What school programs are available??HELP

[megansmom]

I really need your help her everyone. Quick background; Megan is high functioning autisitic, she is 7 years old and is in 2nd grade but about 1-1/2 in grade level in most areas. Writing skills are week but improving. She has CP on one side. She has behavior issues that is keeping her from mainstreaming at her home school. She is currently in a LH class (Learning handicap) with a one on one aide, she sits in the corner away from the class because she is unable to include herself due to her behaviors, which can include biting, throwing, screaming ect.... Her current teacher is ready to ship her off, she feels there is nothing left for her there since she cannot mainstream. Her behavior specialist and others at the school wants to put her into a program with emotionally disturbed children, there are about 50 kids in this school program, alot of them are autistic. The teachers are specially trained in handling the behaviors and follow a pretty good program there, they are 3 to 1 in the classes. She would be the smallest and youngest at the school if she goes. There are many teenagers and big kids there. The school is old, kind of dirty, there are only 5 classrooms. I have no doubt that she could do well in this program, however my problem is that no one seems to be able to tell us what other programs are out there for Megan. I finally put a call into a county person today and called for an immediate IEP which will happen on Tuesday.

What I am asking you is what kind of programs are your children in? Who do I ask to find out what is available in our county? Everyone keeps telling me there are other options but no one seems to know what they are. Everytime they seem to want to make a change for Megan they don't give us choices they just tell is it's here. I'm finally putting my foot down and not going to let them do this this time. I want 2 or 3 choices so I can put Megan in a setting that she would fit well in. Her behaviors are what is making this the most difficult.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading.

Tracy

[MaryEvelyn]

What behavior plan are they using? What kinds of behaviors are they concerned about? They tried to tell me when Kyle was in third grade that he would never improve and would never be mainstreamed. They wanted me to put in in a special school for kids who are mentally handicapped. I refused and now he is at the top of his class and will be graduating next year with a regular diploma. All it took was a determined Mom, a dedicated Teacher, and the Moms on here. Thanks Milli, keg and Pam as well as everyone else. they will be on soon to give advice.

[Mother's Heart]

. I know it's not the question you asked...but my comment: technically speaking, the iep team is supposed to determine her needs first, then select the best placement, then modify the implementation within that placement to suit her individual needs and potentials. practically...schools usually look at their programs and pick the one that works out best for them.

[milivica]

RDI is the one program I know that helps every facet of autism, behaviors included. Though parent willingness and/or ability to do it is rare. It's costly, about from $4,000 to $6,000/yr however some states like ours pays for it. If you can combine RDI at home and school will also cooperate, you'll have no behavior problems anymore. Most 'professionals' believe they are already doing most of the things in RDI, trust me if your child is having behaviors they absolutely are not. RDI is not a behavioral program, or therapy, but a program that allows the child to develop and mature in the areas of social growth causing behaviors, and causing autism. Our son went from a certain future of residential if he was lucky, but more likely prison due to his 'behaviors', after months of RDI he is not just fine in school but even getting back to regular classes and even looking forward to the upcoming dance. It's been a miracle of growth and development for not only him but for us.

Good luck and my best wishes to you.
www.rdiconnect.com

[RathyKay]

Who do I ask to find out what is available in our county? Everyone keeps telling me there are other options but no one seems to know what they are. Everytime they seem to want to make a change for Megan they don't give us choices they just tell is it's here.
Well, that about sums up a lot of my frustration with special ed. We had one coordinater who would pause before she spoke. You could just see the wheels spinning in her head... trying to figure out what to say so that we would do what she wanted. Anyway, it does feel like the whole thing is a big secret, and they only want to tell you the bare minimum to save as much $$$ as possible.

I'm not sure I have a lot of advice. The best source of info seems to be other parents, and it's not easy finding other parents further up the stream than you (you know, whose kids are a couple of grades ahead and can tell you the options they know of). I see you're in Northern Cal. Do you have a branch of Parents-Helping-Parents that might have info for you? (www.PHP.com). I fully admit that I have not utilized them very much at all.:o

I can't remember what all you've posted about Megan. Working at 1 1/2 grade level while in second grade is pretty good. Any idea what triggers the behaviour? I guess with biting and screaming I wonder about pain... be it from constipation, or migraines or ear infections or... Yes, I'm a diet nut, but it has really helped my son. I tend to think with Megan operating close to grade level, I wouldn't think that her behaviour is a result of communication frustration?

