Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My field trip post was an FCPS elementary with an ED center, which you would think would be well-versed in FAPE. I'd rather not be more specific.

Wait, since when is a field trip required? The student can still have an educational experience at school. If the parent can't accompany, then the child can stay at school.

However, an IEP under "Autism" does not automatically mean that an IEP does not address speech language issues or pragmatic speech since an IEP is an "individual" education plan so it is important to "use the words" in IEP goals that will better address the challenges like you illustrate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid with ASD/ADHD has always had speech communication goals like

* participating and initiate conversation and maintain conversational
exchange.

*Respond to interaction initiated by adults and or peers by giving
appropriate response.


Not sure why the label matters at all as long as the services and supports are appropriate and helps meet IEP goals.

These are social communication based goals and do not move a child with a LANGUAGE-based communication problem forward.

Correct. These are appropriate social communication goals for a child who does not have any language issues. Perhaps you can post examples of appropriate IEP goals for a child with language based communication issues to illustrate the difference.

8:11 again. Here are some IEP goals my DS has.

-Larlo will ask 2 relevant questions or comments to gain/clarify information or express his thoughts regarding someone else’s topic of the moment using correct word order ….. across settings.

-Given a social situation or picture, Larlo will generate content specific questions using content appropriate vocabulary…

-Given a social situation or picture, Larlo will generate content specific responses to questions from peers or the SLP using content appropriate vocabulary…

Notice that for these goals, DS isn't required to use grammatically correct sentences....we have other goals for that. To me, it's very apparent how these differ from the goals a child with a social disorder would have and why it's important that my DS be viewed as a child with a language disorder rather than a child with ASD. It's not that an ASD diagnosis would phase or bother me. Rather, it wouldn't result in interventions/services/goals that address his language based social challenges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid with ASD/ADHD has always had speech communication goals like

* participating and initiate conversation and maintain conversational
exchange.

*Respond to interaction initiated by adults and or peers by giving
appropriate response.


Not sure why the label matters at all as long as the services and supports are appropriate and helps meet IEP goals.

These are social communication based goals and do not move a child with a LANGUAGE-based communication problem forward.

Correct. These are appropriate social communication goals for a child who does not have any language issues. Perhaps you can post examples of appropriate IEP goals for a child with language based communication issues to illustrate the difference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid with ASD/ADHD has always had speech communication goals like

* participating and initiate conversation and maintain conversational
exchange.

*Respond to interaction initiated by adults and or peers by giving
appropriate response.


Not sure why the label matters at all as long as the services and supports are appropriate and helps meet IEP goals.

These are social communication based goals and do not move a child with a LANGUAGE-based communication problem forward.

Anonymous wrote:To me, the most frustrating is when they refute response to intervention and only look to test scores. The 2004 IDEA permits using RTI to code a kid with SLD, and MCPS is reluctant to do so anyway. Whatever happened to looking at the whole picture?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

2) Even though your child has had THREE (THREE!!!) private neuro-psych evaluations by top doctors over the last 6 years...and even though doctors 1,2 and 3 have said otherwise....and even though no other IEP team at any of your child's other schools agree with our "opinion", we think your kid is on the spectrum.... And by the way, you know you really didn't need to get those private evaluations as we could have done it FOR FREE!!

This has been our experience in FCPS except we had FOUR private evaluations in 6 years including 2 through ASD research studies from NIH - DS consistently did not meet the criteria for ASD. Yet, year after year, the school team pushed ASD for the eligibility category. The last year they said DS 'might' not have medical ASD but that he had 'educational' ASD. WTF? He has a medical diagnosis of communication disorder. He has a medical diagnosis of ADHD. He has had LD diagnoses since he was 5. Stop with the ASD already!

Exactly! I am the PP with the 3 evaluations! Our private psych told us that she has had to go into numerous MCPS's to try to explain to the ignorant SpEd teams that there is a difference between communication disorder and ASD!

Our DS has a DX of severe ADHD, not even any LDs - which surprised us. The IEP team was just flabbergasted and one of the teachers had the nerve to actually walk out of the meeting.

There seems to be a big push in public school systems to over identify kids with ASD vs. supporting kids with ADHD. We have the same issues in MCPS. School administrators and staff have reasons for these preferences that has nothing to do with your child's particular disability or needs.

