Update re: special ed meeting- Good news! - 11/02/12 04:26 PM
First off, after my last post on Wednesday I also got a message from the bus company that DS had been suspended from the bus again, this time for repeatedly standing up in the aisle. (He tells us that he "has to" see out the front window.)
Anyway, the meeting went better than I expected. They are going to go straight into an evaluation for an IEP and use all of the things that we have tried informally over the last year+ as the "pre referral interventions" so we're not starting back at square one. The school psychologist is going to coordinate with the private psychologist to plan his screenings/evaluations to try to speed up the process and avoid duplications.
They are going to implement some new interventions immediately, including noise cancelling headphones that he can use during individual work times or for using the restroom (a noise related phobia of his), setting up a written chart/flow sheet of appropriate things to do during choice times, a schedule so he knows what to expect for the day, and appropriate level enrichment/differentiated work to do during classroom imstruction of topics that he already knows. They are going to put the academic differentiation into the IEP as the school psych is convinced that it is part of the need relating to his problems. They all believe (and I am strongly leaning toward this as well) that he has an ASD but they have stated that whatever the final diagnosis ends up being that it is already clear that he will need accomodations so they are willing to start formalizing those now. They are also getting him set up with special ed transportation right away as well.
Needless to say, I am quite relieved. It is good to have knoweldgeable people agree that these behaviors aren't him being a 'bad kid" but that there is obviously SOMETHING wrong that he isn't able to deal with. He isn't TRYING to be disrepectful when he corrects his teacher during class he just doesn't understand that he's not supposed to. He isn't TRYING to be willfully disobedient when he stands up in the aisle in the bus, he just feels anxious when he can't see where he's going.
It's not a final answer and its not a diagnosis yet but its just nice to finally hear its not just my sweet, loving, little boy being a brat. Hopefully with a diagnosis and some ongoing education of the atff and teachers we'll start getting this worked out.
Anyway, the meeting went better than I expected. They are going to go straight into an evaluation for an IEP and use all of the things that we have tried informally over the last year+ as the "pre referral interventions" so we're not starting back at square one. The school psychologist is going to coordinate with the private psychologist to plan his screenings/evaluations to try to speed up the process and avoid duplications.
They are going to implement some new interventions immediately, including noise cancelling headphones that he can use during individual work times or for using the restroom (a noise related phobia of his), setting up a written chart/flow sheet of appropriate things to do during choice times, a schedule so he knows what to expect for the day, and appropriate level enrichment/differentiated work to do during classroom imstruction of topics that he already knows. They are going to put the academic differentiation into the IEP as the school psych is convinced that it is part of the need relating to his problems. They all believe (and I am strongly leaning toward this as well) that he has an ASD but they have stated that whatever the final diagnosis ends up being that it is already clear that he will need accomodations so they are willing to start formalizing those now. They are also getting him set up with special ed transportation right away as well.
Needless to say, I am quite relieved. It is good to have knoweldgeable people agree that these behaviors aren't him being a 'bad kid" but that there is obviously SOMETHING wrong that he isn't able to deal with. He isn't TRYING to be disrepectful when he corrects his teacher during class he just doesn't understand that he's not supposed to. He isn't TRYING to be willfully disobedient when he stands up in the aisle in the bus, he just feels anxious when he can't see where he's going.
It's not a final answer and its not a diagnosis yet but its just nice to finally hear its not just my sweet, loving, little boy being a brat. Hopefully with a diagnosis and some ongoing education of the atff and teachers we'll start getting this worked out.