well the doctor called to check with me on all of his recommendations from isaac's eval and had some news that we expected but yet still were not prepared for. isaac did end up picking up a new label and darn it, only two weeks from his first meeting with the school. He is going to be diagnosed with mild mental retardation "for now" because of his inability to perform at his testing. i am not sure if this is a valid diagnosis or not, only time will tell if it is, and fortunately his doctor is really adament that this could improve because isaac was not able to focus.

this is not unexpected but it seems so unfair to heap more on his plate. our son has sooo much going on right now. we had a baby in march, we moved the 1st of may, he is starting new therapy, and will be transitioning to the public school this year. i was just getting to the point where i was feeling in more control of things too:) i was thinking, yes, i could be one of those mom's that advocate so strongly and wield enough knowledge to get all the services he needs dispite any opposition from the school. at this point in time i just feel robbed of my confidence. i feel like i have to start over preparing for this meeting and that this news has knocked all of my ducks out of the row i was putting them in.

i know this label has absolutely no bearing on isaac. he couldnt care less. he is still the lovable and happy boy he was just hours ago:) and it doesnt even change how we proceed with his plan but it knocks ME back a few steps and now i am worried about getting myself back on track to make sure things go "well" on the 26th.

anyhow sorry so long but ugh!:) just one of those days:)

I know just how you feel. Remember though that Autistic children are extremely difficult to test. There are so many things swirling around in their heads that they have a hard time focusing on the test and are very easily distracted. I'd like to suggest a video to you - it's called "Autism is a World" by Sue Rubin. Her story is also here:

Sue Rubin (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6999831/site/newsweek/)

(linking isn't working for some reason)

She's really a remarkable woman who for the first 13 years of her life was labeled as MR (functioning at the level of a 2.5 year old), but once she started to open up and be able to communicate (using fascilitated communication) she was found to have a genius IQ.

What set MY mind to rest is that I watched the test my son was given and yesterday I decided to re-create the test at home in my son's comfort zone and he did fantastic. I took a great sigh of relief, I must say. :D

My son is 7 and on his last evaluation with the school he didn't score well. She explained that while the scores were in the MR range, there were a couple of areas where he excelled which made him not qualify for that "label". Anyway, he's never done well on standardized testing, but I can tell you that he is doing grade level work in a regular ed first grade without an aid. Of course his teacher is FANTASTIC, but he amazes everyone with how well he is doing. We never new if he would read, add, spell, etc...and he's doing it all! But still can't pass the phychologists tests in all areas. He is not MR, so not even the school puts any weight on the test. If you don't feel he is MR don't ever let the school "slack off" in trying to make progress. All of our kids can acheive- even if they are MR.

So many autistic children have been erroneously labeled as "retarded" because of their difficulties. Raun Kaufmann, the young man in the book "Son Rise," was diagnosed as a little boy as "severely retarded," with an I.Q. score below 30. Today, he possesses a genius level intelligence and has accomplished a great deal.

I did not have problems that severe, but I began school in kindergarten speaking very little English. (My first language was German.) Within a year, I was reading at fifth grade level. I learned Spanish in high school. Had it not been for my first grade teacher, I don't think I would have achieved what I did. I wound up getting a Master's Degree in English in 1991.

we are not sure one way or another whether or not isaac is MR and it will be a long time until he feels up to letting us know i am sure.:) but we did get the physc eval back today and it gave us a little clue as to why he did so badly even if he wasnt MR. he scored severely autistic, which we knew:), and he scored in the clinical range for ADD/ADHD, opposition defiance disorder, pervasive developement problems, and internalizing and externalizing problems (whatever that means). anyhow, we are looking at a lot of work before he can even let us know just how much he knows but i think its a bit more than he can display right now. i just wish again that i had more time to digest this before i have to go meet with the school about him but atleast we have this much time and were not surprised with it last second:)

thanks for all the replies everyone! helps to know that there are other turkeys like our son making life difficult for diagnositic testers everywhere!

Internalizing behaviors are those that are not normally considered "acting out" kinds of behaviors (withdrawal, depression). Externalizing behaviors are the "acting out" kinds of behaviors like Aggression, Hyperactivity, Conduct Problems. Hope that helps with that part of the results. I read the whole thread and want to reassure you that these other folks on here (and you) are right :) Kids with autism spectrum disorders are very difficult to test and get any sort of valid results. Most IQ tests are really measures of verbal ability and kids with autism typically have great difficulty with verbal skills. Wouldn't pay much attention to any IQ test (on a kid labeled with a disability or not)....they don't tell us much about kids and CERTAINLY don't tell anyone how to teach the child. Like you said, your son is still the same kiddo he was yesterday and the day before-regardless of all the labels. :)