Anyway, Tom is in a Special Day Class. I'm not sure how SDC differs from LH? His is a higher functioning one. (I did find out at our last IEP that there is one higher functioning class, but I have no idea where. We like his current school - his sister is there - and this year he has a really good team of teachers, so we're not pursuing another class.) He is pulled out to the resource room most mornings and mainstreams for about 1/2 hour 3 times a week currently in one of the regular ed rooms. If all goes well, that will be increasing in the future. In general, behaviour is not his problem. He tends to get... overwhelmed(?) in a big classroom and really not hear (comprehend) what the teacher says.

[Mother's Heart]

Any idea what triggers the behaviour? I guess with biting and screaming I wonder about pain... be it from constipation, or migraines or ear infections or...

or...sensory integration issues.... environment, especially school/public can be a painful assault on these kids. My DS says it feels like his head is going to explode when people talk/ or other sounds are happening That is when his hitting throwing screaming goes off the scale.

[peglem]

I would definitely investigate the pain/sensory angles. But, also, are you dealing with the same behaviors at home? I just think if these things are not addressed it really doesn't matter what school setting she is in. Look for triggers, both internal and external.

Its so hard to figure out what the school's agenda is...would be nice if its really the best interests of your child, but I'm guessing they don't understand your child well enough to even know what that is.

And every school/district is different, which makes it hard for us here to answer your question about what programs are available.

Also, definitely look at the RDI link that mili posted. I see that there are california providers who are professionally degreed in other areas, making it more likely that you'll be able to get insurance or the state to pay for those services.

[megansmom]

Lets start with the behaviors. Megan wants to be in control of everything, if she doesn't want to do math, she wont do it, almost no matter what you say or do. Her behavior plan changes often because she figures out our tatics and gets ahead of us. She was very aggressive at school by pinching, biting, hitting, throwing things. She was put on resiperdal about 6 months ago and there has been a HUGE improvement, the only thing she does from time to time is throw things. The triggers are unpredictable, she could be in an awesome mood and then all the sudden will have what i call a melt down. For example she would be playing nicely with her sister I would comment how nicely they were playing together and then out of no where hit or push her sister. The behaviors at still at home but occur less since home is less structered. When we try to mainstream her at school she goes into the grade level appropriate classroom and Megan is disruptive, she would refuse to sit she would just want to roam and explore, she has ripped posters off the wall and thrown herself to the floor. She used to have sensory issues but has outgrown them, she has always had a high level of tolerance to pain.

It seems that if Megan is overwhelmed, frustrated, can't do something and/or just doesn't want to do something she acts out instead of speaking out.

In a short sentence... It is ALL about control with Megan, she loves praise she loves attention.

I hope i answered everyones questions and thanks for replying

Tracy

[peglem]

I do so feel what you're going through. I've really been there and still wind up there from time to time.

And all the things you say-tolerance to pain, control issues..the same thing that everybody used to say about my daughter.

At her very worst... it was about pain. Pain can send your body into an adreneline frenzy. (think of an injured animal) Over time we can build tolerance to pain (it begins to feel normal), but the nervous system still heeds the signal.

I'm glad the risperdal seems to be helping. We did that for awhile, too. It worked (sorta) for awhile, but then not so much and finally I think it made things worse.

I know I'm not really giving you any answers...just sharing my similar experiences. After my daughter's kindergarten year in a district sped program, things kinda blew up and it was determined that the district did not have an appropriate program for for her so she's been in private SPED schools (paid by the district) since 1st grade. She was more or less kicked out of the first one (after being there 5 years) because of behavior. And this was a school that specialized in behavioral and language issues. I loved that school and they were very good at what they did...which indicated that my daughter really couldn't control her behaviors. In fact, further investigation showed that she was likely having seizures (not the recognizable tonic/clonic ones) and we began to see a pattern between behavioral outbursts and strep infections (which had no typical symptoms- just the out of control behaviors, like she was demon possessed). Its taken us 4 years (starting at age 10) to really get things manageable. She is on prophilactic antibiotics to control chronic strep- but then you have to deal with yeast infections, so she's on an antifungal for that. And I have to say, the antibiotics do more for her mood/behavior than risperdal ever did. She is also on lamictal for seizures/mood stabilizing. We've recently raised this and (fingers crossed) I think we're finally seeing the problem with transitions at school getting better.
But, before all the medical problems were discovered, I really thought it was all about my daughter controlling and manipulating. I promptly felt horribly guilty when I began to realize how wrong we had been.

