My child has aspergers a form of autism and I am having trouble getting help from the school for therapy ?

Question

We have a 504 in place. I have anotehr meeting on it Tuesday and will add more to the 504. Such as weekly reviews ! Teachers are suppose to watch him but don't. The comments I hear are that he is good ..until! Testing is coming up so the teachers are pushing and he is melting.

Answer 1

You should consider sending your child to special school as most teachers may not know what your child actually needs. For autism, a proper routine and pictorial learning are essential. Special schools will know what to do for effective learning for your child.

Answer 2

You need to see if your child can qualify for special ed (IEP plan) instead of 504 plan. THey are not the same and IEP offers more help and legal protections than 504 does.

504 does NOT help with therapy, it only helps by providing accomodations and modifications to help the child 'cope' with their problems instead of actually HELPING the problems like IEP does.

Answer 3

The person who advised you to push for a special education label instead of 504 is correct.  Also as sad as it is to say, if you can get an attorney to attend meetings with you, you'll get all of your child's needs met quicker.  Nothing makes a school district move faster than the threat of a lawsuit.  You also have the right to drop in and visit your child's school at anytime.  There is a lot of stress and tension in the air with testing pressures on students and teachers alike.  Students with autism can meltdown easily at this time.  Make sure it's in his paperwork and that his teachers allow him to go to "a safe place" that's quiet and stress free to do his work when needed.  Many regular ed teachers are not trained to watch for the signs of a meltdown and don't see it until it's too late.  Request a meeting of his teachers, you, and the school's autism behavioral specialist.  Your child can be successful.  Hang in there!  Also, please try to be firm but patient with teachers who are also stressed and under fire to make sure all 100+ of their students pass classes and mandated tests!

Answer 4

My son is 15 and was diagnosed with Autism when he was 5.  Your son has the right to have accomodations to help him with testing and any subject matter.  If you have to, meet with the resource teachers, principal or the administration office.  Every year a new IEP (individual education plan) needs to be in place with specific goals that are achievable for your son.  I am way too familiar with "meltdowns"!  My son was so easily frustrated as a little boy.  He is very high functioning and with lots of love from his family and the help from his teachers he has grown into a very lovely young man.  I was told at the time of his diagnosis he would never read.  THEY WERE WRONG!  Dont give up.  Advocate for him.  Keep pushing and find him a niche in your school.  Good luck to you and God bless.

Answer 5

This comes from the U.S. Department of Education

Office for Civil Rights: (Student Placement in Elementary and Secondary Schools and Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act)

Schools must establish procedures that allow the parents or guardians of students in elementary and secondary schools to challenge evaluations, placement procedures, and decisions. The law requires that parents or guardians be notified of any evaluation or placement action, and that they be allowed to examine their child's records.

If they disagree with the school's decisions, parents or guardians must be allowed to have an impartial hearing, with the opportunity to participate in the discussions. A review procedure must be made available to parents or guardians who disagree with the hearing decision.

Answer 6

get him on an IEP rather than a 504. special education will give him the extra attention that it sounds like he needs.

also, he has to meet the criterion to get funding for therapy. what parents don't realize is that therapists can pick the assessments to suit your needs.

if your kid came in to me and i was assessing him, and he has to have a score below 70 to get funding for, say language impairment, and he scores a 71, i'm gonna try real hard to find a test that he does meet the criterion and we can get him funding to get him in the system.

Answer 7

My video on Asperger's will help you with this problem take a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbgUjmeC-...

Answer 8

I am not from America but in Australia at a Special School one boy with Autism did high school by corresponded.

And could try and get an assistant to work with him in class, or  try special class but with in a normal school.

Answer 9

You need to ask to have your child evaluated for Special Education Services. Keep in mind that your student could qualify under the catagory but may not meet the Educational Need section.  That happens a lot.  Eventually the student typically does qualify.

It is not the schools responsibility to provide 'therapy'.  It is the schools job to provide direct instruction in strategies and work systems to help your child to access and be successful in the school curriculum.  This may include academic, organizational, social, sometimes speech or pragmatic language, as well as a variety of adaptations and modifications that are specific to your childs needs.

I know that for many parents they don't feel the system works fast enough but schools have to follow a series of guidlines and rules before students can get special education services.  In a perfect world all students would get what they needed to be successful when they needed it.  However there are way too many non- education people who feel that schools lable students way too much so there is a series of checks and balances that has to be followed.