hi all,
i am hoping someone may guide me in the right direction??

my son is 5yrs, turning 6 this month
at age 3 he was dx w/ ASD. ((deeper history-
i used sign with him practically from birth, and he picked it up very early, he started talking very early at just 6mos, w/ 2-3word "sentences" by 8mos, and walking by 12mos- a wk after his 12mo wcc, he seemed to lose all forms of communication... he couldn't even sign. he just stared into space... we thought he was deaf. and then the lining up of his toys started. wow. it was amazing and scary at same time... i got him into early intervention right away, and even though i "knew" i was also in denial of it- of autism. it is weird that at 2 1/2, he was able to read on his own, and say the words he read out LOUD even though he really couldn't talk! he had to be taught to talk again from babbling to gibberish to words...plz know that while he has always had amazing receptive language skills, there are times in which he sometimes seems to take a moment to process things- he says he just wants to make sure he is going to do it right)

NOW-no one knows he has ASD. he does well enough that he blends right in. i have always thought it is b/c he is so intelligient that he is able to pull it together and fit in. he has no outward signs of ASD, only the very trained would pick up on it, and maybe they'd miss him too! his truly biggest deficit is all social. he is socially awkward, he is still trying to navigate thru it all and it is the pragmatics that get him the most. he is reserved and passive by nature, he needs to learn assertiveness....

he went to a terrific school last year, in a transitional kindergarten, no kinder curriculum but more getting used to routines etc, he was only 1 of a handful of kids who were reading or close to it, half way thru year, he began to complain b/c he was very bored, and wasn't learning anything... and so the teacher gave him the old kinder reading books and he went thru the kinder year (he bypassed the predecodables etc) in approx 6wks. the teacher checked his comprehension thru written worksheets and discussion. she rec a kinder SAS program or 1st grade for him. he made leaps and bounds socially and loved school!
ok moving on!
he just started SAS kindergarten in august. sadly he is completely bored. and complaining. he doesn't want to go to school anymore...
the stuff they are doing from what i can see, and from the "homework" he brings home, is stuff he was doing at age 3, and doing it on his own for fun!

i picked this school b/c they have a SAS program, he had to test into it to be accepted at the school- but so far i have seen nothing! SAS school of advanced study, to encourage and promote deeper critical thinking- an area he excells in. i was told the academics would be differentiated as needed for these kids.
it hasn't.
the kids in the class are all being taught exactly the same, w/ no differentiation at all. the teacher informed me the class is all sort of lumped together in what they know, and then there is my son at the very high end, all by himself. she said that makes it hard.

and the teacher says that he sits there and she can see he is completely bored, and she asks him and he tells her he is bored and already knows whatever it is, but that he wants to learn more, and the stuff she is giving him is babyish. the teacher is reporting that he doesn't participate in class even though she knows he knows it, and that when she calls on him, he doesn't seem to know the answer b/c he wasn't paying attention- he is zoning out. ((i have told her that if he was bored, he probably did "zone out" and that even if she intro'd new stuff for him at this point- she's already lost his attention and w/o getting it back, he isn't hearing anything she is saying...the teacher just stares at me.))

i ask my son about this, and he tells me he is so bored he just starts having "think dreams" in his head where he is thinking new things and trying to teach himself...

i have always known he was smart, he taught himself to read (simple words) at age 2 1/2. and just doing some crazy off the wall stuff- coming up with the wildest ideas and wanting to implement them and trying to do so... he has always thought outside the box, he asks deep questions, really thoughtful stuff- and his replies to questions aren't the typical short yes no but also very well thought out, and he just seems to really consider things, and studies them before asking/discussing... he has an enormous amount of empathy for other ppl, and is very considerate of others, and wants to protect kids.

he has always been drawn to nature and wanting to save the "planet Earth" and doesn't understand why people are killing the planet...

i just found out last year that he can paint extremely well.
(what's interesting is that he comes home from school w/ rather simple stuff that looks completely different from his acrylics- and i ask him and he says this is how all the kids do it. i ask why he doesn't do his stuff like his paintings, and he shrugs and says he wants to be like everyone else! blows my mind!)

the school where he took transitional kindergarten last year thought he should be identified as gifted just b/c of his paintings. (thru the fine arts) but they don't apparently do that in lausd till grade 3? and that doesn't help me really right now....

my plan was for him to do kindergarten, get those fundamentals down, and then put him in (or try to put him in) one of the magnet schools for advanced learners. but the way it is going? he is just sort of "stagnant" and beginning to really hate school...

