It didn't work well for my Aspie. He is very eager to please and has an excellent memory, so he basically took the lesson and scripted it. So he would walk up to other 10 year olds and hold out his hand to shake hands and say, "Hello, my name is Austin. What's your name?" and he was expecting them to reply with the script. When they didn't, he would repeat the first part. Then he would get upset when they still didn't respond correctly. It really made things bad for him, right at an age where boys were starting to notice these things. For my son, RDI has worked the best. But it's expensive and not a 'quick fix'.

Seizures, especially around the onset of puberty. At my son's first neuro appointment the doctor said she wasn't surprised at all to see my pubescent son with ASD presenting with seizures. :(

There is a very slim chance I could be there in January! One of my other friends is doing the marathon relay with a partner (who is not me) and she might need a room mate. I could split the cost of the room and split the cost of the gas to ride down there with her! I will keep you posted if I get to do it. I'm not sure when I would know one way or another. It's definitely on my plan for 2013 because it's the 20th anniversary year! But I might just go ahead and do Goofy that year to get it over with! LOL

Abbey, I am so proud of you for completing your triathlon!! You did such an excellent job, and really you were quite fast!! I'm glad to have the privilege of running (and swimming and biking!) with you! :)

I've been wondering this myself!

I'm reading this thread with interest as I, too, am considering using MFW AHL with a 9th grade Aspie. I spoke to 2 people on Friday at our local used book sale who used AHL last year and loved it. They weren't trying to sell it to me, either (unfortunately LOL). The one lady in particular told me that her son wasn't a voracious reader (mine isn't) and he did very well. She said they read some things together, did some on audiobook, and that the Bible readings were manageable. I was considering even using The Message bible for the readings as that might be easier for my son to comprehend (I use the NLT for my regular Bible). She also said that the writing portion went very well, and took them step by step through the essays that needed to be written. Writing is an area where my son struggles, as well. Anyway, you're not the only one trying to make this decision!

I am trying to make this decision myself, except that I DO consider MFW to be a "boxed" curriculum. And that happens to be the one that I am considering. I have been using Ambleside (which I consider to be "semi-boxed" since it tells me which books to use and in what order) as my base and modifying it from there, but I am wondering if my son needs something more. The allure in the "boxed" curriculum like MFW, to me, is not in telling me what to do each week - because I am comfortable making that up on my own. In fact, I have used Planning Your CM Education from SCM for that for the last couple of years. The allure is in having discussion points or comprehension questions already laid out for me. Also, I think I would like knowing that what I am requiring of my son is "High School level". The thing that keeps me from pulling the trigger, besides the expense, is that I'm a huge box-checker and I'm afraid that I would be a slave to the curriculum, especially since one of my desires in using it would be to make sure I'm expecting enough of my son. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place!

I have kids with the same diagnoses, but my Aspie is a boy and older and my younger is a girl. I know you said you didn't think the extended time at the park didn't play a part, but I can tell you from my own experience, I cannot expect my spectrum kids to handle such a dynamic situation as a park playground for more than an hour or two without the quality of their interactions falling off significantly. In fact, I've stopped staying for a long time at these sorts of places because I want our social experiences to end on a positive not to encode a good episodic memory (instead of "every time I go to the playground we have to leave because I was rude"). As far as the "joining the bully", I can see my younger child (and my older when he was younger) doing that when they are running out of steam socially. Their ability to process accurately diminishes and they fall back on the mimicking behavior. I try to watch for this in my kids as it will start with talking to themselves and a more 'disengaged' behavior. It's subtle and each kid will have their own tells. I think the talk/apologize/leave routine is still a good option. Remember, you're dealing with a developmentally delayed child! They may be 6 or 8 or 10, but developmentally they may be 3 or 4, or younger. You have to repeat the proper consequences with a young child many, many, many, many times - and with a child on the spectrum, you have to do it even more so! It's just how it goes. It doesn't mean it's not working, it just means that you have to work harder and longer. Also, something else that I would do for my child if she did this would be to talk about how the picked on child might have felt. Remember that kids on the spectrum have a deficit in their ability to think beyond their own perspective so that's something we work on a lot in our family. I wouldn't say "How do you think she felt?" because that just doesn't work. I would say, "She looked so sad when you said those words. I saw her face and it looked like this" (and then I'd make the sad face). I am working on my children being able to read people's expressions so they can regulate their own interactions. Also, when it's time to apologize, I add in, "It's good manners to apologize when you have hurt someone's feelings." and then I wait a minute. I really prefer the idea for the apology to come from my child. If she does the apology on her own, then we won't go home. If I have to push the apology a little bit, we won't go home. If I have to drag her kicking and screaming to apologize (which happens), then we'll go home because that also means that the ability to self-regulate has gone. I may be telling you stuff you already know. I'm just rambling here, and I hope it's helping a bit. This is just how I would handle it.

