How to Advocate for Your Child with Asperger’s

1. How to Advocate for Your Child with Asperger’s Children with Asperger’s are smart and capable. But, as a teen, your child may not know how to navigate the school system to get the special education services they need. Be your child’s biggest advocate and teach them how to stand up for their own needs.

2. Children with special needs like Asperger’s are supposed to get appropriate services and accommodations to help them succeed in public schools. Unfortunately, it often ends up being the parents’ responsibility to advocate and recognize if a school is under-serving their child.  In extreme conditions, this may mean suing their school district to get their child’s needs met.

3. A 2000 study by the National Council on Disability found that, “Federal efforts to enforce the law have been inconsistent, ineffective and lacking real teeth over several administrations. Enforcement is the burden of the parents who too often must invoke formal complaint procedures and due process hearings including expensive and time-consuming litigation to obtain services their children are entitled under the law.”

4. Academic difficulties are overlooked. At a very early age, schools seem to give up on children with special needs and begin passing them through the grades without addressing their learning issues. For example, one student at Southeast Journeys is currently in twelfth grade, but tests at a seventh-grade reading level and comprehends at a fourth-grade level.

5. Modifications are not granted. Intelligent students are not passing classes because of standard academic evaluations such as end-of-grade tests. Students who struggle with written expression are often considered unteachable instead of being given an Alpha Smart personal computer or note-taker to help them take tests more successfully.

6. Know the Alternatives to Public Schools Sometimes advocating for your child in public school may not be enough. Despite your best efforts, public schools may not be able to meet your child’s needs. In these situations, many parents enroll their child in a specialized school for children with learning disabilities or special needs.

7. If you’re looking for a new school for a child with Asperger’s, ask yourself these questions: Are the teachers trained to specifically deal with children with Asperger’s? What is the average IQ of students at the school? Are most students there because of behavioral issues? What is the classroom’s student-to-teacher ratio? How is each student’s progress evaluated? How do teachers deal with behavioral interruptions? Do teachers and staff address the student holistically?

8. To learn more about specialized residential programs for adolescents needing professional help, please call the toll free number at (844) 211- 1356.