• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Joining this Forum without Autism but with a Special Request

G

girl_clear_intentions

New Member
Hey there, everyone, First off, I want to apologize if it seems a little strange that I'm here without having autism myself. But please hear me out—I'm genuinely here with good intentions, and I hope you'll understand my reasons for joining this forum. I'm currently working on a research project about Improving inclusive education for autistic students, and I need more information on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
I totally get that this is your space, and I respect that. I'm not here to intrude or make anyone uncomfortable. I believe that your perspectives can truly enhance my understanding of IEPs.
I would be incredibly grateful for any information or resources you can share about IEPs. I'm eager to learn more about how they work, what they involve, and who is involved in the process. Your firsthand experiences and expertise are crucial in helping me develop a well-rounded understanding and an appropriate questionnaire for the collection of data.
I want to emphasize that my goal here is all about inclusivity and understanding. By learning directly from those who have experienced IEPs, my research can create a positive impact and foster greater empathy within the professional and broader communities.

I hope my presence here doesn't feel out of place, and I genuinely appreciate your willingness to help me out. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Thank you so much for your time, and I'm truly grateful for any support and guidance you can offer. Let's connect and learn from each other!
 
Since there are multiple resources on-line regarding IEPs, in which you can research on your own, I am thinking you are more interested in "the experience" from an autistic individual's perspective.

Something to consider, and perhaps, an "angle" to your research is the fact that for the past 30 years, or so, there is an ever increasing body of knowledge to suggest that autism is a prenatal genetic/epigenetic medical condition with unique anatomical and physiological features. In other words, the behavior, at its core, is secondary to the anatomy and physiology, then can be later affected by life experiences, sensory interpretations, and learning, for better or worse. Now, depending upon the team leaders overseeing such IEPs, and their knowledge with regards to this, they may embrace more the "psychological model", the "medical model", or both. As we all know, "It's not what you do, but rather, how you do it." so I suspect you may receive some rather diverse experiences and feedback.
 
You are welcome here, @girl_clear_intentions - I myself have no experiences with IEPs. All I could possibly do to help you is tell you how school was for me, and what I'd have preferred. And I'd have to think about the latter. If you'd like, I'll ramble about it for you :)
 
Hello and welcome. I hope you can find what you are looking for here.

Remember to utilize all the information on here that has already been shared. You can search for different topics in the threads and you can always ask for help finding things.

I hope one take away that you have from being here is the diversity of the population of people with autism. You will find infinitely different stories and experiences shared here, yet an autistic brain is something that connects all of us.
 
My daughter is autistic. She was homeschooled for most of her life. But she was in public school for a few years of elementary school. We had great hardship acquiring an IEP. The school district said that because she was labeled a TAG (talented and gifted) kid, that she did not qualify for an IEP, even though she had special learning needs. She floundered in the school system after that, failing some classes, even though she was reading, writing, and doing multiplication and basic division before kindergarten.

Once I pulled her out and started homeschooling, going at the level she was at, and including her special interests in the curriculum, she ended up blooming as a student. She was doing high school level work long before high school. And in other subjects, she was doing elementary level work, halfway into high school, but soon caught up, and was college prep level by graduation.

I truly dislike industrialized education. Each child is unique and needs to learn at their own pace, if they are truly to learn, and not just memorize.
 
Yeshuasdaughter said:
My daughter is autistic. She was homeschooled for most of her life. But she was in public school for a few years of elementary school. We had great hardship acquiring an IEP. The school district said that because she was labeled a TAG (talented and gifted) kid, that she did not qualify for an IEP, even though she had special learning needs. She floundered in the school system after that. Once I pulled her out and started homeschooling, going at the level she was at, and including her special interests in the curriculum, she ended up blooming as a student. She was doing high school level work long before high school.
Click to expand...
Pretty much my experience. My grades were all As some years, barely passing others. My standardized tests were so high, they put me in the G&T (Gifted and Talented) class, where I was so ignored and assumed to be so smart, I flunked out. The material wasn't the issue. It was the teaching style.
.
I've learned more self-taught than through any formal training, though some classes were quite good.
 
girl_clear_intentions said:
Hey there, everyone, First off, I want to apologize if it seems a little strange that I'm here without having autism myself. But please hear me out—I'm genuinely here with good intentions, and I hope you'll understand my reasons for joining this forum. I'm currently working on a research project about Improving inclusive education for autistic students, and I need more information on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
I totally get that this is your space, and I respect that. I'm not here to intrude or make anyone uncomfortable. I believe that your perspectives can truly enhance my understanding of IEPs.
I would be incredibly grateful for any information or resources you can share about IEPs. I'm eager to learn more about how they work, what they involve, and who is involved in the process. Your firsthand experiences and expertise are crucial in helping me develop a well-rounded understanding and an appropriate questionnaire for the collection of data.
I want to emphasize that my goal here is all about inclusivity and understanding. By learning directly from those who have experienced IEPs, my research can create a positive impact and foster greater empathy within the professional and broader communities.

