Lies told by school district

I am awefully fed up by the incompetence of school district personnel.  My son was reevaluated in the fall and I wanted an updated IEP. The school district psychlogist emails me to inform me that reevaluations take place every 3 years. My answer back: So What!! Why would I wait 3 years to tell you people that his diagnosis and setting has changed and he needs an update? Since I already signed the permission to evaluate I guess they don't feel like doing it, but now they have to, like I'm wasting their time or something.  What is wrong with this picture? I know my rights but I know I'm lucky cause some parent might have stopped the process after receiving that email with that made crap they tried to just send me. I am saving that email and posting it so that you all can see the scandalous behavior and tricks the school districts try to pull to get out of servicing students.
Shameful!

To medicate, or not to medicate? That is the question........

Today marks a significant step in our understanding and processing for my son. We have a developmental pediatric appointment for William and the topic of discussion, medication. We've been against even discussing medication for a while, but now that we've come close to the end of his 1st grade school year, we've noticed that the demands placed upon him for school are becoming overwhelming for William and we figured, we better start having the discussion now, before we hit 2nd grade. Just to you a bit of history.........

William walked into school and tried his best everyday. We saw that he was having trouble paying attention and lacked focus so we enlisted the help of his Behavior Specialist and were approved for TSS services 15 hours a week (3 hours a day) in the morning to help with his behaviors and focus. We also bought a weighted vest, bumpy seat for sitting, and a lap pad to keep him snug and somewhat comfortable while trying to stay focused and seated in the classroom. He gets a few movement breaks and gets 2 recess periods to burn off some steam, but for the most part, this still didn't help him when trying to concentrate or be able to focus when distractions are always occurring even in a class of 18 kids. Then we tried the diet method. We eliminated gluten, and introduced a gluten free vegan breakfast, lunch and snack option which helped somewhat to decrease his hyperactivity, but still didn't really address his focus and attention.

Today, I would categorize his strengths in reading and he has LOADS of focus for computer time (which he excels in and has become teachers helper for his fellow classmates). His weaknesses would be attention, copying things off the board, taking tests (when there's so much on the paper, he really gets overwhelmed), being able to listen to a story enough to retell it or get the summary from it (we have to show him little movies of people reading and acting out the story for him to be able to recall it) and following academic directions (pencils down, fidgeting, getting out of his seat when things happen outside the window).

Today, we will embark on this conversation with the doctor, to see if there is any more that we can do or if there is a low dose medicine he can use throughout the week that would help him academically and since he is diagnosed with both Autism and ADHD, I am hoping that we can take good suggestions from the doctor to help William feel more confident and better prepare him for next academic year.

I have to admit, William really puts forth so much effort, and he works so hard. He is an inspiration to me for his patience and tenacity. I just hope I am doing what's best for him to take some of the burden of trying to control his impulsive nature so that he can concentrate on his work and focus without having to worry about these things.

If you have gone through a similar situation, I welcome your feedback.

Wish us luck and have a great day!

BJ's Wholesale: What's gluten-free here?

Is this membership worth it?
maybe

So we ventured off to BJ's Wholesale last night because they had a great deal going on with their membership (14 month instead of 12). I figured, its got to be worth a shot since I'm going to be paying more money for food items due to everything being vegan and gluten free. Well I was slightly dissapointed with their selection of gluten free products. They had a few (and I mean a few) things to offer such as apple/ fruit sauces an these buddy fruits which are great for the lunch boxes. They also had lots of things like organic agave and quinoa at very low regular prices (Quinoa was $4.99 for a big bag which I stocked up on). I was kind of dissapointed at their cereal selection. They didn't have Rice Chex which really was the main reason I went there, but they did have a good price on soy and almond milk. Overall, It was ok, but I'd like to try some of the other wholesale places like Costco and Sam's to see if they offer more selections of allergy free products to their consumers. I want the best bang for my buck, so right now I'd have to say that BJ's may be good for some things, but a bit of a dissapointment in the gluten free product arena.

Day 1: Plant Based and A Good Day

Day One 1: Went off without a hitch. As you can see from the chart, there are alot of ways he could go with his day, but for a Monday, this is stellar. Usually it takes William until Tuesday or Wednesday to get back into the swing of things at school. He is usually still wired and fired up from the weekend and it takes him a day or two to cool it down to focus in school. It is great that he didn't get marked for any thing but a good day. Usually his marks include not following directions or not listening (which I feel is common for a kid diagnosed with both Autism and ADHD, but what do I know). The fact that neither of these was checked on a Monday is clearly saying something. Lunch was served with a salad with extra virgin olive oil dressing, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, chia seeds and walnuts. He didn't eat the walnuts, but he ate everything else, including the pineapple and gluten free popcorn. He always drinks water, and nothing but water so he was happy.

Tomorrow's another day, so we shall see how he does with my next creation (gluten-free vegan pizza!) I hope by the end of this experiment to compile kid friendly lunch box recipes to share with everyone. Seems like that is really missing in the GFV world. Most recipes aren't kid tested first and don't look that appealing in my opinion. This will be a stapler when I can't find anything else to do.

