Aspergers in Public school or not????

I teach in the public schools and we have many kids on the spectrum and some with full blown autism. Each of our identified kids has a Velcro Instrustional Assisstant. The school I work at is a public Montessori and attracts many families with special needs children. The classroom is more of a community and the children are together for 3 years. They grow to really care for and love one another. My sons' school is a different public Montessori and they also have many Spectrum kids as well as full blown autism, CF, Down's Syndrom, etc. I have yet to see anyone pick on any of these students because of the compassion that the Montessori classroom is designed around. I also believe in self-contained units for Spectrum/autistic kids. I have a close friend whose son has severe Autism and he is in a self-contained classroom in a different public school. He is doing well. I think it really depends on your area and how much you are willing to fight. Hire a lawyer if possible and force the hand of the public school. They MUST under the law serve your child andplace him in the best enviornment for him. Call your local Board of Education and speak with the head of Special Education. They are reuired under IDEA to serve your child. The more you know and can advocate for your child the more services you typically recieve for your child. It sucks it has to be that way, but it is. Good luck!

My 10 year old son was just diagnosed with aspergers. This is something we have been dealing with since he was 5. he will be going to 6th grade this year and I am very nervous about him being in a new school with older children. I have heard alot of people say that asperger children are better being homeschooled but I am concerned that he would not get as good of an education. My son is a big lover and he loves to hug other people. I wish i was more like that. I have a hard time with affection. Alot of times I feel that kids are being mean to my son but he will not speak up because he so desperately wants them to be his friend. i wish I knew of more families in my area that had children with aspergers who could help me understand ways to help my son feel better about himself. Does your son get Social Security? His school officials have told me that I need to apply for SS for him. Are most kids that are diagnosed with AS on SS?

I think that every case must be handled individually. I work with special education kids, sometimes withthe autistic who are severe, and some with the "dash of autism" that can describe Aspergers. The public school system is over loaded with special needs students these days and so the protection of your child is left up to you. You hae decided to keep him at home with that in mind. If he is getting appropriate opportunities to socialize then there will probably be few problems in his dealing with the world that includes those that you are protecting him from. But, eventually, he will have to be socialized so that he can function with as little governemntal or charitable assistance as possible. To this end, it might be better for him to be in the public school setting with a one-on-one paraprofessional, an adult who is with him during the day to guide him in his classes and his sodial interactions. His education involves more than just digesting the material presented in the clasrrom. It involves being able to defend one's self from the onslaught of threats that are inherently human. For now, what you have done will work. But when he reaches puberty and grows to his full stature, he will need to know a few ways to handle himself. You didn't mention if he had been in a classroom with other "normal" students. Many Autstic students, including those with Asperger's, do best in a special education classroom with other students that share their challenges. This provides a protected environment while the student is learning how to deal with the world without the need to retreat to the home.

I have a nephew with Asperger's.... it is a shame that more people don't understand what his condition is and what needs to be done to help him.... he's in 7th grade and does have problems in school, but he has a "wraparound" who goes with him to every class to help keep him in control so that there aren't as many problems... Whatever school your child ends up in, make sure the other students understand his condition. If you don't feel comfortable addressing the class, then get someone else to do it. My oldest dd has a boy who is autistic in her class. Through elementary school, every year, his mother would go into the class and explain what autism is and answer the questions that the kids had. It helped those kids understand why he was acting out. The other students have come to be that child's advocate! They look out for him and make sure he's doing okay, because they've understood why he is the way he is! They are now Junior's in high school and everyone still looks out for him... Get involved in the school as much as you can. Good luck!

Schools want all of the special needs children that they can get because they get extra funding for these kids, but schools by and large do not want to spend extra money for these handicapped children. The federal law says that your school district has to provide an appropriate education for handicapped kids. There is a web site called wrightslaw.com that explains parents and children's rights. This site helps you get informed about your child's special education rights.

This post really caught my attention. My son has ADHD although there are times I wonder if there is more going on. Last year I debated about homeschooling him because the school system has made him feel "dumb" among other things. He is frustrated on a daily basis. I feel for you. I often wish I was wealthy enough to put him in a boarding school just for kids with similar problems. Not because I don't want to deal with it but because then he could see that he isn't different from "everybody". I'll be thinking of you and hope things work out in the best possible way.

