The Cellar - ADVIL! Nooooooooooooo!!!!!

Quote:

Originally posted by OnyxCougar

Well, that depends largely on Bryan. He's smart enough to do anything he wants, but he's socially delayed. I have been told to prepare myself to have him live at home, or at least closeby for the rest of his life, because he simply doesn't understand how things work together. It's like it's 5 years old in the social interactivity department and 13 in the academic department. He'll turn 11 in Feb.

I don't know what they did for autistic kids before autism was diagnosable, other than put them in asylums. I know it took me about 4 years to get him diagnosed with it to get the care he needed, tho. The doctors refused with every visit to "label" him. I handed them the DSM IIIR (and later IV) and showed them all the symptoms of mild autism, and by all rights, the child is autistic, yet they refused.

It sounds like Aspergers Syndrome. It's on the 'Autism scale', but individuals can function at or above the norm scholastically. There is the theory that Einstein and others had it.

My son is 19 and has autism.PDD (pervasive development disorder). He functions well below grade level, but works part time through school at a local mini-mart. At every IEP I state my goal of him being semi-independent by age 25.

There are group homes and other semi-independent arrangements. The 25 year number is not something we wrote in stone but is simply something to have out there to provide a target for school and case workers. My opinion is that you have to give people a target. In Pennsylvania, special ed children can stay in school until age 21.

If it's the same in your state then they have at least 10 years to work with your son. If he is that high-functioning, then making a blanket determination like they did before he even hits puberty is wrong. He has not even completed the most important stage in his physical development.

There are a lot of high-functioning people with autism who are independent. Some of them have even turned their different world view into a career. Dr. Temple Grandin is a person with high functioning autism who is involved with livestock research http://www.grandin.com/ .

She's something of celebrity in the Autism community. In her case she was able to look at the system of pens and chutes and empathize with the animals to a point where she was able to design a less stessful system.

Someone with high-functioning autism who is two grade levels ahead has the same opportunities as someone without autism who is two grade levels ahead. In some cases, thinking differently has resulted in breakthroughs in mathematics and physics, where thinking outside the box can lead to results that 'normal' individuals might never have considered.

A paranoid schizoprhenic named John Nash won a Nobel Prize in mathematics. One of the worlds greatest physicists is in a wheelchair with ALS.

Don't let them tell you it can't be done. Give them a goal. Have it in every IEP. Your only issue is that since your son is above grade level, he is probably mainstreamed and will graduate at 18. Make sure that they work on socialization and living skills in high school. Find out if support ends at 18 or 21.

My wife is an expert at IEPs. She never really needed an advocate. I provided her with some Internet materials, she got a few pamphlets, and just asked questions.

Good luck.