Special Needs
kirbear
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Auntie
kirbear
member
In your experience, what evals/assessments/rating scales have you seen used most often to give an educational dx of ASD in young children?
I am looking to research various tools and would love your input as to some good ones to look at.
Thanks!
Kirsten
DD 4-7-06
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Re: Auntie
Auntie
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Thanks so much for the info. ?I appreciate it!!?
Have a great day....?
Our district is expanding the Autism program that is in place due to more and more children in need of services. Right now it consists of classrooms in various buildings, but they are sort of each run individually, with the exception of K and Pre-K working very closely together. The district is looking to form a more united "program" and to eventually have things like support groups, speakers, family events, more specific social skills groups, and also to eventually offer educational dx. Right now they pay for outside evals but eventually would like to do them in house provided they have staff with appropriate training, the right tools etc...
So this year they put together a team of us to do some research as our professional goal. We are looking to see what we can do to better our program to best serve our students. So we are visiting other districts and are looking into what tests/tools to research to see what would be the best ones (obviously would vary from student to student) to use along with the ADOS, which they have had us trained in already.
So, if you have suggestions as to things that you would have loved to see in district or have seen I'd love to hear....
Auntie,
Thank you so much for the feedback and info. I should have been more specific as to what I meant by "program". By no means are we trying to group everyone together and only offer one type of setting. I meant "program" more in-terms of the internal aspect within the district. Because for example right now, there are children being serviced in the regular ed elementary classes with support from a special ed teacher with absolutely no training or experience in ASD. And as you can guess- it's not working very well and unfortunately in our district not many parents realize this and speak up. So I meant looking at a program on the internal side for training, supervision, support for teachers etc... Maybe program isn't the right word. I think its a flaw in our district that there isn't a lot of collaboration to begin with and being that schools are small- there aren't very many people to talk to/ask for assistance. We don't have district wide meetings etc... So for the SLP- its her alone, no one to bounce ideas off etc...
I just didn't want you to think that we think all students with ASD need to same thing. For instance right now we have children who are in all different types of programs in district. There are children mainstreamed in all grades and support is offered on an individualized basis, and there are children who spend the majority of their day in a self-contained classroom. I have 6 identified students in my room and no 2 have the same program. Some are with me all day, some only part as they spend a good part of their day in a typical prek class next door. Some are with me for DTI in the morning and then go elsewhere for a more natural prek setting in the pm. Our district has a lot of great options in terms of what is available. I do have to say that our district is not stingy with services (speech, full day, paying for outside services if needed) and that they are very accomodating and will even create programs to meet the needs. Just hope as it grows, it continues to be so accommodating.
Thank you so much for including your wish list. #2- that sounds great re the SLP at lunch. I too really like the push-in rather than pull out. So many times I will hear that "Suzie did xy&z in speech today" from the SLP, but if she can't use it in the classroom/lunchroom/home/real life- what good is it?
#3- thanks, great point. I will check out the link on bullying.
#4-couldn't agree more. And you are right on in terms of other staff aside from teachers. Now to get this to happen....
I agree that sometimes an expert is needed. Most definitely. But reality is that all districts are going to try to save money- not that it's right, but its happening and not all parents know they can stand up and ask for something different. I swear that is the worst part of being a teacher is seeing parents who do not advocate for their children and just don't realize that it's their right. Being that I was first a social worker before a teacher I always want to help people and want to whisper in their ear about how much more they could get if they asked. The squeeky wheel definitely gets the oil
#5- thanks for your input. I like the idea of having structured activities during lunch time. As for activities, I can see for some parents that having their children around more typical children is a better option. For others though, some of my severe students, this isn't going to happen as the awareness isn't even there. But the parents are still looking to be able to go out with their child and do fun things, but feel accepted and not have people staring/judging. So I guess these activities aren't necessarily for the socialization piece, but more of a comfortable, accepting environment for families. For instance, around here they have movies at the theater where it's ok if your child gets up, walks around, talks, sings, they don't make it dark and not as loud. And as long as everyone stays safe, all is ok. And I believe Bounce U had a similar event.
Any great events/activities that anyone has been to/heard of?
#6 Great point and I cannot believe that a school would actually say no to letting him leave 5 minutes early!
Thanks again for your input. I appreciate it and it's great to hear from someone with experience with the sytem.
I love having parent input so if anyone else has any suggestions, please feel free to chime in