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As knowledge about autism grows, so does awareness about the lack of attention schools give to AS children. Looking around, I'm seeing the same dilemma over and over again, smart children being placed in special ed for a social problem. The irony of this being almost sickening. Isolating the AS children only further divides them, making them a target for taunting, while they themselves realize they don't belong with the kids in special ed. The problem is that they are too smart to be separated, but not controllable when placed with NT kids.

That being said I propose a program that will help AS children, and urge you as parents to consider it. I believe that there be a class designed specifically for AS kids, one that helps to address issues associated with this condition. The basic idea I have is simple, a classroom with two or more teachers specialising in dealing with asperger's children.

Opinions?

I think that you could be onto something here.

In the early elementary grades, I think this could be a really great thing. Concentrate on social skills, especially at the times when often our AS kids are somewhat advanced academically anyways. At some point, though, I do think that they need to be mainstreamed. Probably around third grade. If there was a big enough concentration of AS kids at one school, it would be good to prep the NT kids about AS in advance, so they would know what to expect.

Our son just entered middle school, and we are really trying hard to pull him out of almost all special ed classes, because of the ostracism. I'm not going to pretend like he has lots of friends, but he has enough, and I think that not labeling him as "special ed" would be good for his future.

Kris

I think this is a really good idea that is long over-due. I'm not a parent, but I feel strongly about this issue because of my own experiences with school. Even at what was supposed to be the best school in the city, my abilities were ignored and all the focus was placed on my social problems. That school didn't have special ed, but I did get singled out by teachers as a "problem child" and ostracized by other kids. For example, I wasn't allowed to take part in school plays because I didn't pay attention in their rote-learning-based classes. They would let me audition, tell me what part they would have given me, and then tell me I couldn't participate because I was an under-achiever. Kids with AS have different learning styles than other kids. In order to be interested in school, they have to be challenged intellectually and allowed to pursue their interests. The "social training" that exists in regular classes includes convincing these kids to hide their talents in order to fit in. Then it's no wonder many of them end up having trouble with jobs as adults. I agree--kids with AS don't belong in either special ed or regular classes.

I'm not sure what the best way to go for an aspy school is but I sure learned a lot from my aspy son about what works for him.

My son was so miserable in school that I took him out. The IEP's meant nothing. During the years that he was out of school, we felt guilty because we weren't sure how to successfully home school him. So everytime he asked a question, we went overboard to tell him more than he wanted to know.

When he turned 17 we wondered what would become of him. We put him back into school, hoping that, this way, we'd find out about available services. The school said that he'd age out before getting enough credits to graduate. They didn't want to deal with him but they tested him anyway. He tested very high. The testers complimented us on our home schooling skills. Yeah, right. It was all his desire to learn.

So they said that since he couldn't graduate, he could take whatever classes he wanted and see where it took him. It took him to teachers who were allowed to follow their hearts and teach him on his terms because his grades didn't matter. He learned more about people and hmself by being around them without the anxiety of not finishing homework. Most of his teachers said that he learned the material so well that he was teaching other students. He learned on his terms, not some consultant's idea of what he should do to learn.

He's in community college right now. They never asked if he had a diploma. He loves college. It's more natural for him but he still misses out on key details about homework assignments but we have a good relationship with the teachers. Everyday my son understands more about himself and it getting more independant.

Hi Im not sure I agree with there being a class for AS kids or a school just for AS. I feel this again would be singling these special kids out, something Im learning they just dont want. What would be better is there to be education for the educators and for all the kids on socializing and being allowed to be individuals. Perhaps smaller classrooms with a mixed range of ages and abilities. We have a school like this is our area not sure exactly how it works tho. Prep through to grade six. Everyone helps each other, several teachers in each class to accomedate, give the parents an over view of what should be acheived for each term at the start of the term, then allow each child to get there at their own pace and in their own style.
Just a thought

I think that it's best to remove whatever causes aspies to feel too mucn anxiety and fear of meltdowns. I don't care if the school thinks they need to provide a "balanced" curriculum. It's much better to have a confient kid, than one who knows who wrote MacBeth but can't face going to class anymore.

Eventually, everything the kid needs in education will catch up because the kid will feel more confident to tackle the scarier subjects.