h.s. When was your son initially diagnosed?? were you

pretty satisfied with the informal accomodations at your sons school?? Did the teachers treat is seriously being that there's no formal written goals?? Does he have an IEP currently as well?? How long does it take to get one put in place. I live in Calif. and school is starting Sept.1. and not sure how long it would take?? So sorry for too many questions. I apologize, but I am just so thirsty for info. I have been reading books as well but so much better if I can get it from experienced people like yourself. Again, thank you so much and God Bless you and your son.VickieFrom: r_woman2 <me2ruth@...>Subject: ( ) Re: Newly Diagnosed Son!! Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009,

11:57 AM

>

> Now that we are faced with this diagnosis,� I was wondering if an IEP would still be important at this point???? How necessary is it when he does go to College??

Hi Vicky. My Asperger son is 14. Whether an IEP is important would depend on what his needs are. What did the evaluator who diagnosed him say? Usually evaluators provide a section in their final reports on school recommendations, so you can check that out (ask the evaluator about it, if he/she did not include such a thing in the report). Also, what has the school district said? If they are going to fight you on it, it may take more than a year to get an IEP anyway.

504's--accommodatio ns not involving special ed staff--are usually easier to get. But if your school district is unwilling, even those can take awhile. A 504 is worth trying to get though. 504 covers people of all ages, so it can follow your child to college and to the work world. It is up to the college and employers to decide what accommodations to provide though. Just being declared disabled under 504 doesn't automatically get you anything; it is just an official designation. In public schools though, if a school decides to declare a child disabled under 504, that usually means they intend to provide accommodations.

IEPs only apply to kids below college age. But colleges may look at them when deciding on 504 accommodations, so they aren't useless for college.

Another thing to consider is that your son does not need a 504 or IEP to get accommodations. Most schools have what they call "informal" accommodations. It varies greatly how these are handled. Our school district has a very formal system very like 504 for informal accommodations. Our son had these informal accommodations for a couple of years before he had a 504. And it is something you can usually get fairly immediately. And as far as that goes, sometimes you can arrange informal accommodations with individual teachers just between you and them. It depends on the school administration how far they want to let teachers go with this.

So there are a lot of possible options. There are a couple of things to consider, if you think your son DOES need accommodations. Sometimes colleges are reluctant to give accommodations to kids who never had them before. They may reason that they must not really need them if they haven't had them before. Many colleges use the high school IEPs/504s as guidelines as to what students need. Another thing is that it is often hard for adults to claim disability (outside of school) for a condition they never claimed disability for as a child, for the same reasons as with the colleges. So, if it turns out your son is unable to hold a job because of his Asperger, it may be harder for him to be declared disabled and claim SSI benefits if he was never considered disabled as a child.

[Guest guest]

> So do you think that having both IEP and 504 presents a much stronger case

than just 504???

Someone who is given an IEP automatically also 504. A lot of people are not

aware of this. If you look closely at an IEP, you will see that there is a

section for 504 accommodations as opposed to the IDEA stuff. Different school

districts make this more clear than others.

> But definitely I will consider having either one done during his last yr, in

h.s. When was your son initially diagnosed??

12yo. We had figured it out a year before that, but it took a full year to get

through the waiting list for a full neuropsych eval and get the final report

with the diagnosis.

> were you pretty satisfied with the informal accomodations at your sons

school??

Yes and no. It solved some problems. It gave the recognition needed so they

couldn't punish him for things caused by his disability anymore. It gave him

things like more time to do things. Teachers had a better attitude towards him

and gave him more of a benefit of a doubt. But he has pretty severe executive

dysfunction and processing speed now measuring at the first percentile, so it

just didn't address all his needs. Also, there was a huge problem that none of

the teachers knew anything about autism and needed guidance. I was having to

spend hours and hours every week managing his education, getting very burnt out.

Did the teachers treat is seriously being that

> there's no formal written goals??

In our school district, yes, the informal accommodations are treated seriously.

They have a whole system set up very similar to the 504 system, with school

administrators overseeing each child's accommodations--no special ed staff are

involved. But not all school districts are like this.

Does he have an IEP currently as well??

