So, guess what I learned at the last IEP I went to. There are three types of autism! Who knew? And all this time they've been talking about a spectrum. Hopefully the dripping sarcasm comes across, because this kind of crap really ticks me off.
This statement was from a supposed expert who's had training. That has got to make you ask what sort of bozos are giving training. I started asking said expert what the three types were (black, white and oriental, or overweight, underweight and average or perhaps something more cryptic like red, green or blue?), but when he/she said they couldn't remember I figured I'd better drop the subject quick before I got mad and brought the meeting to a screeching halt. As prevalent as autism is you'd think that BCPSS could have some half-way decent training. And what do you want to bet that they paid good money for some supposed expert to yammer on about all sorts of outdated and disproved ideas about autism? Honestly, that kind of misinformation is worse than no training at all.
I don't want to give the impression that the meeting went badly. There was a lot of open and honest conversation. That was pretty refreshing. No bombshells were dropped - that was what kept me from getting a good sleep the night before. There were some creative solutions to problems offered. All in all, a pretty good IEP meeting. And the above mentioned expert came late and left early, another big plus for me.
I've heard this argument before. I've also heard, more commonly, a "five types of autism spectrum disorder" argument: "Classic" Autism, Asperger's, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Rett's Syndrome and PDD-Not Otherwise Specified.
ReplyDeleteThe three-types argument leaves out Rett's and CDD.
I'd be curious to know who told you this, especially since they had to show that they were so damn smart, except they couldn't finish the paragraph. I'm also wondering how much difference this newfound knowledge (heh) really made in the overall team decision.
Sometimes I feel as though I'm wasting my graduate major.
The comment wasn't that there were three types of autistic disorders, it was that there were three types of autistic kids and that once you knew the type of autistic kid, you knew how to deal with them. To which I responded "As they say, if you've seen one person with autism, you've seen one person with autism." This went straight over their head.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this person contributed to the discussion. Maybe a little distraction, but we weren't sidetracked. Honestly, I think this person was pretty much ignored.