My son has Sensory Issues & needs help to get approved for Special Ed

[bugsntazz]

Hello from Austin TX,,,

We live in Round ROck a bit north of Austin. My son is now 8 years old. He was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder in Kindergarten. He was in OT for his arm, and his OT actually tested him. She then sent us to a very good Neurologist that was experienced in sensory processing. Kindergarten was a very rough year for him. He is a very bright child as well and did not qualify for special ed. We did convince the school district that he qualified for Section 504 for both sensory and his arm. I took the modification paper to his Neurologist and OT, we checked off alot of things, ranging from following directions, allowing more time to answer, work, to rules on timeout, cooling down,. We constantly had meetings with the principal. Finally, my OT recommended that his teacher go to a Sensory Seminar in San Antonio. It was designed for teachers and care givers. It literally, made the enviroment copy how the sensory child perceives it. His teacher spent the entire day there. After that boy did the rest of the year go smoother.
You have to be in constant communication with your son's teacher and get to know the principal too. We also started Sensory therapy. He had a great first grade teacher. Second grade teacher was terrible, so I did put him in Private. He has been there for 2 years and went from failing 2nd grade and being labeled with behaviour problem to being honor student with excellent behavior alot harder cirriculm.

[evee]

Hi Carolyn,

I will try looking in our phone book for that information. As for the doctor writing the letter, he lets his secretary type the letters and then he signs them. I hate that idea because the secretary doesnt know anything about my sons medical conditions. I tried calling her in the past about a letter I needed and that it needed to say what his disabilities are. I told her she needed to explain the sensory etc. And she just says, What do you want me to put in the letter? She told me to send her a sample letter and that she would type it out on letterhead. I was upset cause I knew if the letter wasnt perfect then my son wouldnt qualify in this disability program. I will try again maybe he would do it himself if I complain.

Hugs
Evee & Christian

[evee]

Hi bugsntazz,

I am glad to hear from someone in Texas. Since the laws are different in other states. My son is not in school yet. He is 4 yrs and is very excited to attend school. He has only been to respite care on the weekends. I am still waiting for someone to call me from the school to set up another ARD meeting to see if they will reconsider excepting him in special ed. He has a brain injury (permanent), sensory issues, bpi (recovered). He is very smart. He just is very hyper, very loud, and has behavior problems due to both disabilities above. I will ask them about the section 504. His neurologist is very good. He has so many patients. But, he does not treat patients with sensory issues. He believes we all have some sort of sensory issues. He doesnt believe that bpi and sensory issues are related. I think I will find another rehab doctor.

Thanks for all the information. I will post again with any new news about Christian and the special ed.

thanks
Evee

[evee]

My son is 4 yrs. old and was diagnosed with LBPI at 4 months, brain injury (at 2 yrs)(happened in utero), sensory processing disorder at 2 yrs. My son was tested with the school district for a disability program when he turned 3 yrs. He scored high so they did not approve him and said he would be placed in regular classes. They never got to see how much he misbehaves. He has severe sensory issues. I told them about everything he does at home. I also told them he hurts himself, throws things, hits me, screams, cries, plays rough, doesn't like foam, shampoo, play dough, swings and has social problems etc. But, when they tested him he was good especially since they brought in children to play with him. They told me if he did have sensory issues that he cannot turn them on and off. My son also is still not potty trained due to his brain injury. He was diagnosed with Incontinence due to the brain injury. He still didn't qualify. I cannot enroll him in school cause he is not potty trained. I tried so many times but he is very confused and is scared to sit on the toilet. Even though my son was diagnosed with the above conditions the school district doesn't think he qualify to be in special Ed. My son is very smart but I wanted him in the program because of his other disability Sensory Processing Disorder,Brain injury, which both cause behavior problems and learning problems. His neurologist says that he needs to be with other children and that being placed in school will help him with his sensory problems. I need advise on what to do. What kind of doctor does he need to see for his Sensory issues? He was seeing a Rehab doctor but he couldn't tell me what type of sensory issues he has. How can I get him into the special Ed program. I also need help with what to do with him when we go out to eat, movies, store. He screams, yells, cant sit still in cart, movies or restaurant.


Thank you,
Evee