AboutSharon A. Mitchell Expertise Sharon can help with parenting and educational concerns. She has worked in teaching, special education and counselling for over twenty-five years and gives workshops to educators and parents on working with kids with autism spectrum disorders. Sharon speaks from both the education and parent points of view, having a son with Asperger's.
Experience Sharon is a special education consultant with a school district and autism consult for the province's Department of Education, giving workshops and individual consults. She is also the parent of a son with Asperger's who is away at university. Together they have a website at http://www.autismsite.ca that offers strategies for home and school. Sharon's Master's thesis looked at the long-term outlook for persons with high functioning autism and Asperger's.
Organizations
Website at http://www.autismsite.ca and sits on Autism Today's Panel of Experts (www.autismtoday.com)
Publications Co-author of Amazon.com bestseller, The Official Autism 101 Manual
Education/Credentials B.A. in Psychology,
B.Ed. in Special Education,
M.A. in Educational Leadership, Ph.D. Candidate in Autism
Question My Grandson was diagnosed today as Asbergers .ADHD (a few years back ) .A few months ago he was also diagnosed Bipolor.Today he was diagnosed by Hershey Medical center as having the learning Disability in writing.His writing is very poor almost nonreadable .He is in fifth Grade .I can't think of that Disabilities Name .
The school here tested him and claimed he has no Asbergers.
IEP was requested many times but the school denied him all ,that would benefit him .The Doctor said the school has to provide him with a computer where he can type his work so its readable and so he can print it out .
I fear they won't help him .
Answer What a lot of worries you family has been through about this little guy, Jean. And all these labels can be confusing.
First, on the plus side, this child obviously has been blessed with a caring, supportive family who will do all they can for him. Second, if people have thought about a diagnosis of Asperger's, then this must be a bright child. Part of the diagnostic criteria for Asperger's is to have intelligence within the average range or above. So we know your grandson has lots of potential.
Now for some of these labels. It's not at all uncommon for kids to be diagnosed with ADHD then later, when people think that while he does show attentional issues, there's still something else going on, then a later of Asperger's or something else in the autism spectrum may come about. Most people will autism (Asperger's falls under the umbrella term of autism spectrum disorders) definitely do have difficulties with attention due to the way their brain processes information.
It's also not uncommon for such children do be diagnosed as bipolar as well. It's very difficult to tease out the route cause of some of the behaviors you might be seeing. Children with bipolar may have wide mood swings, with anger and meltdowns at the forefront as well as being "crusty". Kids with autism spectrum disorders may also show these characteristics especially when overwhelmed with sensory sensitivities, or faced with the sorts of change that come along with the transitions we face in every day life. It's also possible for these conditions to co-exist.
I'd bet though that you don't really care what the label is - you just want your grandson to feel more comfortable and to be more successful. That's possible, no matter which label he receives, or if there's no formal diagnosis at all. The important thing is to find strategies that work for him. And that's certainly doable.
Before we talk more about strategies, let's look at the writing disability (dysgraphia). Since you only mention the writing disability, I'm assuming that his reading skills are acceptable for his grade level, although many kids who have difficulty expressing their ideas on paper also find reading hard, especially understanding what they read. And this comprehension difficulty can become more pronounced in the middle years grades as the reading activities switch more from the mechanics of reading to reading for meaning, making predictions, inferences, etc.
Diagnosis is not a perfect science. Unfortunately, there's no blood test that can be given for Asperger's. There's not even one definitive test at all. As you've probably noticed with your grandson, he doesn't not necessarily seem exactly the same on all occasions, in all situations. If he's in a really good space when he sees one examiner and presents in one way, he may receive a differing diagnosis. And since there are often huge demands on the time of these diagnosticians, the appointment may be shorter than ideal with the child appearing to function very well (or very poorly) during that hour.
But you'd like a label and a label that will get him more (or different) help at school.
