A parent's perspective reflection

I learned so much from the parent panel.  I loved how open and honest all the women were.  Their stories really helped to paint a picture of what living with autism is like.

(1) What did not surprise you about what the parents shared with you?
        What didn't surprise me was how different each parent's experiences with autism were.  There were some similarities such as behaviors that their kids have or special interests such as geography.  In addition what didn't surprise me was the frustration that they faced in regards to school and the community not quite understanding their child's specific needs. 
(2) What did surprise you about what the parents shared with you?
        What really surprised me was the difficulty that Dr. L faced with her family.  I felt that she was being very conscious and accomadating by notifying them what to expect in regard's to her son's special needs.  I found it heart breaking that her sister decided that she "couldn't put her kids through that."  What also surprised me was that there were so many similarities between Gretchen and Trudy's families and multiples.  
(3) What was one thing you learned from today's presentation?
      One thing I learned from the presentation was never to under estimate a mother's love.  All three women work so hard to provide the best possible environment for their children.  It really felt as if they were going up against the world in giving their children the best.
(4) Was is one question you would like to have asked today if given the opportunity?
      One question that I would have liked to ask is how their husband's handle living with a child with autism.  I would have loved to have gotten a male perspective.
(5) How does what the parents shared with you today correlate with what you are reading on the blogs you have joined?
      I was absolutely blown away by how much these parents and the family from my blog have in common. My blog family also has multiples like two of the parents have.  In addition, the stress that the school systems create is another similarity.  Finally, the biggest thing was the comment that we all have autistic tendencies.  As my blog puts it- we all have "flecks of autism."  

Educational Challenges

The boy in the blog that I am falling is currently in kindergarten.  He was diagnosed with Asperger's the summer before he started pre-k.  At that point, he had his first IEP the day before school started.  At that meeting, it was determined that he would attend Head Start preschool in the morning and in the afternoon attend a Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities.  During the afternoon, Little Dude would receive speech, physical and occupational therapy.  Also, as defined by his IEP, he and his special needs team would work towards potty training.  Last year, he was in a mixture of inclusive classroom in the morning and a self-contained room in the afternoon.

This year, Little Dude is attending half day inclusive kindergarten.  He has a wonderful special ed teacher that his mom adores and trusts. However, there has been a bit of a struggle with a para (not part of his special needs team) at the school. Transitions are rough, so Mom leaves him only with a member of his team.  This para told Mom- when she wouldn't leave son to anyone who is not part of his team- that the child is fine and she is the one with the problem.  The situation was resolved via written correspondence between Mom and the school regarding confidentiality and the student's needs.

Overall, there are positives and struggles with the educational experience.  This is to be expected with any student, whether they have special needs or not.  Everyone is different and there is no cookie cutter mold that everyone fits in to.  It is expected that adjustments will be made until the right fit is created and this is especially true for Little Dude.

Getting the ASD Diagnosed

With the case of the family in the blog that I am following their situation is different than most families who have a loved one on the spectrum.  Their son who has Aspergers was literally allergic to every type of food as a baby.  Due to these health issues he was behind to a whole list of benchmarks.  As a result of these delays he actually received a lot of therapies (speech, feeding, OT and PT) before he was diagnosed.   However, by the age of two his Mom noticed that something was a little different with her child. He liked to line toys up according to size.  By the age four he knew the name of every character in all 6 Star Wars movies.  About this time he met with a school psychologiest who diagnosed him as Asperger-ish.  Later he was diagnosed by a pediatric developmental neurologist with having Aspergers. I think that the family didn't notice the signs of Aspergers for a while because they were so keyed in on his other health issues.  The possible warning signs such as flapping hands they wrote off for a while as a quirk and referred to it as "happy hands." I imagine that this sort of thing happens quite frequently though because hindsight is 20-20.