Yes, he has an IEP. He was given one because of his executive dysfunction and

slow processing speed--not because he is autistic. However, since they must

cover all his needs, since he has an IEP, he has been awarded social skills

training services too.

How long does it take to get one put in place. 

How long it takes is covered under federal laws, so it should be about the same

everywhere. The initial school evaluation and set-up of an IEP takes about 3

months (different states count the time slightly different)--if all goes well.

If the school district disagrees that he needs one, you will have to extend that

time with an independent evaluation and/or due process proceedings. You may not

be able to get an IEP within a year if your school district opposes you. It

takes time to work through it. It took us two school years from the time we

first presented our school district with our son's diagnosis.

However, with some pushing, they did give him a 504 within a few months. We

presented the diagnosis at the beginning of the school year and he had a 504 by

the middle of the school year. They insisted on doing a fairly lengthy

observation first.

And he had already had the informal accommodations based on a school evaluation

from the year before that (before we had a diagnosis) where they had declared

him not disabled, that is, not eligible for an IEP.

We went through several versions of a 504 plan, they did another fairly lengthy

observation, and they finally conceded it wasn't enough. They decided

themselves to do an autism evaluation about a year after he was first awarded

the 504. They apparently had decided at the same time they decided on the

evaluation that he was probably be going to be given an IEP because they started

doing things like assigning him a resource teacher to meet with him every day

and having his teachers meet and communicate certain things to me every week.

They wouldn't normally do that with just a 504.

So, the last half of the year was spend with the Autism eval and he ended up

with an IEP eight days before school ended. They took a little longer than they

were supposed to take by law, but I didn't worry about it since they appeared to

be doing a good job.

It is all very individual. All these decisions are made by individuals. A lot

of it will depend on how much time and energy you yourself can put into it, as a

lot of things will happen if they are pushed and won't if they are not pushed.

By the way, your first step is to ask IN WRITING for a full and individual

special education evaluation. Call your school district special education

office to find out what person you should submit it to and if they have any

forms. They can also talk to you about the process.

Your request should specifically itemize your concerns and what exactly you want

evaluated. If you don't ask for it, they don't have to do it.

When the school district receives this request, this is what starts the time

clock where they have about 3 months to do the evaluation and put together an

IEP, if that is the way they go. If they either refuse to do the evaluation or

don't find your son eligible for an IEP, they must inform you of why in writing

within a certain time frame.

As far as doing the evaluation goes, they will probably give you their written

answer within a couple of weeks. As far as IEP eligibility goes, after the

evaluation, they will have a meeting where they submit the report with the

evaluation findings and it will say what they found, why your son is or is not

eligible for an IEP (whether he has been declared a child with a disability or

not).

Sorry so long, but it sounded like you wanted the info. Good luck!

[Guest guest]

Thank you very much for your helpful infos and response to my lengthy quest. I was just contacted by the VP of my son's h.s. (12th gr.) and tells me that she will relay to the resource , OT and ST people about my case and it's just a waiting game right now. This is all just verbal. do you think it's necessary to create something in writing still? So I will just have to wait and see for now. Thank u again for your time. God bless you!!VickieFrom: r_woman2 <me2ruth@...>Subject: ( ) Re: Newly Diagnosed Son!! Date: Saturday, August 29, 2009, 8:51 AM

> So do you think that having both IEP and 504 presents a much stronger case than just 504???

Someone who is given an IEP automatically also 504. A lot of people are not aware of this. If you look closely at an IEP, you will see that there is a section for 504 accommodations as opposed to the IDEA stuff. Different school districts make this more clear than others.

> But definitely I will consider having either one done during his last yr, in h.s. When was your son initially diagnosed??

12yo. We had figured it out a year before that, but it took a full year to get through the waiting list for a full neuropsych eval and get the final report with the diagnosis.

> were you pretty satisfied with the informal accomodations at your sons school??

Yes and no. It solved some problems. It gave the recognition needed so they couldn't punish him for things caused by his disability anymore. It gave him things like more time to do things. Teachers had a better attitude towards him and gave him more of a benefit of a doubt. But he has pretty severe executive dysfunction and processing speed now measuring at the first percentile, so it just didn't address all his needs. Also, there was a huge problem that none of the teachers knew anything about autism and needed guidance. I was having to spend hours and hours every week managing his education, getting very burnt out.

