Issues With School
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| Tue, 01-16-2007 - 1:26am |
The schools in my area stink. Tanner needs behavior mod/counseling and they aren't initiating his IEP. They put it in his IEP that that's what he needs to succeed but then said that the teacher could do that. The teacher doesn't have the ability to help my son when she's teaching a class of 35 kids! I am so frustrated with his IEP team. I do behavior mod with Tanner at home, and the teacher says he participates well in class but sticks to himself during recess. He's still a literalist, and as he gets older (he's 10 now) he's becoming more aware that he's "different" than other kids... and it's starting to matter to him. How do you handle the complexities of socialization as your child negotiates prepubescence & puberty? (Middle School & High School)? I'm terrified most of the time. Any tips BTDT would really help.
Thanks,
Laura

first {{{HUGS}}}
second Post on the Special Education Plans board. Steph is a genius with this stuff
third Vic is 10 and in 5th grade. He is extremely aware of his differences. I have done so much with his IEP and gone as far as moving teachers to one more understanding of his situation. Victor has an open door to the guidance councelor, use of the computer at his discretion, situated at the front of the class, and after the 31st he will have OT therapy.
Victor knows his modifications also. I went through it with him and told him what his own rights were but that just because he had "special" things to help him learn, that meant he had the responsibility of not gloating about it also.
You have a right not to leave that meeting until you are satisfied with your son's IEP. You have a right to spell out the teacher's obligations for her with her present.
If you are not happy at the end of the meeting, you have a right to ask for another meeting to continue discussing the IEP until all parties are satisfied. If they try to tell you no, then ask who you go to above the principal's head to discuss the next option to get your son the help he needs. ( most of the time, that gets the principal's attention but if not, Steph can tell you who's next)
{{{Hugs}}} I understand what you're going through tho. I have had 4 IEP meetings this year just for my son and am working on meeting 5. I refuse to give up tho until we get everything situated. I can't afford to give up.
Alexis
When my son was in 5th grade they set up a friendship group for him. He met once a week for 30mins with the guidence counselor to play games. We was allowed to pick 2 kids from his class to go with him each week as long as he picked new kids each time so everyone got a turn. Between this and antiviral therapy http://www.enzymestuff.com/rtVirusStudyReport.htm ds went from walking around a tree stimming alone every recess to playing, unpromted, with a big group of kids at recess. The other thing the school did that was very helpful was let ds take a tour of the middle school brining classmates along every friday (the last trimester of the yr). This really made the transition to middle school easier for him and cemented relationships with his peers. This yr he's also getting speech therapy to improve his social communicaiton skills and body language. He continues to get friendship group but they are in the process of phasing it out because they/we don't think he needs it anymore.
Keep fighting that school untill you are satisfied he's getting his needs met. We literally met monthly with the IEP team in 5th grade and it paid off.
Samantha