Expert: Tim Runner - 10/5/2011

Question
Mr. Runner,

I am the father of a 8 year old daughter that was diagnosed with ADHD at age 5 and now is diagnosed with Asperger's I am new to this whole issue.  My daughter does well academically but she stays in trouble for her inappropriate behavior, small things like disrupting class, pushing children to get to the front of the line, nothing mean or out of anger.  we have tried numerous discipline ideas without success.  The school has requested rights to see the child's medical records for the diagnosis, but still is wanting a diagnostian to test her for Autism - Asperger's.  My question is further testing really needed and what are my rights as a parent, do I need to retain an attorney to assure that she gets treated fairly.  She has been singled out in the past for different issues and I am afraid that the school can not or will not provide the services that she needs and may not test fairly due to the lack of resources that larger schools have and their reluctance to provide services due to the financial strain the district is already under.  I live in Texas and the school district has about 150 to 200 children in the entire pk-12 school system.  I just need some advice.  Thanks in advance

Craig

Answer
-- Craig,

Aspergers kids are difficult to get special education services for because they do well academically. Many schools say this keeps them from qualifying. This is not true. They are on the Autism Spectrum and need services. They typically need social skills training and pragmatics. They get into trouble because they can't tell what the others around them are thinking -- they just can't read body language and they are very literal in their thinking. They also tend to be very rigid about the rules (at least their interpretation of the rules) and they can't understand why others ignore their rules. Often they are disorganized loosing books and papers, and forgetting to turn in homework even though it is in their backpack. Many of them need counseling because they are smart enough to know they are different, but they don't know what to do about it. Some kids get depressed ("I have no friends," "no body likes me"). Others become the class clown to get attention. They often need organization training and help. Most of the time they learn subjects very quickly and do well on tests. Their homework and class behavior are the things that pulls their grades down, especially missing assignments. These are the things I see in many of the Aspergers kids I represent. I have been successful in enabling the kids I represent to get the services they need.

I encourage you to allow the school to assess your daughter, but make sure the speech and language assessment includes social skills and pragmatics. I encourage you to have your daughter qualified for special education so that she can get training in social skills, pragmatics, and organization. She will need a Behavior Plan so that the school personnel know what to do when she acts out (keep in mind she still is ADHD (part of Aspergers -- that's why most kids are first diagnosed with this until they are a little older).

Your small school district is probably not equipped to know what they need to do for your daughter. My suggestion is that you have the school assess her, then hire someone like me to review their results and their offer of services. I often participate in IEPs via phone when they are in other states. The sooner your daughter begins receiving help, the better. Visit my website and then give me a call if you want.

I wish you and your daughter the best,
Tim Runner, Advocate
Advocates for Kids
Email: timrunner@gmail.com
Phone: (949) 582-3601
You can learn more at my web site:
www.special-education-answers.com