Did the teachers treat is seriously being that

> there's no formal written goals??

In our school district, yes, the informal accommodations are treated seriously. They have a whole system set up very similar to the 504 system, with school administrators overseeing each child's accommodations- -no special ed staff are involved. But not all school districts are like this.

Does he have an IEP currently as well??

Yes, he has an IEP. He was given one because of his executive dysfunction and slow processing speed--not because he is autistic. However, since they must cover all his needs, since he has an IEP, he has been awarded social skills training services too.

How long does it take to get one put in place.

How long it takes is covered under federal laws, so it should be about the same everywhere. The initial school evaluation and set-up of an IEP takes about 3 months (different states count the time slightly different)-- if all goes well.

If the school district disagrees that he needs one, you will have to extend that time with an independent evaluation and/or due process proceedings. You may not be able to get an IEP within a year if your school district opposes you. It takes time to work through it. It took us two school years from the time we first presented our school district with our son's diagnosis.

However, with some pushing, they did give him a 504 within a few months. We presented the diagnosis at the beginning of the school year and he had a 504 by the middle of the school year. They insisted on doing a fairly lengthy observation first.

And he had already had the informal accommodations based on a school evaluation from the year before that (before we had a diagnosis) where they had declared him not disabled, that is, not eligible for an IEP.

We went through several versions of a 504 plan, they did another fairly lengthy observation, and they finally conceded it wasn't enough. They decided themselves to do an autism evaluation about a year after he was first awarded the 504. They apparently had decided at the same time they decided on the evaluation that he was probably be going to be given an IEP because they started doing things like assigning him a resource teacher to meet with him every day and having his teachers meet and communicate certain things to me every week. They wouldn't normally do that with just a 504.

So, the last half of the year was spend with the Autism eval and he ended up with an IEP eight days before school ended. They took a little longer than they were supposed to take by law, but I didn't worry about it since they appeared to be doing a good job.

It is all very individual. All these decisions are made by individuals. A lot of it will depend on how much time and energy you yourself can put into it, as a lot of things will happen if they are pushed and won't if they are not pushed.

By the way, your first step is to ask IN WRITING for a full and individual special education evaluation. Call your school district special education office to find out what person you should submit it to and if they have any forms. They can also talk to you about the process.

Your request should specifically itemize your concerns and what exactly you want evaluated. If you don't ask for it, they don't have to do it.

When the school district receives this request, this is what starts the time clock where they have about 3 months to do the evaluation and put together an IEP, if that is the way they go. If they either refuse to do the evaluation or don't find your son eligible for an IEP, they must inform you of why in writing within a certain time frame.

As far as doing the evaluation goes, they will probably give you their written answer within a couple of weeks. As far as IEP eligibility goes, after the evaluation, they will have a meeting where they submit the report with the evaluation findings and it will say what they found, why your son is or is not eligible for an IEP (whether he has been declared a child with a disability or not).

Sorry so long, but it sounded like you wanted the info. Good luck!

[Guest guest]

No, no , no ...put it in Writing...date it and keep copies....always back it up in writing!!!

jan

Janice Rushen

"I will try to be open to all avenues of wisdom and hope"

From: r_woman2 <me2ruth (DOT) com>Subject: ( ) Re: Newly Diagnosed Son!! Date: Saturday, August 29, 2009, 8:51 AM

> So do you think that having both IEP and 504 presents a much stronger case than just 504??? Someone who is given an IEP automatically also 504. A lot of people are not aware of this. If you look closely at an IEP, you will see that there is a section for 504 accommodations as opposed to the IDEA stuff. Different school districts make this more clear than others.> But definitely I will consider having either one done during his last yr, in h.s. When was your son initially diagnosed?? 12yo. We had figured it out a year before that, but it took a full year to get through the waiting list for a full neuropsych eval and get the final report with the diagnosis.> were you pretty satisfied with the informal accomodations at your sons school?? Yes and no. It solved some problems. It gave the

