SPECTRUM CONNECTION

By Toni Lapp

If you’re the parent of a student with an autism-spectrum disorder, you have most likely participated in an individual education program (IEP) meeting for your child.

For many families, the annual meeting is a stressful event in which educators converse using unfamiliar acronyms and bewildering jargon, and parents rubber-stamp their signatures to a document that they don’t understand and didn’t have a hand in developing.

It needn’t be that way.

As the legal education decision maker for the student, parents often do not realize the power that they wield.

As a result, parents may fail to fully exercise their influence at these meetings, says Jeanne Holverstott, an Overland Park autism specialist. Sometimes parents just don’t know what they can ask for.
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By Toni Lapp
My son’s grade card arrived yesterday. For most parents, the arrival of the end-of-year grades is an occasion to celebrate. I’m just happy if there are no F’s. (It’s sometimes hard to explain this to family and friends: “No, my kid’s not on the honor roll, but he passed all his classes.”)

This year the most heartening news was that Ryan had received high marks in not just one, but two, count ‘em, two classes — Economics and Naval Science (Junior ROTC). Both these classes were led by teachers with whom my son had a good rapport, confirming my belief that behavioral issues are reduced when students on the spectrum have a positive connection with the instructor.
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By Toni Lapp
“There are three types of people who use special modifications,” my son informed me recently. Ryan has long resisted having modifications allowed for him, so understandably, his statement got my attention.

For the uninitiated, “modifications” are accommodations made for students, usually in special ed programs, to support them in completing their coursework. There are a variety of modifications: assignments are shortened, tests are taken in a secluded setting where test-taking time might be lengthened, a note-taker or paraprofessional might be assigned to a student who writes poorly, and so on.

My son has been wary of modifications being made for him, lest it draw attention to his status as a special ed student. I’ve often implored him to use them.
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