Q and A about Autism
Question 5:
My son is autistic (HFA), has AD/HD, Chronic
Depression, Dysgraphia, Dyspraxia, Hyperlexic Visual-Spatial Disorder, Visual
accommodative insufficiencies, left side motor deficiencies, and other comorbid
conditions. The school district has ignored private reports by a
neuropsychologist, a developmental optometrist, and a team of psychologists who
have all evaluated my son. They only reacted after I brought in two advocates. A
team from the intermediate unit had to tell the school that my son needed
special education services.
He has gone all year without services, despite the fact that I asked for him to
be evaluated by the school last July. We have a beginning IEP that went into
effect two weeks ago; however, none of the teachers know about it. The special
education teacher assigned to support my son with organizational skills and
strategies has never worked with autistic students. My frustrations abound.
My son is in dire need of an intensive social skills program. I have been told
that there "is none, so good luck" by the school district. I will be pursuing
compensatory education with them. Do you know of any programs that can
accommodate the needs of my son with regard to social functioning and making
friends?
Answer: Sadly stories like yours occur all to often. It is good for your son that he has
a vocal advocate like yourself who is pursuing the important issues for him.
Without the kind of services that have been recommended for him, he cannot
possibly grow to be all he can be.
While I do not know about the local resources for you I would suggest that you
take a look at
http://www.saveachild.com.
Besides the useful information about autism there is a national directory of
professionals who are experienced in treating children who are diagnosed within
the autistic spectrum.
I would also suggest three books:
Grandin, T. (1995). Thinking in pictures: And other reports from my life with
autism. New York: Random House.
Greenspan, S. and Wieder, S. (1998). The Child with Special Needs: Encouraging
Intellectual and Emotional Growth. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Kephart, B. (1998). A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage. New York: Norton.
Temple Grandin has also recently made a series of videos which cover social
skills for children with autism. You can get more information about them through
http://www.grandin.com
While your son has many labels, he is first and foremost a
child. Autism as a disability strikes at the ability to relate, and this causes
many frustrations for the family. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. I
can offer you a general way to look at the development of social skills in
children like your son. All children connect best with adults as well as
children when involved in mutually enjoyable activities. For example, if your
son enjoys computer learning, he might connect with other children who like the
same kinds of computer activities. They would first just play in a parallel
relationship. The concept of “Floor Time” in the Greenspan book would aptly
apply here.
This is how Bill Gates, not known for his social skills, made friends with Paul
Allen, and later the two went on to found Microsoft Corporation. Whatever
activities your son enjoys, even if he seems to get stuck on them, could be an
opportunity for interaction and not a roadblock. Using the example of computers,
he might be able to play computer games at home with family and at school with
teachers and friends. The development of actual skills would occur by learning
the scripts for various situations as Temple Grandin describes in her book. And
the joy in relating between parent and child comes through no clearer than in “A
Slant of Sun” by Beth Kephart.
RN
