About Michelle Fattig Expertise I can answer questions about educational testing, autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Special Education, IEP, Learning Disabilities, Sensory Processing, Parent Advocacy, Response to Intervention, living and parenting with disabilities, parent rights in special education, school psychology, and more. I cannot provide a medical diagnosis.
Experience I am a school psychologist, medical technologist, author of the Annie Books series: Experience Aspeger's Syndrome and Attention Deficits Through the Eyes of a Child, RTI facilitator, ILCD facilitator, parent advocate, presenter, and researcher. My children and I have Asperger's, ADD/ADHD, and learning disabilities.
Organizations National Association of School Pyschologists, American Medical Technologists, Learning Disabilities Association of Nebraska
Education/Credentials Ed.S. in School Psychology, doctoral studies in SPED Law, SPED Systems Enhancement Leadership, and doctoral candidate Education Leadership. MT(AMT) and MLT(ASCP)
Question My son, age 4, is currently being worked up for an autistic spectrum disorder. He has received speech therapy for 3 years, and will be in PT for years to come. He is low tone, low endurance, and has poor coordination. He has been in special education since he was 2 3/4 years old.
My daughter, now 2 3/4 is still having articulation issues, she is very hard to understand. She also has motor planning issues, like her brother, and is mild hypotonia.
She was just evaluated through our school district, and the evaluation team is not reccommending any type of services -the report reflects my concerns, however completely makes them sound profound. I am not being paranoid, her grandparents can't understand her most of the time. Strangers have no idea what she is saying. SHe falls constantly. (However, she did not fall once during the eval)
She most recently fell coming into our house and suffered a concussion from it - she had a black eye for about a month. She can't wear shorts or skirts outside, because she needs large bandaids within MINUTES. I know that I will have to fight the school district saying that she is at risk - she does not get along with other children, had below average adaptive skills, and her only friend is her AS brother. I can't take her to playgroups due to her behavioral issues or lack of transportation. I am not concerned with her having AS, I just think it is a significant family history of developmental problems which I do not wish to continue. What can I do at this meeting to help her get the services she needs? I have a letter from a developmental pediatrician stating that with services, such as speech and pt she will continue to make gains, however, her gross motor quotient has gone DOWN 2 points since her last PT eval, and the speech errors she is making are K, and G, which are early developing sounds. Could you please offer some guidance? Thanks so much.
As well as printing out and completing the following questionnaire:
EARLY CHILDHOOD/PRESCHOOL PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Name of Child: _____________________ Date of Birth: ________ Age: _______
Name of Referrer: __________________ Relationship to Child: ______________
Parent/Guardian: ______________________________________________________
Names Address Phone
Date of Referral: ____________
Referral Concern (Please list any concerns about child’s communication, behavior, or development): _____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Medical History:
Pregancy: _____________________________________________________________
Prenatal: ______________________________________________________________
Birth: _________________________________________________________________
History of Chronic Illness, Head Injury, Ear Infections, Hospitalization, or Accident: ______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Mother: ____________________________ Father: ____________________________
Siblings: _______________________________________________________________
Family History (Special Education, Developmental Delays, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health): _________________________________________________________
Who lives with the child: __________________________________________________
How does the child relate with:
Mother _________________ Father __________________ Siblings _______________
Family activities: ________________________________________________________
Does the child experience difficulty with peers, extended family, or social settings?
_______________________________________________________________________
As an infant, did the child experience difficulty with colic or soothing (stiffen or pull away when cuddled or stroked)? ___________________________________________
Communication:
1) Does he or she respond to his/her name: Never Sometimes Often Always
__________________________________________________________________
2) Does he/she express her needs or wants: Verbally Pointing Pulling Tantrums
___________________________________________________________________
3) Does he/she talk like children his/her age? ______________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4) Does he/she follow simple or complex directions? ________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5) Have you ever wondered if he/she is deaf? _______________________________
6) Does he/she seem to hear at times, but not at others? _______________________
7) Does he/she ever seem lost in own little world or stare off? _________________
_____________________________________________________________________
8) Does he/she mimic, copy, or like to immitate? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
9) Does he/she seem to have lost words, or say fewer words than before? _________
_____________________________________________________________________
Social Concerns:
10) Does he/she smile at family members? __________________________________
11) Does he/she smile at strangers or become overly frightened by strangers? ______
____________________________________________________________________
12) Does he/she prefer to play alone or overly dependent on parent/caregiver for entertainment (you are his favorite/only toy)? ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________
13) Does he/she get things for self? _______________________________________
14) Is he/she very independent or overly attached (extreme separation anxiety)? ____
_____________________________________________________________________
15) Has he/she met milestones early or unevenly? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
16) Does he/she seem to avoid eye contact or have too much eye contact (watching without mirroring or reacting like a little professor)? _______________________
_____________________________________________________________________
17) Does he/she often seem “lost in own little world”? ________________________
____________________________________________________________________
18) Does he/she seem tuned out or uninterested in other children? _______________
____________________________________________________________________
Behavioral Concerns:
19) Does he/she seem to have excessive tantrums or emotional outburst with little or
no provocation? ____________________________________________________
20) Does he/she express frustration or over react to small changes or routine? ______
_____________________________________________________________________
21) Does he/she demonstrate a lack of understanding in playing with toys (excessive mouthing, banging, lining up, sorting, focus on one part like spinning, or lack of interest)? __________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
22) Does he/she seem to get stuck on things regularly (wants to stick with one activity over any others, watch the same movie over and over, read the same book over and over, or other)? _________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
23) Does he/she have unual attachments to objects? ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
24) Does he/she toe walk or have unusual facial movements/grimacing? __________
_____________________________________________________________________
25) Does he/she make any unusual hand movements or spin for long periods of time?
_____________________________________________________________________
26) Does he/she seem overly sensitive to textures or sounds? ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________
If Age Appropriate:
27) Did he/she babble by 12 months? ______________________________________
28) Did he/she gesture (point, wave bye bye) by 12 months? ____________________
29) Did he/she use single words by 16 months? ______________________________
30) Does he/she seem to have an unusually advanced vocabulary? _______________
31) Does he/she seem to have an extremely good memory? ____________________
32) Does he/she demonstrate two-words spontaneously (not echo) phrases by 24 months? _________________________________________________________
33) Has he/she demonstrated any loss of language or social skills of any kind? _____
_____________________________________________________________________
(3-4 years of age)
Cognitive:
34) Show him/her a doll or stuffed toy, touch one to a box and have the other
pretend to look in the box. Ask him/her “Which one knows what’s in the box?”
Response: ____________________________________________________________
Also, bring with you the doctor's report. You can:
a) request an independent evaluation provided at no charge by a qualified psychologist who is not employed by the school district
b) request a hearing officer be provided to help make the determination
c) say, "I am initiating due process as my parental rights appear to have been violated by not allowing me to have meaningful participation in the decision making process"
