The Sprout (age 5)
The clinic called a few days ago and had a cancellation for today to have the diagnostic interview that they do as the first step in the process. So that happened today. The verbal results that I got today consisted of, "under the DSM IV he meets all the requirements for Asperger's Syndrome, but he doesn't quite meet all the requirements under the DSM V". Then he followed that up by saying we need to get him into OT for the sensory issues (which he thinks are contributing to the anxiety), and social skills group for the social skills issues, and had no clue how I was to accomplish those things with no diagnosis to wave through the red tape with. We actually had set up a local OT eval for a few weeks from now, so I guess we go through that and hope the OT can help us find a way through to the right wording to get him some help.
We're at ten days of school, since we started late after our vacation and my gallbladder surgery (and several full days of dealing with the other boys' situation). He has been doing well with our calender center, and is getting better with being able to sit down for the work. We're still dealing with some perfectionism that is getting in the way of him being willing to write, but we're working on it. He recognizes all of the upper case letters now, and is starting to get sound associations for some of them, but can't write very many of them. He doesn't know very many lowercase yet. He adds and subtracts with answers up to ten, and finally almost has the teens worked out on counting. He may even be ready for FSR by January.
The other two (12 and 13)
Both of my older guys absolutely refused to do anything they were told. We tried various punishments, incentives, everything. They were completely steadfast that they were not going to participate in school, family, household, anything. The middle child was causing huge disruptions many hours of the day, interfering with the Sprout's schooling and his behavior. Finally, their dad stepped in and told them that they were going to do school, and if it wasn't going to be at home, then they'd go to school where at least the fact that they weren't doing any school work wasn't going to land us in truancy court. They both jumped at the offer, begging to be sent to public school. So, the middle child has been at public school for three days now. He hates the homework ("Seriously, they take my entire day and then give me homework!?!"), but loves the socializing.
I'm actually a bit relieved at particularly the middle one being gone all day. I hadn't realized how resentful I had become toward him over his behaviors. So far his math teacher has sent home a note saying they run a "flipped classroom" where the kids are required to teach themselves the lessons at home while they do the homework problems at school (how ironic is that?) and the history teacher sent home a book on ancient Greece with lower reading level than D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, but told him to read 120 pages and make notes for a test tomorrow. I think he might finally be beginning to realize he wasn't right about everything.
The oldest hasn't started yet. I have an IEP meeting with the school tomorrow regarding his placement. They seem to be willing to work with us. Much better than I expected by a long shot. I'm looking at the bright side here, that I can finally really focus on the Sprout's needs for a change, and he really responds well to the one on one. We still plan to keep homeschooling him.
The clinic called a few days ago and had a cancellation for today to have the diagnostic interview that they do as the first step in the process. So that happened today. The verbal results that I got today consisted of, "under the DSM IV he meets all the requirements for Asperger's Syndrome, but he doesn't quite meet all the requirements under the DSM V". Then he followed that up by saying we need to get him into OT for the sensory issues (which he thinks are contributing to the anxiety), and social skills group for the social skills issues, and had no clue how I was to accomplish those things with no diagnosis to wave through the red tape with. We actually had set up a local OT eval for a few weeks from now, so I guess we go through that and hope the OT can help us find a way through to the right wording to get him some help.
We're at ten days of school, since we started late after our vacation and my gallbladder surgery (and several full days of dealing with the other boys' situation). He has been doing well with our calender center, and is getting better with being able to sit down for the work. We're still dealing with some perfectionism that is getting in the way of him being willing to write, but we're working on it. He recognizes all of the upper case letters now, and is starting to get sound associations for some of them, but can't write very many of them. He doesn't know very many lowercase yet. He adds and subtracts with answers up to ten, and finally almost has the teens worked out on counting. He may even be ready for FSR by January.
The other two (12 and 13)
Both of my older guys absolutely refused to do anything they were told. We tried various punishments, incentives, everything. They were completely steadfast that they were not going to participate in school, family, household, anything. The middle child was causing huge disruptions many hours of the day, interfering with the Sprout's schooling and his behavior. Finally, their dad stepped in and told them that they were going to do school, and if it wasn't going to be at home, then they'd go to school where at least the fact that they weren't doing any school work wasn't going to land us in truancy court. They both jumped at the offer, begging to be sent to public school. So, the middle child has been at public school for three days now. He hates the homework ("Seriously, they take my entire day and then give me homework!?!"), but loves the socializing.
I'm actually a bit relieved at particularly the middle one being gone all day. I hadn't realized how resentful I had become toward him over his behaviors. So far his math teacher has sent home a note saying they run a "flipped classroom" where the kids are required to teach themselves the lessons at home while they do the homework problems at school (how ironic is that?) and the history teacher sent home a book on ancient Greece with lower reading level than D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, but told him to read 120 pages and make notes for a test tomorrow. I think he might finally be beginning to realize he wasn't right about everything.
The oldest hasn't started yet. I have an IEP meeting with the school tomorrow regarding his placement. They seem to be willing to work with us. Much better than I expected by a long shot. I'm looking at the bright side here, that I can finally really focus on the Sprout's needs for a change, and he really responds well to the one on one. We still plan to keep homeschooling him.
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