Had the BIG conference..whisper v's bang
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| Fri, 09-28-2007 - 3:22pm |
So we had a conference with Liam's teacher today due to all the email malarkey, a couple of weeks ago, as well as Liam's explosive behavior. Now here's the rub. Liam has been GREAT this week. He even earned the Leapster that was sitting taunting him on the kitchen counter for the last months (he needs all 4's or 5's out of 5 for a week to get it.) The meeting was supposed to be with the teacher as well as her supervisor, the director of the special needs school (it's a satellite class in a reg elementary school). "course the flippin' director bailed, but we only found out once we got there and dh had to take a half day off for this. We did get some good info like they will be starting some inclusion in reg classes (math) in January, but my fantasy of him being mainstreamed in any real way was dashed. he'ss be in partial inclusion until at the very least next October, 3rd grade. Now the other rub is they say he's in 2nd grade, but really he's still doing 1st grade level work. We all know he's capable of more, but Liam's the type of kid, you raise the bar so much he'll "maybe" meet you there.
Then after 3rd grade, who knows as that's as high as this program goes. After that he's thrown back into the reg spec e people, and that means mainstreamed with an IEP or in another self contained classroom for 4-6th grade. I know 4th grade is ages away, but I do feel if they won't really get him back on basic grade level in 2nd grade, how on earth will he survive in mainstream???? Sigh.... Oh and dh is planning to send a "professional" bitchmail to the director who bailed without telling us....helps when you are a teacher in the district, lol. And we get to do it all again in two weeks for Liam's BIG IEP meeting....Jaysus!
Dee








Dee,
Sorry the supervisor was a no show. I wanted to tell you that Max is mainstreamed for the first time this year (1st grade) and it is not an easy transition. He is at a new school (he was sent back to our home school). He acts up on purpose to be sent to the Small Group class. He has only had two days where he
Dear Dee,
And just remember some children are not necessarily meant to be included in general ed classes. But there are other ways to address the education part, such as augmenting his academics outside the classroom and finding other inclusive settings more appropriate for our children in terms of participating fully -- school is such a HARD place for our kids. We may never have Malcolm in an inclusion classroom at this rate, but he is learning how to have great friendships with NT and ASD kids, to use self-control in large group settings, and still staying challenged and (in our case) way above grade level academically with a homeschool situation. Funny note : He is having so much fun with the learning that he doesn't think he is being schooled much... I heard him tell his friend it's all easy and not like school HA! But he does still wish he was IN school with his friends.
Our neuropsych said something so wise many years ago which I have always taken to heart and remembered when tempted to be down about our situation ... She said (paraphrasing) "Remember, we don't require of grownups that they spent 6 - 7 hours a day in the company of 23 - 40 other people their exact age, getting information spoken by a teacher, required to sit calmly at a desk hour after hour. The goal is to have (ds) grow up as a happy, well-balanced human being who can be independent, have friendships, maybe even get married and raise a family should he choose to, have meaningful work... And school as is provided by the state is not necessary to attaining those goals. How your child will be successful will be particular to your child, and thinking outside the box often finds the best solutions."
So far, she is so right!!! Just as Malcolm seems to refuse to do ANYTHING the way others do ... Liam has his own path, you are just there to help him. Whether or not he is mainstreamed by 3rd is not the criteria for his sucess. Our kids are not shy about finding ways to let us know what they need, and providing it WILL bring about the best results, whether or not the parents are happy about it.
smooches,
Sara
Oh Sara, thank ye Gods you are here!!!
Yes you are so right, I just needed to take ye olde big step back and reflect. His path is full of so many options; and he's sooo brilliant.
Ta,
Dee :)