Questions, Interpretations, and Gobblygook!

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My son, age 11, was put through the gamut of testing for the Initial Evaluation for IDEA. He was having issues at his school last year(2008-2009), so they skipped him to 6th grade (2009-2010) to challenge him. They at first pushed to skip him two grade levels, but I refused. I think it was more to get him out of his school than to benefit him, but hindsight is 20/20, and I might be a bit biased against the school.

His WISC-IV scores are:

VCI: 124
(scaled scores for subtests)
Similarities: 14
Vocabulary: 15
Comprehension: 13

PRI: 135
Block Design: 15
Picture Concepts: 16
Matrix Reasoning: 16

WMI: 86
Digit Span: 11
Letter-Number seq: 4

PSI: 78
Coding: 3
Symbol Search: 9

His WIAT-II Scores:
Reading Composite: 110
Word Reading: 118
Reading Comprehension: 98
Pseudo Word Decoding: 113

Math Composite: 126
Numerical Operations: 111
Math Reasoning: 134

Written Language Composite: 105
Spelling: 94
Written Expression: 117

Oral Language Composite: 124
Listening Comprehension: 126
Oral Expression: 113


The school district has diagnosed him as ED (11/2009) and Aspergers (2/2010), however general consensus is that the ED might be merely a symptom of a lack of support for the Aspergers difficulties. He was like the lame wolf at the 6th grade middle school, and the rest of the kids were malnourished and starving, it turned into 3/4 of the PE class bullying, harassing, destroying my child. I won't also get into the chaos of home life, and the exposure to domestic violence. I am concerned that the "severe discrepancy" with respect to his reading comprehension, pseudo word decoding, numerical operations, spelling, and oral expression were ignored and dismissed and explained away by the "ED" diagnosis.

We moved him from middle school 6th (November 2009), to a smaller elementary school. Issues at that placement with the teacher who just refused to understand that he couldn't help being him. He was then in February 2010 moved to an all-inclusive ED classroom. He didn't flourish but neither did he sink, and fear was a tactic used in that classroom. I had no idea that the teacher would be "allowed" to lay a hand on my child, especially since my son said it hurt, that he even saw one of the other kids absolutely break down in tears after a "removal" episode in which the teacher forcibly moved the child. I was aghast at the news and I later excused myself to go into the bathroom to cry. I had felt at the time the ED inclusive classroom had been the best choice, but to find out that my sensitive child was hurt by someone in authority over him devastated me.

In Texas for Kindergarten he was placed in a gifted program after scoring in the 99th percentile on the NNAT. In first grade he scored a 146 on an IQ test when we were arguing with the school district for compacted/accelerated curriculum for our two oldest children. We were told that public school wasn't the place for "kids like yours."

He's always been an original kind of kid, one that made me fall in love with him everyday. He is the 2nd oldest of five children. All of the kids have FSIQs in the 130's. He was reading chapter books by 4 years old, at 5 his favorite subject was infinity, in first grade he did pre-algebra for fun. At one people mistook him for a three year old by how articulate he was, and oh my God the obsession with the human body books. I must have bought 30 different ones, so he could consume them over and over. When he made me tuck in his best friend (a rolling child's suitcase) I did with love and tenderness. When the suitcase evolved into the 2 x 4, I helped him include his BFF in our activities. His menagerie of imaginary pets, was fascinating and amusing to me.

What did I do wrong? It is like he's regressed? He has been diagnosed 4 years gross motor delayed with "poor toning", I thought it was cute at 2 when he walked on his tip toes. I thought it was funny when he was 4 and couldn't grasp the concept of throwing yourself onto the slip 'n slide. I adored how he would seem to trip over his feet at 6, like a great overgrown puppy. So what if at 11 years old he flaps his hands and squeals (really loudly LOL) when he is super excited? It just makes me smile at his exuberance.