ok. so that's the history..........
my Q~
what do i do NOW????
what can i do for my son so that he continues to enjoy school?
should i have him tested? and if so what test?
having him labeled as gifted (IF he even is= the teacher suggested to me very smuggly that he is very obviously smart and a high achiever, but that and gifted were 2 very different things.)
because of the ASD i do not want to skip him gradewise, being with his peers is important...i do not feel homeschool is an option either, he needs that social!!! the kind you can only get at school.. he has plenty of playdates, but it isn't the same.

also, one reason for kinder vs 1st is the playarea! kinder is smaller and contained- my comfort level more than his! but 1st goes out on huge campus, and i mean it is way too much open space... i may never be ready for that! hahaa

sorry this was so long!
any help out there??
i appreciate anything anyone might want to say,
and offer my thanks in advance
cc

i should add that last spring, he took a 6pg written test (his very 1st "test" like this- similair to an IQ but not a full IQ test- to qualify for one of the more exceptional public schools in lausd for gifted kids. this was just to get into their SAS kinder program, the magnet doesn't start till 1st grade, and besides test scores, is based on points a child has. my child has Zeor points.
so, back to this test- all the kids were 5yo, and out of 165 kids who tested, my son was only 1 of exactly 35 kids who passed! he loved the test experience and thought it was "easy" though i found out later he left several blank- but doodled all over the place, so he may have totally missed the questions? idk. still, he passed.
unfortunately he didn't win the "lottery" to go to this school. out of the 35 kids, only about 10 were able to get into program (b/c it is not my son's homeschool.) he won #15 in the lottery. sooooo
i went to another school and he tested into their SAS program and was accepted. however, i learned AFTER school started, that this school believes ALL kids should have the SAS program- which i think YES that is terrific! but for kids like my son, he is suffering. waiting for the other kids to catch up where he is at. the "rainbow words" they plan to teach kids, that kids will know by MAY? my son has known them since age 3. except for the word "where" lol idk he didn't know "where" till now, and i told him 1time and now he knows it....
well anyways.
thanks again for listening to my worried and frustrated ramblings.
i don't pretend to know about giftedness. i just know my child has struggled to overcome some significant challenges in his life, and his ticket to being a successful adult may very well depend on today.
thanks again.

Sorry; what does SAS mean? I do the same thing: sometimes an idea is so solidly set in my mind, I forget that other people don't also know the details.

Umm. Saying this as gently as possible: your message would be a lot easier to understand without all of the text-message abbreviations, etc. It got to be kind of a chore to read.

You're new...so welcome!

I did not know either and searched for a minute, finding this, from a Los Angeles public school web site:

http://notebook.lausd.net/pls/ptl/ptl_apps.renderfaq.viewquestion?p_question_id=122242
School For Advanced Studies (SAS)
These District programs are designed for students identified as gifted, highly gifted, and/or students who demonstrate superior academic achievement with appropriate documentation.

All I came up with was Standards Aligned System, something used by the Pennsylvania school system, and this. Bostonian's link seems better.

SAS = school of advanced study

cc6 You should have him identified as being "2e" a.k.a.twice exceptional (gifted + LD, in this case ASD), so that he can have an individualized education plan (IEP). It helps the teachers to know more fully what they're dealing with, and also certain diagnoses may come with additional funding that can be applied to his IEP provisions.

Good luck (and welcome )

Oh I've been there, lol.

DS8, who has an ADHD dx but may also be on the spectrum, was incredibly impulsive at that age (he still is a bit but has made fantastic strides in this area).

At the end of kindergarten at our school they start doing "unsupervised recess" (which means the teachers don't accompany them - of course all the recess & lunch breaks have staff on the field to supervise). This is to prep them for grade 1 when they just pour out onto the field at the buzzer with all the big kids.

I wrote the school a letter expressing my concern "he'll go missing... he's too impulsive and curious... he'll leave the school ground." etc etc. The principal met with me and offered me a couple of options - I could be a volunteer lunch hour supervisor and watch him myself or I could instruct the school to keep him in the office during recess and lunch.

He also said something that helped me immensely: "We have never lost a child. Sometimes they're late lining up and we have to look for them, but we've never lost one." I don't know why that made me feel better, but it did.

Anyway, he never went missing at that school. Ever.

(He did once in preschool, but that's a whole other post... lol)

When is conference time with the teacher? It sounds like she's aware of his needs, is open to his abilities, and is trying to help him. This is huge.

You might want to make a focused, bullet-pointed list about what he can do NOW (remember that she has a lot of students, so keep it as brief as possible). Examples:

* His tested reading level or titles of 3 books that he's read recently. Include AR or Lexile levels (whatever his school uses).

