Introduction | Autism PDD

Hi! My name is Malissa. I have a 9 year old son with ASD. I am glad I found this site because I feel so alone. We can't go anywhere because he can't function and cope outside our home. Everywhere we go people say "If you would just bust his rear end he would not behave that way" The school wants to send him to another district to a behavioral unit so he "will get the discipline he needs". No one believes he is on the autism spectrum. How did you guys get past this???

We have 3 other children 14, 13, and 6. The 2 younger ones cope very well considering but the oldest just wants to be anywshere but home and when he is he is in his room or arguing with the 9 yr old.

We also have plenty of animals 2 dogs, 2 puppies, 15 cats/kittens and a goat.

Malissa, Welcome to the board. I'm sure you will find lots of information helpful to you here. I feel you are going to need an advocate to help you deal with the School, you also need to go to wrightslaw.com to learn your rights. IF you do a search at the top of page for wrights law I think you will find some information. also search advocate. Their is also an education forum here that you should check out. I would not except an ED class (emotionally disturbed) class if that is what the School is talking about? Ask them where all the other ASD children are taut? My child spends half a day in resource room, (special ed) for all language based subjects and math the rest he is mainstreamed. There is also a special needs at our School for the kiddos that need extra support all day. It sounds like you have a busy house, I like that. We have a 16 year old son ADHD and a 12 year old son Asperger's, with learning disibilities, a dog and a cat. I hope this help a little, and want you to know are definitly not alone. I sure others with more knowledge will be able to help more. bumping, for more help.

Hi Malissa and welcome to the board! It sounds like you have a very lively home. I have a 10 year-old son with Asbergers and a 6 year-old son who is PDD-NOS. We are expecting a new puppy at the end of summer, so we are about to have 2 dogs in our home. The kids are very excited!

You indicated in your post that no one believes your son is on the spectrum. Does he have a formal diagnosis in writing? I do recall someone here posting about how their school district was disregarding their child's diagnosis. Apparently, the school did not feel the child was on the spectrum based on their assessments. ??????

If you are having troubles with your district, I agree with Loki's advise to check out Wrightslaw and read the book "From Emotions to Advocacy." Here is the link:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/

I would also consider getting an advocate or possibly an attorney. Here is a link to COPAA (Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates). Click on "Find an Attorney/Advocate" and then select the state you are in. A list of advocates and attorneys in your state will come up.

http://www.copaa.org/

Welcome to the board! There are many warm and knowledgeable people
here. I'm glad you found us.hey, welcome, i was their, for a little bit anyways around first grade at first they said i was learning disabled (the school) but after seeing some specialist (in 1986) they said autism. Did it change much for me?? NO! I still ended up in the special class. I never heard of a behavior modification class/school. Im soo sorry u have to go thru this, i think the advice from the parents above will help u with that emensly. Your child needs the propor help/support, and doing the wrong thing will make the problem worse.

I never received any treatment other then special ed (until 5th-6th grade) I feel i turned out fine, but had many MANY problems growing up, high school and collage my social life improved much, but at a very high personal cost. Its difficult to explain, and i regret many of my actions in the past, and I really hope your son and the other kids who's parents r on here everyday can avoid the costly mistakes I have made, all while trying to make friends, gain popularity.

Perhapse if when younger I received a little help (in the mid-late 80's their was not much to my knowledge anyhow) I would have avoided much trouble.

Your son can have a bright future, fight for him, i know my parents had to, and they were back then miss informed, and too this day r miss informed (i have not sat down and discussed my HFA with them since I was 11-12, they beleive after that age i was somehow magicly cured, my mom will endage in a conversation about it from time to time, my dad wont hear of it, never wanted to hear of it, but aside from that they were loving and supportive, if it were not for them I would not have done as good in life as I have, gone to collage, buy first car, and at just 23 years old I purchased a small home and currently drive a forklift for a transporattion company.

Your son is young, and now is the time to work on gettin him socializing thru services and introduced to normal classes. He needs social practice, teen years were a learning experience, and very hard, challenging, for u and him, he may have his worse days during middle school.

Dont get discouraged, he is young, and being young the symptoms seem worse, the older I got, the better I became at socializing and appearing normal.Malissa,
I just want to welcome you here. There are tons of people who are very knowledgable and supportive. Good luck

Welcome to the forum. You're certainly not the only one who has had to fight for an autism diagnosis. Unfortunately, not every so-called "expert" knows what autism looks like at the mild end of the spectrum. You have to find the right expert, and the Autism Society of America can help you find the "go-to" person in your area. Here's the link to their searchable database, which includes local chapters, support groups, and diagnosticians.

http://209.200.89.252/search_site/search.cfm

While you're waiting to see the diagnostician, try to make precise observations. Try to anticipate what questions they might ask. Here are some questionnaires that might help you (ignore the yellow highlighting):

http://www.childbrain.com/pddq6.shtml the ever popular childbrain quiz

http://www.familyeducation.com/pdf_display/0,4050,1-33707-15 58,00.pdf - for HFA/Aspergers, from the book "Parenting Your Asperger Child"

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processin g-disorder-checklist.html - for identifying sensory symptoms

http://depts.washington.edu/dataproj/SocialSkillsChecklist11 -04.pdf - Social skills checklist

http://dlserver.samford.edu/eportfolio/Portfolios/ElaineThag ard/adaptive_Problem_Solving/checklist_for_SocioPragmatic_La nguage_Behaviors.pdf - checklist for the pragmatic use of language.

Good luck with everything. I look forward to hearing more from you.