How My Son With Asperger’s Is Doing In The Second Grade
My son was diagnosed with Asperger’s when he was five. That was in the middle of his preschool year. We started with ABA therapy right away. He started kindergarten a few months later. That was a challenging year. He had full-time ABA with him at school. 1st grade was similar only we encountered some other issues. However, other types of behaviors got better. It seems like it is two steps forward, one step back with him.
In the middle of last year I felt strongly that it might be a good idea to have him in the special needs class because of his Asperger’s. He was having quite a lot of behavioral problems. We also worked on having the school take over more than having ABA with him. This was an important step to me and something we were working towards. Towards the end of 1st grade things got a little better but I wasn’t sure how it was going to go for second grade. I knew the school was working hard with us to make sure he was getting the help he needed to get through each day. They also assured me that at anytime I can call an IEP meeting. When summer started I just knew that no matter what we would be able to figure out how to get through second grade.
Now we are about six weeks into the school year. Overall he is doing really well. I am thankful for this. He grew a lot during the summer and I could really tell he was a different kid than he was at the end of 1st grade, although with some of the same behavioral issues. He is in a regular class and that seems to be going well overall. Not so many behavioral issues, he gets on the bus a lot easier than he ever has too. His biggest issue is not wanting to do the school work he needs to do. We are making him do it once he gets home and that has been hard.
I am not sure how the rest of the year is going to go. We had an IEP meeting last week and will have another one after fall break next month. He has a list of goals and he is slowly working towards them. Some days are easier than others.
What we want for him is to know that school is important, that the work he does at school is important and that he has to go to school each day before he can play or relax. The thing about him is that if he doesn’t see the reason for it, he doesn’t want to do it. This was a major issue last year. He didn’t see why he had to go to school so he fought it a lot. I think this year he is understanding more how it works. You go to school Monday through Friday, then you have the weekends free. You go to school until about 3pm, do your homework and then you can do what you want. I think the more he understands this, the better he will be about school. I am hoping anyways.
Do you have a child with special needs? How is school going for them?
Last Updated on June 24, 2021 by Writer