It does sound familiar. My son had an episode almost 3 years ago that was very similar. I didn't see it begin, but by the time I got to him, he was disoriented and unresponsive, though standing. Then he vomited, and collapsed. He was conscious the entire time, but completely unresponsive. After about 15 minutes, he came to, but he was confused and couldn't remember what day it was or what we had been doing (though he was pulling important dates from his brain - when asked what day it was he replied with his sister's birth date). The paramedics came and took him by ambulance to the hospital while I followed in my van with the girls. By the time we met at the hospital, he was completely himself again. The ER doctor said it was heat stroke or a vagal nerve response. @@ I took him to the ped and requested more testing - hello, the child has a neurological condition! The first test was an EEG and something was wrong because the techs were acting very weird. By the time we got home, the doctor at the hospital had read the EEG report and called our ped and our ped had called us a couple of times. Austin started on meds that same day. He had an MRI which was completely normal. He had one similar event about 6 weeks later, and an increase in meds followed. But then he had no more events, and he weaned off the meds last fall. The neurologist indicated that if we can get to the one-year mark of being med-free, he likely won't have any further seizures. I remember how scary the whole experience was... actually much scarier than autism has been. I'll be praying for clear test results and the answers you need!

I will have my first 9th grader this year - and I am scared to DEATH! My son has Asperger's and some learning challenges, so we'll be taking it nice and slow. Our goal is technical college! :) The only thing I know for sure that we'll doing this year is Key to Algebra. I bought Introductory Algebra by Lial's, but it looks very overwhelming. So I will start with Key to... and then we'll do Lial's. Maybe call this year Algebra 1A and when we complete Lial's we'll call that Algebra 1B.

You're welcome! I'm not a big fan of social skills training, but I know that many people swear by it. Since you do some tutoring, you might be interested in reading Awakening Children's Minds for your own use (and then it would give you a little more info on where RDI is grounded). My degree is in early childhood education so I was somewhat familiar with Vygotsky, but this book was eye-opening in many, many ways!

I think he says it because it DOES bother him. He's just having such issues with the idea of having Aspergers. I tend to think this is just a typical teen stage - forming your identity and where you fit in the world. He is a really great guy. If there is a lady out there who will try to understand him, he's going to make a heck of a husband and father.

That's really a tough question for me to answer. I wholeheartedly embrace the principles of RDI as I understand them as of right now (2011). However, in the several years since I have been aware of RDI, the principles have changed several times and the business plan of the individuals in charge has changed dramatically. The key, IMO, to success with RDI is to find a consultant who meshes well with your family. This is not as easy as it sounds. There are a LOT of bad consultants who are being continually renewed. There are some fantastic consultants as well, but it's hard to discern who will be good and who will be bad. We had a very, very bad experience with our first consultant but our second consultant was fantastic, we just ran out of money. When I first started RDI there was a wealth of information on their website and through yahoogroups, but that has all changed now. You can only get access to the information through a certified consultant, and it is quite expensive. But in my opinion, the principles behind RDI (the Guided Participation Relationship - outlined in a book called Apprenticeship in Thinking and also discussed in Awakening Children's Minds) is absolutely the reason why my children have come as far as they have come. I will caution you ahead of time that RDI (at least the way it was when I was with a consultant) will ask you to go against the traditional approaches for autism. You're supposed to slow your life down, pull OUT of many therapies and social opportunities, not focus on academics. It was and continues to be a challenge, not just within the ASD world but in the rest of the world, too, who wonders why your children aren't in every activity around. But it works. I daresay that we would have made even more progress had we had a competent professional working with us during the bulk of our time (I blamed myself for our slow progress when I should have been wondering why our consultant wasn't giving me the proper feedback so I WOULDN'T be blaming myself). My recommendation to anyone looking into RDI (and I think you SHOULD look into RDI if you have a child with ASD and especially if you have a higher functioning child with ASD) is to talk with the prospective consultant in detail, making sure that his or her MAIN focus is RDI and not RDI in addition to family therapy/counseling/etc. and get lots of lots of references. Ask the families if they are satisfied with the turn-around time in feedback, if questions are being answered, if specific examples are being given and specific assignments are being scheduled. Try to talk to former patients of the consultant and ask why they left. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find out if people are unhappy with a consultant. The RDI main office only deals with certification, not with quality control. :( Do NOT be afraid to switch to a different consultant if you feel like you are constantly confused and unsure what you're supposed to be doing with your child. Let me know if I can answer any further questions!