What were the teams recommendations for services based on their assumption of ASD? Would your private specialists consider the services appropriate for your child? In the end, if the services are what your child needs and a wrong label gets your child those services then I wouldn't fight the system. However, if the services are inappropriate and they just want to dump your child in a program because it is there and the program is not the least restrictive environment, then I would fight even if it meant filing for Due Process.

WTH is wrong with you?! You are out of your freaking mind if you think that i am going to roll over and ALLOW MCPS to label my DS with ASD when he IS NOT ON THE SPECTRUM....just to get services or therapy! MCPS is lazy and greedy and wants to use MY kid to get more funding for the school, well they can shove it. If I were going to be THAT lazy as a parent, why did I bother to go through the expensive process of getting him privately assessed 3 times?! I should have just let MCPS determine my DS' fate.

All labels and everything else in your kid's school records will follow them throughout their academic career. I will not allow that to happen to my kid. He struggles enough with his severe ADHD DX.

With regards to the services or accommodations he gets, I flat out told the IEP team that if they were going to "try"to force my hand and threaten to take his services away if I didn't agree to the ASD DX, that I would happily pay for them privately!

Shame on you PP.

I realize that you do not want your child misdiagnosed and they shouldn't be to receive services. BUT it is not the kiss of death for a child to have ASD and for that (correct) diagnosis to be recognized by the school. Your response is incredibly insensitive to those parents who have children with ASD.

Anonymous wrote:My kid with ASD/ADHD has always had speech communication goals like

* participating and initiate conversation and maintain conversational
exchange.

*Respond to interaction initiated by adults and or peers by giving
appropriate response.


Not sure why the label matters at all as long as the services and supports are appropriate and helps meet IEP goals.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

2) Even though your child has had THREE (THREE!!!) private neuro-psych evaluations by top doctors over the last 6 years...and even though doctors 1,2 and 3 have said otherwise....and even though no other IEP team at any of your child's other schools agree with our "opinion", we think your kid is on the spectrum.... And by the way, you know you really didn't need to get those private evaluations as we could have done it FOR FREE!!

This has been our experience in FCPS except we had FOUR private evaluations in 6 years including 2 through ASD research studies from NIH - DS consistently did not meet the criteria for ASD. Yet, year after year, the school team pushed ASD for the eligibility category. The last year they said DS 'might' not have medical ASD but that he had 'educational' ASD. WTF? He has a medical diagnosis of communication disorder. He has a medical diagnosis of ADHD. He has had LD diagnoses since he was 5. Stop with the ASD already!

Exactly! I am the PP with the 3 evaluations! Our private psych told us that she has had to go into numerous MCPS's to try to explain to the ignorant SpEd teams that there is a difference between communication disorder and ASD!

Our DS has a DX of severe ADHD, not even any LDs - which surprised us. The IEP team was just flabbergasted and one of the teachers had the nerve to actually walk out of the meeting.

There seems to be a big push in public school systems to over identify kids with ASD vs. supporting kids with ADHD. We have the same issues in MCPS. School administrators and staff have reasons for these preferences that has nothing to do with your child's particular disability or needs.

What were the teams recommendations for services based on their assumption of ASD? Would your private specialists consider the services appropriate for your child? In the end, if the services are what your child needs and a wrong label gets your child those services then I wouldn't fight the system. However, if the services are inappropriate and they just want to dump your child in a program because it is there and the program is not the least restrictive environment, then I would fight even if it meant filing for Due Process.

WTH is wrong with you?! You are out of your freaking mind if you think that i am going to roll over and ALLOW MCPS to label my DS with ASD when he IS NOT ON THE SPECTRUM....just to get services or therapy! MCPS is lazy and greedy and wants to use MY kid to get more funding for the school, well they can shove it. If I were going to be THAT lazy as a parent, why did I bother to go through the expensive process of getting him privately assessed 3 times?! I should have just let MCPS determine my DS' fate.

All labels and everything else in your kid's school records will follow them throughout their academic career. I will not allow that to happen to my kid. He struggles enough with his severe ADHD DX.

With regards to the services or accommodations he gets, I flat out told the IEP team that if they were going to "try"to force my hand and threaten to take his services away if I didn't agree to the ASD DX, that I would happily pay for them privately!