I, of course, can't say what's really going on with your daughter. But our kids are complicated little aypically presenting packages and things are not always what they appear to be.

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

Coley is only in Kindergarten, but has been in the public school system since he aged in at 3yo. I don't have much to offer in the way of programs...I'm a rookie where it comes to that.

So far we've had a pretty positive experience, both with Coley's progress and the motivation from staff. I credit that to 2 things...our school system and the staff seem to be well organized and prepared, but also the moms here keep me on my toes...well 3 things really, Coley is working hard as well!

I've been keeping up with your thread here, but haven't had much to offer...until now.

With the description of your daughter's behavior...ahhh, sounds a TON like Coley. Especially the part about giving her praise then her trading that in for bad behavior...

I was absolutely convinced that Coley couldn't give a hoot about praise or reward and that everything was about control with him until we started taking this parenting course...I know, I know...it's all our fault...no it's not! But our kids just need to be parented a little differently...and things are changing for us since we began seeing it that way...

Check out this thread: http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=38151

I need to update it for the past 2 classes...but I think what's there could help some.

Also, I want to just second Pegs thoughts. I am a firm believer in the idea that these kids are communicating the best they can. And I don't mean with typical words or whatever...but emotion is a form of communication, and when someone feels yukkie...it shows, right.

Infants can't say why they feel yukkie, but preschoolers can begin to... Remember the 'colicy' baby...you never knew what the heck...but you trusted it was something...I think a big mistake docs make is that they brush off behaviors as an ASD thing...rather than looking...I'm sure there is something that is causing her outbursts. Turns out colic is gas for many infants...some have acid reflux...some they still don't know...but they don't just say "colic' anymore...and it all began with the acceptance that infants do infact feel pain...IDIOTS!

I think it's a similar mentality that is limiting the help our kids get...of course there is a behavioral component...control...well heck, if your internal world is feeling 'out-of-control'...for whatever reason, wouldn't that make anyone want to control their external world just for sanity reasons?

Discovery of siezures caused by an intolerance to fructose started us on the road to recovery, but it also seems that we are dealing with yeast as well. Once we began dealing with that...things got much better, but we also have some learned behaviors, on both our parts, that we are working on now...

Hope this helps some.
KJ

[Keggy]

I didn't read everyones reply, but here is mine... Stop them, do not go along with this decision!! First off, you don't seem to get a good vibe from the program the way you describe it, so that should be enough for you and really, has less to do with why I am saying no than you would think.
I say no, no, no!! Do not put your child in a setting with children who have behavior problems!!! She will not have good models to work with.
Kids suck up the behaviors of others and model them, especially kids on the spectrum. Don't put her in this situation where she has no good role models and don't let them sell you a bill of goods like this. People on this board often speak about putting their kids in an autism class.. absolutely against that! Your child is better off in a special ed class with varying disabilites where they can pick up the good behaviors (along with some not so good). In a behavior class setting they are giving you that will not happen.
Another reason, your child being the youngest will make her prey to everyone else. You know that, thats why you mentioned it.
You can fight this based on the fact that this is a restrictive enviornment and your child (living in the us) is entitled to the least restrictive enviornment.
Other choices available really depend on your area. You want her to have additional programs that will help her with her social skills. She is not that far behind from what you say, plus she is very young. She should be in a 12 month program (which means school almost all year) and possibly have a well trained aide, someone with compassion and understanding... not neccessarily a mother who has her own ideas about how a child behaves. I would ask for someone very young.
She could also have a recreation group, with a certified (theraputic) rec therapist. I do not know why parents do not fight for this or why the rec therapists don't push to make it happen.. but its out there and it would help.
And you should consider parent training. Very often the way we act with our kids is what creates these behaviors, even though we only want the best for our kids. You are entitled to that (I beleive) from the IDEA, but your state laws may also require that as well.

[megansmom]

Thank You!