resources for children with Autism

[amazeofgrace]

Ok girls and boys help me out here:

I seem to have become the town's special education advocate (must be my big mouth)

I have a father who has a son (10) with Autism, who was placed in my son's behavior disorders class. He is ?ing his placement there and being ignored by the Special Education department.

His wife is vietnamese (any one speak vietnamese?) so advocating for his son is on his shoulders. And he is at the beginning of the process.

Parents of children with autism: what resources can I email him>>>?

 

[Christy]

www.autismspeaks.org is a great site for information and it has a community of users that may offer some insight.

I'm not sure what he means when he says that the Special Education dept is ignoring him. I would suggest that he request an iep meeting to discuss his son's current placement. I would also suggest that he look into community resources such as the mental health association or the developmental disabilities association to see if he can find an educational advocate to attend along with him.

 

[BusynMember]

Get in touch with the closest Autism Society. They WILL help. Here is a link to find out the one closest.

http://www.autism-society.org/

 

[Marguerite]

I know it can be tricky to give people geographically close to you, information about this site - but can you send him here? He could check out the Special Education forum especially.

Another possibility - is he hyperlexic? From my observations it seems that a subset of high-functioning autistics are also hyperlexic. If so, he could check out www.hyperlexia.org
and see if he can get any ideas from people there.

We maybe need to develop a resource pack for bewildered parents of autistic kids. In it, we have:

* A copy of "The Explosive Child"

* A list of good websites, including this one

* A reading list including anything by Temple Grandin, anything by Tony Attwood and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon. Possibly also list "Son Rise" on the book list, with the note that it can be a bit pretentious at times but the concept of following your instincts is worth plugging into.

* A bottle of lavender essential oil and an oil burner

* A stress ball or twenty

* A weighted vest

* A giant cardboard box for either the parent or the child, as a refuge

* A string or net hammock (or cargo net)

And while contacting the nearest autism association or support group is always a good idea, never assume "it will fix everything", because so often such groups are stretched to the limit and beyond, because professional and government resources assume the autism group will handle all problems from here. Certainly, that was our experience - we've had good support from them but nowhere near enough because they were spread far too thin.

I hope he can get the help he needs.

Marg

 

[amazeofgrace]

you forgot the jumbo bottle of Xanax!

 

[RB]

Is there an Autism Resource center in the area? Department of Development Disabilities may be able to help. Are there any advocacy centers nearby? Just a thought.