Hi! I agree with the consensus here. Your son should not have to put up with bullying so he can go to school and get the education every child deserves. It sounds to me more like the school is being lazy and doesn't want to face up to the challenges of teaching an AWE-tistic child (I love, love, love that! :-) I don't blame you for pulling him out of school. Why should he be miserable on top of his difficulties? Others will just have to get over that. It's your decision as a parent. If mine has problems like that, I'll homeschool her. I won't let her go through that nonsense, either. I know it exists here, and I'm prepared to do my battle! I also agree with you that the so-called "normal" kids are the ones with the problems. Our kids are so pure-hearted and wouldn't hurt a fly, but other kids are just so cruel and mean. I don't know how parents can allow their children to be like that! You have our support! You do what you need to do for your son. As it's already been said, you are his best advocate. You decide what's best for him and if others don't like it, then that's just too darn bad! ((hugs))

Well, if you see my posts to your other discussion, you will see that I am firmly in support of it. All children have something to teach us. Kids are not as bothered by special needs as their parents are. Sometimes, deep down, parents of "normal" kids feel guilty for having "normal" kids, and are afraid that your "bad luck" will jinx them. This is not a conscious thought, but it is typical. What it boils down to is that you pay the same taxes that all the other people pay, and that is in order to pay for services like education. They do not realize that if they built these "special" (isolation) schools, the funding for their own schools would be diminished, as the money would have to go to the kids that need it. Most budgets are weighted that way. They also do not realize the poverty of a world without unique individuals like your son. God bless.

You may be right! I think you should let him go to school wherever he feels comfortable. Try not to worry about what people say. People will tell you one thing one day and then something else the next. Unless they've been in you or your son's shoes they know nothing about it. But God does have a way of bringing things back around to people who are cruel. We reap as we sow.

I think the biggest difficulty for our special kids is that they have a foot in each world. Yes, they have special needs, but they are usually academically superior to their peers in special education classes. This makes them yearn to be included in the mainstream classes, where they are then subjected to ridicule and ostracism by 'typical' children. Take my son, for example. He is in a special ed program 8:1:1 with a one-on-one aid. He is unable to function in the mainstream because of his high levels of anxiety and his intolerance for rule-breaking by the other kids. Yet, he is the most academically advanced child in his class. His teachers have advanced his work by one year just to keep him challenged, but socially, he is several years behind 'typical' kids in his development. Regardless of where you choose to enroll your son (public or private school), it is imperative that you are a strong advocate for you child. Be prepared to hire a legal advocate if the school is not cooperative and giving your son the services that he requires. Keep in mind, however, that many small schools simply to not have the funding to provide all the necessary services that special kids need.

My son has ADHA. After 6 years of my son being bullied, picked on and other by the students and having the teachers stand by watch it happen and blame my son I did the best thing for him. I took him out of the public system and moved 150km away just to put him into a Catholic School, but hey just as I thought, not a single problem. Dont ever believe its your son with the problem, its the teachers and parents for teaching the children its okay to bully other children. What amazes me is, if a child has asthma, the teachers baby that child. If they have glasses, the teachers make sure they go to great lengths to stop that child from being labelled 4-eyes. But when the child has a mental disability of some sort, I wouldnt put it past the teachers nor other parents to start the bullying. Ive seen it happen. Private schools (mainly the religious ones in my opinion) do give children a better education, and Do stop bullying as they realy do have a No-Bullying tolerance. My son has improved so much in the last 6 months, its hard to believe I havent had the police on the door step in all this time, telling me my son had been accused of something again (the police actually were on my side and tried to help find help and knew my son was being blamed for things he did not do)

I'm sorry I don't know anything about Aspergers. However I agree with you that all kids deserve an education and if you think that he should be going to a public school then he should be allowed to. After all if you decided to take him out of school yourself they would say he was playing truant.

