Worried about school in the fall

[Guest guest]

My 12 yo son has Asperger's. He is currently taking 75 mgs of Risperidone for

aggression, which has helped tremendously. Here is the problem:

He gets so anxious when he sees a child his age, especially someone he knows,

that he tried to leave the situation. For example, his favourite activity is

going to the beach, however, if we get to the beach and he sees a child his age,

he won't even get out of the car.

This fall, he is changing schools (with the rest of his class) to go to grade 7,

which is located in the high school. Before, he was able to catch the bus in

front of our house with his siblings, but now has to walk down the street to

wait for the bus with a group of kids that are his age and older. He then has

to take the bus with them, and get off the bus at the highschool, stand in a

crowd of kids, and wait for the bell to ring before going in to his class. I

can't see him being even able to walk to the bus stop at this point.

I have been working with the school. He has a great new teacher who has stayed

late on several occasions to familiarize my son with the school and the routine.

We will be going again in late August. I'm going to ask that they let him get

off the bus and go straight to his class instead of waiting outside with the

other kids, but my main concern is actually getting him there and keeping him

there. I am able to stay home right now, but will have to eventually work

again, and I don't want to homeschool him. I can barely get through the grade 6

math!!

I have an incredible child psychiatrist on board who is trying her best to get

my son services, but he's on a long wait list. I will be self-paying for a

psychologist to help him learn to reduce the anxiety that cripples him.

I'm actually losing sleep over this one. Does anyone have any ideas or similar

experiences?

Thanks!