Aspergers Kids & School

Before the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, school districts frequently did not allow handicapped kids to enroll. Today legislation such as the Education for All Handicapped Kids Act of 1975, amended in 1990 in 2004 to become the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, protects the right of handicapped kids to a free and appropriate education in the public schools.

The "spirit" of laws that apply to handicapped kids is that each youngster should be educated as an individual. This is a good thing for kids with Aspergers in particular. They need individual treatment because they can range from highly gifted students who excel in academics to kids with a variety of learning disabilities and comorbidities like Oppositional Defiant Disorder. The majority are usually between the two extremes.

From birth to age three years, federal laws require that handicapped kids receive early intervention services. These may be speech and language therapy, nutritional counseling, vision and medical services, parental counseling and so forth. Usually a teacher comes to the youngster's home and works with her one-on-one, although some kids receive services in public school classrooms or clinical settings. However, kids with Aspergers often do not receive a diagnosis until after they enter school so they tend to miss Early Intervention programs.

Once a youngster enters school, moms & dads can require a free evaluation and assessment by a multidisciplinary team. If the team determines the youngster does not require special education, moms & dads have the right to appeal the decision and get another free evaluation. The most common problem is that Aspergers kids often appear too bright and verbal to need services. Their solitary lifestyle can mask their social deficiencies. For this reason, many moms & dads end up hiring lawyers to receive public school accommodations for their kids.

If the school determines that the youngster needs special education, moms & dads should find out what is available at that school and in that district. Services can be speech and language therapy, occupational and physical therapy, counseling, vocational education, and assistive technology like special computer software. Moms & dads have to consider if the youngster should be in a self-contained classroom or mainstreamed or in a combination of both. Moving the youngster to a different school or even school district with better facilities might be beneficial. Often it's a good idea to hire or have the school provide an expert in Aspergers to help staff and moms & dads decide what's best for the youngster.

A handicapped youngster can receive services under the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA) or under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 is about getting access and removing barriers to education. For example, a youngster in a wheelchair may need a special door opener, but once she receives access to the classroom, she is treated like other students. Schools tend to encourage moms & dads to go for 504 accommodations rather than services under IDEA because it is less work for them. One of the few advantages in using 504 accommodations is that the youngster receives no "label." However, many more services become available under IDEA.

Under IDEA, moms & dads and school staff meet together at the beginning of the school year and come up with an "Individualized Education Plan (IEP)." The plan must be written, and include an assessment of the youngster's current strengths and weaknesses. The IEP must contain measurable goals for the year and list specific special education aids and services. Moms & dads and staff meet periodically to make sure the goals are attained. There should be an IEP case manager who checks the youngster's work every day and develops new strategies. Most IEPs for Aspergers kids have contingencies such as allowing extra time for work, giving out shorter or alternate work assignments, providing the youngster with copies of other students' notes, allowing the youngster to take tests over or have extra time for them, or allowing the youngster to take oral instead of written tests.

Some Aspergers kids need those special contingencies. However, for the majority, the most important need is getting help with social interactions and reciprocity. Aspergers kids can excel academically and fail in life because they do not have social skills. One author wrote of a "cycle" in which Aspergers kids earn advanced degrees but cannot land jobs because they do not interview well. Then they take a lower level job that requires hand-eye coordination, fail at that, go back and get another advanced degree and so the cycle goes on.

For this reason, many moms & dads opt out of the public system and find a private school that is designed for kids with Aspergers. Sometimes administrators at their public schools even recommend such a placement. In that case, the school district may pay for tuition at the private school. If a doctor recommends such a school, the tuition costs can be tax-deductible or covered by medical insurance. Many Aspergers kids benefit from even a year or so at a residential school that provides intense, twenty-four hour training in social skills.

Classroom Solutions—

Services that Kids with Aspergers Need Most. Many kids with Aspergers are very bright, and may even excel academically in one or more subjects. However, they often need protection from other students who bully or take advantage of them. Aspergers kids do not know which students to avoid. For example, if an Aspergers kid makes a friend, that "friend" may make him do assignments for him, break rules, take the blame and otherwise put the Aspergers kid in jeopardy.

Aspergers kids usually do not understand the "hidden rules" of school but take all rules at face value. They may memorize the rule "Don't swear in middle school." Yet they don't know that all middle students swear, but you don't swear in front of adults, and you don't swear in front of a certain prissy teacher in particular. Aspergers kids also do not understand "hidden social agendas." If an Aspergers kid participates on a high school debate team that meets in a coffee house, she comes prepared like a little professor to talk about the subject at hand. She does not understand that the other students are there to socialize as well as practice for the team.

For this reason, Aspergers kids require individualized training in social and emotional competency. There are many promising new teaching techniques for kids with Aspergers. On the elementary school level, some teachers are using "social stories" with special cartoons illustrated with "emo faces" to help Aspergers kids recognize facial expressions. Acting classes also might help an Aspergers kid better understand emotional reactions.

Self-contained or mainstream classroom? Self-contained classrooms usually have a small number of kids with a variety of special needs. The teacher may have extra training in special education and receive help from one or more aides. Therefore, the big advantage of a self-contained classroom is extra individual attention.

However, there are several disadvantages to self-contained classrooms. Kids with Aspergers often gain more knowledge about social interactions and how the "normal" world operates in a mainstream classroom. Academics may be "watered down" in a self-contained classroom. Kids with Aspergers do not do well with emotionally disturbed kids who are often streetwise and aggressive. If these two groups are together in a self-contained classroom, you often produce a combination of the perfect victim and perfect victimizer.

Sometimes a youngster may start out in a self-contained classroom and gradually transition to a mainstream one. This usually has to be done slowly, and takes an average of two months to two years. It may begin with just a half-hour at a time in the regular classroom for elementary school students, and perhaps an hour at a time in the student's strongest subject on the high school level. Some experts recommend seating the Aspergers kid next to a successful student who can help him with organization and provide class notes, if necessary.

In general, Aspergers kids do better in classrooms that are predictable and structured with as few transitions as possible. Teaching with an emphasis on visual presentation plays to the Aspergers kid's strength of visual acuity. Teachers should structure lessons in clear patterns that are easy to follow.

During "unstructured" periods such as lunch, physical education, recess and passing to classes, an Aspergers kid may need special accommodations.

Finding the ideal teacher for a youngster with Aspergers. The teacher should have some understanding of Aspergers. A good teacher should not be "fake" because that will just confuse the Aspergers kid even more. He may develop a special "cue" such as tapping the youngster's shoulder to help the youngster pay attention when his mind is wandering. He should be strong in language skills, and use drama to help the youngster understand other people's emotions. The teacher should be a calm person in control of his classroom: this will decrease the Aspergers kid's anxiety. Changes and surprises will upset an Aspergers kid. Therefore, the teacher should help with transitions and let the youngster know in advance when he will have to recite in front of the class.

Some authors describe the importance of having a teacher who can deal with "meltdowns" and "rages." In their book, Aspergers and Difficult Moments, authors Brenda Myles and Jack Southwick describe the three phases of "rages" as "rumbling," "the rage itself," and "recovery." It is best to intervene in the "rumbling" stage. During the actual rage, an Aspergers kid may scream, bite, hit, kick and destroy property. For this reason, the authors recommend that a teacher wear comfortable clothes and keep expensive or sentimental items out of reach. During "recovery," the youngster may be exhausted, deny the tantrum happened, or contrite. It is important that the teacher is a sensitive person so that if an Aspergers kid rages at school, then he does not experience complete humiliation in front of his peers.

The Parenting Aspergers Resource Guide: A Complete
Resource Guide For Parents Who Have Children Diagnosed
With Aspergers Syndrome.