* His current skill level in mathematics.

Personally, I'd ask the teacher for her ideas. What kinds of resources does she have for testing these things so that she can have a formal-ish idea of where he is (e.g. SRA cards, grade-level math tests, etc.)? What are her ideas about helping him?

hi thank you.
ok. no abbreviations. got it
and i'm sorry about that!

yes SAS is school of advanced study, i actually did mention it, but it was probably lost in my wordiness. is that a word?

ok, regarding his current teacher. yes, she is supposed to be a terrific teacher and she does seem caring. however, i have the feeling because my son is already ahead, he is getting overlooked. he is allowed to just sit there. i wonder too, if because of autism- maybe he is also a bit neglected? i think about this only because the teacher doesn't seem to believe he has autism. most people would never think it. actually,
at the awesome public school with the gifted magnet- the magnet psychologist who gave him the test, when told of his autism much later- she said she never would have even considered it. so that is a HUGE pat on the back for my son! he's awesome!

anyhow, his current teacher, yes, just sort of lets him zone out. she has 3 other kids in class with autism who have behavioral issues from what i have seen, and she does spend a lot of time correcting them. so when she compares my high functioning aut to these kids? sure, he looks pretty good. when you compare my HFA to a neurotypical kid (NT) he still looks pretty darn good! because he follows the rules- and is always honest.

ok, also, yes, he does have an IEP. i'm not sure the teacher has even read it. it is time for a new one... i will ask about having him tested. but since he is just turning 6, i do not believe they will do it. i cannot afford the testing. i also do not believe the teacher will sign the needed form for my son, needed to apply to eChoices- lausd's magnet program. because he is too young to be tested, he must meet 4 levels of criteria in area of critical thinking... this past june, the asst principal and his teacher both believed he met the 4criteria easily. and he proved it by testing into the highly sought after magnet school------ his current school is NOT a magnet. and the SAS program is in no way for "gifted" kids.

if the teacher refuses to sign, we are stuck.

ps i will make a bullet list as suggested.

i am also going to go and buy some homeschool workbooks...
i am thinking saxon math for 1st grade and no idea about language arts/reading- any ideas?
i am just going to supplement him at home-

but i have a PLAN-
i will keep him home from public school 1-2 days/wk to do his 1st grade stuff... this way, he will still get to school and the whole social aspect of it. i do not want to be his teacher, but if i must, so that he feels accomplished and continues to advance in his learning, then so be it. i am starting with 1st grade workbooks just to see where he is. i know in reading/LA he is end 2nd grade, for math he is end of 1st if not begin 2nd. but i want to be sure he hasn't missed anything.

thanks again all.

CCN- be wary as in be VERY wary when they say they haven't lost a child! i know of many instances here in lausd where they certainly have! it's all on the hush hush...

i became friends with an autism advocate who has many stories to tell, her own son being one of them! something about unsupervised playground time and him getting a haircut by another older student who sat on top of him while cutting his hair, when questioned the staff etc could offer nothing. the parents had to investigate themselves and then the school offered no apology and no reprimands to the child who did the cutting, or to the staff who were supposed to be supervising. that went all the way up the ladder to the superintendent and that AP and then later principal (after another similar incident) was replaced.

i blame this post on the coffee. i've had too much.
have a terrific day

CCN, I'm not in LA, so I'm not familiar with your school district choices - but I was curious about the programs, so I took a quick look at the magnet website for LA. It looks like there is an option of "OR" if you don't have teacher sign-off on all 4 areas as required - rather than the teacher sign-off a student can qualify through achieving greater than 85th percentile on a standardized test score. I'm guessing your ds is too young to have been through CA state testing yet (?) but you might have two other options available for achievement testing: 1) through the school district - if your ds goes through the IEP process this would be part of the standard testing (at least it is in most school districts)... and 2) if you can afford to pay for it, you can most likely find someone privately to administer a nationally-recognized and normed standardized test which you could request the school accept.

