I could just use some general advice at this point…
DS, 7, is in second grade and thankfully has a great teacher this year. However, he has days that he is distracted and having a hard time staying on task, and I can see (quite clearly) that the school staff doesn’t “get” this in general.
He has had an IEP since preschool, and his current diagnoses are Tourette’s and ADHD. Also, he has anxiety, some OCD, you name it. The Tourette’s is misdiagnosed, I think, and I have many reasons to believe that he is Asperger’s.
We used to have him on meds, and he now is off all of them. We do the Feingold diet, and he is GFCF as well. Both have helped him focus and calm, although he still tends to have days that his body just drives everything he does. We are starting digestive enzymes in order to back off on the GFCF and improve attention, distractibility, etc., and have sought homeopathic treatment for the anxiety and OCD. He has been to YEARS of OT and ST, with limited results. (Do I sound tired yet?)
I have recently tried FastForWord for him, and it also produced limited results, if any. The spectrum profile that he falls into just seems to escape most “professional” treatment that we have tried. I am wondering if IM is going to be of any help at all - we might pursue it yet but I’m not holding out much hope.
While school goes reasonably well at least some of the time, he occasionally reacts to what we have tried (withdrawing meds, adding supplements, reacting to different food trials, etc.). The school staff hasn’t really said anything, but I can tell they wish THEY weren’t seeing the reactions. Well, tough! I am trying to determine, though, how to best get an action plan in place for when he is “reacting”, so he doesn’t lose recess time and other items that I feel are not appropriate for him.
Enough ranting, on to my questions:
(1) When he couldn’t finish math last week, the teacher had him finish during recess, and then his day “snowballed” into a bad one. I am considering having the “lost recess” issue formally recognized as a BAD idea, if not written into the IEP.
What can help a kid who is distracted in school? Some people use headphones with classical music, or a carrel. I am open to suggestions on what to tell the school. They try, but they just do not always know what to do.
(2) Also, he has a severe problem-solving language deficit, as evidenced by his unusual oral language style, and his TOPS scores. Is this even something that can be remediated? The school speech therapist has yet to make a dent in this area, although his other issues (auditory discrimination, etc.) have improved.
(3) What types of therapies, if any, DO help a spectrum kid at this age? I know ABA is used as an early intervention, but I am not sure how to best help him at times. Some of the time he is doing great in general, other times he is SO different that I am stumped.
If anyone has thoughts on any of my ramblings, please feel free to forward them.
Thank you so much for reading all this!
Unfortunately, yes...
and we have either had no, limited, or partial success with side effects. This is why we have went the non-med route, and I have come to the conclusion that most of the meds just aren’t suitable for a child with multiple chemical and food sensitivities.
We’ve tried Tenex, Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall, Clonidine, Prozac, Risperdal, Zyprexa, and Wellbutrin, if that gives you an idea!
Thanks for the thought, though…
Re: Asperger's/ADHD/Problem-Solving/Social Issues at School...
Your questions, for the most part, are out of my league. I did want to tell you though that a mom had posted on the parenting ADHD bb about IM and her asbergers son. She had seen major break throughs doing it. You could try searching on asberger.
We did IM with great success but my son’s profile is very different.
Beth
Re: Asperger's/ADHD/Problem-Solving/Social Issues at School.
Hey Laura,
I have Aspergers and I might have some comments.
>He has had an IEP since preschool, and his current diagnoses are Tourette’s and ADHD. Also, he has anxiety, some OCD, you name it. The Tourette’s is misdiagnosed, I think, and I have many reasons to believe that he is Asperger’s.
Well there are a lot of kids with Aspergers and Tourettes. They sometimes go together. Also ADHD. Though for some reason in the US, ADHD is not considered separate. As for the OCD, well that kind of goes with AS. There might be a particular pattern about being obsessed re:certain subjects. That at least is not really a problem to the AS person but tends to drive parents mad.
If this is the case with your kid I suggest you use these obsessions, etc. to teach anything and everything. My best friends kids was obsessed with frogs and he had frog math! :-) I’ve heard of Star Trek used to teach social skills. AS kids often identify with Data can learn from Data’s struggles.
>We used to have him on meds, and he now is off all of them. We do the Feingold diet, and he is GFCF as well. Both have helped him focus and calm, although he still tends to have days that his body just drives everything he does. We are starting digestive enzymes in order to back off on the GFCF and improve attention, distractibility, etc., and have sought homeopathic treatment for the anxiety and OCD. He has been to YEARS of >OT and ST, with limited results. (Do I sound tired yet?)
Well the only drugs I have ever heard may be effective are the SSRIs (ie Prozac, etc) and sometimes anti-convulsives, Tegretol or Depakote.
Some kids have benefitted from the GFCF diet.
>Wan action plan in place for when he is “reacting”, so he doesn’t lose recess time and other items that I feel are not appropriate for him.
Recess= AS version of Hell.
>(1) When he couldn’t finish math last week, the teacher had him finish during recess, and then his day “snowballed” into a bad one. I am considering having the “lost recess” issue formally recognized as a BAD idea, if not written into the IEP.
My best friend’s kid got a game room time in his IEP. I think there are enough kids that this might work, provided you could talk the school into the whole thing. This is what the recess is to us: random noise; lots of random activity; a lot of impossible social situations. You are not doing your kid any harm, maybe lots of good, by trying to get him out of this. Ditto on lunch. I could never eat my lunch for all the carrying on.
Some AS kids get lunch in a smaller room.
>What can help a kid who is distracted in school? Some people use headphones with classical music, or a carrel. I am open to suggestions on what to tell the school. They try, but they just do not always know what to do.
Those aren’t a bad idea. I don’t know if your kid LIKES classical music but I have heard any music might work here. Also the carrel, we call it the office though. :-)
(2) Also, he has a severe problem-solving language deficit, as evidenced
Not sure what you mean here. Usually kids with AS have comprehension problems. I think Lindamood Bell’s Verbalizing and Visualizing program is great and usable by parents and those that don’t have any training. All you need is the manual, as the manual supplies everything.
>3) What types of therapies, if any, DO help a spectrum kid at this age? I know ABA is used as an early intervention, but I am not sure how to best help him at times. Some of the time he is doing great in general, other >times he is SO different that I am stumped.
I wouldn’t do ABA at his age. He is going to see right through it. Not that you can’t use behavioral methods with behaviors. You might look into the following:
Carol Gray’s Social Stories might be very useful. Look up the website:
http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger
The books:
Aspergers Syndrome by Tony Attwood (lots of practical stuff here)
And
Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome by Luke Jackson. This is a 14 year old kid with AS. Very remarkable.
BTW, you are not going to cure AS. I don’t think it is all bad either. Particuarly if you learn to live with it creatively. That’s the point.
hth,
—des
If anyone has thoughts on any of my ramblings, please feel free to forward them.
Thank you so much for reading all this![/quote]
Have you tried any of the available medical options for ADHD to address the attention concerns? The scientific literature does support that approach..
My daughter is ADHD/LD and without the medical support she would not be able to make the progress that she has made in her LD area.
Kim