working towards official diagnosis
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working towards official diagnosis
| Thu, 06-15-2006 - 12:28pm |
It has been one very long fight to get my son evaluated for asperger's, I mean years. First I couldn't get anyone to listen to me because he was diagnosed as ADHD at 6 1/2, he is now 12 1/2. After a couple of years with the ADHD diagnosis things were going okay and he was in a good school with good teachers. Then one day I received some information on PDD/NOS/Asperger's syndrome and that described my son perfectly. So I tried to get him evaluated but I couldn't find anyone that believed me. Then eight months ago we moved to NYC and things drastically changed. The school system put him in a class with teachers that treat him like a preschooler. His teacher actually asked me if my son could write anything other than his name and if he could read; she has him reading books that my first grade dd is reading yet at home he is reading Narnia The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I could go on about his teacher but that is a whole barrels apples that I can't get into right now. I have had to whole why isn't your son on Ritalin discussion and some people have acted like I am breaking the law by not putting him on medication.
So, after this entire school year of me fighting the board of ed and looking into the possibility of placing him in a state approved private school where the state would pay for the tuition he is finally getting the evaluation that he needed to have years ago but couldn't get. About two months ago I took him to a child psychiatrist and after a one hour meeting with my son and I he said Asperger's and referred to NYU for a full evaluation. After filling out tons of preliminary psychiatrict paperwork about my son I got a phone call yesterday saying Asperger's and I have an appointment in July to meet with the psychiatrist. Although I did consider sending him to a state approved school it cost's a thousands of dollars to fight the board of ed to get him into one of these schools, money that I do not have. I met with a local private catholic school yesterday and they are willing to take him on a probationary basis. Before we moved to NYC he was in public school and doing very well in a mainstream class with support in reading and language arts; he was getting A's and B's with C's in reading and language arts. Thanks to NYC he will fail sixth grade which has me outraged. He is very smart as all asperger's kids are, they just learn in different fashion. His biggest problem is distraction. While meeting with principal of the catholic school ds sat outside the office very patiently for a little while and only once he asked how much longer because everything was very quiet and in order. That is what ds needs, order and quiet.
I am going to send my dd there too who has no disability. She asked me to send her to private school next year and she is only 7 going into second grade. She said that the only thing she didn't like about the school is that she would have to learn Ukrainian since it is a Ukrainian catholic school. The thing I like best is the school is not under the archdiosise umbrella and therefore not at risk of being closed. They have extremely small class sizes, they cap the classes at 15 students with only one class per grade and go through 12th grade.
I have posted here before but it has been a long time. Wish me luck and I will try to update as much as possible.
So, after this entire school year of me fighting the board of ed and looking into the possibility of placing him in a state approved private school where the state would pay for the tuition he is finally getting the evaluation that he needed to have years ago but couldn't get. About two months ago I took him to a child psychiatrist and after a one hour meeting with my son and I he said Asperger's and referred to NYU for a full evaluation. After filling out tons of preliminary psychiatrict paperwork about my son I got a phone call yesterday saying Asperger's and I have an appointment in July to meet with the psychiatrist. Although I did consider sending him to a state approved school it cost's a thousands of dollars to fight the board of ed to get him into one of these schools, money that I do not have. I met with a local private catholic school yesterday and they are willing to take him on a probationary basis. Before we moved to NYC he was in public school and doing very well in a mainstream class with support in reading and language arts; he was getting A's and B's with C's in reading and language arts. Thanks to NYC he will fail sixth grade which has me outraged. He is very smart as all asperger's kids are, they just learn in different fashion. His biggest problem is distraction. While meeting with principal of the catholic school ds sat outside the office very patiently for a little while and only once he asked how much longer because everything was very quiet and in order. That is what ds needs, order and quiet.
I am going to send my dd there too who has no disability. She asked me to send her to private school next year and she is only 7 going into second grade. She said that the only thing she didn't like about the school is that she would have to learn Ukrainian since it is a Ukrainian catholic school. The thing I like best is the school is not under the archdiosise umbrella and therefore not at risk of being closed. They have extremely small class sizes, they cap the classes at 15 students with only one class per grade and go through 12th grade.
I have posted here before but it has been a long time. Wish me luck and I will try to update as much as possible.

Hopefully Sara, ILovemalcolm, will see your post
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Hi!!!
Sara, ilovemalcolm here.
Yes, I remember when you wrote before and I wondered what had happened. That school sounds like it could be just great, and maybe I will find out what school that is and hear from you how things go there this next year, and in 2 years when I need a 6th grade, we might consider that school for our son!
Just so you know, the way to get the private school paid for is to go ahead, apply and get the acceptance letter from the private state approved special needs school you want, some of which are very good, and then call an IEP meeting and present it to them along with the evidence you have about his failing and the failure of the school district to serve him, etc. Because the BOE has NOTHING else to offer him!!! No appropriate programming!!! Then they will likely approve the private placement, because you have had him in school and he has failed!!! After As and Bs at previous school, insane...
