If your child sees or has been seen by Dr. Stephen Camarata...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the therapy that they prescribe for your child isn't going well and you have questions they just ghost you.
I don't know of any other clinics that do that.

They were hard to get ahold of but did not ghost us. Camarata phone conferences into two IEP s, Mary helped us several times with the school district. Their language disorder expertise is hard to come by elswhere.

How long ago was this? There are lots of great clinicians in this area.

Mary Camarata and Stephen practice separately now. She's in private practice but she generally only takes the easier cases as she referred us to her husband. He is doing way to many things to keep a good focus on clinical practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At 8 years old not speaking to peers is slightly problematic. He won't be 8 forever and at 13, 16, 21--what a dismal future.

I agree kids need help but how can you say for sure that he won't outgrow the issue with age(13, 16, 21) even without any help?

Because meanwhile the other kids' skills are advancing, while his aren't. As kids get older it gets much harder to catch up.

I think it's not a race , who talks/communicates more wins! Kids should have good enough communication to succeed in life, not like they should be in 80-90 percentile!

Language is a huge issue as they get older. Our child gets marked down, which isn't fair, because he cannot articulate what he has learned even though he knows it. It sounds like yours is struggling more than mine, so just understand that it only gets harder the older they get, especially when things like reading levels are judged by the kids reading out loud.

This can be addressed in your IEP goals. There are ways kids can show knowledge

Agree, but its not going to happen at our school. We met with them and tried to redo the IEP and they refuse to address any of our concerns. We then tried to drop the IEP as why have it if it doesn't meet your child's needs nor do the services they provide and they refused to drop it. The only way they even acknowledge anything is because the test scores were good and above their norm. So, my kid is stuck in a much lower reading group than they should be in. They clearly don't understand his needs nor are they willing to try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For services , you get a the ASD diagnosis(even though if the child have just language delay) from Local Pediatrician to satisfy insurance requirements. For differential diagnosis see Dr.Camrata(to satisfy ourselves).

So have your local pediatrician help you commit insurance fraud while you tell everyone your kid isn't actually autistic, he just looks that way, and don't bother with any real testing, just go to this guy in Tennesee, he will tell you what you want to hear.

I know plenty of people who went to him and didn't hear what they wanted to hear. i.e., their children were diagnosed with autism. And Camarata does real testing -- it matched with school testing and with psychologist testing. And we didn't provide him with the other earlier test results. The difference was for us that he spent 3 hours with us, answering our questions, telling us what the test results meant and giving us ideas about how to approach the future. His wife was very helpful for the school angle.


We saw him a long time ago, so may be the difference. I agree they've gotten very busy. For us, getting the reports was often slow.

But I also know of people who do what the PP said: get an autism diagnosis to cover therapies, and see Camarata for the differential diagnosis.

He spent 3-4 hours with us too and was helpful in person. He doesn't tell you what you want to hear but he didn't have much to say as we were with a great therapist, great school situation and child was doing ok. Agree you go for the differential diagnosis and a more specific one. Calling something autism doesn't clearly say where it is or where the highest needs are. There is such a huge range with these kids. He's look at far more than just autism and language disorders. He's also looking gat learning and other disabilities. Personally, I wouldn't bother going as you don't get a good report and support long term.

He's basically doing a neuropsych. A neuropsych gives you the same information. It doesn't just say you have autism and that's the end of it. It covers learning disabilities and gives you a detailed profiles of your child's strengths and weaknesses. I have nothing against Dr. Camarata. He has a good reputation. He is an expert in language disorders, so if you think that's what you are dealing with and the local people can't figure it out, then he may be worth the trip. The problem is with a particular PP who now and in many other threads downplays the reality of autism, and makes Dr. Camarata into some kind of god. I doubt Dr. Camarata would agree with that.

The problem is most evaluators don't specialize in language disorders and have trouble teasing out autism with a language disorder, especially in younger kids where many things, including eye contact look similar. Or, that was our experience early on. However, I agree with you at this point OP needs a full neuropsych, especially one that focuses on academics given how much in inter-related. Also by 8, child will still be struggling but it sounds like it is pretty severe and at this stage child should be more conversational. The Camarata's are best between 3-6. There is no way I'd recommend going at 8, especially if you've been twice before. Maybe Mary is more helpful, but for us, not having that evaluation, which is why we went so we could get an IEP made it worthless. OP, also needs to go interview a bunch of SLP's and get the child back into speech therapy. Ours worked on language and language related stuff, including reading comprehension. I'm a little suspicious of someone saying their child has that significant of a delay/issues and not having their child in speech services. Every clinician is different. We, like many others, tried several before finding the right fit and its very hard at the older ages to find a skilled one but they are out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the therapy that they prescribe for your child isn't going well and you have questions they just ghost you.
I don't know of any other clinics that do that.

They were hard to get ahold of but did not ghost us. Camarata phone conferences into two IEP s, Mary helped us several times with the school district. Their language disorder expertise is hard to come by elswhere.

How long ago was this? There are lots of great clinicians in this area.

