QUESTION please read

Sophia - posted on 09/29/2012

please dont start that normal thing... he has a dx. of adhd and a severe cognitive disability. he is your son .. all of him is yours. you fight for him to get what he needs... not what everyone has. and no one can tell you where to put your child. I would have set that person in their lane.. and let them know next time you will be run over dont over give answeras to questions I did not asked. go up in that school and tell them how you feel .. you dont care about what the so call normal kids are doing just yours. no child is without their own needs ..some just have more needs. I know I have 3 kids.

Jaimie - posted on 11/06/2008

Perhaps there are too many distractions in the classroom. My son was given a picture book so he was able to see what was going to happen next & a clock that would help him see how much time was left in the day They seemed to help him focus a little. . Does your son work with an aide that LIKES him?

Meghan - posted on 11/06/2008

Tina,
As you will find, your best resources to any information is the community. My favorite is to call 211. Or your local united way. They can get you pointed in the direction in your area with some one who can help you. And every school has a social worker who you can freely talk with about your concerns, and options on your childs education. Also there is a principal and a board of education. It is very sad to see that we live in a world that the amount of people with special needs is growing by the day, and yet they are put on the back burner. Also I use GOOGLE alot. It may take a long time to get answers or to make progress but in the end it is all worth it.

Julie - posted on 11/06/2008

How old is your son? I have a daughter with cerebral palsy and who is legally blind who is in kindergarten. Tina is right, you need to contact your local Parent to Parent organization and find out what services are available to you. You can easily be your child's advocate, but you need to understand that the school is required to teach your son. My daughter who would be considered severely disabled is taught in a regular kinder class and is only taken out for work with the physical therapist or speech therapist. You have the right to insist that your son get and IEP (Individualized Education Plan) where goals are set by both the therapists and you-you can plainly articulate what you want your son to learn and then his teachers will have to come up with a plan to make that happen. This is the law in every state. Your son legally has the right to the same education opportunities as any typical developing child. Contact the Special Ed director for your school district and if you don't get a favorable response, contact the superintendent and the school board and report that his school is breaking the law and you will go to the press if necessary. Of course I'm certain that won't be necessary, but the threat of it will light a fire under their bums and get them scheduling an IEP meeting with you and your spouse quickly. Call twice a day if you must. Also, the parent to parent organization will have contacts and possibly even a lawyer who could help you. Don't give up-we parents of special needs have to be a bit obnoxious at times to get what our kids need, but it works!

Lacey - posted on 11/06/2008

Hi! I just went through something with my son's school. He is considered right now to have a global delay that puts him at about a two year old level in certain areas. Just like your son, he does a lot more things at home than he does at school. I think it's fairly common for kids to do that. Their comfort level at home is so much higher than at school, even if it is familiar to them. The school has a lot of special needs kids this year, and they were having staffing problems. At first they had considered shipping them off to another school. They finally decided to take the special needs kids, especially the ones that couldn't talk yet, and put them in a seperate room all day. Well that wasn't fair. I immediatly called a place called Disibility Rights (if you are in Wisconsin I can give you the number). They helped a lot. They gave me a website that had something called "Special Education in Plain Language" that explains your rights very well. They also sent a representitive, free of charge, with me to my IEP meeting. Thankfully the school situation worked itself out and is great now. But you can also get a hold of DPI (department of public instruction). It's their job to make sure the schools are doing what they are supposed to do, and they fix any problems. If you think something is unfair, you have a right for mediation. That means that DPI will send someone with you to any meetings or anything and they will look out for your rights and your son's. And above all, if they give you an IEP you don't agree with DON'T SIGN! Hope this helps! :)

Courtney - posted on 11/06/2008

Tina,

I am currently studying to become a paralegal and have a child with ADHD of my own. I don't know what state you live in, but your situation with your school is extremely wrong. Does your child currently have an IEP? Is this a public school or a private school? I am in no way a lawyer or in any position to give legal advice, but I know from my research that the school has a responsibility to teach your child more than warning signs. You don't have to prove to the school that your child is 'normal'... if you continue to have trouble you may want to fine an advocate in your area to help you with the laws to protect you from your school system trying to run you and your child out of the public school system because they mearley do not want to deal with a special needs child. It happens all too often. Also, if they do decided that they are unable to continue to educate your son, you may be entitle to have the care facility paid for. This is why it may very important for you to get an advocate if they continue in the direction they are pressing you. The main law to research would be the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which states "To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilites, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special clasess, separated schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational enviroment occurs ONLY when the nature of severity of disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily." 20 U.S.C. SS 1412 (a)(5)(A). (emphasis added).

Good Luck w/ the school and your son!