My daughter sounds just like your son. Her current school has an autism program; that’s not appropriate for HFA. I’ve seen it; it’s more life skills.

I’m working with an advocate and leaning towards a learning center where she’ll get pull out for most if not all academics and be with General Ed for extracurriculars, lunch and recess. We’re zoned for DuFief as a learning center. Our tutor who worked in a learning center seems to think this is a great choice for my daughter and there will be more kids with externalizing behaviors but she’ll also have peers. She says some kids with HFA stay in general Ed for science or social studies.

College Gardens ES has been fantastic trying to meet her needs, but she’s still 2 grade levels behind and starting to opt out of general Ed — ask for breaks, zone out. Shes just too far behind academically.

This is how I’m leaning, but I’m scared to move her from where she’s been making social / emotional progress.

my kid has been in the self-contained autism program in MCPS and I can tell you that the kids are pretty low functioning and often have significant behavior issues like aggression or creating artwork with their own filth. I think Gen Ed with supports might be a better way to go for your child because the pace of learning would be more appropriate

Dr. Alan Zametkin at www.drzametkin.com

OP here...we are working with the Weinfeld group. We just started the advocate process and are trying to understand what our options are so that we don't waste time going the wrong route. We are trying to schedule an appointment with Children's for a psychiatrist but may go somewhere else since the wait is so long. Are there any good child psychiatrists that anyone can recommend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of behavioral problems? General spacey-ness, inability to get work done, lack of friends/inability to communicate well with peers, even breaking down if it's quiet are generally not taken too seriously by MCPS. If he's acting out they may be more responsive. It's the worst but that's how it works.

OP here. He usually responds with fight or flight. So either he runs away or he hits others and destroys property(the entire classroom).

That kind of behavior will make MCPS want to put your kid in self-contained. This happened with my kid, but she improved a lot with medication, so she didn't stay there. Have you tried medicating?

OP here...DS is on Adderall and Intuniv and we just increased his dosage. Are there other meds we should consider?

Anti-anxiety medications. Doctors typically start with an SSRI, but there are others. Our kid eventually ended up on Effexor, which made a huge difference.

This. Fight or flight are anxiety behaviors. And increasing stimulant doses can make anxiety worse.

Are you working with a psychiatrist? A regular pediatrician doesn't have the experience for complicated/difficult kids.