17
Jun 2018

Autism and Summer School

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Autism and Summer School

Autism and Summer School Beyond regular school is summer school. I never took a class during summer school. When I went to school, you took the summer off or you went to camps (for me, it was sports camps). These days, it’s quite common for kids as young as middle school to take a class during the summer. What about my son? My son used to go to an OT (occupational therapy) type of summer program. I say it like that because it wasn’t formal school. There wasn’t teachers, but facilitators. The days were structured to maximize, well, … [Read more...]

03
Jun 2018

Autism and Organizing for Finals – Part One

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Autism and Organzing for Finals

Autism and Organizing for Finals - Part One What do we do with finals? Finals creep into our lives twice a year. For me, twice a year I have to remember how finals work best for my child with autism. We really began to focus on how to approach finals in middle school. What happened in middle school? Middle school is the level of school with “real” finals. There are finals in the elementary grades, but they really begin to be super important in middle school. The first semester of middle school for my son didn’t end very well. Why … [Read more...]

26
Feb 2018

Are Children with Autism Singled Out? – 2

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Are Children with Autism Singled Out

Are Children with Autism Singled Out? – Part Two This is a follow-up to an incident that occurred at my child’s school a week ago. What was the incident? In a nutshell… My son attempted to charge his phone during a non-designed time in a math testing room. He was about to take a math test, and the co-teacher told him he could not plug in his phone. My son protested and got surly. But, then he complied. He put away his phone and began to take his math test.   In the middle of taking his test, the co-teacher interrupted him by handing him … [Read more...]

17
Sep 2017

A Student with Autism and a Behavior Chart

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A Student with Autism and a Behavior Chart

A Student with Autism and a Behavior Chart My son is in ninth grade, which means high school. And, he’s had some bumps in the road during this all-important transition. What are some of the issues? *First of all, my son is going without an aide for the full school day. He has never been aide-less before in school. He wanted to go to high school without an aide, and we’re supporting his wishes. *He has been late to a few classes. *He has also been caught playing games on his phone. *He has forgotten to turn in homework. And, he has mixed … [Read more...]

10
Sep 2017

A Student with Autism Transitions to No School Aide

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A Student in High School Transitions to No School Aide

A Student with Autism Transitions to No School Aide   Our son wanted to not have an aide in high school. And, here’s how it’s going… How did we begin the transition? My son had a full time aide in 7th grade. As the year ended, the aide would give him “breaks,” she wasn’t with him during snack and lunch. She would meet him at the classes that followed snack and lunch. He did well getting to those classes on time. By the time 8th grade started, my son wanted more independence. At his IEP, we talked to his teachers, and made a … [Read more...]

03
Sep 2017

A Child with Autism Attends the IEP

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A Child with Autism Attends the IEP

A Child with Autism Attends the IEP   We had our first IEP meeting last week. It wasn’t a “full” IEP meeting since we had requested to meet with our child’s Spanish teacher to discuss strategies for helping our son in that class. Our son’s annual IEP takes place during the winter, so we were okay to only have a “partial.” Luckily, besides our son’s case manager and the Spanish teacher, the school psychologist, his counselor, and another member of the special needs staff were also able to attend. I considered this valuable because we … [Read more...]

13
Feb 2017

Autism and the Future of Education in the United States

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Autism and the Future of Education in the United States

Autism and the Future of Education in the United States Rant alert. Last week, the new government confirmed, by a historic tie-breaking vice presidential vote, the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. Educators, teachers unions, parents, and especially the special needs community were fearful of this woman’s confirmation. Now, it has happened. In my opinion, this is yet another low for a new government that has done nothing but go low in its attempt to undo eight years of progress. Mrs. DeVos was nominated by our new … [Read more...]

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