BOOks to teach social awareness

seeker

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 10:55 pm

amother wrote:

I'm just thinking about doing this in the beginning g so we don't lose the whole 4th grade to his "misbehavior". He is being sent out every day for making noises and not following what the rebbi wants. He s alone recess time and the boys pick up on his weeknesd and can really bully him. My heart breaks for him because he s so sincere and sweet and means no harm.

If there is any way in the world to make it possible, this sounds like it calls for a few months of emergency homeschooling while a plan is worked out.
Hug

seeker

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 10:55 pm

amother wrote:

Amother mustard - where do you live? I live in Lakewood and was recommended to get him a nuero evaluation by children specialized in Toms River .

The wait is until the end of march for a nurse practitioner !

I have never in my life heard of a nurse practitioner recommended for evaluating and diagnosing potential developmental/learning/neuropsych type of problems. Is it just me? Confused

seeker

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 11:01 pm

sourstix wrote:

well if you look up the meaning of pdd it means its a milder form of asd. so yes its probably the reason it wasnt picked up till now because its mild. speak to a professional. they can explain better then imamother. I am assuming. but disregard if anyone enlightens you.

Actually PDD is not a milder form of ASD. That's one of the things that got more confusing after they lumped them all together. PDD is what they used to give to a child who did not fit all the criteria for autism - not because they were too mild, but because their impairments were in fewer or different areas. Most kids I saw with PDD diagnoses had pretty significant difficulties.

However, PDD aside, it is quite common for ASD to be diagnosed later in life, including in adulthood. The symptoms can be hidden or can be ascribed to other causes. It can also take longer for them to appear different than peers - they can be able to keep up for a certain amount of time but gradually the skills gap widens until they finally appear different from their peers - and 9ish is a very common age for that. Now doctors are more attuned to the subtle signs of ASD so more young children are getting diagnosed, but this is an ongoing shift so it's not at all surprising for it to take longer sometimes.

imasinger

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 5:48 am

Seconding what seeker said.

It's not at all uncommon for folks with ASD to shine on written tests, even while appearing clueless in class.

Or the other way around.

It would be a good idea to look around for social skills classes. I find those much more practical than books.

If I can scrape together the time and money, I'd like to get to one of MGW's workshops. I hear they are worthwhile.

amother

Lilac

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 8:32 am

Hi Op,

I feel for you. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I still think you can benefit from having your child see a Speech therapist until your appointment comes up for the Developmental Pediatrician. also, you can wait for that appointment but perhaps you can keep calling to see if they have a cancellation sooner?

debsey

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 10:30 am

amother wrote:

Just so you know - that's not the neuro eval. That's the screening for the eval, which will then be another waiting list until you get an actual eval.

You can shortcut the process and go private, but it's expensive. You save in time what you spend in money, and you get a much higher quality eval, that the school can use immediately.

seeker

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 10:47 am

debsey wrote:

Ohhhhh now I get it. I was trying to figure out why anyone was looking for a NP for this.
My developmental ped office did the intake partly over the phone when making the appointment and partly at the same time as the appointment.

BTW I haven't seen much time saved by the expensive private people. The ones I know about have plenty of waiting list. You can try your luck especially if you know of qualitative differences but just saying the wait time isn't necessarily better.

Just wanted to share what I already told OP by PM in case it's helpful to anyone else - if you're having wait time or insurance issues, it doesn't hurt to go with the dept of ed first just to get something started. The dept of ed is legally required to do the assessment and IEP meeting in a timely manner. You'll still want the private evaluation but meanwhile you can get speech therapy, OT, counseling, whatever started within the amount of time that you're anyway just waiting around for that nurse practitioner screening. What's the harm?

debsey

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 11:13 am

seeker wrote:

I think a private eval is "derech aruchah she'hi ketzarah". It's true top people have a waiting list, but once you get in, you're golden and the schools come around, the service plan falls into place, and the whole situation turns around. The waiting list for CSH or any other "free" eval place is just as long, but once you get the eval, you're on your own and often the school doesn't do much, because they don't have a point person to talk to and help them implement a plan.

seeker

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 11:47 am

Well, I was just sharing my experience which was the exact opposite, so I guess now having heard both sides people will know what their options are... there is no such thing as a long wait for a free dept of ed eval because the law requires the dept of ed to evaluate within 30 school days of the parent's request. On the other hand, the school system doesn't necessarily just accept what the private people say - I had a diagnosis and recommendation in hand from a very well-regarded developmental pediatrician and the DOE wouldn't give a hoot because it wasn't considered "psychoeducational" enough.

If you're waiting around 4+ months for the private evaluation anyway, you really have nothing to lose by tapping the DOE in the meantime, especially if you anticipate requesting services from them after your private evaluation anyway (you can always request adjustments later; this way you'd already have an open case)

debsey

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 11:55 am

seeker wrote:

I'm talking about using a school neuropsychologist, not a developmental pediatrician or neurologist. Been those routes (neuro and developmental pediatrician) and got exactly nowhere.