Psychoeducational Evaluation: A Wealth of Information

William at the Please Touch Museum

Decision Making at its Best!

As a ASD mom, I felt that I needed more information in order to make a good decision on my son's 1st grade school placement. Our home school district insisted that William didn't need anything special an only needed help with attention and maybe some math support. I fought a long hard battle with them regarding the school they picked out for us (seems we had no choice in the matter) and the curriculum taught there (I have no faith in "Success For All" especially when I researched the PSSA scores for the school which were horrible). After much thought and analysis, we decided to send William to a catholic school. We figured, since he was going to be in a regular classroom with 30+ kids and one teacher anyway, we might as well put him in a school where we know they would be a bit strict on behavior and a bit rigorous in their teaching. So far since the start of September, William has been doing quite well. He titrated from having a TSS (still has a Behavior specialist) in the summertime and has been on his own thriving ever since. He just got a 100 on his 2nd week's spelling test and is grasping the math concepts faster than I can show him everything. I am amazed at the progress he is making and the amount of homework and structure put forth in the catholic school education.
After starting the school year, we made an appointment for a psychoeducation testing which included the ADOS and some other testing. They confirmed right away, that William is able to learn in a regular classroom and asked me to monitor his behavior with his teacher to see if TSS was needed. I was so happy that we made the right decision, but in the back of my mind, I felt like I just made a good guess in where he should attend. The Psychoeducational evaluation was an invaluable tool and I will continue to refer to this document in order to make better decisions about his health and education. I wonder... as a parent of an ASD child, do you find yourself making decisions based on guessing or do you wait to get the 2nd opinion?

Additional_Testing_IEE!

If you feel that the school district didn't do enough testing, you as the advocate for your child can request and Independent evaluation at public expense. When asking for this, you MUST write a letter and be specific about your reasoning. This is not a cheap expense. If you do this on your own, it will cost you $2500 + to do this and most of it is not covered by your insurance. If you specify your concerns, it is easier to get this done. Remember advocating is not just about fighting. You are trying to nicely get along with these people and get them to understand your child's individual needs. Even though it might seem like a daunting task, writing a letter and spelling out your reasoning is a CYA (Cover your A$$) move. If you ever need to go to court or file for due process, you can show the judge that you made an attempt to work with the school district with your letter, dated and signed. Also remember to cc other members of your team. Your developmental pediatrician, child's teacher, etc. The more people who know the merrier. Everybody needs to be on the same page and in addition, the more that know, the more the school district can't play games with you. Below is a link to an actual letter I wrote that spells out my concerns and the reasoning behind asking for this type of testing. Because it certainly is not cheap, I felt compelled to address everything and prove that he needed the test, and not just because I want him to have it done. Remember you must be compelling in your argument to get things done. If you are not convincing, you may have to go a tougher route ( mediation, due process). This is your first step towards looking at your child's learning style and grasping if what you THINK is true, is confirmed.
Letter Asking for Independent Evaluation

Let me know what you think. I left our names in it so that you could see my actual thought process and what is specific to him.

We Shall Overcome! and we have!

Yes, it is official. My son William is going to graduate from Pre-K into Kindergarten. It has been a tremendous mountain to climb, but in the end, it has paid off in spades. He will be 5 in September and he will be graduating in a class of his peers. He is very verbal, smart, still a bit light in the social department but he is getting better. His biggest improvement is the fact that he is starting to notice when others are hurt or are in pain. He is compelled to ask if you are allright and wants to rub your back or your face to make sure you are not hurt. SO WONDERFUL! This from a child who 2 years ago, could care less what your facial expressions meant even when you were describing your mood. Now he feels pain, love, sadness, joy and expresses it every moment his he has. He has manners, always asks politely, the occasional tantrum here and there, but nothing like before (where he was kicking and screaming and flopping himself on the floor). He used to bite teachers and other kids, he used to push you around to get what he wanted. Now he asks you politely and with manners to get what he wants. He would kick his shoes off every chance he got. Now he could care less about that and concentrate on his math and trying to write his ABC's.

The other day, when I was picking him up from school, he was sitting at a computer and said "look mommy, i wrote my name!". He typed WILLIAM on the screen in all caps and I almost fainted in the classroom. When his teacher told me he was ready to graduate, my heart stopped. It has taken us so long to find a proper placement for him that I was afraid to embark on a new chapter of his life (finding another typical structured placement for him). But, his teacher insisted that he is smart and a quick learner and his behavior is much improved. I had to give in and say that I would be glad that he graduates to the next level and I never thought I would see the day. The day that my Autistic child would graduate in a class of his peers and be ready for the next level. Throughout all the struggle and heartache came this wonderful story of triumph and tribulation that I can measure and see from 18 months old until now. It is an amazing feeling to step back and not have to over analyze the behaviors and learning difficulties that have challenged him since he was barely 2. I can just sit back and bask in the glow of this moment and hope that there are more good moments like this than the bad moments we've had in the past. I am so proud of him. He brings me joy every day of my life and my life wouldn't be the same without him. Mommy loves you. I hope someone else can share there story of the Autism triumph as well.