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Hi,

Just wondering if anyone can offer advice on what to do to help our DS, 7.
He was diagnosed at almost 5 with HFA. Now he is in grade 1 and attending a mainstream school but things are not going well.
The biggest issue is total inattentiveness, once the class starts he just withdraws completely into his own world (usually consisting of minecraft characters etc). He seems completely oblivious to what is happening around him - I will mention events or activities that supposedly happened at school and he has no idea what I am talking about. We have tried a weighted jacket and sensory cushion which both seemed to help initially but no longer seem to make any difference - and he doesn't like using either.
A few weeks ago, his speech therapist did a language assessment and his receptive language is in the moderately to severely delayed range. This goes a long way to explaining his seeming disinterest and we are working on it, with therapy etc
I just feel that he is destined to fail under these circumstances. He gets very little aide time in class - about 3 hours a week and while his school and teacher are well-intentioned, there is only so much they can do with limited resources and knowledge.
I have his PSG meeting for his Individual learning plan coming up and luckily, his speech therapist is going to come along and give her advice.
Has anyone else experienced this and can you offer any advise? I wonder if there are issues apart from ASD, such as OCD. I don't think it's ADHD as he is 'fidgety' but not over the top. He is not on any medication as up until now I have been completely apposed but now I am not sure...

There is fidgity ADHD and inattentive ADD, but I don't know if that is it. it is hard (for me) to separate ASD and ADD in a kid with ASD. Withdrawal into ones own world is not the same as AD inattentive.

My son would do this during non-preferred subjects. This makes sense to me. It was better the one year he had an off-the IEP one to one aide to redirect him. I should have pushed harder for a 1:1 para in his IEP, looking back on things, but I think I would have had to sue them. It is my biggest regret. They did not want to spend the money.

Can the teachers give you any more details about when your son zones out?

I do not have a kid in school with ASD, but I zoned out quite a bit as a kid and I still do. In first grade, I remember specifically one time that the teacher had to come to my desk and tap me to get my attention. She actually thought I had a hearing problem I was so lost in my own world - she had been calling me.

That did get better, and I had no intervention. I don't know how, though.

As an adult, I get lost in my own world and if someone just starts talking to me, sometimes I will not even be aware that anyone is talking. Other times, I will hear them talking, but won't catch what they said at first, "coming to" part way through their statement. I have to make them start all over again. The rule in the house is that they *MUST* call my name and get my full attention before beginning to speak. Otherwise, they get frustrated that I am not hearing what they are saying, and I look like I am rudely ignoring them.

I would find out more details if you can about the specific circumstances when your son zones out, if possible. Is it because he is bored? Is it because there is a drone of voices going on, like in a class discussion (though at that age, I doubt it.) Does the place where he sits in the classroom affect how much he zones out (eg. is he tuning out an annoying kid next to him, or is he too far away from the teacher?) Is the room too bright or too dim? Do the lights buzz and hum? (That was one of the most annoying things I had to deal with in school!)

I did earn my undergraduate degree in elementary education, and my guess is that there are some little details here and there that can help improve the situation and help your son to learn to manage himself better. Can you spend a day in the classroom as an observer? (I know that might not help because your son may act differently with you there.) Perhaps you can make a time to actually sit in his seat and try to "get on his level" to see if you notice anything that might be bothering him/contributing to the situation.

Look into ADHD inattentive. A med trial is pretty low risk -- the stimulant meds are well studied and clear the system within hours so if there are bad side effects you can just stop and be back to normal in a day or two. It can be a matter of trial and error over several months to find the right med and dose, or to conclude they aren't helpful, though.

I'd recommend getting a good advocate (an educational consultant not a lawyer) to help get the right accomodations in place, track progress, and potentially push for resource time or a change in placement if he isn't making good progress.

The teachers put me on a special plan of self-study from 2nd grade, and this helped me a lot because I was studying in my own world in the classroom, and didn't have to pay attention to anything else, but I have not heard of this kind of plan applied in general or even in any other specific case.