I'd bet that you and the school are not so far apart in your thinking. You'd both like this child to be happier, calmer and more successful at school. That makes ALL of your lives easier. How to bring this about though is the question. From your point of view, you want this lad to have a label that will qualify him for an IEP and the extra assistance that may come through the IEP. It's my guess that the school is not at all opposed to that. But they must operate within specific federal frameworks under IDEA. And if for some reason your son does not meet the criteria (over which the school has not control) then they are not provided with the extra resources to do the things you'd like.
Teachers get into this business because they like kids and want them to do well. If a child is unhappy, not working to his potential and/or disruptive, the teachers would dearly love to change that, just like you.
I can tell by your words that there has been tension between home and school. You say that the school "but the school denied him all ,that would benefit him". You sound very frustrated. So must the school be. Please consider that they may not have done that "denying" out of meanness of spirit but simply because your grandson did not meet the strict criteria set out through the federal government and IDEA under which they must operate. That does not mean that the school does not want this child to do better.
You mention a computer. Yes, I agree that a computer MAY make the writing task easier for your grandson. I say may because I don't know where the writing process breaks down for him. For some children it's a fine motor difficulty - they have trouble holding a pen or pencil for long periods of time. For others it's a motor planning issue where forming the letters is not an automatic process and they need to consciously think how to make a "b", which slows the whole business down considerably. Still other children can grasp a pen comfortably and are fine with the mechanics of forming letters but are stuck at the part of translating thoughts into words and/or getting these words onto paper.
If it's the latter, typing on a computer will not be any easier for your grandson that using paper and pencil. The exception to that is if he's a computer addict and just the lure of being in front of a screen will entice him to further effort.
If it's a fine motor issue, then here are a few low tech ideas you can try, both at home and at school:
- writing on a horizontal surface requires more hand and arm muscle control than if the surface is raised or vertical
- try using a slant board on his desk. A formal slant board might be about 20" wide by 15" across. The near end would be at desk height and the back end of the triangle would be raised 3 or 4". At the top of the board could be a clip - the kind you'd see on a clip board to hold his paper or book steady.
- if you just want to see how this might work for him, have him turn a closed, 3 or 4" binder on it's side and write on it's slant.
- vertical surfaces may be easier for him. Try having him write on a white board or chalkboard or easel
- let him do his homework while lying on his stomach on the floor
- try different widths and weights on pencils - they may make a difference
- before beginning to write have him warm up his hand and wrist exercises
I love computers and am an advocate of kids using this technology. But I know that in a school district there are only so much funds to go around. In an ideal world, each child might have his own computer; it rarely works out that way.
But in many classrooms there is one computer or a bank of them in the library. Could your grandson have access to one of these when needed? For some subjects such as mathematics, other than for drill and practice, I don't see doing his work on computer as useful.
For those subjects that require more extensive writing though, he may do well better keyboarding than he does with pen and paper. For word processing, a fancy computer is not needed. An older machine can often be had for a few hundred dollars. Or you could consider buying him a "smart keyboard" such as The Writer (http://www.writerlearning.com/) or a Neo (http://www.renlearn.com/neo/neo/) which are small, light, have long battery life and serve as a word processor.
These are all things that can be tried and will not hurt your grandson no matter what his diagnosis.
There's a misconception about a diagnosis. Often we think that if we just have a label, just know what it is then the correct therapies will come tumbling out of the woodwork and the child will quickly be vastly improved. Well, it rarely happens that way, if at all. The best a label can do is give you a lens through which to view the child's behaviors and then begin to employ strategies that are often successful with other kids bearing the same label.
You can do that with or without a conclusive diagnosis. And you can do it on your own (without the school, doctor or any other outside help). And, best of all, the strategies you can try will fit kids with a diagnosis of ADHD, bi-polar AND Asperger's.
But keep in mind that this is not an exact science as each child is an individual with his own pattern of strengths and weaknesses.
If you'd like to tell me more about the specific behaviors he shows, I might be able to give you more concrete suggestions on how to help your grandson at home.
Sharon A. Mitchell, B.A., B.Ed., M.A.
www.autismsite.ca
