Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional middle school dilemma: super G&T or Aspie program?

Does your child qualify for an IEP?

My DD has an AS diagnosis and things improved when she was challenged academically as well as supported with appropriate accomodations. I don't think it is good to look at them individually, especially in a PG kid. Both GT and AS need to be addressed.

I would talk to the G&T middle school principal and see what accomodations they are willing to give your son to best meet his needs, an IEP wouldn't be necessary if they are already willing to make accomodations, which it sounds like they are based on the scribe, but you would want more specifics.

I do not like the sounds of the AS program, for a GT child.

Yes, he does have an IEP that probably needs a lot more fine tuning than it currently contains, as far as accommodations. Right now it has scribe for testing as the only in-class accommodation. I think he needs to have assignments written down for him. If he goes to G&T middle, I would love for him to have some quiet lunch space.

They just added tutoring for writing, but this is pull-out with someone who doesn't really know anything about the unique challenges of AS kids. Also, it doesn't contain anything about social skills classes. He is getting counseling, but its on perfectionism, not pragmatic language. Pragmatic language is supposed to be added, but I think his current school plans to have the speech therapist do this, and she is not trained in AS.

In our state, IEP is only for weaknesses, not for giftedness.

Maybe he could go to G&T middle successfully if you fine-tune the IEP for that environment.

I would ask for a new IEP meeting to make the necessary changes. Pragmatic language will only become more important as time goes on. My DD received this service from the speech therapist as well. Does he meet with a social worker to help with socisl skills? We wrote that into my DD's current IEP with additional time as needed for transition to the middle school for any classes she may take there. (She currently HS's her core subjects but attends PS for electives and services.) We have a planner written in as well as the ability to keyboard for all creative writing or lengthy assignments. Does your DS keyboard?

I'm not an expert, but I am doing a similar thing with my son (2e aspie), elementary, not middle though. He will be attending the G&T school next year, and they are meeting with us next week to go over his IEP and behavior plan. I did not plan to send him there next year because I wanted to keep him in his current class (the wonderful teacher loops to the next grade) because I thought it would be better socially. But we decided to move on to the G&T for the added academics that he craves. We had him in a summer school for Aspie's and the teacher could not academically challenge him so he had behavior problems and it somewhat backfired. He is currently in a social skills group for Aspie's which is going well and we are going to continue it during the school year next year. So, my point is that we are in a similar situation and opted for the G&T school (with accommodations from his IEP) and an outside Aspie social group. I know it is a little different with your son being in middle school, and I know how you are agonizing over it. We couldn't decide for the longest time, but what helped us was how accommodating the G&T school is being! I can't believe they are setting up a meeting for us 5 months before the school year starts! Whatever you decide will be good...a lot of times you really have to rely on your instincts for what will be best for your son. Good Luck, I can't wait to hear what you decide! Nan

His only work with counselor is on perfectionism. He is playing games with a younger kid and learning it is not the end of the world if he loses. Does your DD's social worker have training on AS? And what kind of activities do they do?

How is the planner written in?

We are making a request for evaluation for use of keyboarding.

They may be right, but it is almost certain that they are totally clueless about what it's like to be HG/PG without educational accomidations. So I'd be careful about letting them sway you. (And can't you always change next year to Cozy if need be?)


The Super G&T school, on the other hand, certainly appears to understand their former students who have AS. I like the point that each child with AS is different. Seriously, isn't your son more likely to find friends at the Super G&T school, since they are more likely to have similar interests?

Where is that 'Answer book?' when we need it?

Hugs and more Hugs,
Grinity

Hi Nan:

Thanks for this perspective and reassurance.

I guess I have to realize that EITHER middle school choice will be an improvement over his current situation.

Right now, he is just in a regular elementary school with no AS-specific help and practically no challenge. The Cozy Middle school would be about the same level of challenge, with faster math AND support to address his Asperger's challenges. G&T Middle would provide more rigorous academics, and we could try to work in AS help with the IEP.

Now my dh has just arrived home. When I told him about maybe picking G&T, he said, "but will he be lonely and not have any friends there?" Part of the appeal of Cozy Middle is that it would have the built-in friends -- a teacher support and cadre of five AS kids in his class and 10-15 AS kids in the grade.

Now that I've started talking to him about the merits of that, now he's leaning back to G&T Middle!

Sigh...

Hi Grinity:

Good points.

I am leaning toward G&T Middle. Not that we know he got in yet. I think we got big hints, though, right? Why else would the teacher/scribe say those things,if not to give us hope?

Once he's there, though, I think it would be tough to transfer him out to Cozy. The AS program at Cozy is considered the best in public middle school in my city, so all spots will get filled. When I went on the tour, there were parents from very far-flung neighborhoods of the city, wishing they lived in-district, like us, so their kid would get preference. Also, I think that once we spurn them, they are unlikely to be interested in him in the future.

My DS7 is 2E--GT/Asperger's--as well, though in somewhat different ways from your son, so it's not hard for me to read myself into your situation.

I suspect that your son would have as many (or more)friends in the GT school as in the Cozy school, just because GT kids are likely to be accepting of him as a GT kid with eccentricities, and the AS kids at the other school all have their own social...difficulties...by nature.

I think I would prefer for my son, in this situation, to go where he could build on what makes him GT rather than a place where it was all about being AS. His elementary school right now does a lot of both, and while I understand his need for the social skills training and I'm grateful for everything they do in that regard, I would be hard-pressed to keep him there if they were not also doing well for him with the GT needs. It sounds to me like your GT school is not unfamiliar with AS, and they sound willing to work with that.

You may also be underestimating the brainpower that goes into the way that he says he solved the math problems so quickly. A less able mind would slog through the mathematics without ever thinking about the tricks.

The travel logistics might be the worst of your dilemma, but you might be able to find a way to get around those. Certainly I would go with him through the route several times to get it down, but mightn't there be some way to help that out? Maybe he would do well with a map, or written instructions step by step, or a GPS of some sort? Possibly a recording in real time, if the travel steps were reliable enough for that, walking him through each thing as he goes.

I hope you can work out what is best for you guys!