Intro, head kinda spinning right now

[Guest guest]

My son is 10, very social and intelligent, reading on a high school

level, BUT not turning in his homework! He is in fifth grade, and we had

the option of keeping him in elementary school this year or sending him

to middle school. Because elementary school did not provide either

challenges for him or accountability, we felt he needed to advance to

middle school. I do think we made the right decision, but it has been a

tough transition!

I've been reading a bit about Asperger's, which has been suggested as a

possibility by a family friend (who is a special ed teacher) and today

by Isaac's teacher. But the more I read, the more it makes my head spin!

Ok, here are a few of my questions:

1) Is there a real benefit to going through the testing to verify the

diagnosis? I know that when I was in kindergarten, my teacher decided I

was psychologically disturbed (she may have been right but that's a

WHOLE nuther issue!) and that label stuck. So is it better to get the

official diagnosis, or to try to incorporate the appropriate therapies

etc. without the label?

2) What ARE the appropriate therapies or tools?

I guess part of the problem for me is that I see SO much of me in him. I

never did reach my potential, and I want so much more for my son! He's a

nice kid, fairly sociable, very intelligent with a huge vocabulary,

somewhat small for his age but that's probably from his father's side.

He does walk on his toes, which the teacher mentioned to me today. I

said when I was a kid I had too, and I was the one who brought up

Asperger's. He is somewhat clumsy, with really bad handwriting, very

good at math, science, computers (my husband is a programmer).

Like I said, my head is spinning. I SO want the best for my son,

probably like all of you. Ok, where do I start?

Eleanor, San , CA