OK. It's Dusty Here. Anyone See This TD?

But a kid isn't going to understand that. Most kids aren't going to be exposed to kids with severe development disabilities in the course of their daily lives, and particularly in sports. Coming away with any sort of positive impression and being exposed to the fact that there are people like that out there who enjoy these sports just as much as you is a great lesson to learn. The "teachable moment" of if cute is an appropriate term isn't really for that time, at least IMO.

And I would assume the kids with high-functioning Aspergers (which technically isn't a diagnosis anymore, IIRC - it went away with the DSM V and is now considered a variation of autism rather than a specific syndrome) aren't the target for a team like that. You'd get people with much more severe Aspergers into the deeply autistic kids, kids who need a lot of positive-only reinforcement of any social setting. Kids with mild Aspergers, who tend to be fairly book-smart because of their memories, would likely be less comfortable and gravitate more towards being the odd kid on teams of regular kids.

 

Wow, it'd be interesting to see him try to interview someone.

 

I think Asperger's runs in my family.

 

My son has Asperger's, and believe me, it's a challenge.

Transitioning from one event to another is one of the biggest issues. He'll be fixated on one thing, and if we have to do something else, he'll fight us tooth and nail. Other times, he'll be hypersensitive to something that most of us would just brush off and lose his temper and slug the other kid.

He also has one of those portable video games, and he'll bring it with him everywheres as kindof a security blanket. People will try to get him involved in things, and he'll be content just playing his game and will fight you like crazy if you make him participate. Heck, I've taken him to sporting events, and he'll watch a bit, then play his game for an hour. He's gotten better at watching and cheering, though.

He also has plenty of issues in large-group settings. It's taken him years to be able to play on a playground full of kids without getting angry and slugging someone. One on one with an adult or a kid (usually), he's the best kid around. He's met adults, and had very articulate conversations with them that leave them stunned that he can almost talk at their level.

He's in a special school right now that the wife and I had to spend thousands in a lawyer to get him into because our idiotic school district kept treating him like a regular kid, then getting upset when he was acting out and were ignoring us when we told them that he didn't fit into their precise package of a child. That special school has done wonders for him (and for our stress levels). He's learned that if he's feeling overwhelmed, to tell people that he's upset, rather than just belting them one, and to leave the situation for a quieter place.

He's also much better with his friends. Before, kids wouldn't want to play with him because he would be too rough. Now he's learned to care about other kids' feelings.

 

Understanding unstated rules and processing fair versus unfair are what stand out to me as the biggest obstacles in their life. When I was in the classroom, I taught a few students with Asperger's, and that is what I took from the experience.

Baron, I'm guessing you child's IQ is probably over 100. Most school districts will have the Asperger's mainstreamed and shadowed by a para-educator. You did a good job winning that case, but with the right teachers, the mainstreamed model can work.

Smash, public schools today have all students coming into contact with each other.

 

My cousin is six years older than me and watching him as a kid was beyond crazy. His teachers hated him. My uncle told one story about high school teachers getting into a fistfight over which teacher had to take him. And this is a kid, who never received anything other than a A all the way through four years of Stanford and graduate school at Cal Tech.

Even when he's medicated, he would just say the meanest things you can imagine.

You want to feel bad for him, but you can't.

He's basically a shut-in. He works from home as an engineer and makes an incredible living. His wife is a law professor whose social skills are only slightly better than his.

His kids are remarkably semi-normal, thanks largely to my uncle who basically raises both of them.

 

I can't even imagine raising a kid with a mental illness. It takes quite a person to be able to patiently handle a kid's disabilities and still be patient and loving. I give anyone who is able to raise a kid with Asperger's deserves a lot of credit.

Anyway, going back to the kid who scored the touchdown, I'll agree with those who say it has become much more routine. However, it hasn't lost any significance over the years.

 

His IQ has been measured at something like 120. So we know he's smart and there's plenty of subjects he'll expound upon that makes us, and any adults he meets, stunned.

And with our regular school, we had begged for months for a 1-on-1 helper. The school kept refusing, then finally gave him an assistant who also had another student. Then we agreed at his IEP meeting to have the assistant work with him in the afternoons, when he was more problematic. Only, the school went back on their word (one of numerous times), then couldn't fathom why there were more issues.

The district also was majorly slow to react to any issue or problem that arose. Our son would do something, the principal would call all upset, and we'd be like, "Well, here are some ideas ..." and they'd say "We have to have a meeting about it ... 3 weeks from now." A lot of good it would do our son.

Our lawyer said that our case was the first time in her 20 years as a practicing education attorney she ever wished she hadn't settled and had taken them to trial, because we would have destroyed the district for their stupidity and incompetence.

You are right, though, Devil, on understanding rules and fair/unfair is a major part. He has issues understanding that what's fair and right in one circumstance is unfair and wrong in another. And that's something we've been working on.

 

I was wondering how you got the district to pay for a special school. Not every autistic kid that shows up at a bus stop gets sent away to a special school on the taxpayer's dime.

Sounds like they pissed on an IEP. You have more job security as a school administrator playing grab ass with an eighth grader than you do fucking with an IEP.

I'm guessing that principal is no longer running a school.

Oh, your initial IEP was bullshit. I have never heard of an "afternoon-only" para educator. Do they split wheelchairs between kids as well?

Well it all worked out in the end.

 

At the time, they really didn't have a program for autistic kids, so they did send most of them to the special schoo until the first year we sent our son to the special school. Now they have established their own.

They had even misrepresented themselves by having a former teacher at the special school claim to test my son for that school. Then at the meeting, she reported that the special school would be inappropriate for him. Then we called the special school, and found out she hadn't taughht there in years, was not a representative of them, and was going to be teaching the in-district autistic class. We had a field day with that, plus a bunch of other issues. Sometimes, I wish we had gone to trial with our suit. We probably would have gotten our son's tuition to Harvard paid for.

And sad to say, the principal is still at the school. That tenure thing and all (and for the record, I'm usually pro-union).

 

Where do principals get tenure? In the states I've lived they are one- or two-year contracts with absolutely no tenure for all administrators

 

Thay do not. But if they went down on this I'm guessing it would not be the end of the line.

This seems like a one high school district.