I am in running battles with the school district. My daughter is in 8th grade with Asperger’s syndrome and is also highly gifted. Her main academic difficulty is in writing (the thought process, not the physical part). After three years of no progress in this area—she reads at the 12th grade level and has never done on her own any non-fiction writing longer than a paragraph—the school district paid for 80 hours of Lindamood Bell tutoring last summer. My daughter became much more confident about writing, completed (with one on one help) 1 1/2 page essays in 4-6 hours—but has not mastered the writitng process to the point where she is independent with it. I have been arguing with the school that they should continue this tutoring because she has made no further progress in writing at school this fall. I requested an AT assessment in Oct—which the district ignored. Now that the district’s attorney is involved in my daughter’s case, the AT person for the district is responding. I was told that he is not a certified AT person—though will be certified in March and he works with an OT and educational consultant who are certified.
The message I got from this person was that he would not make definite recommmendations, but would only suggest what direction we should take in regards to AT.
My big question is: Is this a true AT assesment? Should I expect real firm recommendations? he has never evaluated a child with Asperger’s. I am worried that the suggestions will be so vague that the district admin staff will ignore them and there will be no one to implement any AT for my child—the district doesn’t have email for teachers, no computers consistently in classrooms and is not reliable in this field.
I am also in line to get a private AT assessment.
Re: AT assessment (long)
thanks—I am very leery or trusting anything the district is doing for my daughter (which is basically not helping her)—and I can just imagine the admin saying—just because this report says you need it, you truly don’t!! I am hoping to send my child to Orion Academy in Moraga—the large public high schools here are inadequate for her socially and curriculum-wise. thanks again for the confirmation.
Re: AT assessment (long)
It sounds a little like the speech and language assessment performed on my daughter last year at the request of her family physician. They did a visual assessement while she was in the classroom setting and told me she didnt qualify for services because her speech was okay and her sounds were okay. At that time, stepped back and let them tell me she “didnt need speech therapy”. Reality tells me that she indeed needs to be evaluated by a Speech and Language professional as she does not process language correctly.
We are battling now on behavior, with an assessment process/testing being performed now. I have let too many people over the years, tell me everything is okay or she will catch up, or one excuse after another. She is nine years old and given the school system they will have her in an enclosed classroom spinning her wheels, because they couldnt fit her within her the circle they desire. She is a good soul with much heart who desires to “be like the rest of the kids”, which she has told me more than once.
Good luck on the getting the asssessment. I wish the best for you.
lisa
Re: AT assessment (long)
It sounds a little like the speech and language assessment performed on my daughter last year at the request of her family physician. They did a visual assessement while she was in the classroom setting and told me she didnt qualify for services because her speech was okay and her sounds were okay. At that time, stepped back and let them tell me she “didnt need speech therapy”. Reality tells me that she indeed needs to be evaluated by a Speech and Language professional as she does not process language correctly.
We are battling now on behavior, with an assessment process/testing being performed now. I have let too many people over the years, tell me everything is okay or she will catch up, or one excuse after another. She is nine years old and given the school system they will have her in an enclosed classroom spinning her wheels, because they couldnt fit her within her the circle they desire. She is a good soul with much heart who desires to “be like the rest of the kids”, which she has told me more than once.
Good luck on the getting the asssessment. I wish the best for you.
lisa
Re: speech assessment
Maybe you should ask in writing for a pragmatics speech assessment. I had to go outside the district to get one—but pragmatics is the term for not using speech in an appropriate manner.
It does not sound like a real assessment. I know you are in CA and I suggest you email Janet at PHP in Santa Clara. She is in the iTech department and her email is [email protected]. An evaluation that does not include recommendations is not a true evaluation.
Helen