recognition needed so they couldn't punish him for things caused by his disability anymore. It gave him things like more time to do things. Teachers had a better attitude towards him and gave him more of a benefit of a doubt. But he has pretty severe executive dysfunction and processing speed now measuring at the first percentile, so it just didn't address all his needs. Also, there was a huge problem that none of the teachers knew anything about autism and needed guidance. I was having to spend hours and hours every week managing his education, getting very burnt out.Did the teachers treat is seriously being that> there's no formal written goals?? In our school district, yes, the informal accommodations are treated seriously. They have a whole system set up very similar to the 504 system, with school administrators overseeing each child's accommodations- -no special ed staff are involved. But not all school districts are like

this.Does he have an IEP currently as well?? Yes, he has an IEP. He was given one because of his executive dysfunction and slow processing speed--not because he is autistic. However, since they must cover all his needs, since he has an IEP, he has been awarded social skills training services too.How long does it take to get one put in place. How long it takes is covered under federal laws, so it should be about the same everywhere. The initial school evaluation and set-up of an IEP takes about 3 months (different states count the time slightly different)-- if all goes well. If the school district disagrees that he needs one, you will have to extend that time with an independent evaluation and/or due process proceedings. You may not be able to get an IEP within a year if your school district opposes you. It takes time to work through it. It took us two school years from the time we first presented our school

district with our son's diagnosis. However, with some pushing, they did give him a 504 within a few months. We presented the diagnosis at the beginning of the school year and he had a 504 by the middle of the school year. They insisted on doing a fairly lengthy observation first. And he had already had the informal accommodations based on a school evaluation from the year before that (before we had a diagnosis) where they had declared him not disabled, that is, not eligible for an IEP. We went through several versions of a 504 plan, they did another fairly lengthy observation, and they finally conceded it wasn't enough. They decided themselves to do an autism evaluation about a year after he was first awarded the 504. They apparently had decided at the same time they decided on the evaluation that he was probably be going to be given an IEP because they started doing things like assigning him a resource teacher to meet with him

every day and having his teachers meet and communicate certain things to me every week. They wouldn't normally do that with just a 504. So, the last half of the year was spend with the Autism eval and he ended up with an IEP eight days before school ended. They took a little longer than they were supposed to take by law, but I didn't worry about it since they appeared to be doing a good job.It is all very individual. All these decisions are made by individuals. A lot of it will depend on how much time and energy you yourself can put into it, as a lot of things will happen if they are pushed and won't if they are not pushed.By the way, your first step is to ask IN WRITING for a full and individual special education evaluation. Call your school district special education office to find out what person you should submit it to and if they have any forms. They can also talk to you about the process.Your request should

specifically itemize your concerns and what exactly you want evaluated. If you don't ask for it, they don't have to do it. When the school district receives this request, this is what starts the time clock where they have about 3 months to do the evaluation and put together an IEP, if that is the way they go. If they either refuse to do the evaluation or don't find your son eligible for an IEP, they must inform you of why in writing within a certain time frame. As far as doing the evaluation goes, they will probably give you their written answer within a couple of weeks. As far as IEP eligibility goes, after the evaluation, they will have a meeting where they submit the report with the evaluation findings and it will say what they found, why your son is or is not eligible for an IEP (whether he has been declared a child with a disability or not). Sorry so long, but it sounded like you wanted the info. Good

luck!

[Guest guest]

>

> No, no , no ...put it in Writing...date it and keep copies....always back it

up in writing!!!

I really hope you listen to this. You absolutely must put it in writing, and

" it " should be a request for a full and individual special education evaluation,

including an itemized list of concerns and what you want evaluated. You should

also submit anything like your own evaluations and explicitly state that you

want them used for input. By law, they must consider what you ask them to look

at--although they don't have to agree with it and accept it. But again, if they

don't they must tell you why not. It is only the " in writing " thing that puts

them under the law and starts the clock. If you do this, you will not have to

play the waiting game. It is to their benefit to keep it verbal and outside the

law so they can stall. If they don't want to deal with it, they can easily

stall until it is too late to do anything much for this year.

[Guest guest]

Yes, you should put in writing what was agreed to in your conversation.

Send it as a nice " thank you for your time " note.

 Roxanna

" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

( ) Re: Newly Diagnosed Son!!

