We have been saying all along that we thought my son had autism and the teachers an most everyone did not believe us there was even a phsycologist that didn't believe us. It has been so irritating! Finally the school sent an autism specailist to watch him at school for a few days and she said that yes he has autism, My question is that the school said they did not want to label him as autistic but that they would put some things in place to help him learn better. So should I try and make them label him as autistic in school or not. He is sbout to be a freshman in high school next year. So please let me know. Pamela

[This Message was Edited on 12/16/2008]

Hi PRC,

I know this will not anwer your questions, but I had to pass this info along....

Your son has symptoms of autism and I saw that you have FM.

I had a FM diagnosis for 21 years until I discovered through my own research, the CAUSE of my FM symptoms. While researching this info, I also read how the same bacteria can be the cause of autism in some children.

It is entirely possible that both of you have a Borrelia infection. That is the bacterial spirochete that causes lyme disease.

Lyme is very complicated. It can mimic FM, CFS, MS, RA, ALS, autism, ADHD, Parkinson's and other illnesses.

Very few Dr's are able to recognize the symptoms, especially if it isn't diagnosed right away.

Even fewer are knowledgable about how to diagnose lyme. Many people think that the Dr has properly tested for it and ruled it out, but the tests are very poor and Dr's don't understand how to test and how to interpret them.

Lyme can be transmitted from mother to fetus also, as well as sexually transmitted.

Texas has alot of ticks. Many people do not remember a bullseye rash or a tick bite....I don't, but I have lyme.


Ticks also carry other diseases such as babesia, bartonella, ehrlichia and anaplasma, to name a few. One tiny tick can transmit several diseases.
I am on the lyme board frequently.

If you get this message and have questions or want more info, leave a post on the lyme board.

Here are just a couple links with info. Please be open minded. I wish I had this info 21 years ago......


http://www.ilads.org/insurance.html

http://www.lymepa.org/Basics2007v1.2Rev.pdf (has a great symptom checklist too)

[This Message was Edited on 03/15/2009]

Hi PRC,
I have a six year old on the autism spectrum. He has Asperger syndrome.

It is good that the school wants to put things in place to help your son. Will you get an IEP for him? If so they have to decide the disability to check on the form. Our son was not diagnosed when he entered the school with an IEP at 3 yo. So the box that was checked was OHI (other health impaired). In Kinder we had finally received confirmation of his ASD diagnosis and insisted that his IEP had Autism checked as the disabliling condition. We do not have a problem with labels if it will get him services. You can always go back and have that label taken out of his school records. They would always try to say it didn't matter which box is checked but why check a box that doesn't fit your son's dx? I think we have gotten services through having the box checked. I requested an autism specialist observe him a recess (which is a difficult time for our kids) to see what could help.

The school cannot diagnose autism you would need a medical diagnosis. The school does not have to agree with the medical dx either. We had a bit of a fight with the school, but got the box checked in the end.

These are just my opinion. I cannot tell you if it will really help in your situation. Is there a support group in your area? The Autism Society of America has groups around the country. Sometimes the best info is from the other mom's you meet in your area and have experience in your school district.

Molly

Having worked in Special Education for many years this is a hard one to call without knowning your son.

I agree with Molly. If it will get your son extra services either now or in the future I would put the label as Autism.

However would they have Autism come first or second. I would say probably first but I do not know your son and depends on where he falls in the spectrum.

One piece of advice. Do not let the school district put him in a BD or ED class. I had several students with Aspergers who certainly did not benefit from being put in the program where I worked. Once they were put in out program it was hard to get the students in a more appropriate program.

Sometimes the schools will want a different label as they do not want to pay for services. It just depends on the school district.

Has he been in Special Ed. and if so what was the diagnosis. Does he need an aide to work with him during class?

Do you have an advocate? Here one has to be provided for you. They know the ins and outs of different resources and have dealt with a lot of different school districts.

It really took a long time for your son to be identified.

I just noticed that your post is from last December. Can you give us an update. I hope things are working out for you and your son.

Take care.
gap

A label is just a label but it does get services.

My daughter has been labelled with a bunch of labels and these labels have helped us get appropriate school and community services and this will continue on into her adulthood.

Kina.

PS -- some people believe that everything is caused by the lyme bacteria, it is highly unlikely that lyme causes autism.

Look for the thread linking autism to things like cell phones and wireless computers, not to mention the towers and antennas that make these technologies work.

Here it is...

http://www.prohealth.com/autism/blog/boardDetail.cfm?id=148&setboard=autism&CFID=98813719&CFTOKEN=68502399

I'd also google Electrosensitivity, Electro Hypersensitivity, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, and Microwave Sickness - lots of names for an emerging environmental illness linked to these exposures that shares symptoms with autism.

Kids and teens are ALL using these devices now - some schools even have cell phone and wifi antennas right on the premises now, some even disguised as palm trees and flagpoles or mounted directly to school buildings. The school district receives rent money from the cell phone providers for allowing the provider to place the antenna or tower on school property.

Look around in your neighborhood and next time you drive past your child's school. These towers and antennas are literally everywhere.

Search for towers and antennas here:
www.antennasearch.com

The graph below is for the UK, but I can't imagine the number of subscribers/connections per year in the UK being much different from the number in the US.

Graph of # of Mobile Connections - 1987 to 2009
http://www.mobilemastinfo.com/information/history.htm