One thing that is interesting to me though is the 85th percentile on an achievement test cut-off, and then no other options until the Highly Gifted 99.9th percentile on an IQ test for the HG schools. That's a *huge* difference in student populations, and I suspect a lot of kids who would test as MG or HG (but not 99.9th percentile HG) are going to be bored in a magnet school which has an 85th percentile cutoff... unless there is true differentiation going on.

polarbear

I think it's a good idea to be wary when a school staff member says "we've never" to any question! We've heard that "never" word used in many instances when the school staff member was simply trying to brush off parents rather than deal with something. Another of my favorites is "We can't possibly".... and later after hearing that we've found out that the school does in fact do exactly the same thing for another student.... or better yet... find out that it's actually in writing in the school district policy manual that they *can* do that very same thing... sorry to digress! I clearly have some lingering issues with my own school district

polarbear

hahaa thank you polarbear, and it is cc6 you are replying to not ccn *i was replying to ccn myself...
ok, well yes you are so RIGHT re the "we've never" and the "can't possibly" !!!!
in los angeles? lausd & iep's???
they give us parents *nothing*! if we don't know it, they don't tell us! we can look right at them in a mtg and say you'd like something done, and they will say sorry we don't do that. i learned quickly that you don't ask- you demand. as a result my son's iep from last nov is awesome! i demanded alot of speech therapy- working on pragmatics. but i also said why- because he is showing success in every area. everyone wants to be on a winning team? idk but again, great iep.

now at new school- they have a LOT of special needs kids and the speech therapist basically told me she didn't have time for my son because there were other kids there with greater need. that her concern was not pragmatics but how does his speech impact his learning? and she says his speech is advanced. i'm like really? you know this from 1 session? w/o testing? really???
then i conceded that "i am sure there are kids with greater needs, but unfortunately i can only advocate for my own child and his iep says *&^&^%(&^ and i expect that is what you will do." period. she blinked.

anyways. i suppose concerned parents all have stories.
whether it is because of a LD or giftedness or whatever... we want what is best for our kids and it is sad we have to fight (literally) to get it....
you'd think they would want our kids to succeed.

f/u-
today, i had appointment with the coordinator at a highly gifted magnet...no space period, and will be a wait list for next 2013/14 schl year, with admittance based on points (if meet admit criteria which my ds5 does.) because my son has no "points", he will most likely NOT get in %/

i also met with science magnet principal today,
this magnet is not for gifted but for kids with interest in science- my son loves science! however, they DO cluster the gifted kids, and differentiate the curriculum to their level.
i was so happy about this!
i will attempt to get my son into this science magnet for the upcoming 2nd semester, which wcomes up in january 2013. he will go into 1st grade, he can easily do the academics, but i admit i am worried regarding the social...

*YAY! i may not need current teacher in kinder to fill out any form for lausd e-Choice program for getting into magnet schools! so happy. today i learned that when the principal of transitional kinder filled out form june 2012, verifying that my son met the 4criteria for giftedness-as stated by lausd- that while this doesn't necessarily IDENTIFY him as gifted=still need test for this= it is acceptable, and still qualifies him into gifted magnets, including the "highly gifted" magnets which after 1st grade require a 99.9% on the IQ. i don't need it filled again.so relieved. it also seems strange he could slip into the highly gifted magnet with it!

i asked what happens if later he takes IQ and is NOT PG or HG but just MG or maybe just average!?? and they said, if he is in, he's in! and if he can keep up the academics then he stays. they can't kick him out. interesting i thought....

(i have known a lot of ppl with avg IQs who because they were huge over acheivers- they excelled and sailed thru life... seeminly)

*the other thing learned----he can't be tested at lausd until he is 6yrs 9mos. which is why they "verify",
AND no psych eval/IQ test i get on my own will be accepted...

well i feel some relief.
in meantime, i am trying to decide how to handle next 3 mos.
-currently thinking i will "afterschool" him. he will continue in his current kinder program and i will go thru 1st grade curric with him, 2nd if needed. i am going to "pretest" him as go along to make sure i am starting him at approp level. idk what books i will use? but starting with singapore math-saxon.
thanks everybody

How about the project-based learning schools? They may not be considered "highly gifted" but "alternative" or "one of a kind" instead. Have you checked out those other categories on the LAUSD site? We are in the district for K and I see now that our neighborhood charter is an SAS school, but DD5's kindergarten class is not full of gifted kids...

My (perhaps overly optimistic) idea with project-based learning is that there is no limit for learning - you can take any subject to the hilt with self direction.

Here is the list, but surely you are familiar with this:

http://echoices.lausd.net/Mag/Default.aspx

and the school selection tool:

http://echoices.lausd.net/Magnet/programinfo.aspx

LOL you can never have too much coffee

Sorry I should have been more clear. By unsupervised recess I meant that the teacher does not come out with them - not that there's no supervision. They have outside supervision staff for all the breaks and a, um, "unsolicited haircut" would never go unnoticed. They (there are at least 3 plus the principal, and there are only 325 kids) scan and watch for incidents, fights, injuries, etc.

What I was worried about was that my son would slip away unnoticed, which couldn't happen now because a) now he wouldn't leave and b) they all know him. Back in KG, though, he was a serious flight risk and not all the sups knew him. It just made me nervous.