Date: Saturday, August 29, 2009, 8:51 AM

 

> So do you think that having both IEP and 504 presents a much stronger

case than just 504???

Someone who is given an IEP autom

atically also 504. A lot of people

are not aware of this. If you look closely at an IEP, you will see

that there is a section for 504 accommodations as opposed to the IDEA

stuff. Different school districts make this more clear than others.

> But definitely I will consider having either one done during his last

yr, in h.s. When was your son initially diagnosed??

12yo. We had figured it out a year before that, but it took a full

year to get through the waiting list for a full neuropsych eval and get

the final report with the diagnosis.

> were you pretty satisfied with the informal accomodations at your

sons school??

Yes and no. It solved some problems. It gave the recognition needed

so they couldn't punish him for things caused by his disability

anymore. It gave him things like more time to do things. Teachers had

a better attitude towards him and gave him more of a benefit of a

doubt. But he has pretty severe executive dysfunction and processing

speed now measuring at the first percentile, so it just didn't address

all his needs. Also, there was a huge problem that none of the

teachers knew anything about autism and needed guidance. I was having

to spend hours and hours every week managing his education, getting

very burnt out.

Did the teachers treat is seriously being that

> there's no formal written goa

ls??

In our school district, yes, the informal accommodations are treated

seriously. They have a whole system set up very similar to the 504

system, with school administrators overseeing each child's

accommodations- -no special ed staff are involved. But not all school

districts are like this.

Does he have an IEP currently as well??

Yes, he has an IEP. He was given one because of his executive

dysfunction and slow processing speed--not because he is autistic.

However, since they must cover all his needs, since he has an IEP, he

has been awarded social skills training services too.

How long does it take to get one put in place. 

How long it takes is covered under federal laws, so it should be about

the same everywhere. The initial school evaluation and set-up of an

IEP takes about 3 months (different states count the time slightly

different)-- if all goes well.

If the school district disagrees that he needs one, you will have to

extend that time with an independent evaluation and/or due process

proceedings. You may not be able to get an IEP within a year if your

school district opposes you. It takes time to work through it. It

took us two school years from the time we first presented our school

district with our son's diagnosis.

However, with some pushing, they did give him a 504 within a few

months. We presented the diagnosis at the beginning of the school year

and he had a 504 by the middle of the school year. They insisted on

doing a fairly lengthy observation first.

And he had already had the informal accommodations based on a school

evaluation from the year before that (before we had a diagnosis) where

they had declared him not disabled, that is, not eligible for an IEP.

We went through several versions of a 504 plan, they did another fairly

lengthy observation, and they finally conceded it wasn't enough. They

decided themselves to do an autism evaluation about a year after he was

first awarded the 504. They apparently had decided at the same time

they decided on the evaluation that he was probably be going to be

given an IEP because they started doing things like assigning him a

resource teacher to meet with him every day and having his teachers

meet and communicate certain things to me every week. They wouldn't

normally do that with just a 504.

So, the last half of the year was spend with the Autism eval and he

ended up with an IEP eight days before school ended. They took a

little longer than they were supposed to take by law, but I didn't

worry about it since they appeared to be doing a good job.

It is all very individual. All these decisions are made by

individuals. A lot of it will depend on how much time

and energy you

yourself can put into it, as a lot of things will happen if they are

pushed and won't if they are not pushed.

By the way, your first step is to ask IN WRITING for a full and

individual special education evaluation. Call your school district

special education office to find out what person you should submit it

to and if they have any forms. They can also talk to you about the

process.

Your request should specifically itemize your concerns and what exactly

you want evaluated. If you don't ask for it, they don't have to do it.

When the school district receives this request, this is what starts the

time clock where they have about 3 months to do the evaluation and put

together an IEP, if that is the way they go. If they either refuse to

do the evaluation or don't find your son eligible for an IEP, they must

inform you of why in writing within a certain time frame.

As far as doing the evaluation goes, they will probably give you their

written answer within a couple of weeks. As far as IEP eligibility

goes, after the evaluation, they will have a meeting where they submit

the report with the evaluation findings and it will say what they

found, why your son is or is not eligible for an IEP (whether he has

been declared a child with a disability or not).

Sorry so long, but it sounded like you w

anted the info. Good luck!