Struggling to know what to do.

[belle&beast]

it stinks that insurance and our government/schools don't do anything to help--all intervention falls on the families.

I agree that insurance companies need to get with the times, but I'm going to respectfully disagree with you that all intervention falls on the families. I work very hard to help families on a daily basis and I maintain great communication with them. I think I may be working in an exceptional school corporation, but we really strive to assist families in any way we can.

 

[maynard]

thanks for calling me on that, belle and beast! we have found, after much digging, people like you who go out of their way to understand, learn and help. in my experience, however, you are the exception and not the rule. after awhile it gets frustrating and humiliating to beg or feel like your begging for help.

it was wrong of me to generalize with "all". forgive me...i was on a roll and got carried away!

 

[pixiedancer]

I am not a mother with a child with asperbergers/high functioning autism i am an older sister of one. it has been a very tough 18 years for my little brother. i think it gets harder when they get older as teachers aren't pushing you to be friends with everyone as in elementary school. is there any private schools in your area that are for children with disabilities. if there is you maybe able to send your child there without paying for it. my brother went to one his senior year. the county that we were in had to pay for it.

 

[jodifla]

To the OP: When your financial situation stabilizes, I would highly recommend supplementing the school aid with private therapy.

I have a 4 year old late talker, and he made very slow progress in the school system. When I went private, the progress was exceptional. Everyone who was in a similar situation told me the same thing, and I found it to be true for us, as well.

Some school systems are great, some are barely adequate.

 

[belle&beast]

thanks for calling me on that, belle and beast! we have found, after much digging, people like you who go out of their way to understand, learn and help. in my experience, however, you are the exception and not the rule. after awhile it gets frustrating and humiliating to beg or feel like your begging for help.

it was wrong of me to generalize with "all". forgive me...i was on a roll and got carried away!

Not a problem!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I have a good friend whose son (now 14) has Aspergers. He also had trouble making friends, and tended to play with kids much younger. Her boy was very bright, and she pushed to get whatever help he needed. She is a single mom, and eventually was making enough money to afford a private school for kids with learning disabilities. The teachers are experts in dealing with the kids, and suddenly he was surrounded by kids just like him! He quickly made friends and has a couple close buddies.

Here's what I think she did right:

1. She looked into every avenue with the school, social services, insurance, whatever, to help her son.

2. She encouraged him in developing his gifts (the kid is brilliant!) as well as the areas he struggles with (he was physically very clumsy and not good at sports.) They tried a few sports until they found one that he liked and was actually good at, and which helped develop his physical skills. I think maybe it was gymnastics?

3. She gave him a very safe, very structured home life. No matter what chaos was going on in her life (divorce, moves, losing her job, failed romances), she stuck to their routine, helped him when things needed to change (they moved across the country) and kept his life as stable as possible.

Can you look into support groups for parents of ASD kids? There must be online resources, I'm sure the information is out there. In my opinion, the best resources are the other parents who've been there. They'll know about good programs, tips and tricks, and so on.

Oh, and one more thing I wanted to mention. I heard about a kid who was getting teased at school about some sort of disability. (I don't remember what it was now.) So his mom and teacher arranged for the mom to come to school and talk to the kids about "Johnny's" disability, explaining it to them, why he does/doesn't do certain things, and what kinds of things are helpful to him. She also answered questions from the kids. After that the kids in his class were not only not teasing, they were very helpful, and helped him with other kids in the school. EVERYONE knew who he was, and was his friend and helper after that. What an awesome idea, and what an awesome mom! I know this solution is not ideal for every kid or every situation, but I think it could be a great learning experience for the kids.

Good luck to you, I hope things get better soon!

 

[karynnix]

I don't know what kind of state insurance (Medicaid) that Washington has, but when we lived in South Carolina, we had both of my kids on Medicaid and it paid 100% of all of Jack's treatments and medications. My husband had a full-time job with benefits, and we still receive medicaid. You can usually check into it through the courthouse or the health department. It might be worth checking into!