Maybe you can list some that specifically deal with language issues - receptive and expressive as well as academic issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the therapy that they prescribe for your child isn't going well and you have questions they just ghost you.
I don't know of any other clinics that do that.

They were hard to get ahold of but did not ghost us. Camarata phone conferences into two IEP s, Mary helped us several times with the school district. Their language disorder expertise is hard to come by elswhere.

How long ago was this? There are lots of great clinicians in this area.

Maybe you can list some that specifically deal with language issues - receptive and expressive as well as academic issues.

Go to Kingsbury School or Lab for starters. This is their wheelhouse. Got specific, detailed reports that addressed social and academic issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At 8 years old not speaking to peers is slightly problematic. He won't be 8 forever and at 13, 16, 21--what a dismal future.

I agree kids need help but how can you say for sure that he won't outgrow the issue with age(13, 16, 21) even without any help?

Because meanwhile the other kids' skills are advancing, while his aren't. As kids get older it gets much harder to catch up.

I think it's not a race , who talks/communicates more wins! Kids should have good enough communication to succeed in life, not like they should be in 80-90 percentile!

Language is a huge issue as they get older. Our child gets marked down, which isn't fair, because he cannot articulate what he has learned even though he knows it. It sounds like yours is struggling more than mine, so just understand that it only gets harder the older they get, especially when things like reading levels are judged by the kids reading out loud.

This can be addressed in your IEP goals. There are ways kids can show knowledge

Agree, but its not going to happen at our school. We met with them and tried to redo the IEP and they refuse to address any of our concerns. We then tried to drop the IEP as why have it if it doesn't meet your child's needs nor do the services they provide and they refused to drop it. The only way they even acknowledge anything is because the test scores were good and above their norm. So, my kid is stuck in a much lower reading group than they should be in. They clearly don't understand his needs nor are they willing to try.

A school can't make anyone keep an iep. It doesn't sound like you have a good understanding of your rights. I would look to an iep consultant to help you build a more effective IEP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At 8 years old not speaking to peers is slightly problematic. He won't be 8 forever and at 13, 16, 21--what a dismal future.

I agree kids need help but how can you say for sure that he won't outgrow the issue with age(13, 16, 21) even without any help?

Because meanwhile the other kids' skills are advancing, while his aren't. As kids get older it gets much harder to catch up.

I think it's not a race , who talks/communicates more wins! Kids should have good enough communication to succeed in life, not like they should be in 80-90 percentile!

Language is a huge issue as they get older. Our child gets marked down, which isn't fair, because he cannot articulate what he has learned even though he knows it. It sounds like yours is struggling more than mine, so just understand that it only gets harder the older they get, especially when things like reading levels are judged by the kids reading out loud.

This can be addressed in your IEP goals. There are ways kids can show knowledge

Agree, but its not going to happen at our school. We met with them and tried to redo the IEP and they refuse to address any of our concerns. We then tried to drop the IEP as why have it if it doesn't meet your child's needs nor do the services they provide and they refused to drop it. The only way they even acknowledge anything is because the test scores were good and above their norm. So, my kid is stuck in a much lower reading group than they should be in. They clearly don't understand his needs nor are they willing to try.

A school can't make anyone keep an iep. It doesn't sound like you have a good understanding of your rights. I would look to an iep consultant to help you build a more effective IEP.

That is what they said and they refused to drop it saying it was too hard to get it back later on. We gave up. Its not worth the money to pay for a consultant when child is doing well. We considered it. The wouldn't follow it even if they put it in place so there is no point. Rather save that money for private school if we need it later on.

[Anonymous]

They cannot make you have an IEP. Write a letter saying you revoke consent for services. They can evaluate for a disability without your permission if they take it to court but they cannot force you to have an IEP afterward. Revoke consent and tell them they are either deliberately lying to you or woefully misinformed about how this all works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the therapy that they prescribe for your child isn't going well and you have questions they just ghost you.
I don't know of any other clinics that do that.

They were hard to get ahold of but did not ghost us. Camarata phone conferences into two IEP s, Mary helped us several times with the school district. Their language disorder expertise is hard to come by elswhere.

How long ago was this? There are lots of great clinicians in this area.

Then name them!

By name, not clinic affiliation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At 8 years old not speaking to peers is slightly problematic. He won't be 8 forever and at 13, 16, 21--what a dismal future.

I agree kids need help but how can you say for sure that he won't outgrow the issue with age(13, 16, 21) even without any help?

Because meanwhile the other kids' skills are advancing, while his aren't. As kids get older it gets much harder to catch up.

I think it's not a race , who talks/communicates more wins! Kids should have good enough communication to succeed in life, not like they should be in 80-90 percentile!

Language is a huge issue as they get older. Our child gets marked down, which isn't fair, because he cannot articulate what he has learned even though he knows it. It sounds like yours is struggling more than mine, so just understand that it only gets harder the older they get, especially when things like reading levels are judged by the kids reading out loud.