None of these things bothered me, because it was just him. It was just like him to answer the door at 3, stark naked, wearing his sister's easter hat and purse to greet my ex-husband's coworkers at a dinner party. Those are my most cherished memories, yet they tell me they were signs. Signs of what? A child who brought joy, smiles, and love every where he went? If those are signs of anything, I think the world then needs more of them. Most "adults" who meet him, think he is an engaging, articulate, caring, sensitive, and gifted child. But then anyone who has a position of "teaching" him label's him as defiant, withdrawn, disruptive, and non-compliant.

I don't "get" why his processing and memory scores are so low. I admit he is a slow to go kid, but just another thing I accepted... but something the school hates most. He is in the GATE program, and they continue to talk about how "gifted" he is, and his CA STAR tests are well above proficient levels. His written work is non-existent, he uses a really weird, immature grip that the OT said is now "locked-in".

His favorite subjects are science and transformers. He has no friends, and they say his social skills are way way below age level. He only really gets along with his yonger brother, age 9, who has kind of similar OCD tendecies for some of the same things. My youngest son, age 6, was diagnosed with Pragmatic Speech Disorder and Emotional Withdrawal two weeks ago, and his symptoms mimic aspergers very closely. I am confused about that but that's an entirely different post. Suffice to say, only one of my five has been cleared of any learning disability my youngest daughter, age 8.

The doctors have asked me if I have thought about doing genetic testing, my reply "for what?" They already tested him (and my other two boys) for Fragile X, in which the result was negative.

I am not quite sure how to phrase my questions, other than why? Did I do something or not do something? When they were all babies we have such a fabulous time playing at home, making up ideas for our community dream home, who we'd help if we won a million dollars, etc. I didn't have to worry about if someone is going to try and take advantage of his naive and trusting self. I don't worry that someone's going to say something vicious, but he thinks they are saying in a joke between "friends" way, "Mommy, she's my friend. Mommy, it's okay that she calls me fatty. She is my friend, Mommy." I am choking up, as that was when I started realizing he doesn't understand.

I am traumatized by what happened at the middle school to him, he is now supposed to go to another middle school into another ED classroom, and I just can't do it. I am looking into homeschooling him. But I also think something else is wrong? Why would his working memory and processing speed be so low, and why is he reverting in behavior and coping skills? Is this going to happen to my other two boys?

I am severe ADHD (GATE in grade school) myself. Was I ignoring the signs when he was younger? I just feel like everything has moved so fast, from us just having the daily normal struggle to something new and yes it makes me feel that I am inadequate or some how failing him (all my boys really). His cognitive ability has gone down, his ability to cope, etc. All I want for him is to be able to productively go in pursuit of happiness and succeed in life as a capable healthy adult, but I am not sure how we are going to get there.

I want to stand there one day, and say "Baby, you did it. You did it."

One of the things that stuck with me from the very first book I read about Aspergers, Tony Attwood's Complete Guide to Aspergers, was the bit where he says I can cure your child of Aspergers...let him go up to his room alone and close the door. (this is not an exact quote) But the point, there is nothing "wrong" with our kids, the world is just a tough place for them.

Before my guys (twins both later diagnosed with AS, ADHD, GAD and OCD) went to school, I and all the other adults they came in contact with, including their pediatrician, thought we had a couple of prodigies on our hands. They were so clearly very intelligent and peculiarly alert, hit all their milestones early, early readers, early and prolific talkers, huge capacity for memorizing facts about their favourite subjects etc. I didn't worry too much about some of the fine and gross motor, and sensory issues either. I just figured they took after me (I am quite possibly aspie myself, but didn't know anything about this at the time). And I too, got/get so much JOY from mothering these two extraordinary human beings, who I am lucky enough to have for my sons...the Aspergers label and the challenges don't change any of that.

