I think in the context you presented it, it sounds like the school may be
for those kids who have severe behavioral issues. Terms like that are
defined differently from an educational standpoint than a medical one,
sometimes.
Look into it, for sure. I would fight for an aide first, if you don't already
have one, then into a special school.
Always remember, one bad school year doesn't always predict the next
year will be just as bad. And conversely, a great school year doen't mean
the next will be great either. Our kids change as they develop, so you
never know.
A school for autism sounds better to me than a school for "severe mental
health issues (not knowing the school at all...). I think more about
Oppositional-Defiant kids to kids with major Conduct disorder when I
heard that term. I could be totally wrong! My point is that only the
school itself can provide you with their defintion of "severe mental
health problem". Schools seem to have their own lingo for some reason [:
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I don't think ASD is a "mental" issue at all. They used to think it was a long time ago. Now they consider it a neurological condition.
To me--mental health school would be for kids who are uncontrollable behaviorally and kids who are schizophrenic.
I would never want my child with that group of kids!! Yes--my child may be one of those "behavior" kids and in fact he was dx'd with bipolar at 5y and got that dx taken away at 7y.
The BEST way for our kids to improve is by example--over and over again. Don't go to a mental school. You want your child mainstreamed---with NT kids who are good examples.
Your school should be providing you a one on one aide if he is like that.
It's like my son's kindergarten year the year before. They hated him, he hated them. They punished him for everything. They called me the last week of school telling me to pick him up. He had cut 12" off a girls hair!! Then they informed me that he asked the teacher if he could cut his hair. She said no. So he cut the hair of the girl next to him. I was in shock. I wasn't thinking. I should have asked----why does he have scissors if he is in this "cutting" mood. (he even cut his jeans that week!!) Once he asked the teacher to cut his own hair---why wasn't he watched? They just didn't have a clue about special needs kids.
Your son needs an aide!! Your school--legally needs to provide one. He needs a Functional Behavior Plan.
Don't put him in a special school---if it's for "mental" problems!!
But is ASD considered a severe mental health problem??
The reason I am asking is because I just found out that they are opening a new school in our area for children with special needs. We used to have a school like this a long time ago, when I was growing up and I would say about 15 years ago or so they closed that school and mainstreamed all special needs children.
Now it states in the letter that I got, that the child needs to have severe mental health problems. It says that the school district or teachers are not allowed to come to us and suggest this school, but we are free to request this for our children.
I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to go this route with Mason...he is starting first grade this year...Kindergarten was HORRIBLE for him...he actually got suspended for hitting his teacher! Suspended a kindergartener, I just don't get it...anyway, I'm just not sure if Mason is considered severe. I've been told by a couple of doctors in a different area that Mason would benefit from being in a special needs class..well because we didn't have that here I didn't think much about it. But is this school that they are opening considered special needs? Sounds like it is more than just special needs...that maybe this is for kids that just cannot possibly function in a regular environment...Mason can function, but I know he would benefit from more help etc.
I guess I will have to call and get more info on what this exactly is going to be...but what do you all think...are your kids mainstreamed or in special ed classrooms? What's your opinion on what's best? If you had the option what did/would you do? And my original question...is ASD a mental health problem?
At the School I work at "special needs" is for kiddos that need constant supervision, they need help with eating, most have to be feed and most are in diapers. They have different disabilities, some have Down Syndrome, some severe Autism. and other disabilities, they do not have communication skills to get through a school day. The Aids are wonderful to the children and think of them selfs as the child's second mother. My problem is that the Aids are not educated to what disabilities the child has because of privacy laws, only the Teacher knows. and shows the Aids the teaching methods used for each child, they all have an 1-1 Aid, that follows the child to their specials though out the day. We also have an ED class "Emotionally Disturbed" I don't feel an Autistic child fits the criteria for that class. In our District there are two school out of eight that have a special needs classroom, we do not have a separate building for special needs. My son is in resource room "special ed" for part of this day, all language based subjects, math, he is mainstreamed for the rest and goes to his specials by himself. Has he been tested for learning disabilities? Does your child have an IEP? In our district you have to qualify for special needs and resource room services. It sounds like Mason needs a positive behavior plan at his current school and an IEP to get the services he needs to be mainstreamed with an aid. And Autism is NOT a mental disorder!
Thanks all for your help. I was kind of thinking that it sounds like this is for things like schizophrenia or Oppositional defiance etc.
Like I said Mason is functional in mainstreamed school, he just struggles a lot...Last year he got 2 hours of a 1 on 1 aide. We tried and tried to get more aide time for him and they just wouldn't give it to him. They kept telling me they were worried about him becoming to dependent on her. Which I thought was a bunch of BS! And now they took the aide away and replaced it with 2 hours of pull-out special ed time.
Holly, we went through a scissors phase too, luckily Mason never cut anyone's hair but his own with it but he would reach over and cut the other kids work and there were many times that scissors went flying across the room. He would take the teacher's stapler and eat the staples. He would get very aggressive with the teacher and they would call me on a regular basis to come and get him early...well one day they had called and said that Mason had to be suspended because he hit his teacher so hard in the mouth it drew blood...so I had to pick him up early and then he was suspended the next day! These are all things that I kept explaining to them would have probably not have happened if he had an aide to keep him engaged in the activity that was supposed to be happening at the time. And this is just a short list of things that happened last year! But they wouldn't budge.
So obviously my relationship with school is already tainted. I am just so terrified for school to start this year!! But I don't want to put him in a class where the children's behaviors are far more worse than his are, I don't think that would help the problems.
The more I think about it, this school probably isn't our best choice, but I am still going to call and just make sure it is what I am thinking. And like you said Mamakat, one bad school year doesn't mean they will all be bad...it's just so hard to move on when you've had that bad year!
Thanks again all!!
Autism, in any form, is not considered a mental health issue. It's a developmental disorder. The difference is that mental health issues are considered acquired after birth and developmental disabilities are considered inborn. Developmental disablities include mental retardation, cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorders. Most states have separate systems for mental health issues and developmental issues.