My youngest child will be 9 next month. He is Autistic and has epilepsy. He was in public school in the regular education program with help as laid out on his IEP. He was fortunate enough to have been diagnosed at an early age and recieved early intervention services. He did great in Kindergarten but struggled in first grade. He had a wonderful teacher who really fought to get him the help he needed. Unfortunately when he was 7 years old and in second grade everything fell apart. He was disruptive in class. Spent much time under his desk and hiding behind trees on the playground. when he did interact with peers it was generally agressive. I arrived at school to pick him up every afternoon to hear a laundry list of things my son had done that day. He was so far behind academically I didn't think he could possibly catch up.
I decided that something had to change! I looked into home schooling and settled on the public K-12 program. It is amazing. I am thrilled with the curriculm and he still gets all of his therapies. It is a public school so it is all free. He has an IEP and is offered the FAPE he is entitled to. We did also opt for medication to help him focus, and though I was very anti-medication before, it has been so helpful that I have changed my mind.
A year and a half later my son is doing GREAT! He is cought up academically and has almost no seizures. The night terrors he used to have, have also all but disappeared. He is less anxious and for the most part happy to learn. Don't get me wrong it is a difficult road and it is often very slow going, but the improvement in my son's ability to cope and learn and even socialize is worth every sacrifice I have had to make.
I believe that regular public education is not the right choice for many of our kids. Consider the possibilities. If I can do it anyone can.
Your Son by: MDP
I've worked exclusively with public school children with autism for the last 17 years. 1. Even though we have a good idea of the essential characteristics of autism and how these can play out in the larger community, every single child that I worked with (over 250) was distinct. As such, it's important to remember that when discussing different programs and options for intervention 2. Communication (social and otherwise)as well as emotional regulation seem to be areas of difficulty shared all the way across the spectrum. 3. Given that these above difficulties often preclude ASD kids from effectively gathering, winnowing, storing and retrieving information the way the rest of us neurotypicals do, your son's communication and emotional environment are going to have to be modified to better fit HIS needs prior to attempting to modify HIM. 4. This is quite possible in the schools, as I've seen it and made it happen. The toughest step in the process is getting all the adults (often including parents) to be adults and make some of the initial changes: Communication: making sure you have attention; speaking slower; not using slang/idiomatic expressions/sarcasm; accompany with visuals; etc.. Emotional: dial back the adult's feelings of being the victim in heated tantrum exchanges; reinforcement of small, reachable, defined steps on child's part to self-regulation; monitoring for teasing and bullying; etc.
General, I know but I hope it helps.
Public school's are not capable of dealing with Autism... by: Anonymous
Dear friend Your child is suffering and communicating in the only way he knows, it is important to address this or it could lead to more problems along the line. My son is ten. He was exactly like this too when 7 yrs old.
He now self-harms and sufferes acute stress and low self-esteem. I am not suggesting your boy will get this each child has their own particular coping mechanism.
If you are able to afford a public school I would suggest a specialist private school there are many in the UK, not sure where you are writing from.
Perhaps, if you contact the National Autistic Society parent helpline, use Google.They are the most knowledgable on the subject of Autism.
