Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy 8 yo , doesn't care about behavior at school

Since I have been trying to get our school to do one for my son for the past 2 years with limited success I am a bit shocked at the hostility to the idea (and the "ugh, behaviorist usually works with autistic kids, can you believe that!" part is... a bit off-putting). Glad ElizabethN had a decent experience, at least.

The goal of an functional behavior analysis is to identify what triggers a behavior and then implement a plan to work on the triggers, rather than the behaviors themselves out of context. If done correctly the outcome for the OP's child should be "child finishes work early, child gets bored, child misbehaves" and the ideal behavior improvement plan would be to make sure the child is not bored (differentiation, acceleration, grade skip, GT pull-outs...).

Of course there are many ways an incompetent or hostile observer could do this incorrectly -- there is one person at my school I wouldn't trust with the process, and if the relationship with the school is truly broken having a private behaviorist spend the time needed to get the full picture at the school might be the answer. But working outside of school with a private therapist to fix the child when what is clearly needed is to change the environment just doesn't make sense.

Anyway. For marytheres, the IEP forms in our district always start a goal with the baseline, ie. what the present level is. AFAIK this is good practice, and exactly what the Wrights recommend when writing SMART (specific/measurable/action words/realistic and relevant) IEPs.

You might want to get more details on who will assess the baseline, what the methods used will be, and shape the process (ask for a parent questionnaire to be included, make sure that 1:1 assessments are done with somebody you/your child like, make sure observers are not biaised -- ie. that the horrible aide is not the one taking notes...), but refusing to get a baseline... just doesn't make sense to me.

Sylvan would give you a baseline. There are also some online assessments you can use, some free (K12).

What do you want to use the information for? arguing for accelerations? Grade skip? Differentiation?

In your original post the school seemed to want to help by assessing the child for giftedness and... placement in a gifted program? or something else? and you didn't think it was a good idea because...???

I am NOT refusing a baseline (and actually I never said that in any post). I WILL refuse an FBA because I have had very poor experiences with those. (Just my experience but Behavioral Analysts (BAs) that work primarily with children with autism seem to see autism in everything, Behavioral Analysts (BAs) that work primarily with children with ADHD see adhd in everything, and so on ...My child's disabilities and gifts are more complicated for that type of person, jmo. I prefer to get someone I have chosen and that I have looked at the qualifications and I have interviewed and that I feel confident in to analyze my child.)

I am refusing getting the "baseline" if I do not get the very details you mention: "more details on who will assess the baseline, what the methods used will be, and shape the process (ask for a parent questionnaire to be included, make sure that 1:1 assessments are done with somebody you/your child like, make sure observers are not biaised -- ie. that the horrible aide is not the one taking notes...)" Getting no response to my asking how they are going to establish the baseline has made me suspicious. And, once I get their answers, if I am unhappy with their answers to or their process (like if they have the aid who shamed him weighing in on it) you can bet I will refuse until I am comfortable.

Also this.

Your private specialist, who ruled out ADHD, is recommending a behavior analyst be involved. When the school tries to get the ball rolling, the consensus is to... refuse???

Who said this?

If i can get the assessment done , i probably can use that to save our DS from the constant 'clip changing ' about every single thing he does at school . Some of them that i thought just plain ridiculous . And to explain to the teacher , this probably the reason behind all the behavior he's been showing you . And maybe she'll get the idea about giving him work that suits him .

The testing for the gifted is supposed to be done sometimes next month ,i just sent the nomination paper this morning , and i did ask the counselor to at least walk me through the process .. etc , but she didn't reply me with anything about that .

Yes the school does mention about wanting to nominate him for the test , that was before spring break when they mentioned it .Earlier this week they brought up about the FBA who's specializes working with autistic children to asses DS . I just thought i wanted to give them a proof that DS needs to learn something new , not things that he knows already . The school year is almost over , but what does he learn ? Not much ..

Our school principal called me to ask my permission to have our DS tested by the behaviorist that specializes in autistic kids .

She called me that day , and told me about DS behavior ( including telling me DS was looking into inappropriate things and said inappropriate things from a book . Guess where he got the book ? SCHOOL LIBRARY ) It was a mad science book , about a dog wearing swim suit except DS had a good laugh saying the dog was wearing bras and panties !!! And that behavior disrupted the class !

I might have jumped to conclusions:


and


seemed to question why a baseline was needed (answer: it is required by law) rather than how it would be assessed.

The wrightslaw site has lists of suggested assessment tools for different conditions. Having in writing (from an outside specialist) that your son's anxiety is a reaction to a hostile learning environment rather than a separate condition would be helpful...

We did mention to the pyschologist our DS likes to argue with his teacher at school , so it's considered being disrespectful . The pyschologist refer to behavior therapist for working with him being disrespectful . Nothing else .

Right after I said this, which you quoted: I immediately said this

Also, I would direct you to this post to further clarify my concern:


The previous anxiety goals had no "baseline" established or referenced to as far I as I know so I guess they were in violation of the law.... This is the first I am hearing a "baseline" is necessary after two iep meetings and two full ieps with "anxiety goals"