This can be addressed in your IEP goals. There are ways kids can show knowledge

Agree, but its not going to happen at our school. We met with them and tried to redo the IEP and they refuse to address any of our concerns. We then tried to drop the IEP as why have it if it doesn't meet your child's needs nor do the services they provide and they refused to drop it. The only way they even acknowledge anything is because the test scores were good and above their norm. So, my kid is stuck in a much lower reading group than they should be in. They clearly don't understand his needs nor are they willing to try.

A school can't make anyone keep an iep. It doesn't sound like you have a good understanding of your rights. I would look to an iep consultant to help you build a more effective IEP.

That is what they said and they refused to drop it saying it was too hard to get it back later on. We gave up. Its not worth the money to pay for a consultant when child is doing well. We considered it. The wouldn't follow it even if they put it in place so there is no point. Rather save that money for private school if we need it later on.

Call the Central Special Ed Office and tell them that the school is forcing you to have an IEP that they aren't following anyway. You can also file a state complaint (not due process). You don't need a lawyer. You just write a letter to the State Dept. of Ed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the therapy that they prescribe for your child isn't going well and you have questions they just ghost you.
I don't know of any other clinics that do that.

They were hard to get ahold of but did not ghost us. Camarata phone conferences into two IEP s, Mary helped us several times with the school district. Their language disorder expertise is hard to come by elswhere.

How long ago was this? There are lots of great clinicians in this area.

Then name them!

By name, not clinic affiliation.

ITS-DTS. Anne Reynolds runs the SLP program. She has good people working under her.

[Anonymous]

Melissa Freidberg, Children's Speech and Language Services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the therapy that they prescribe for your child isn't going well and you have questions they just ghost you.
I don't know of any other clinics that do that.

They were hard to get ahold of but did not ghost us. Camarata phone conferences into two IEP s, Mary helped us several times with the school district. Their language disorder expertise is hard to come by elswhere.

How long ago was this? There are lots of great clinicians in this area.

Then name them!

By name, not clinic affiliation.

ITS-DTS. Anne Reynolds runs the SLP program. She has good people working under her.

She's a speech pathologist, not a full evaluator. Also crazy expensive and doesn't take insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the therapy that they prescribe for your child isn't going well and you have questions they just ghost you.
I don't know of any other clinics that do that.

They were hard to get ahold of but did not ghost us. Camarata phone conferences into two IEP s, Mary helped us several times with the school district. Their language disorder expertise is hard to come by elsewhere.

How long ago was this? There are lots of great clinicians in this area.

Mary Camarata and Stephen practice separately now. She's in private practice but she generally only takes the easier cases as she referred us to her husband. He is doing way to many things to keep a good focus on clinical practice.

Not our experience at all. No one helped with any IEP process or even returned our phone calls or emails.
I don't think that they advertise that as an actual service that they typically provide - your family just got lucky.
I think a trip to see them is good for a parents piece of mind but it doesn't do much to benefit the child because there is little follow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At 8 years old not speaking to peers is slightly problematic. He won't be 8 forever and at 13, 16, 21--what a dismal future.

I agree kids need help but how can you say for sure that he won't outgrow the issue with age(13, 16, 21) even without any help?

Because meanwhile the other kids' skills are advancing, while his aren't. As kids get older it gets much harder to catch up.

I think it's not a race , who talks/communicates more wins! Kids should have good enough communication to succeed in life, not like they should be in 80-90 percentile!

Language is a huge issue as they get older. Our child gets marked down, which isn't fair, because he cannot articulate what he has learned even though he knows it. It sounds like yours is struggling more than mine, so just understand that it only gets harder the older they get, especially when things like reading levels are judged by the kids reading out loud.

This can be addressed in your IEP goals. There are ways kids can show knowledge

Agree, but its not going to happen at our school. We met with them and tried to redo the IEP and they refuse to address any of our concerns. We then tried to drop the IEP as why have it if it doesn't meet your child's needs nor do the services they provide and they refused to drop it. The only way they even acknowledge anything is because the test scores were good and above their norm. So, my kid is stuck in a much lower reading group than they should be in. They clearly don't understand his needs nor are they willing to try.

A school can't make anyone keep an iep. It doesn't sound like you have a good understanding of your rights. I would look to an iep consultant to help you build a more effective IEP.

That is what they said and they refused to drop it saying it was too hard to get it back later on. We gave up. Its not worth the money to pay for a consultant when child is doing well. We considered it. The wouldn't follow it even if they put it in place so there is no point. Rather save that money for private school if we need it later on.

Call the Central Special Ed Office and tell them that the school is forcing you to have an IEP that they aren't following anyway. You can also file a state complaint (not due process). You don't need a lawyer. You just write a letter to the State Dept. of Ed.

Thanks.. we'll deal with it eventually. At this point there is no harm as we got it reduced but we don't want child pulled out of main work. They refused to do it during recess or a special. Child is doing well so not worth the fight or drama. We just need to wait for more of the test scores to prove he is doing much better than they think he is. I'm more inclined to fight if we wanted services and supports. We would like them to work with us more but its never going to happen.