Kimberly,
I�d be careful with these acronyms that they are sticking on your son. Edison was almost certainly �ADHD�: have you seen the book �The Edison Gene�? And Simon Baron-Cohen, an expert on autism/Asperger�s, declared in his book �The Essential Difference� that all of us theoretical physicists are Asperger�s � he specifically mentioned my own mentor, the Nobel laureate Richard Feynman. (Baron-Cohen was making the case for tolerance; he was not condemning physicists.)
I don�t know your son, and he may have real problems and need real help. Or he may in fact be a perfectly normal human being who is sick and tired of being forced to fit into a square hole when he is not square. I�d compel the school to sit down with you and explain exactly and in detail what their understanding of the situation and of your son is. I�d also seek out some independent and sympathetic expert who can help evaluate whether your son is someone who really cannot function in normal human society and needs serious help or whether the kid is just not willing to tolerate the nonsense in the typical public school and needs a freer and more sane environment. I have a friend whose son is seriously autistic and who really does need a great deal of professional help. But a lot of this labeling is merely an attempt by bureaucrats to make children easier to intimidate and control.
Incidentally, I�m a stay-at-home dad who has been homeschooling our girls from the beginning. One of our kids would probably be labeled ADHD. She�s really just an energetic, enthusiastic, bright kid.
All the best,
Dave