I hope my presence here doesn't feel out of place, and I genuinely appreciate your willingness to help me out. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Thank you so much for your time, and I'm truly grateful for any support and guidance you can offer. Let's connect and learn from each other!
Click to expand...
The best way to increase inclusion by autistics is to include them. This may not make much sense to you, but I think every one here will understand.

As far as IEP, in third grade, my teacher thought something was wrong, and called the district psychologist (they only had one for the entire school district in those days). After a battery of tests, she concluded I was highly intelligent but my grades were low because I was bored silly and didn't care, and recommended I be moved to a more advanced class. The school's response was that my grades were too low to justify moving me. IEP was unheard of in those days.
 
Quotes from California’s Autism Crisis – Autism Society San Francisco Bay Area ,
"These numbers imply substantial effect from increases in causal factors."
----
More than 2 decades ago, autism cases began to increase
More than two decades ago, California began to recognize a surprising increase in autism cases in its Department of Developmental Services (DDS) system. In 1999, DDS issued a report that showed a startlingly rapid rise over the previous decade in the number of persons receiving services for autism. The DDS is the California agency that is responsible for coordinating services for persons of all ages with qualifying developmental disabilities. In 1999 it reported that its caseload of the most severe form of autism had increased from 3,864 to 11,995, a 210% increase, far greater than the increases in other developmental conditions. The agency concluded, referring to its autism caseload:

“…the number of young children coming into the system each year is significantly greater than in the past, and that the demand for services to meet the needs of this special population will continue to grow.”
–California DDS 1999

In 2003, the DDS issued an update, which demonstrated that the rise in the caseload had not only continued unabated, but was becoming steeper every year.
In 2007, another DDS report documented the continuing dramatic increase in the autism caseload, noting that “the number of persons with autism being served by the regional centers rose 26 times faster than that of the general California population.”
In 2009, scientists at the UC Davis MIND Institute analyzed the California autism prevalence and incidence (i.e., new diagnoses) rates based on the DDS data and all births in the state. Comparing children born from 1990 to 2002, they confirmed a continuing increase in rates of autism diagnoses that was substantial —a 600% rise —and determined that this growth could not be explained by changes in the underlying population or changes in the way autism was diagnosed.
Now, nearly 20 years after that period, DDS data reflects a continuing upward surge in autism in the state.The purpose of this report is to help bring the public—including individuals and families affected by autism, service providers, and local, state, and federal policymakers—up to date about this urgent public health issue that seldom receives the attention it warrants...
----
From page 10,...
California DDS and US CDC have similar trends
•CDC Autism and Development Disability Monitoring Network (ADDM) reports show higher estimated prevalence than the California DDS finds
•This is expected, as the California DDS has more stringent criteria and excludes milder cases
 
The last chance for school to interest me came when I'd go wait for the bus with my math teacher, who was also a guidance counselor. He told me he'd talk cars with me if I'd improve my algebra. What he should have done was to set algebra problems involving car racing. I flunked out, knocked around a bit, and then went to the library. I was next seen in school lecturing to graduating engineers. I had only used algebraic formulas as part of a little BASIC program that did very original, award-winning engineering. Turns out there were lots of simple math questions that could avoid trial and error in building cars.
My advice to educators is to focus on finding out what special talents a student has, and feed those abilities, perhaps with material from much higher grade levels. On the other skills, just try to teach enough to function in society, not create a well-rounded personality that can't be detected as an act. The need for interpersonal skills should actually be reduced by training NTs to work with eccentric talents to make a productive team, like Cray and Rollwagen. I'd also recommend studying Finland's system, and watching the TED talks of Sir Ken Robinson and Sugata Mitra.
 
Welcome! I was diagnosed with autism as an adult. I was in university at that point. I met with the student counselor to see if accommodations were possible, but back then they just saw autism as a learning disability and that meant I could get more time for exams. Unfortunately, that was not at all what I needed.
 
Please feel welcome here. I know there are more people on this forum that are not autistic themselves but have joined for various reasons. Some might have partners or children who are autistic. Some my just be interested to learn for the source.
I have not experience with IEPs myself. But I currently work at a school as a pedagogical janitor. (direct translation) So my role is sort of counselor meets TA meets janitor. My co-worker has adhd and I am very likely autistic. Over the years we have developed our jobs ourselves to assist students. Both neurotypical as some neurodiverse. What we have seen is the lack of knowledge of various neuro-diviations in teachers. Be it ADHD, ADD, Autism or various other things that might structurally affect children's behaviour. I feel all teachers in every form of education should have atleast some basic knowledge of neurodiverse children. It should be a mandatory part of their own education. It will help a lot of children with ASD 1 to do much better in school. As will children with other neurotypical diviations.

Sorry if some terms seem odd, I translated them directly from the words I use in Dutch
 
Thank you @girl_clear_intentions for the clarity of your introduction.
I see that as very respectful - thank you for that

I hope you find good info here. There is a lot of info in older posts, and the search function is not too bad
 
welcome to af.webp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom