Comments on My Aspergers Child: ASD and School Behavior Problems

My Name is Bridget, My 7 yr old son was just diagn...

2012-01-13T07:04:25.233-08:00

My Name is Bridget, My 7 yr old son was just diagnosed with Asperger's in September of 2011 and the biggest problems we are having are in school: He is getting more defiant, refusing to do his work and having more frequent Meltdowns and using threatening gestures. I seem to notice that around full moons his behavior is worse and when it is raining and the kids do not get out for recess. We do have an IEP but they did not address the Asperger's issue so i refused the IEP and made the school get the Autism Specialist involved. We are currently waiting for the results and a plan. My son is in 1st grade he loves music and it is his best subject in school, he also excels in computers where the rest of his class is just learning.Reading and spelling are above grade level but math is a weakness. We are frustrated at how to help him with the problems in school. We are in Massachusetts and I have health insurance but it is a privatley funded insurance so they have the right not to cover services which should be covered under the ARICA Law. So i cannot get him a 1-1 or aba therapist or even into a group of peers to help with the socilization skills. Do you have any suggestions that would help us?? I am so frustrated that I have to basically do the school systems job for them. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated and welcomed.

I need help! My 13 yr old ds with Aspie is really...

2011-12-01T09:31:07.545-08:00

I need help! My 13 yr old ds with Aspie is really struggling with school lately, and the issue of late is writing utensils!!! He has significant sensory issues/hypersensitivity, and beginning a few years ago began having problems writing with regular wood pencils. The scratchiness he would feel from the pencil on the paper was like fingernails on the chalkboard unless his pencil was exceedingly sharp. Therefore he was CONSTANTLY sharpening his pencil throughout the day. He would stay in his seat and use a small sharpener, but with the constant fiddling with the pencil, sharpener, and shavings, he missed much of what the teacher was saying (and he has huge attention issues as well). Using a pen was only slightly better, because unless the pen is at the exact right angle, he would have a similar scratchy feeling, or the pen wouldn't write.

We went through a variety of pencil types, lead hardness, and different pens (although he really is supposed to be using erasable pens). Reluctantly this year, I have allowed him to use mechanical pencils (the school is accommodating and will let him use whatever he needs). The mechanical pencils seem better in terms of the scratchiness, but he is now CONSTANTLY fiddling with needing to advance or retract lead, put more lead in the pencils, and messing with separate erasers because the "erasers" at the end of mechanical pencils are useless. He starts each day with 4 filled pencils, and if one "goes bad" he is to just get the next one from his pencil bag, but that doesn't seem to alleviate the problems.

I realize that we have two separate problems--the preoccupation and need to fiddle with something in his hands that detracts from his attention (fiddle gadgets are no better-they take his attention as well), and well as the sensory issue with the pencil/pen itself. I am first trying to solve the sensory issue. I have looked at some of the autism websites and have found weighted pencils, and vibrating pencils (that still write straight). Does anybody have any experience with these products, or with anything that can help my son be physically more comfortable writing, with less scratchy feedback that drives him bonkers? He does most of his written homework on the computer (he has become a fairly proficient typist), but for taking notes in class, math, and general survival, he needs to be able to physically write. Eventually much of his notetaking will be done on a laptop, but that is not very practical for a 7th grader.

I have an 8 year old son who was diagnosed with As...

2011-11-07T04:46:42.369-08:00

I have an 8 year old son who was diagnosed with Aspergers and SPD over the summer. The diagnosis was essential because he was starting a new school. I was terrfied, the new faces, sounds, smells and routine. I informed his new school before he even startted about his uniqueness. They immediatley embraced me and allowed my son to visit the school and his classrom. They even let him pick out his coathook and desk (which he choose right next to the teacher). As expected, he immediatley started showing his Aspie traits. He is an avid reader and refused to complete assignments or meltdown if he was slower than the other chilfren in completing a task. He would wander off at recess. He wouldnt complete a standardied test (he read for 3 hours). All of this and he is a complete genius. Due to his sensory issues he left the lunchroom and sat in his dark classroom making the school fear for his safety. There was a change in the bus schedule and it was so overwhelming the Principal decided to drop him off her self until a soultion for him was reached. The Speech Pathologist, Socaial Worker, Classroom teacher, Occupational Therapist and Special ED. teacher met at the beginning in the year to devise a plan. That plan goes into implemation today. He gets his own paraprofessional to guide him throughout the day and to help him transition between classes recess and lunch. A special needs bus will bring him home to the doot to releive his anxiety of getting lost in our new neighborhood. All of the afermentioned will be assiting my son throughout the day or week on a well thought out schedule. We will meet again in few months to discuss how the plan is going. I am truly blessed. I am in tears while writing this because I felt so alone. I know now there are really good resources out there. Just search and search and dont give up!

Hi, Aspie dd10 has been getting almost nothing don...

2011-10-27T06:20:12.620-07:00

Hi, Aspie dd10 has been getting almost nothing done at school due to endless day dreaming. When I try to teach her at home (specially math), no matter what I do, it looks like she is no more than 25% mentally present. At school she draws beautiful comics and does not participate in class work. She tells me that she day dreams about TV shows she watches. But I am sure if we stopped TV then there will be something else. She is bright and it hurts to see her not learning much. I wonder if any of you encountered such issues with your child. If any accomodations at school might help (We are in California), or medication, currently she takes prozac for anxiety. She does not seem to have ADD or ADHD because I heard that ADD is external distractions and she is not hyper at all, however her problem is internal thoughts. She is withdrawn and seems to live in her head.

My son 6 yr old son was diagnosed with Aspergers ...

2011-10-14T07:00:11.159-07:00

My son 6 yr old son was diagnosed with Aspergers in the summer of 2011, however his kindergarten teachers first alerted us to the possibility about 12 months ago.

Last summer he did attend some social skills training ( 10 lessons given on Saturdays), but I did not see any benefit from these in terms of his behavior.

Although I have dozens of questions and concerns I will start with the issues that he is experiencing in the first grade. I approached the school at the start of the year with some basic suggestions that I got from our psychologist, in an attempt to be proactive, and help the teachers better connect with our son. The school seems to think that the only solution is to get special services involved in his day to day, which means that my son would have to be a coded student - something that I am not closed to, but also something that I do not believe should be the first thing we try.

Here are the disruptive behaviors flagged by the teacher:

- hands in the pants
- defiance/lack of motivation when asked to complete a task
- talking out-loud to himself

I believe my child to be very bright, the IQ test given to him last summer put him in the average range, but my theory on that is that the testing was quite long and his "lack of motivation" may have kicked in and his answers may have been affected.

He is able to read quite well, and he has a strong grasp of arithmetic while his class is focusing on topics that are much more basic. Right now his behavior is obscuring his potential from the teachers, so I need some good suggestions to help get his behavior in line, so that I can then start to work on all the other problems.