where parents of kids with special needs connect
Hello; First time here
I am a WAHM to a 6yr old boy, 4yr old girl and 1yr old boy. My 6yr old son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS last November. I was not happy with the evaluation and I am working on trying to find a referral to someone else to get him re-evaluated.
We homeschooled him last year which would have been his kindergarten year. We are still, at the last minute, debating whether to send him to public school this year. The only reason we were sending him was because he keeps asking to go to school and because he could get therapy through the school system. But now he is on state insurance and we are trying to find private therapy for him. So, do we send him to school still or not? My concern is that he is so intelligent that he would get bored and get into trouble or he would be pulled out so much for enrichment classes that he wouldn't even be spending time in the classroom anyway.
It is so hard to explain it to others that yes, he does have autism even though he is so intelligent and no all of his behaviors are not just a bratty kid or "quirks." On top of that dealing with people telling me my son doesn't have autism because he has PDD-NOS.
Anyway, sorry for the long intro. I do not have any resources around me and not much support about where I should be going with this for my son. It seems like once you get any kind of diagnosis, it's just like "here, this is what he has, now go live with it."
I look forward to getting to know some of you.
Views: 3
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jen Troester on -
Hi,
I can totally sympathize with you. My daughter has HFA and all the time I deal with people just thinking I am a bad mom, or she a bad kid, and that HFA isn't "real" autism. I am also in the same boat of there being no real support groups around me, so the online community is really my only source for that.
This past year, my dd's kinder year, was awful. She was fine academically, but her behavior was not, and we had a lot of issues with the school district/her teachers/etc. I put serious consideration into homeschooling, but the majority of her therapies come from school right now (we don't have state insurance yet). If this year goes as badly it will probably become an option for us. She is already asking to be homeschooled, which is a bit sad.
We do have private therapies for Katie that our insurance pays for....speech/therapeutic horseback riding/social skills. And I have a good friend whose twins are also on the spectrum, so we vent to one another. As prevalent as Autism seems to be, I have found it hard to connect in real life with people...
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Permalink Reply by Missy Hartley on -
Yes Jen, it does seem to be very prevalent but we are all so caught up in trying to help our children and be their advocates, that it can sometimes be a very lonely place.
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Permalink Reply by Caitlin Wray on -
Hi there! Blogs are one of the best places to start for resources. Check out www.momnos.blogspot.com. I also have a list of great blogs and resources on my blog. It's important to know and feel that you are in a community of people who understand your concerns, and can help alleviate some of them :)
Caitlin
www.welcome-to-normal.com
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Permalink Reply by Missy Hartley on
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Caitlin,
I do already follow the Mom-NOS blog. I love her, but I wish she would post more. lol
I will definitely check out your blog and some of the resources there. Thank you!
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Permalink Reply by Gaynell Payne on -
Hi! I'm new here too. My son is almost 4 and we got an IEP per recommendation and after that and some research, including news articles from my area and many other parents' stories, it's my opinion that public schools are an awful place for children with SN. Teachers are just not equipped to deal with it, both teachers and classmates can sometimes be cruel, and the punishments can go from outrageous to "if I did that at home I'd go to jail."
I think that homeschooling offers opportunity to completely tailor the classroom and material to your child's needs, whereas at school they have to balance his needs with 25-30 other students, who in your case would be neuro-typical.
If you decide to continue to homeschool, there is a large community of Special Needs Homeschoolers online. I think you will find a lot of support. HSLDA is a good resource of information http://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/default.asp and I like the blog at http://specialneedshomeschooling.com and they're on FB as well.
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Permalink Reply by Missy Hartley on
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Gaynell,
Thank you for the information. We have decided to try putting him in PS, but only 1/2 day kindergarten. We have agreed to give it a 1 semester trial and if it is not working then we will pull him back out.
Thank you for the links. I may need them in the future.
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