How engaging is your child?
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| Fri, 04-25-2008 - 1:32pm |
I spoke a little about this last night in chat, but I wanted to bring it here and get some opinions.
I have several priv evals that go from ASD to Autistic Disorder regarding my 12 yr old. They also show weakness in Dysgraphia (written expression, visual processing disorder, and processing disorder)
The school wouldn't accept these evals and did there own testing and it all comes up in their favor ie he doesn't qualify for an IEP/504.
They agreed for some more testing thru a state center.
The state center so far says he has extreme anxiety (he had a major meltdown on the third day of testing) but they didn't think he was on the spectrum because he was too engaging. They also say they don't see any problems academically so far (UGH!)
I was lucky so that I was in a booth with two way mirrors and could observe him. I did see a problem when the speech therapist pulled out a picture and asked my son to tell a story and he just couldn't do it. I also saw his response to the writing portions of testing and he really really tried to avoid it.
I also saw problems with focus and impulsivity (which they agreed).
Anyway, I explained that yes he does engage, but he was only engaging with adults and not children. He at one point did move to another child in the waiting room, but it was because he had a psp and thats what drew my son. He didn't talk to the child, he just talked about the psp and how he has one and it's black but the white ones he was told were rare (the father kinda looked at me and said huh? LOL) He did not try to converse with him, it was the psp that he attached himself too.
I do know of some kids on the spectrum that do better than others in this area, but they are still on the spectrum.
This really bugs me.
In fact just this morning my son said he didn't want to go to school because he hates fridays. I asked him why and he says the lines always change on fridays.
I said at lunch? He said yes (I know that they line up in the same line alphabetically everyday which is good for him) but that on fridays they go backwards and he just can't get used to it and it makes him angry and confused.
BTW he won't show the anger at school, he will bottle it up and bring it home instead.
You know I swear to god, with this disorder you could go to 10 different docs and get 10 different answers everytime.

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Gabe is also only 3...but he will engage most people that he knows....if he sees them in public he will still engage them...but he does not engage very well with stragers or children he doesn't know..we had company the other day, someone gabe didn't know..and he didn't even acknoledge they were in the house...it seems like he tries to engage kids
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Well, let's see. Malcolm can be and is often an extremely engaging young man. He doesn't always engage with strangers, but then sometimes he does, like last week on the train he started asking a boy on the subway about his skateboard. DH said that a few of his questions were pretty weirdly phrased and the other boy was a little put off, but they still talked a bit.
Yes, if Malcolm knows adults or kids, he will engage with them anywhere. He is always working on conversational skills with several professionals, but when he is with his buddies, conversations just flow. We had dinner with his best friend and family last night and Malcolm was quite thoroughly involved with dinnertime conversation, in fact both boys were (best friend is also on spectrum). Chat chat chat, laugh laugh, fun.
And yet, Malcolm can also be very disconnected and seem to refuse to engage, or not be interested at all in engaging. Sometimes I hear him start to engage and then he "gives up", as what he is trying to convey is too hard or he can't organize himself to follow through what he wants to say. He can easily withdraw, esp. if he is uncomfortable.
He does usually do well with doctors and professionals, he sure has been at that for so many years lol. (OK, except for getting shots, eyedrops, other invasive procedures, etc.) But if we run into someone I know (and not him) on the street, I better be able to interest him in them in some way, or my stopping to talk to them is an affront to him and he is, well, NOT engaging HA!
Sara
Very engaging.
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