Shame on you PP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

2) Even though your child has had THREE (THREE!!!) private neuro-psych evaluations by top doctors over the last 6 years...and even though doctors 1,2 and 3 have said otherwise....and even though no other IEP team at any of your child's other schools agree with our "opinion", we think your kid is on the spectrum.... And by the way, you know you really didn't need to get those private evaluations as we could have done it FOR FREE!!

This has been our experience in FCPS except we had FOUR private evaluations in 6 years including 2 through ASD research studies from NIH - DS consistently did not meet the criteria for ASD. Yet, year after year, the school team pushed ASD for the eligibility category. The last year they said DS 'might' not have medical ASD but that he had 'educational' ASD. WTF? He has a medical diagnosis of communication disorder. He has a medical diagnosis of ADHD. He has had LD diagnoses since he was 5. Stop with the ASD already!

Exactly! I am the PP with the 3 evaluations! Our private psych told us that she has had to go into numerous MCPS's to try to explain to the ignorant SpEd teams that there is a difference between communication disorder and ASD!

Our DS has a DX of severe ADHD, not even any LDs - which surprised us. The IEP team was just flabbergasted and one of the teachers had the nerve to actually walk out of the meeting.

There seems to be a big push in public school systems to over identify kids with ASD vs. supporting kids with ADHD. We have the same issues in MCPS. School administrators and staff have reasons for these preferences that has nothing to do with your child's particular disability or needs.

What were the teams recommendations for services based on their assumption of ASD? Would your private specialists consider the services appropriate for your child? In the end, if the services are what your child needs and a wrong label gets your child those services then I wouldn't fight the system. However, if the services are inappropriate and they just want to dump your child in a program because it is there and the program is not the least restrictive environment, then I would fight even if it meant filing for Due Process.

Anonymous wrote:

What were the teams recommendations for services based on their assumption of ASD? Would your private specialists consider the services appropriate for your child? In the end, if the services are what your child needs and a wrong label gets your child those services then I wouldn't fight the system. However, if the services are inappropriate and they just want to dump your child in a program because it is there and the program is not the least restrictive environment, then I would fight even if it meant filing for Due Process.

8:11 here (FOUR ASD evaluations). The last time this was discussed (last year, surprisingly, it didn't come up this year) was when we were discussing speech services. The school ST (who had worked with DS for at least 2 years) indicated he didn't take an interest in his peers and conversations on topics not of his choosing. In this case, whether he had ASD or not was critical to the discussion because it would change the nature of services and goals.

DS has a communication disorder and has expressive/receptive language skills well below those of his peers. It's so difficult to converse on topics not of his choosing because he doesn't know the topic, the vocabulary and is so slow to process the conversation. It's not that he isn't interested in his peers, it's that he has difficulty communicating with them and is of an age where language makes a huge difference in peer relationships. When you're with people speaking a language you're not fluent in, it's hard and exhausting trying to keep up with conversations. That this 'observation' came from his school SLP who should have known the difference was crazy. He needed a speech goal, not a social skills goal.

What were the teams recommendations for services based on their assumption of ASD? Would your private specialists consider the services appropriate for your child? In the end, if the services are what your child needs and a wrong label gets your child those services then I wouldn't fight the system. However, if the services are inappropriate and they just want to dump your child in a program because it is there and the program is not the least restrictive environment, then I would fight even if it meant filing for Due Process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

2) Even though your child has had THREE (THREE!!!) private neuro-psych evaluations by top doctors over the last 6 years...and even though doctors 1,2 and 3 have said otherwise....and even though no other IEP team at any of your child's other schools agree with our "opinion", we think your kid is on the spectrum.... And by the way, you know you really didn't need to get those private evaluations as we could have done it FOR FREE!!

This has been our experience in FCPS except we had FOUR private evaluations in 6 years including 2 through ASD research studies from NIH - DS consistently did not meet the criteria for ASD. Yet, year after year, the school team pushed ASD for the eligibility category. The last year they said DS 'might' not have medical ASD but that he had 'educational' ASD. WTF? He has a medical diagnosis of communication disorder. He has a medical diagnosis of ADHD. He has had LD diagnoses since he was 5. Stop with the ASD already!

The definition of ASD that is included in IDEA (i.e. "educational autism") is substantially different and broader than the definition in the DSM-V ("medical autism"). Part of this is because the definition hasn't changed, and part of it is that IDEA only has 14 disability categories, while the DSM V has 297.

Which of course drives the whole "autism epidemic" fallacy.