I know once the highschool I went to was absolutely HORRIBLE to a boy who supposedly had aspergers syndrome. I say 'supposedly' because the parents refused to admit their son had aspergers because (in their words) 'they didn't want him to be labelled.' Either way, the school did nothing for him. Every lunch hour kids would try to deliberately provoke him. They would yell at him, insult him, ask stupid questions, throw rubbish at him, push him around and this even extended to physical abuse during sport classes. The teachers said they couldn't do anything because he was being bullied by 'everyone.' and it was beyond their control. One day this boy pulled out a compass and threatened to stab one of the idiots who had been making his life hell from day one. Then, this boy was the one who was expelled for that, because supposedly he was a risk to other students. I thought it was pathetic. Teachers had blatantly ignored the threat every single bullying manipulative "lets-make-fun-of-anyone-different" idiots had posed upon him, and took the first chance to get rid of the boy with aspergers. Kids in highschool are horrible to people with anything different. It's unfair, but god knows, I don't think any kid should be forced to go through that suffering just to prove the fact that it's undeserved and unfair.

I also teach in a public school and while I believe everyone has a right to an education, I don't believe students with AS or any other label have the right to disrupt others. There are all kinds of kids on the spectrum and currently I have an AS student in my class who disrupts class, kicks students and generally causes havoc almost every single day. Do the kids who have to fear him kicking or hurting them deserve any less than he does? I feel for students who have medical issues and I feel for parents who want the best for them and who fight for them every day, but I also see the other side- the side where other students are being injured and having their education disrupted. I don't feel there should be special schools for any disabled child. It's important for them and for others to interact with each other. I guess I feel that depending on the severity of the issue, there should be help in the classroom.

Yeah, you go girl! Our kids do not have problems but are the next evolutionary progression. Aspergers is so badly pressed and yet a lot of people manage prefectly normal lives where it never even gets picked up. Remember AWE-tistic is probably a better spelling! Just because people don't understand doesn't mean these special people are not good enough to be around so called "normal" people. A lot of these kids have very special talents and it should be accepted that minds can work in different ways. Bong attends "normal" school with Autism ADHD and suspectd Dyspraxia, although he has his own agenda the kids sort of look after him at playtime and lunchtime, my pal is a dinner lady and she's watched them, which is reassuring. As long as your son is happy and doing his best what right has anyone to say he should be segregated? I spent some time at "special school" when I was childminding and Autisctic Spectrum Disorders don't really seem to fit in there, it depends on how bad the commumicational differences are but I would think unless you are offered a place by the people who assess him your son is getting on fine where he is. Do not ever feel guity for standing up for him, you know your son best and they can go hop skip and jump!

That's disgusting that you and your son have had to put up with so many negative comments. My 10 year nephew has Aspergers, and he goes to a "normal" state school. Aspergers children almost never go to special schools here in south australia. They can be catered for very well in the standard school system, whether public or private. My nephew is bullied, but his Father deals with it. Perhaps you can somehow start up an education campaign? ie. to educate the so called "normal" people... Good Luck

Even though there is a great challenge for the teachers to teach kids with Autism, the teachers should not deprive the kids the right to education and treat them as equal.

My son has AS too deberooney. Just put him in mainstream no questions ask. It is your right as well as your son. Besides all therapist would agree with you that AS kids should be in mainstream school I.e. Albert Einstein, Stephen Shore (phd), Temple Grandin (phd) just to name a few. The reason why people see your son different because he is highly intellegent. A lot of people hate smart kids because this makes them stupid. Hope this helps my friend.

You know your child best? Is he happy at school? If he isn't then pulling him out was the best thing for him. I completly understand about the bullying. Both of my boys get bullied ever day and it is not just from the kids who do not understand them it is by the adults as well. Don't let anyone make you feel like you are doing the wrong thing. Especially the school they love to say that your child will be missing out if you pull them out and that they will not be able to learn how to deal with social situations. There are plenty of every day social situations with you that he can learn from. For example using the phone, going shopping, playing at the playground and plenty more.

I have one child with Asperger's and a couple more that are on the spectrum. And I homeschool all of mine, and I was told by the TEACCH center that my son has done better than he would of if he had been in public school all these years, He was not diagnosed until he was older, but I worked with him more than all my other kids, and while he still has some problems, I have been told by professionals that he could be much worse, So I am thankful he is not, Also when a child that has aspergers or any form of autism is teased or bullied they do not react the same as other kids and they do not get over the cruelty as easy at all. It is better in my opinion to teach them how to deal with people and things in life a little at a time, as they can handle things so that later on they will be able to function better in society when they do not have their parents to support them, Also find out what your son is interested in because whatever he is interested in could become a way for him to earn money as he gets older, and you do want your child to be able to support themselves when they are grown,