It wasn't until school age that the problems began to emerge. I don't think my sons have regressed. I think that the sensory stress of being herded in with a few dozen other children 7 hours a day affects their energy levels, mood and general ability to cope. I also think that all 4 year olds are pretty quirky, so many of the unusual behaviors don't stand out with the really high functioning kids until they reach a certain age, for us it was by about 7 that there was simply no more room for denial about something being up.

As far as what you did wrong, I am betting nothing. AS is genetic, and there are possible environmental triggers too, but we don't know what those are yet. It sounds like you have all your children in a very enriched environment that promotes learning, and that you really value who your son is, these are great things! Now that you know about the AS, it may be time to work really specifically and deliberately on social learning, if you haven't already, and keep advocating strongly for him at school...but his struggles are not your fault, and not something that you can take away, as much as you want to (although I have a difficult time accepting this myself). It is painful to see a child who once took so much joy in learning and who is clearly so intelligent struggle with school, I know. And it is hard to give up that vision of the child as gifted, for the more accurate vision of a child who has wonderful highs, but inescapable lows in their abilities (my sons are also both rock bottom for processing speed, and written work is a huge struggle, this seems pretty typical for many aspie kids).

I say don't worry anymore about the test scores or cognitive abilities. Get him to a point where he is feeling as confident and happy as possible and functioning well. Work hard on the social stuff and strategies for how to cope with his stress, the academics can always be caught up on later on. And don't give up on your vision of him as a healthy, happy contributing adult. For me it has been so key to hold onto this like a talisman, the belief that they CAN, the belief that there will be a niche for them as adults, a place where their own unique talents will be appreciated, a belief that we can carve out happiness and peace for them right now in a childhood fraught with obstacles...I absolutely need to believe all of these things, and they need me to hold onto these goals and positivity for them, because they often can't when they are overwhelmed and anxious. My sons are both incredible people. The world may not always be able to see this, but I can. And it sounds like you can too for your son!

I don't know if this answered any of your questions, but your post struck a chord with me. I have felt many of the same feelings and wondered the same things. Hang in there. I think you will get to say, "Babe you did it!" one day. It just may take a little longer or be in response to different goals than you had once envisioned.

I haven't had time to read the whole thing in detail, but will try to do that later and get back to you.

By law the public schools in the USA are for everybody and they are required to differentiate and meet the needs of each child so they can accell academically. Sometimes resources for the ideal solution are not an option, but they are required to try. Saying that the school is "not for kids like yours" is illegal and could cause them some serious problems. If they put that in writing I'd take that to the state or national level.

We have some of the same struggles. My eldest son is very disruptive and very bright. He's had to be pulled out of Honors this year because of mood disorder issues which have been agravated by the changes he's going through during puberty. It's been a wild ride. He's academically capable it comes of hard work and a bright mind, not stellar IQ abilities. His AS tendancies to focus on what interest him can take him farther than his IQ or other scores indicate. He loves programming and robotics and is capable of reasearch scientist level work in that area, but has the IQ of a middle manager (that's about all IQ is good for, giving a general idea of academic success and potential job placement in a vague way).

Middle son has the research scientist IQ, but with a low energy level and difficulty focusing due to his ADHD. His Aspie drive and interests are going to get him there even if he takes a lighter course load along the way. His WISC-II indicates he's functioning well below his ability level. He isn't haveing enough problems at school to get official services, but is clearly underserved. The budget is overstretched so I'm not choosing this battle to fight.

Little Guy has an above average IQ but the WISC-II indicates incredible abilities, far beyond what the IQ predicts, opposite to Middle Brother. He didn't speak until he was 5, and was once dx'd as PDD-NOS but now appears not to be (not cured, put possibly misdiagnosed). He has a voracioius need for academic challenge and the biggest fight I'm facing now is getting that for him. It's not easy.

I can't really compare your scores in that form because my kids too different tests. It'd be easier to see the percentiles as those are easier to correlate to different tests. It looks like your son has a lot of strengths, but some pretty significant behavioral issues. I'd love to chat more about it.