My Aspie - It's Official

Well, it's official. The review board for the school determined that Nathan is mild to moderately autistic, specifically Aspergers Syndrome.

He has an above average IQ, and tested off the charts in his eye-hand perception. They had never seen anything like it. If they had a "mensa" category for motor skills, Nathan would have earned it, lol. He also scored very high in vocabulary and reading, but poorly in pragmatic language. So he knows the words, but can't use them in a social context very well. For example, if Nathan doesn't understand one word in a sentence, the whole sentence is lost on him. It was all very interesting, considering that academically Nathan tests out far lower than his grade level in reading, but on these tests he scored very high - well above average, as I knew he was.

The woman who did the testing told us that she knows Nathan's intelligence could be higher than the tests demonstrate. She said that she would ask a question, and Nathan would obviously know the answer, but he wouldn't directly answer the question - he would talk all around it. For example, if you ask him, "Nathan, what is a cow?" (They need for him to say "animal".) He might answer, "A cow is a milk producing mammal that lives on a farm. Cows make a moo sound. My uncle showed me his cows, and said I could milk them, but I was afraid to get too close. They are big." Yes, he knows what a cow is. However, since Nathan didn't say the word "animal," she couldn't count the answer as correct. (That may sound picky, but they have to stick to certain rules, or it all becomes too subjective.) The intelligence tests are not well suited for someone with Asperger's, she told me. In spite of this, he still tested above average.

They are going to provide him special ed services each week. He will get occupational therapy for his sensory issues - a lot at first, then less as the semester progresses. He will get social instruction, like how to interact with his peers. He will also get speech/language therapy, to improve his pragmatic language. Nathan's teacher demanded para minutes, but that requires fighting for it with the board of ed, and they were all quite fearful of doing that. I heard the phrase, "I'm not putting my neck on the chopping block." His teacher was ticked, and insisted that she would call and demand it if they wouldn't. From what I understand, there is a high demand for para minutes, and very little staff. Oh, and the teacher fought for "social stories," and they finally agreed to include them.

Anyway, they did find me a support group, and I go to that next week. I also was given the name of a couple books/authors. I picked up a Tony Atwood book, and a great book called Can I Tell You About Asperger's Syndrome? It was written from a kid's perspective, and looks like it will be very helpful in discussing this with Nathan. It was simple enough that it would have been great to have given his daycare providers, too, so they would know what it was like to be around a kid with AS. I wish I had that book years ago.

So it felt like it went well, though I don't have any basis for comparison. They all spoke so positively about Nathan! Every single one of them said he was very bright, and two of the group each referred to him as "charming." A world apart from the school that treated him like a demon child, and insisted I "take him home and make his life a living hell." They spoke very nicely about him, and expressed how well they expected him to do academically, with the help of the services.

I'm so exhausted though. I really need to sleep for about a week...