A new chapter in our lives has started. It is the chapter of trying to obtain much needed services for Colton. After suspecting something was not right with his development for many years and finally getting his Asperger’s diagnosis in November, we realized that he needed more help than we could offer. Our ability to teach him the skills he needed to succeed in the real world was very limited especially when it came to skills in dealing with his peers.
His behavior at school was becoming more of a problem and a meeting was held between me, his core class teachers and his guidance counselor. He was beginning to annoy his classmates and was starting to disrupt class time. He was also caught cheating and was lying to his teachers when confronted. It was nothing serious yet, but we saw his mood shift from his normal self to a depressed and anxious child. I asked about the behaviors the teachers saw and they saw finger rubbing which for him is a stim, he was invading other student’s space by poking them or touching their things. He was isolating himself more and that was bothering one of his teachers, because he was outgoing in her class. It was brought up that a “circle of friends” be made for him to teach him social skills and to monitor and correct him in everyday situations. Circle of friends is a group of students picked for their ability to work with other students and for their popularity. It is hard for me to say it, but if a popular person friends you and helps you out then you are important, right? Teachers decide which kids would be the best fit and if they are able to keep a secret—can’t let other kids know that this is going on!!! It was also brought up that a behavior plan could be drawn up and certain things would be carried out when unwanted behaviors arose. Yep, October 5th was a wake up call that in the past the “bullying” issues we saw where most likely caused by Colton’s actions.
After his evaluation for Asperger’s were completed and we had a diagnosis I more than willingly handed over every little bit of information I could to try to secure services for him. This is very frustrating to people in our position! By state law the school does not have to honor a medical diagnosis and through their testing can determine a diagnosis of their own. Reality is that the school will try very hard to avoid it because services are very expensive and for a child with autism can run up to $18,000 a school year per child. Even a child with high functioning autism that is academically fine may need speech therapy, occupational therapy, and psychological counseling. Our reality is the evaluation done by the school in 2010 placed him academically in the average to high average range, and the other testing they did placed him as being normal and not eligible for services.
I have spent hour after hour researching, reading and learning everything I could about special education law and learned all I could about children in Colton’s position. The school and their psychologist had already told me that even though Colton had the autism diagnosis he was fine academically so he would most likely not be eligible for services, but they could do 504 accommodations. I knew he needed an IEP so his needs could be met; he needed more than accommodations, he needed to be taught social skills. I know the school had not implemented the behavior plan and they had done nothing with the circle of friends; he was still struggling.
I found that even after his medical diagnosis that things were not changing. It is important that communication happens between home and school and when I would email his teachers to ask how a new med was working I would hear back from one. It made it difficult for his doctors to know what steps to take next. I had a concern that needed addressed by the school nurse, and she would be out of the office. I left a name and number with the request she called when she could; I never heard back. Colton was very agitated this past week when a teacher held the class back because of one student’s behavior. She held them for two minutes and if Colton had to make it to his bus for the ride home he could have missed it. I picked him up from school that day anyway, but it was enough to have him go into a meltdown when we got home. I contacted the guidance counselor to discuss it and he failed to understand that for most everyone else a couple minutes is not a big deal, but to a kid like Colton that is a huge disaster! Colton is very rigid and has strict routines he follows and any small deviation results in a meltdown. I was told we needed to talk to him at home about it through an email. I called the school and requested to speak to the counselor and was met with “he isn’t in his office he can call back.” I knew what that meant. He didn’t want to talk to me and he wasn’t going to call back; which by the way he didn’t.
Yesterday was our meeting to secure services for Colton. I prepared and had physical proof that state and federal law stated that students with disabilities must receive an IEP if they need services. I also had proof that federal and state law do not say “a student must be failing or have severe behavioral issues to receive services” to counter what I had been told earlier. I also learned that laws apply to other areas of life beyond just the classroom. The federal IDEA law was passed to give children with disabilities an equal chance at an education so they may become independent and socially responsible no matter what their grades are. All areas must be looked at when determining services and it isn’t only academics, but development and function as well. I believed we had an open and shut case, but prepared for a battle knowing most families in our position have to go to court to get their children services.
To be continued...
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