I’m a adult dyslexic with a 7 year old son that dose not read. When we entered him in kindergarten last year I told the Principal that I suspected him of having a problem and was assured that he would be monitored. At the first conference with his teacher last year she threw her hands in the air and said” If it was my son.. I would cry”. That was the begining of a down hill slide all year long. They told me they would have him tested but then decided to give him the “gift of time” (which is really just the gift of being even further behind).
Out of frustration I took him to sylvan learning and 60 hours later I still have a little boy that cant identify written letters or numbers on a page, but has the vocabulary of a 9 year old. Over the summer they kept pushing me to put him in kindergarten again doing a Duel session. When I refused to place him with the same teacher he had last year they came up with a K-1 split and a promise for testing. The psychologist finally called me today saying that he dose qualify for Special Ed. And wanted to know why I didnt get him in the system last year. He has a visual perception deficit and a host of other things that she wont really tell me until our IEP meeting in 4 weeks.
Is it just this school system that wont listen to parents? I really dont want my son to go thru the joys of school that I had in the 70’s with project mainstreem.( ie sink or swim)
janet
pensylvania
Re: Is It Always This Hard?
Many times the parents observations and knowledge are not taken seriously.
Trust yourself and don’t give up keep communicating what you know to be true.
Re: Is It Always This Hard?
Please email me directly. Don’t be worried if I don’t answer immediately; I am in the middle of moving into the handyman’s special. But as soon as I have time, I will get back to you with direct interventions you can do to teach this kid to read, right now. Fighting the school is a lsing battle; they can delay for six years until he’s no longer their problem, but you and he can’t afford one more month, let alone six years. I’ll tell you things you can do with tutors and/or at home that are tried and true learning methods, and this is what he needs, not more politics. Keep up the good work and keep in touch.
Re: Is It Always This Hard?
I agree with Victoria, you need to start working with him now. I know that not all schools are like this but you pretty much described my public school district to a tee! When I asked that they evaluate my son at age five they were flabbergasted and kept saying, he is only five, wait it out!! I was not willing to do that and they weren’t happy with me.
I would start by reading the article Understanding Tests and Measurements, you can find it if you do a search. It is a little lengthy and wordy but the base is that the standard score on the type of test that your son has or will have is 85 to 115 ( Different people say different things, some say 80 to 110) and the average percentile rank is 25% to 75%, if your son does not fall within these averages, he isn’t in the average! On some speech and language testing the standard score is 8 to 12, and the percentile ranks are the same 25% to 75%. So again if your son scores a 6, he is not in the average. The schools here like to say, that a score of 6 is the low average range, well it isn’t, it is completely out of the average. Those are the basics. Also, many schools compare your IQ score to the lowest achievement score to determine eligibility for special ed.
Also, you are allowed copies of the test result prior to the meeting, you do not have to wait until the meeting to obtain copies. If the testing is done and the reports are there request a copy. The school might say that they do not have to give them to you until 2 days prior to the meeting, which can be true. Make sure you have someone available, like an advocate, who can review the tests results prior to the meeting.
Also, once you sign the consent form, the school generally has 30 school days to complete all testing and then additional days to have a meeting. The can not call you on the phone and tell you that your child doesn’t qualify for special ed!!
I would get copies of the testing and request an additional testing they didn’t do, if you request it they have to do it, just put all your requests in writing. If you need help writing a letter go to
http://www.concordspedpac.org/RequestEval.htm
and use their letter. Just delete any info that you don’t want!!
My family was in a similar situation. My brother has been in special ed since age 3. We kept believing that the words low average range meant that he was just not performing well, when he really was never in the average to begin with. He is now in 9th grade and facing a very large uphill battle!!
K.
By the way if you know all this already, sorry for the rant!!
Re: Is It Always This Hard?
Linda wrote >>The only thing I asked the school was to please not destroy his self esteem and love for learning<<
This is almost the same as what we said, “Our MAIN goal is to keep him positive
about himself and school. That’s all.”
We taught him MUCH more at home than they did at school.
And now, at 13 years of age, he is finally up to treading water.
Pretty soon I hope he will be swimming.
You need to teach him how you learned to swim.
Keep things positive with the school but get into the shallow
end and get going.
Anne (is that enough watery references ;-)
Your boy sounds like my son. We even had the same sylvan experience. He was tested and put in sped at the end of first grade. He is now in third.
He is pretty much remediated; no thanks to the school. I took him out of sped after one year.
I thought the testing they did was the only helpful part. It helped me figure out how to help him myself through outside remediation.
The best advice I can give is to do this yourself, if you can. No one will address his needs with the commitment and understanding that you will. (My son’s first grade teacher said this to me and I am forever grateful.)
As far as school goes; take your cue from him. If he is happy in the placement you find there be glad. The only thing I asked the school was to please not destroy his self esteem and love for learning. (I got a nice stunned silence in response.)