just found this annoying!
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| Tue, 01-23-2007 - 8:44am |
Just a little background. We're finally getting the SD to do a 'student assistance team' meeting for Martha (7yr old 2nd grader). Not for ASD but for learning disablities (we think she has dyslexia). She's been stuggling w/ reading and all that is needed to know for reading since kindie. She will get some one on one help and improve a little then as soon as they take that support away she stalls, until they decide she needs a little more help. Finally, her teacher this year said, "yes, she has red flags!" geez!
I'm not at all concerned w/ Martha in the ASD department. She had great social skills, she has great communication skills, she has great concentration and attention span. Her problems are all w/ written language and written symbolic understanding. She just can't wrap her mind around how numbers work or reading. She now has some issues w/ anxiety-- I think related to her frustration w/ learning.
Anyway, I'm filling out all the background info for her, it's asking lots of questions that I can see are "leading" to find out if an ASD is a possibility, but in the section where it asks about parents and siblings and their conditions the only ones listed are heart disease, highblood pressure, vision/eye problems, attention problems, stroke, thyroid, seizures, mental retardation, drug abuse, learning difficulties, arthritis, hearing problems, tics, mental illness, physical disabilities and sclerosis-- not an ASD on the list! wouldn't that be something that would be significant?!?! ok, not so much for Martha but for others of my children!
Don't you think it would be important to know if a sibling had ASD? sigh, I wonder if I should point out this missing info on their questionaire?!? LOL! (they already think I'm a pain!)
Betsy

I'd mention it.
I have found that often as well. It does seem important to me too. Some forms have it but painfully few.
Here is a kicker though, once when I questioned whomever I was questioning (I think it was a doc) he said it fit under "mental health conditions" which was listed. GRRRR
Renee
When my son was being evaluated, both by the school district and later on by a dev. ped. who could diagnose, I wrote a LOT of extra stuff on those questionnaires.