Yesterday I had an annual review of my son's IEP. I met at the school with his teacher, an evaluator (who has been observing him since last year), the school psychologist, the school social worker, and a district representative. Orion, my son, goes to a "regular" elementary school but is in a class with a total of 4 kids (the class is actually a 12:1:1 class for children with emotional and behavioral "problems" but there are only 4 kids in the district assigned to this one).
Anyway, his teacher and I both sat there and explained to everyone what we see behavioraly and academicaly. We both see the same things, though his behavior isn't as severe at home as it is in school.
The evaluator was the one who brought to our attention that my son might be on the spectrum and it was an evaluation by a psychiatrist outiside of the school that gave us an official diagnosis last year.
It seemed like everything that I brought up she just dismissed as being "part of autism" or "part of the spectrum". That's not what I wanted. I know which of his behaviors is part of the spectrum, part of the ADHD, and part of the bipolar (yes, my son has 3 diagnosis). What I wanted were ideas on how to teach him to cope/function/whatever.
*sigh* I hate it when someone says that part of Orion's behavior is "just part of the specturm" or "just poart of being ADHD" or "just part of being bipolar" etc
I don't look at my son's behaviors as being good or bad or comming from this diagnosis or that. I find them to be a part of him, regardless of where they come from. I want to teach him to overcome his obstacles and to strengthen the areas in his life that he is good at.
I bought a book recently called "When the labels don't fit" and the more I read it the more excited I become. It's just what I'm looking for. At least so far, I'm only on the first chapter.
Does anyone else feel this frustrated when someone says "it's just part of ___________" and these "experts" don't bother to tell you how to help? To me it feels dismissive and like they don't want to try and improve the situation.
Oh, and yes, I would feel this way if he weren't autistic/ADHD/bipolar. I don't care about the labels. I just care about helping my son to become an independent and good person.
*sigh* Sorry for the bit of a rant there.
Thursday is my son's IEP and I am trying to put together what I want but how do I make the school and DVR listen? All I want is a devise that does text to speech,a transition plan that WILL help ye son and accommodation's in his class NOT modifications. A chance to actually help him in the real world not just the bs of well he can stay here till he is 21 and he is only 17. Um no sorry just because his IQ is at 70 and he has PDD and ADHD. Doesn't mean that he can't have what it takes to make his goal of having a family and holding down a full time job. Why is the school making things so damn hard? He is not a school bound kid but he has a job and pretty much can do most other things fine. He just has trouble with reading and math. My question is What can I do to make the school see this?
Just wanted to introduce myself, hoping to meet friends and other parents who know what I am going through. I am a mother of 4, my son Steve, suffers autism, and we hope daily for a cure. I have 2 daughters, and a younger son also. I enjoy a good laugh every once in a while. So message me if you want. Also if you have any questions regarding autism I would love to help, we have lived with autism for 4 years now.
Any of you guys have a child on the spectrum who's also a milk addict? My almost-3-year-old son is OBSESSED and ADDICTED to milk, it's driving me nuts!! I've been trying to reduce him to 2-3 cups a day with diluted juice in between. Then he finally started signing milk again so I asked his autism specialist teacher what I should do if he asks for milk at times he shouldn't have milk. She said to give him little by little, otherwise he will STOP signing milk. So I tried that, and he just kept asking for more and more because I was only giving him 1/4 cup of milk each time he asked for it. His dad said maybe if we give him a full cup, he will stop asking for another 2-3 hours.. we tried that, and our son was still acting like a MONSTER whether we told him "later" or tried to give him juice instead. Because of this, he is a MONSTER and has been soiling his diapers ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT. Our son truly truly truly BEGS and NEEDLES us for milk all the time. WIC and his doctor said only to give him 2-3 cups of milk a day, period. The teacher said to keep giving little by little. NOTHING IS WORKING.
Should we just flat-out BAN milk? I am tired of my son needling me all the time, I am tired of constantly buying milk all the time. What do we do?? Please help before I pull out all my hair! (heh)
A year ago Kieriana was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder. A form of autism. I look at her now and I can see how far she's come in just one year.
A year ago she used to spend most of her time lost in her own little world. Her eyes were usually vacant. Rarely did she look at you and when she did it was fleeting. She would run in patterns around the house. Pull out her hair to eat it. Couldn't use a fork or spoon and would only eat while standing up. Usually off of my plate. She would spend hours on a task. Usually running around in patterns or putting as many crayons as she could into her fist. She treated everyone the same, stranger or not. She didn't speak, except to repeat one word over and over. As soon as she learned a new word to repeat she would stop using the previous one completely. When we were out she had to run from one boundary to the next. If there was no boundary she would just keep running. As a result we only went to parks that werer fenced in and seldom went to the beach. She would bang her head into things so hard that she had a permanent bruise on her forehead.
She had just turned 2 when she was diagnosed. It broke my heart, even though I knew she had some form of autism for at least 6 months before then. Three days after she was diagnosed I broke down and cried for her. I wondered if she would ever find love when she grew up. If she would have friends. If she would ever come out of her shell. I was so afraid for her. I was overwhelmed and heartbroken.
Now, just one year later, so much has changed. I owe it all to the intense therapy she's recieved since May. The school. The therapists. All of it.
She plays now. She loves to play with dolls especially. She'll have them walk around and talking (though she'll still babble...sometimes she uses real words). She'll lay them down on her bed, cover them with a blanket, then say "shhhh...sleeping" She likes tea parties too. She follows simple commands (ie. "Bring me your shoes."). She asks questions, though only a few of them. Like "Where it go?" or "What's that?" She doesn't hold conversations yet but the speach therapist said give it another 6 months and she might.
She now treats people differently. She still has no fear of strangers but she doesn't treat them the same way she treats me. She has imagination. She draws and laughs and makes faces. She imitates what people say and do. She'll react to the things she sees on TV. She's curious about her environment. She feeds herself and will eat while sitting at the table. She talks quite a bit though she still has trouble with labeling. (ie. a bed is "sleep" and a cow is "moo". But most things she gets right). She even stopped banging her head for the most part and doesn't pull out her hair anymore.
The biggest difference, however, is her eyes. They're so alert. So curious. It's as if she's really seeing what's around her. Her personality shines through them. My little girl, who I had thought once was lost, is there. In those eyes. I can't fully describe the difference. But it's there and it's unmistakable.
My little girl has come so far that I no longer worry about her. She's improved so drastically that even her therapists are impressed. Amazed even. I know she's going to be OK.
Hello
I am the Mommy of a three year old little beautiful angel who has been Dxed with Autism we live in Mi.
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My oldest son will be 3 in June and still throws his "hard" toys such as toy cars, legos, blocks... you get the idea. The problem is, I have a 6-month-old son. My oldest doesn't understand that his little brother will get hurt if he keeps on throwing "hard" toys all over the place. I took away all of his "hard" toys, leaving him with many soft toys which are mostly his little brother's. I hate taking things away from my oldest. I wish he could play with age-appopriate toys without being so aggressive. What kind of toys do you let your toddler play with, without worrying about someone else getting hurt or something getting damaged?