Sure, there is a chance you will end up needing to get a lawyer and all those thousands of dollars for fighting (some of which you will almost certainly get BACK because you will WIN and they will have to pay for court costs, the few we know that had to do this, won), but you COULD just get the BOE to pay for the schooling without the expensive fight. They know they don't stand much of a chance legally. Basically, you just get all your paperwork and evals and documentation together and go for it!
Are you also pulling him from services that the BOE should provide for him? There are good public advocates here who can help you out, are you in touch with any of them? I have heard of people winning to have BOE pay for REGULAR private school, like the one you are having him go to. You have to pay, yes? Go for partial reimbursement? This is more appropriate Least Restrictive Environment, you have a super great legal argument!!!
Food for thought. I never had to go to court or pay a lawyer, and most people I know (who all now have their kids in state approved school) also didn't have to... Here things are so bad, they will give in on the state approved schools even if you don't have a lawyer. To fight for reimbursement on non-state-approved private does take one, I understand.
Sara
ilovemalcolm
The school is St. George's Ukrainian Catholic School their website is www.saintgeorgeschools.org.
I have a very positive feeling about this school. I am going to ask for special services for him. For example his handwriting is absolutely horrible so I am going to look into some kind of handheld device for him to type his homework into. Any suggestions?
I have already asked for an IEP review. As a matter of fact I have to call the school today to find out how that is coming along because I don't think they have done anything yet; BIG SURPRISE! Of course the school keeps telling me that the way I am going about all this is the wrong way when I know it isn't. I did send his info to some private state approved schools and most of them don't have space for him except one The Lorge School on W 17th St. I sent his info to them and called them repeatedly but never got anywhere. Then I had his school again try to get him to go into District 75 which I absolutely refused plus they tried telling me the schools I want him to go to don't take Asperger's kids. Part of the whole problem is that all of ds's school career pre-NYC his IEP was classified as LD then the NYC BOE classifies him as Other Health Impaired even though I fought it tooth and nail. Because his current IEP says Other Health Impaired and there are not many approved school that take Other Health Impaired kids that are as high functioning as him. In fact all of them that I called said that all of the kids they have are very low functioning severely disable kids and he would not succeed in that type of environment. I want his new IEP to state LD because that fits him better, plus opens a whole new range of approved schools he is eligible to go to.
I do want him to get a tutor plus counseling which the BOE should pay for. I am aware of the tuition reimbursement also.
Everyone who knows me and ds thinks that sending him to the catholic school will be much better for him. I have always said that he would do very good in the military when he grows up because of the structure in the military.
I did a lot of research on Asperger's yesterday and discovered that the strategies we have been doing at home since forever are the most recommended strategies.
I could go on but I am at work and my manager (who is going through the same thing with the BOE) needs help on a letter to send to the BOE to get her letter. It is sure a small world isn't it.
Keep you updated.
Yes, well, that is the OTHER problem... Many schools do NOT take Asperger's, period. Many we know who have kids with Asperger's CHANGE the category to something else, such as learning disability or speech and lamguage delay (that's ours) or even emotionally disturbed (not very appropriate, but...) in order to get their kids into Gateway or Lowell or Summit or Mary McDowell or Churchill or Winston Prep or The Community School, according to what they take. Have you looked into Summit in Queens? They like 'em smart and well behaved. We know more than a few kids who go there and they are great, super-smart, fun kids. I know it is in Queens, but a quick commute and that's one of the preferred schools for our kids for middle and high school.
You may want to apply anyways to all the private approved s.n. schools even if they all say they don't have room, because things CHANGE suddenly, kids move, classes get shifted around and you want to be on the waiting list. Which you can't be unless you apply. And if this Catholic school works out, you can always turn them down if they call with an opening.
If you want, ask about different schools and I'll give you the parental scuttlebutt. We have 2 years until we have to find Malcolm another school, but we have no idea where his capabilities really will be at that point, and yes, ther is NOT MUCH OUT THERE, is there... so I am looking into everything.
I remember telling you before that most of the GOOD private state approved special needs schools are not in Manhattan. Sad, isn't it? But the appropriate education is worth everything, IMHO. And since everyone is bussed somewhere, the difference travel time-wise between across the island but still in Manhattan and off the island to Queens or New Jersey ends up not being very much. By law they can't have them on the busses more than an hour (esp. with a doctor's note about sensory issues), so same difference. It all ends up being such an unbelievable waste of resources, but there you have it. NYC BOE is beyond ridiculous.
But I will look into the Catholic school, too. Cool. And thanks for the website connection..
Sara
ilovemalcolm