Feeling...wary, stubborn, resistant, and...hopeful?

[scrapbookbuzz]

Yesterday was the 'final meeting' with the board of professionals who were evaluating my dd for possible high-functioning autism/Aspergers. The definitely see the Aspergers traits. Because there truly is no aid put in place for Aspergers kids, they label it as autism so you can receive such things as speech therapy, special education, IEPs, etc.

 

Through much angst (on Mom's (me) part) and much discussion with my husband and my daughter, we have decided to put her back in the public school next year. I'm told that it will be a smaller class size than the typical classroom (6 students as opposed to 25+), she will be with her same classmates throughout the day. She may have to go to a different classroom, for a class, once during the day, but so would everyone else in her class. Plus, she'd have an IEP and get speech therapy (not for functional speech (she excels at that!) but for pragmatic/social interraction speech).

 

Part of me says, "Okay." Part of me says, "NO!"

 

DD, who will be 12 in August, is okay with it. I think it's Mom who . . . well, who's feeling a range of emotion in regards to this.

 

Anyone 'Been There, Done That'?

[MamaSheep]

I would totally jump at an arrangement like that if it were available here. The only options we were offered were 1) general education classroom (mainstream) with accommodations and one-to-one technician (this is what we did for K-3rd grade, and ds just got worse and worse), 2) autism unit (geared toward non-verbal kids teaching basic speech and picture/word association as well as behavior management--totally inappropriate for a child with advanced vocabulary and reading abilities in need of instruction in pragmatics/social communication) 3) the "behavior" unit (for kids with emotional and behavioral problems, more structured, more adults in the room, still too many kids, and totally wrong for a child who was falling apart from the anxiety produced from having to be in contact with a large number of "typical" kids all day). I actually asked at one point about helping to develop a new "unit" for kids who were on the higher functioning end of the autism spectrum and was told (in a shocked and appalled tone as if I'd suggested lopping off all their fingers and toes) "THAT would be SEGREGATION!" A small class of 6 or so where he was with the same kids all day in the same room would totally make me happy (assuming the teacher was competent and the curriculum appropriate).

 

That said, though, keep in mind that nothing has to be permanent. You can try it for a while, and if it isn't working out you can always bring your dd back home. I'm definitely not telling you what to do, though, just saying if it were me, I'd give it a go.

 

ETA: P.S. There's currently a bit of a "debate" going on in the wide, wide world of autism. The diagnostic manual is being revised and it is looking like "they" are going to be doing away with the Asperger's diagnosis and lumping it in with related disorders under the single heading of "Autism Spectrum Disorder". Just FYI.

Edited May 26, 2010 by MamaSheep

[jolley]

We looked into ps for ds 8 with HFA. It ended up like pp's description. On the other hand; my neice, asperger's, has had an awesome experience in ps! She has 12 students in the class and a wonderful teacher. The extra classes are just what she needed. Praying it works out for all envolved!

[specialmama]

My son has severe autism and is in a class with 8 kids and 5 adults. It has been very beneficial for him and his classmates, who are all on the spectrum. Structure (routine) and socialization are the key benefits for a child on the spectrum. The services (OT, speech, psych) are neglegable. Sure, they're nice to have at first, but they aren't the be all and end all.

 

:grouphug: hugs to mom. I'm sure your dd will thrive though. These kiddos typically do very well with the structure and social opportunies school presents. :grouphug:

[scrapbookbuzz]

Thank you all for your responses and please keep them coming! Yesterday I even started a blog to detail our journey, hoping it will help someone else, as well.