I wonder if some of the children feel that same way when they go classes to learn social skills, as if someone is trying to yank up their roots and replant them upside down. We began RDI (Relationship Development Intervention) when Austin was 11 and he very quickly refused to do anything with me when he felt it was 'therapy' time. Thankfully, RDI blends into your lifestyle once the parents get a feel for it, but when we would have to do videos to submit to our consultant, he would get really upset. A few years later he told me it was because he thought we were trying to 'fix' him, and he doesn't NEED fixing.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Austin brought me to his laptop where he had apparently googled the criteria for Aspergers and said, "See! I don't have ANY of these." I tried to gently explain that he does have them, and while he has better coping mechanisms than he did when he was younger, he still does have Aspergers. He continues to deny it and refuses any attempts to involve him in an Aspie social group. When I asked him if he wanted to go to school for high school, he asked if he would have to be in special ed and I said, "Yes." He was extremely upset. At the same time, he says he won't be dating or getting married because "Aspies don't do that." When I insist that Aspies DO date and DO get married, he refuses to believe me.

Janice, if I had the money, my middle child would be in private school right now. Actually, she would have been there 2 weeks ago. I even made an appointment to get her shots up to date (since she is a 6th grader). Our local public school is scary, which is the only thing that keeps me from enrolling her. But there have been times in the last couple of months where I have told my husband that I don't care. I went to some scary schools and lived through it. But I know things are different now. And thus we keep plugging away. And then with my spectrum kids, I keep telling myself that they are getting more at home than they would at school. But since they have never been in school (with diagnoses), maybe I'm just kidding myself? I really want to enjoy being around my children again. I'm just so worn out from battling over math or having to hold onto my patience for the bazillionth time when my child can't remember something he/she did just the day before (because it's not their fault - autism just sucks!). This thread is giving me a great measure of comfort. I've been feeling like a homeschool mom failure because I've been so BLAH about homeschooling this year.

Before my two were diagnosed on the spectrum, I would get the younger one to sleep at 8 and then the oldest would be up until about midnight. Then he would fall asleep and the youngest was up at 1. I had to stay up with her so she wouldn't leave the house. And then she'd fall back asleep around 5 AM, and then my middle child would get up around 8. So I would sleep from 5-8 AM and that was it. Our developmental pediatrician asked how I was still functioning! LOL But it wasn't until we started using melatonin and I started getting SOME sleep that I realized how utterly sleep-deprived I had been! The littlest one still has sleep issues but usually keeps to herself and we have special locks now so she can't leave, but when she does decide to wake me up - wow, it's unbelievable.

I could have typed this word for word! I've been hoping mine is the result of the pressure of having a high schooler next year mixed with the stress of having the middle child hit puberty and adding in a smattering of autism and weaning off epilepsy meds and broken ankles. But I am worn down and beat up. This was our 9th year of homeschooling.

Well, sort of. My dh and son go camping alone (with my dad) a couple of times a year and they do an annual fishing trip as well (with my dad and another dad/son from baseball). I have gone on a few trips by myself to run half-marathons and will be doing one (possibly two) marathon trips this year. My mom and I have taken my girls to Disney World by ourselves because my husband and son have no desire to go there, and we love it!

In our case, my son has a difficult time academically. A text like BJU or Apologia is going to be too challenging for him to keep up with during a once a week lecture-style class. It would be overwhelming and frustrating for him, not to mention embarrassing. I would like to be able to work with him at home, orally if necessary, to help him understand the text material. However, I would love for him to have a group experience of doing labs. It would be a great social experience for him, and a low pressure introduction to a classroom situation. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find anything like this in our area. They all offer the classwork with the labs. :(

I would love something like this if it were available near me! In fact, I've been actively looking for a biology lab for Austin without the class attached. I think I would be able to pay about $40-50 per month.

Yes, I just bought the student text, TE, student solutions manual, and the DVTs for $38 including all the shipping from the various vendors. I got the TE in yesterday and it's in great condition!

I just received the teachers edition for Lial's Introductory Algebra, and also the book The Way Life Works. I bought this both used to look at for Austin's 9th grade year. The Way Life Works was recommended on a website for approaching Biology through a living books method. I have been afraid that Apologia and the like will be too hard. Well, I'm looking at both of these books and they seem like a HUGE leap forward. Huge. Incredibly huge. Fear... panic... terror... despair. These are the feelings running through my mind. Can someone tell me this is going to be OK? He recently tested "average" after many, many years of testing below average to low on testing. Maybe he is capable of this level of work and I just underestimate him? Does all high school stuff look this complex the first time around?? I picked a bad day to go back on my healthy eating plan. <sigh>

Thanks, Martha! I'm just a little nervous in general about our high school plans, esp. with math. My son's test results, while incredible and very encouraging, have also sent me scrambling to change to a college prep approach! LOL I'm feeling a little - ok, a lot - nervous!

Thanks for saying this... when I saw the previous poster call it remedial I was a little disheartened. I am hoping a more complete lesson explanation will help my son's understanding. But after I ordered it used (found a great deal for all the components plus the videos), I remembered how I tried BCM with him last year and he was paralyzed by the number of problems each day. I'm hoping the Introductory Algebra won't be so overwhelming.